Finding Freedom from Wasted Billable Hours So The MSP Can Grow
Buckle up & get ready for the ride. By the time we’re finished, you’ll get insight on:
This is Freedom…
The MSP productivity problem
What Best in Class looks like
3 Mindset changes to transform your MSP
Categorizing those Client Requests!
Getting those Priorities straight
Keeping your Techs Organized
The #’s to back it all up
As we are starting to wind down our 4th of July Celebrations in the US (and July in general), we should remember that Freedom isn’t something we just think about on one day, one month, or even one year. We may have to dig a bit, but it is there if we are willing to do the work.
“But, Stephen,” you say, “what Freedom is this?” I’m talking about an MSP’s ability to be free of Chaos, unhappy Techs and Clients, inefficiency, and all the other things that are keeping you from growing to your potential. Oh, and to actually make a fair profit.
I truly believe that every one of you has the potential to grow that MSP. A 1-man band can grow to 15; $250k in sales can become $1 million, $1 million can become $3 million, and on and on. Living your dream, earning a good living, and being able to enjoy life – now that’s Freedom.
But how? In a minute, I promise. First, I want to welcome all you returning Autotask Warriors and Members of my Service Delivery Gladiator's Community. I am so glad you are here.
Freedom from Wasted Billable Hours
This week I want to chat about Finding Freedom from Wasted Billable Hours.
Visualize a trip to the restroom at your office and seeing your Techs flushing away $100 bills. This is what we’re talking about.
Fred V from Kaseya is quoted as saying Techs are less than 50% productive. That means that while most are paid a salary for 40 hours per week, they are only working on Client Requests fewer than 20 hours per week. This number has been confirmed by Jeff Rumburg from MetricNet.com.
Advanced Global also sees it almost every time we do a FREE, No-Obligation Evaluation (ask us about them, I dare you! We have three by the way– PSAutomations, Efficiency, and Executive Staffing).
However, the Best in Class are running 80-85% utilization (32 to 34 Client Request hours each week). Many of you tell me that “Best in Class” is too high to shoot for, so you won’t try. Many of you tell me that you want nothing less than those numbers.
I’ve got options for both groups. Clients graduating from the Advanced Global programs experience:
Service Delivery Foundational Improvements: 60 – 70% efficiency
Service Delivery Performance Improvement: 70-80% efficiency
Monthly Monitoring and Maintaining: 80-85% efficiency
What is really a shame is it only takes 3 mindset changes to stop wasting billable hours. For every $1 invested, the return is huge - $8 to $15 or more per year - and the return lasts year over year.
These 3 things don’t require a degree from Harvard or selling out to private equity to achieve. They are:
Categorizing all Client Requests, because not all Client Requests are created equal.
Prioritizing Client Requests on a multi-dimensional level, because we do not live in a simple Critical to Low work environment, so you are assured that the Techs are working on the Right Next Ticket.
Organizing the Techs’ Days so they know what to work on next and have full visibility into everything for which they are responsible.
So, if an MSP decides to invest in these 3 mindset changes, what can be the expected return?
Resource Utilization improves by 10% or more
SLA Performance improves by 20% or more
Capturing lost T&M Billable Hours is 5-15% or more of MRR
Client Churn is reduced by as much as 50%
“Okay, but I need more than just some bullet points:
How does Categorizing, Prioritizing, and Organizing connect to and create these returns?
How does it help me find the Freedom to Grow?
How is it worth my time to do any of this stuff?”
Categorizing Leads to Freedom to Grow:
By categorizing Client Requests into different workflows, two things start happening that stop wasting billable hours.
First, in a single glance (checking the Workflow by Priority field), a Tech will know what is expected of them. That single glance will tell them if they need to engage immediately, later today or tomorrow, or wait for more information. It will also inform them if they need to jump in or take some time to plan the engagement. All without asking someone, which in turn stops wasting their time. A win-win…
The biggest wasted billable hours killer, however, is that by Categorizing Client Requests, the software can now tell the difference between one ticket and another. When you do not Categorize a Client Request, the software treats all tickets the same and therefore PSAutomation is impossible.
