Exceptional IT infrastructure and talented technology experts form the core of your MSP business. Nonetheless, your revenue and long-term prosperity are very dependent on your relationships with your clients.
There are a lot of companies in your area that can provide IT support to commercial customers, what will set you apart will be the level of customer engagement your company provides. A company incapable of drawing new customers and retaining its customer base usually loses out to competitors despite their extensive IT resources.
A quarterly business review with customers is the best way to examine your company’s standing. An actual conversation with your end users gives you a better insight on what your customers think, your effective points of engagement and the pain points that your customers have experienced with your service or product. Armed with this data, your MSP operation can better strategize on customer retention.
If you are still unsure about how to use QBRs to increase your customer retention rates, there are some simple guidelines to consider.
Shift Your Focus from Sales
Inquire about the clients’ goals, the exact outcome they desire and the challenges they are facing in relation to IT. This form of assistance will help the customer understand that you are not just interested in your own results.
When you hold a quarterly business review with your customers, you should not focus on upselling your latest products and services to them. Make the meeting all about them and not you.
Take the Opportunity to Interact
Technology has advanced at a fast rate, especially in the MSP business sector. As a result, most IT support tasks such as management, maintenance, and network repair can be performed remotely. This eliminates the need to interact with clients. A faceless group of IT technicians is easier to replace than their regular technician who drops by to make ocular inspections once in a while.
Any QBR interaction with the clients should conclude with them leaving the meeting knowing that you spend time, effort, and other resources to keep their business running well. For the best results, review the company’s data and reports when preparing for the meeting.
Review the Company’s Resources
You should review the client’s IT resources during the meeting. This is a good opportunity for you to discuss potential problems which might arise due to the status of their infrastructure or their employees. Ask the customer which parts of his network are not working as expected. You should also discuss the applications and devices which fail most frequently in the company.
It would also be prudent to have an extensive conversation about the users who have the most problems with technology. Mapping out in detail the weaknesses, strengths, and threats to their company’s IT resources makes customers see that your care goes beyond the known problems. Together, you and your customer can come to the best possible solution that won’t break the bank.
Assist with Planning
In most cases, companies and organizations do not have the knowledge and experience to plan for the future when it comes to commercial technology. These businesses might experience significant challenges with regard to their future productivity— this can primarily be attributed to the failure of infrastructure due to obsolescence and general old age. Therefore, you should be willing to help your customers plan and prepare during the quarterly business review.
For example, you can help them assess the condition of their hardware devices. They might not know that their items are nearing the end of their lifespan. Informing them about the status of the specific devices and the cost of replacement can help the business managers, owners and executives. As a result, they will be more willing to work with you.
Get to Know Your Customers
Finally, you should learn about the general customer experience because this can lead to loss of clients. Businesses that fail to invest time and effort to get to know their customers will find themselves in trouble with customer retention. Use this feedback to improve communication and performance in your MSP business.
