Junk Your MSP’s VIP Support Program to Get Raving Fans & Growth
Odds are, if I asked you about your VIP support program, you’d proudly tell me how your MSP stops for a ticket from an executive, and your team jumps in to give that person great care.
And you’d be shocked when I told you to junk that process immediately.
Instead, support everyone as if they are a VIP. If you provide a VIP experience to every Contact, you will deliver superior service to your Clients. This will, in turn, create raving fans and drive a successful referral process. Not to mention, the Clients will be better partners and put less pressure on the Techs.
And what MSP doesn’t want that?!
3 Steps to Delivering VIP Service at Your MSP
So, what does “Set Up Correctly” look like?
Here are the three key steps to delivering a “No VIP left behind” or “Delivering Superior Service to the Client” experience:
Adjust the Ticket Status list to match the Client Journey from New to Complete
Create Client-friendly, highly communicable notifications
Create WFRs to update the Client at key statuses during the journey
Side Note: To deliver this setup, Techs must embrace and be held accountable for Real-Time Time Entry.
Here is a deeper dive into each of the three steps:
Adjust the Status to match the Client Journey from New to Complete
Based on HDI’s research, 80% of Clients leave an MSP because of a poor Client experience. HDI is a recognized expert on service management training, and they have defined the various points when a Client is owed an update on the ticket’s journey from new to complete.
We have modified their recommended protocol for MSPs using the Autotask software as follows:
Here are the proposed statuses:
1. New (no SLA Event)
This is the default status when creating a ticket.
This means no one has touched or looked at this request yet.
2. Request for Information (from the Client)
Means more information is needed from the Client before the ticket is ready for Tech engagement.
Service Coordinators use this to trigger a workflow rule to send a pre-formatted notification to the person who changed the status. The person edits the notification based on the information needed and forwards the notification to the Client
When the Client responds, another workflow rule sets the status to Client Note Added, which is flagged in widgets on the dashboard.
3. Return to Triage
Means the ticket is being sent back to the Triage queue for reassignment or scheduling
All tickets with this status are automatically moved to the Triage queue via workflow rules
Add a note in the ticket when using this Status as to why the ticket is being returned to the Triage queue
4. Ready to Engage
Means all information is in the Ticket, and it is ready for Tech to engage at will
The SLA module sorts the Ready to Engage widget (future) in the order they are to be engaged on
Work down the list tickets in the Ready to Engage widget (future) from top to bottom in that order
5. Dispatched – Remote
Means an engagement has been scheduled with the Client for a specific date and time, but the work can be done remotely
6. Dispatched – On-Site
Means an engagement has been scheduled with the Client for a specific date and time - the work requires an on-site visit
Note: The scheduled date and time do not include travel time, so adjustments need to be made in the Tech’s schedule to allow for travel
7. Customer Note Added
Means the Client has responded via email to a notification of some sort
Status is set automatically via workflow rules when Autotask Incoming Email Processing detects a ticket # in the subject line of a response
8. In Progress
Means the Tech is actively engaged in the process of completing the request
Used to alert the MSP Team that the Tech is engaging and set an SLA timestamp that can be reported to the Client
This is critical as it shows compliance with the Managed Service Agreements
It also alerts Service Coordinators and Service Managers what the Tech is currently working on
9. On Hold
Means the Client has requested a delay in the engagement without scheduling a specific date and time
When placing the ticket On Hold, set the due date in the future based on the Client’s wishes
If the date is not in the future, the person changing the status will be prompted to set a future due date
When the due date is reached, the ticket will be returned to the Ready to Engage widget with a status of “Ready to Engage”
The Service Coordinator has a widget showing all “On Hold” tickets
10. SC Help Needed (Service Coordinator Help Needed)
Means the Tech needs some non-billable support without giving up ownership of the ticket
Alerts the Service Coordinator that assistance is needed. They will read the notes in the ticket, do what they can to help, and when done, add a note, and return the status to Ready to Engage.
