An MSP company needs to understand where clients are coming from. It’s absolutely integral that you understand what their needs are. Essentially, you need to get into the heads of your clientele.
Collecting data can help you determine client proclivities. However, what clients actually say can often be a greater indicator of their thought processes than faceless numbers. The best way to keep clients happy is to understand what they’re thinking; these tips can help you do that:
Be Sure Empathy Defines Your Interaction with Clients
Your MSP company needs to understand that clients aren’t so familiar with the technology products and services you provide as you are. They’re not going to understand industry-specific jargon. As a matter of fact, they’re probably going to be confused by it.
Empathy in client interaction understands their lack of information will often characterize their communication. Empathy helps you engage them on their level.
Listen to Them Until They’re Done Talking
Often clients will come to you with an issue they’ve thought out carefully, almost like a chess match. They’re anticipating that you’ll have responses, and they’re prepared to answer those responses.
In order to sidestep this, just let them talk until they’re done. Let them wind down. Once they have, you can address their issues in total. But if you interrupt, and they still have more to say, it’s just going to be an unproductive argument.
Guide Clients to an Effective Resolution
Once you’ve heard clients out in an empathetic way, you need to carefully guide them into a resolution of whatever the issue is. Sometimes this means adding services or subtracting them. There are going to be as many different resolutions as you have clients, owing to their own operational idiosyncrasies.
You’ll likely know what they need immediately, don’t neglect to let them wind down first. From there, you need to collaterally or “obliquely” inform them on the right kind of procedures–those that will restrict them from making the same mistake again.
Take Responsibility Where Appropriate
Sometimes, your MSP is going to be the one who makes a mistake. Maybe you’ll estimate higher or lower than site traffic. There are all kinds of easy mistakes to make here. When you realize it’s not the client’s fault, you’ve got to take full responsibility, and you might even offer them some sort of discount as an apology for the inconvenience. When you take responsibility, that’ll make clients happy for the most part–provided such mistakes aren’t a regular feature of your service provision.
Keeping Clients Happy
An MSP company that takes responsibility when it should, guides clients to effective resolutions, lets customers “wind down” when they’re spooled up on an issue, and interacts with them empathetically, should see clients that are happier.
