Proof of Process: How Documentation Increases Transparency
BY IT GLUE | February 05, 2019
When a client calls in with a problem, what’s your process? Now, consider how you showcase that to your clients. It’s one thing to be able to talk about how your MSP meets SLAs or crushes tickets, but it’s another thing to provide the evidence that actually shows how those processes are accomplished. That’s what documentation offers you – full transparency.
Team transparency
The core of documentation is about getting information out of an individual’s head and turning it into shared knowledge. That transformation itself creates a strong degree of transparency. When only one team member knows the ins and outs of a client’s organization, a process, or an application, who else benefits? No one. Documentation makes sure that any team member can access the information they need to do their job efficiently and successfully, providing full transparency between colleagues.
Client transparency
This transparency isn’t just team-based, though. It extends to both your clients and your prospects. When you sit down with your client during your next QBR, you’re going to want to be able to show them how you’ve solved various problems. One of our partners ran into an issue where they received a complaint that a particular task hadn’t been completed. The scenario was boiled down to simple confusion, but it was the documentation that was able to demonstrate each step of the process that had taken place.
Prospect transparency
As for prospects, documentation and the transparency it provides is a massive selling point. You can show prospects exactly how you’re going to document their environments, your processes for dealing with tickets, or any other issues that could arise. When your prospects see that you have processes in place to deal with even the little things, it shows you’re accountable and proactive. Even if your best tech is on vacation, or happens to leave the company, your future clients can trust that they’re still in good hands.
Your documentation also showcases the history of results you’ve achieved. You can use it to break down a scenario and showcase exactly how you’ve solved problems in the past. In other words, documentation offers you the chance to prove your track record. Talk about a competitive advantage.
IT Glue can help
Great documentation means that all the information you need, SOPs, client data, passwords and so on, are all available to the right people. It showcases that your MSP knows exactly what steps to take in any given circumstance, regardless of who’s in the office that day. In a nutshell, it gives your team and clients the transparency, and in turn the confidence they need to know they’re in good hands.
It’s not difficult to generate that transparency either. In IT Glue we have tools like Runbooks that make being transparent with your clients incredibly efficient. For example, Runbooks allows you to generate documentation packages in PDF format for individual or multiple clients, offering visibility into relationships between assets in IT Glue. So the next time you’re talking to your clients about how killer your processes are, show them. The trust that transparency builds is invaluable.
At IT Glue, our app is designed to maximize the power of your documentation and give you a competitive advantage with your clients. If you’re interested in learning more, sign up for a demo or get in touch with your Account Manager today.
Documentation is a source of competitive advantage. When your processes are well-documented, they move from being individual knowledge to team knowledge. You execute consistently, and do not waste time looking for information, because it’s always at your fingertips. Companies with a high level of documentation maturity enjoy higher revenue growth, increased cost savings and superior valuations. IT Glue can help you get there.