11. Escalate
Means this ticket has been escalated per the Escalation SOP
Not to be confused with Expedite, which is not a status
12. Waiting Customer
Means a Tech has reached out to the Client, and we are waiting for their response
My Client Responded sub-widget will alert the Tech that they have responded
A workflow rule will change the status to “Customer Note Added” and the ticket will also move from Waiting … widget to the Ready to Engage widget
13. Waiting Materials
Means materials have been ordered, and the Company is waiting on confirmation with ETA before scheduling
14. Waiting Vendor
Means Vendor support has been requested, and the Company is waiting for Vendor availability before scheduling
15. Customer Verification Requested (Triggers resolved SLA)
Means the Tech has completed their work and disengaged
The Client is notified that the Tech has disengaged; the Company believes the work has been completed and requests the Client’s verification
16. Pending Close
Means the Client did not respond with verification after 48 hours
A workflow rule sends out a pending close notification and changes the status to Pending Close
17. Completed
Means either the Client responded with verification or has not responded to the pending close notification after 24 hours
A workflow rule sends out a completed notification and changes the status to Completed
Create Client friendly, highly communicable notifications:
Back in 2013, the MSP I was working for received constant complaints that we sent too many notifications. Through Net Promoter Score interviews, we discovered it was not the quantity that bothered the Clients; it was the quality. No one had any idea why we were sending these notifications or what they were expected to do with the email – so they deleted them and then complained.
We went into a full notification design mode. Here is what we came up with:
Subject with Ticket #, Account, Ticket Title, Notification Name
Clear banner across the top telling them why they were receiving the notifications
No technicaleze – plain, clear language that a 7-year-old could understand
Polite message, with the information that changes (Resource and Date/Time) called out in bold
Highly branded, so the Client knew it was us (or at least that is what Marketing said was the reason)
In short: Simple, to the point, and highly communicable. Since rolling out the new notification schema, the complaints stopped for all but one Client (of course, they had to be the top 5 Client that had been with us 25 years and contracted for all our services). No problem - we just excluded them from the notification workflows and reminded them in QBRs that the reason they did not know was that they opted out.
Here is an example of what we are talking about:
Create WFRs to update the Client at key statuses during the journey
The first thing that jumps out at Advanced Global’s Clients is that we are talking about 14 different notifications.
But hold on a second, even though there are 14 situations where a Client is owed an update according to HDI, this does not mean that every or even any one Client sees all 14 notifications for each request.
Most of the time, a Client will see 3-4 (Acknowledgement, Reviewed and Assigned, and Client Verification). If they do see more than 3 or 4, the additional communication is merited (Escalation, On Hold, Waiting …). Even Review and Assigned could be replaced by Scheduled Onsite or Scheduled Remote.
So, you can see there are a lot of combinations depending on the specific workflow the Client’s request is journeying down. 90+ percent of the time, it is 3 stops on the way from New to Complete, but then there are the other ones.
The process starts with a WFR Impact Study/Clean Up. Then build out the new Customer-Facing Communication Protocol WFRs based on this guide:
Customer Facing Communication Narrative.docx
Summary:
Providing a better Client Experience is absolutely worth all the work. Yes, it does require a lot of thought, discussion, decisions, and PSA Configuration changes.
Now, forge ahead, junk that “drop everything for an Executive VIP” process - and instead, treat everyone like a VIP. The end result is Raving Fans and growth.
The concepts are simple. The application and habit building is not. At this point, you have two choices:
1: Hire an Expert: Schedule a free introductory call with one of our coaches
2: DIY: Download our #1 eBook
Note: there is actually a 3rd choice – do nothing and be living in the same Service Delivery chaos next week, month, and year as this one, but we are not going to talk about the downside of that option.
The elephant in the room:
Who is Advanced Global, and why should we listen to them?
Recently someone we’ve been in communication with since DattoCon 2018, who was faithfully reading our articles, commented that up until a few months ago, “I really did not know what Advanced Global does.” So here are a few bullet points to let anyone interested know who we are and what we do:
1) We Are – the Autotask Global Service Delivery Authority
2) We Help – MSPs thrive
3) We Solve – Service Delivery issues, inefficiencies, and challenges by making sure:
a. Techs know what to work on next
b. Someone is managing all open tickets and driving them to completion
c. The staffing levels are correct, and the workload is balanced
d. Real-Time Time Entry is a cultural habit
e. The Client has a great client experience
f. Profit is maximized
g. Autotask is being fully leveraged
h. The historical data that is in the Autotask software is accessible to benchmark, track & USE effectively
i. The Service Delivery operations can scale
j. Projects are completed On-Time and On-Budget
k. The Company can grow
l. MSPs know what they don’t know
4) Our Tools:
a. Autotask “Best in Class” standard build
b. Our MSP robust Service Delivery SOP library
c. Advanced Live Reports
d. Expertise in providing a transformational experience
Note: We are not philosophers; we are doers with 31+ years of Service Delivery experience, bringing real Service Delivery Improvement change, profitability, and Best in Class performance.
We start by offering a FREE No-Obligation PSA Configuration Evaluation.
