PROVIDE VALUE AND COMMUNICATE TO BUILD CUSTOMER LOYALTY
*This blog is Part 2 of a 3-Part series. Read Part 1 and Part 3 here.
In Part 1 of our series on Marketing Your MSP, we focused on the importance of a solid foundation for acquiring customers. Customer development also requires a similarly methodical approach. To go from a static to a dynamic partner, you must continuously provide your customers with exceptional service, communication and industry innovation that keeps adding value to their organizations.
Always Be Serving
Once a sale is made, never leave that customer unattended. As a provider of an often-unseen service, especially when all is going well, MSPs must differentiate themselves through customer service. Mature service providers put just as much, if not more, effort into the development of a customer than they do during the sales process.
Great MSPs understand their customers’ businesses almost as much as the businesses themselves, and always look for ways to help them grown and succeed. Sometimes, that’s through new service offerings (such as leveraging analytics that can uncover areas of opportunities); but many times, it’s simply through sharing great information.
Ultimately, technology is an enabler of business — the business really runs on relationships and collaborations. When crises like the current coronavirus pandemic add innumerable tensions and difficulties for your customers, that’s an opportunity for MSPs to go the extra mile by delivering nimble, custom solutions as well as peace of mind.
Over-Communicate
Many MSPs report that their customers want, above all else, responsiveness. If an issue arises, have a plan of how you will communicate that issue to a customer, as well as your response and follow-up.
But just as important to building that relationship of trust, though it’s often easily overlooked by busy MSPs, is to communicate when things go well. Whether via a messaging system, email or custom report, updates on what you’ve proactively detected and how that’s helped your customer makes them feel like you’re not only “earning your keep,” but also adding constant and consistent value.
During this particular time when many employees are working from home, businesses are especially worried about cybersecurity and privacy. Proactively letting your customers know, with specifics, how you’re mitigating risk and keeping data safe provides much-needed assurance on this front.
Taking the time to communicate when everything is going smoothly can also open up cross-selling opportunities as you build a rapport and discuss a customer’s needs over a period of time.
Evolve with Your Industry
Keep up with the latest developments, trends and innovations in the MSP world so you don’t fall behind your competitors:
- While challenging today, attend online events either directly related to your business or your customer’s, and share your learnings with them
- Participate in webinars and other continuing education opportunities
- Stay on top of industry news, and publish your own timely and relevant content
Your customers expect you to be the expert, so knowing what’s happening and what’s coming down the road allow you to demonstrate that expertise at every interaction. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Let Automation Help
If you’re not taking full advantage of automation to increase efficiency and scale your operations in 2020, you need to be. From automated documentation to actionable alerts, robust metrics, and custom reports, these valuable time-savers offered by Liongard also lend themselves to your customer development initiatives, freeing up your time to provide proactive rather than reactive service.
For example, instead of digging for data across systems—such as unused or multiple Office 365 licenses, Duo users in bypass mode, and domain expirations—Liongard can simply send those tickets automatically to your PSA. Then, before they can turn into serious issues, your team can fix them and alert your customers as to what you’ve caught on their behalf. With automation on your side, it really can be as simple as that.
Developing customer relationships into partnerships takes time, and so does retaining them long-term — the final topic we’ll cover in Part 3 of our series on Marketing Your MSP: Retention.
In the meantime, enjoy our Custom Actionable Alerts webinar for the latest Liongard innovation, a feature you can utilize to increase efficiency and market and grow your MSP.