BUT, when you take the time to Categorize the Client Requests, now the software can tell the difference between one Client Request and another, and since not all Client Requests are created equal, the MSP, and more specifically the PSAutomation, is empowered to automate many of the manual repetitive processes like scanning the queue looking for the Next Ticket, which is a huge waste of billable hours.
Prioritizing Client Requests Leads to Freedom to Grow:
Would it not be great if we lived in a world where everything could be sorted from Critical to Low…and does a Low Priority even exist?
However, because our world is way more complex than a single-level sort order, we waste a lot of Billable Hours applying grey matter (brain power, thinking time, staring-at-the-list time) to adding all the other dimensions that go into determining the Next Ticket.
However, now that Client Requests have been Categorized, the PSAutomation software (Autotask doing its thing) can tell the difference between one ticket and another, so we can now configure Autotask to take other dimensions into consideration when sorting the work list of tickets. Dimensions like:
Is the Client Managed Services or Best Effort T&M?
If the Client is a Managed Service Client, is it at a Standard Level MSA or Premium level?
And where in the Journey from the Cradle (new) to Grave (complete) is the Client Request at? Is it:
New and needs to be Triaged
Ready for Tech Engagement or Scheduled
Paused?
This allows us to sort the list of tickets based on a multi-dimensional level and stop wasting valuable billable hours searching for the Next Ticket.
Organizing Client Requests Leads to Freedom to Grow:
Now that all Client Requests have been Categorized into at least 11 different Workflows, each with its own documented Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and Autotask has been configured to automate the worklist of tickets (the PSAutomation), what could be left that would help us to stop wasting billable hours?
Plenty!
What might surprise you is that having a single list of tickets to work on, all sorted into Next Ticket order, is too simple. Our world is way more complex than that, and most MSPs are unique in some way that a single view of all assigned tickets is not enough to organize the Techs’ days and help them to stop wasting billable hours.
There are three things a Tech needs to know in an instant to stop wasting billable hours. The list includes tickets that are:
Ready to Engage and can be worked on at will without any other information or Client participation
Scheduled either remotely or on-site to work directly with the Client or by themselves in a dark server-less room
Waiting
There is also other information depending on responsibilities, size of the organization, and organization structure that may be needed on a secondary level, but a couple times of the day is needed to build confidence that the Tech is working on the right thing. Information like:
All assigned open tickets, including Critical, Client Responded, Overdue
Alerts
Co-Managed or Outsource
Maybe even who is on PTO this week.
With this information at their fingertips (dashboard), they stop wasting billable hours:
Searching for tickets that may or may not exist
Reaching out (disrupting and wasting billable hours for them) to ask questions
Moving on and neglecting what really is the Next Ticket
All of this information and maybe more is needed to help the Techs stop wasting billable hours.
By the way, there is a common misconception that aiming for 85% Tech utilization means a ticket needs to be created to use the bathroom or they aren’t allowed to leave their desks.
I have heard this many times, and it is NOT true. Finding freedom from wasted time works for everyone: When Techs are more efficient you make more money, the Client is happier, AND the Techs can enjoy their breaks more. Feels kind of like Freedom, doesn’t it?
Summary:
So, there you have it. To Find Freedom from Wasting Billable Hours (and flushing those $100 bills down the toilet), the MSP needs to put the process and procedures in place to Categorize, Prioritize, and Organize Client Requests.
While reading through this post you may be saying to yourself, “I don’t get it, scanning worklists, searching for tickets, and asking questions only takes a minute or two.”
I agree. However, being a keystroke counter, I know a few seconds here and a minute there adds up to a lot of extra/wasted work. A second every minute is a minute every hour, 8 minutes every day, 2/3’s of an hour every week, 2.89 hours every month, and 34.66 hours every year.
At a SRR of $150, that adds up to $5,200 per year in wasted billable hours. And that is just for saving a second every minute.
What would happen if you could save 6 seconds every minute, which is a verified result of Advanced Global’s Service Delivery Foundational Improvement program? Well 6 X $5,200 is $31,200 per Tech per Year and way more than the cost of investing in the improvement that is, money-back guaranteed, Freedom to Grow.
Do some thinking. If you want Freedom to Grow, no matter how much or how little, you know what your next step is: Info@agmspcoaching.com.
Steve and Co