Choosing the right MSP is an important decision for an organization. It’s just as important for MSPs to select the right types of customers. We often spend a lot of time on customer acquisition strategies and spend too little time on deciding which customers are a good fit for our services.
The following steps will help MSPs through the process of selecting and servicing the right customers.
- Culture. It’s important to have good alignment of cultures between two organizations in a managed services relationship. The MSP/Customer relationship is an intimate one, often demanding deep levels of trust in both organizations. Corporate culture must be in alignment in order to sustain a long lasting and beneficial managed services relationship.
- Compliance. More customers are facing regulatory and compliance burdens. Health care, financial, banking, legal, and other industries are experiencing greater pressures to demonstrate compliance when they outsource. MSPs serving these customers are, in many ways, subject to the same regulations as the customers. MSPs must be aware of who their customers are and what their compliance and regulatory responsibilities are. To not know this is to take on unnecessary risk in your managed services practice.
- Expectations. Customers who do not have realistic expectations of what the MSP is doing for them can be dangerous. It is important for MSPs to clearly articulate what it is they do, how they do it, and what they will and will not cover as part of the managed services engagement. Educated customers make great customers.
- Stick to the SLA. I've personally seen a lot of MSPs do things for customers which go beyond what is written in the agreement. Advocates for this behavior claim it engenders good will. Opponents say it can lead to false expectations of what is and is not covered by the MSP and could lead to the MSP "owning" the problem, even though they were just doing a favor to the customer.
- Price is wrong. Customers who consistently argue about price are typically not appreciative of the MSP's value and may not be a good cultural fit. Raising prices is a good way to find out which customers appreciate your managed services.
These are just a few tips to help you better understand your customers and assist you in selecting the right ones moving forward.
