It may seem unrelated but the SLA (service level agreements) your company uses can directly affect the success of your managed services sales efforts. Most MSPs do not look at their legal agreements as anything other than paperwork to be completed after the sale has been “closed”. This is definitely not the case!
SLAs are legal documents necessary to protect your MSP practice but they are also useful tools for helping define the risk shared between the MSP and the customer. Most customers view SLAs as documents where the MSP is trying to put more risk on the customer and less on their MSP business. However, there are some effective ways to equally and safely share risk between MSP and customer and turn your service agreement into a sales enablement tool, and not something that can stand in the way of your next managed services sales win.
The upcoming MSPWorld Spring 2014 conference will feature a session dedicated to helping managed service providers close more deals by analyzing and optimizing their service agreements to close deals, not get in the way. Noted MSP lawyer Julie Machal-Fulks, partner at Scott & Scott, LLP and MSPAlliance board member, will be delivering the session on March 28, 2014 titled “Managed Services Contract Negotiation: How to Win More Business While Staying Safe!” Her session will touch on the following highlights:
- Removing SLA contract language that can scare customers
- Protecting your MSP practice safely and reasonably through SLA best practices
- Make your SLA share risk between MSP and customer
- Use of MSP/Cloud insurance in SLAs to distribute risk between MSP and customer
- Turn your SLA into a sales tool, not a sales inhibitor
This session is ideal for beginner, intermediate, and mature MSPs. Click on the following link to register for the MSPWorld conference.