Why Making Your Customers a Priority is an Essential Step to Success
BY IT GLUE | January 22, 2019
In your MSP, what are your priorities?
Everything you do is based on different sets of priorities. They’re how you organize your time, your commitments, your company. When it comes to running your MSP, if your clients aren’t a priority, you’re not going to end up running the kind of successful business you had in mind. Maybe a few years ago when competition was mellower, but today the competition in the MSP space is intensifying, and that means you’ll have to work harder to build and maintain a loyal customer base.
You need to know your customers to make sales
Who are your customers? All the services in the world won’t matter if you don’t understand the client base that you’re offering them to. When your customers are a priority, you recognize their wants and needs and know exactly how your service offering caters to meet those.
Think about your sales. Whether you have an entire sales team or just a salesperson, how they sell is dependent upon where the customers fall in their list of priorities. When their focus is on finding a solution to the prospects’ problems, rather than just trying to close the deal, they’re going to create more meaningful customer relationships that benefit both sides.
Your customers’ needs aren’t stagnant
What your clients need changes over time as their own business develops. You need to be able to keep up with these changes and anticipate them as they come. When your clients are a priority, your mindset is shaped around trying to understand what they’re looking for both today and what they’re looking for down the road so that you can consistently meet those needs.
In tech, everything is in a constant state of change. Whether the subject is digital transformation, automation, or artificial intelligence (AI), you’ve got to be able to keep up with the trends. Most importantly, the trends that your customers are in tune with as well. If your customer reads about a new trend, it looks better if you can talk to them about it, and ideally highlight a service that you can offer to make them feel that they are taking advantage of that trend.
Your reputation matters
Loyalty is everything. Not only for gaining new prospects through word of mouth but for retaining the customers you already have. With that said, you can’t simply focus on selling. You have to prioritize fostering relationships with your clients. The positive relationships you build are what will in turn foster growth. Listening to your clients is a big part of making them a priority, but it also helps structure your interactions more in the direction of relationship building, and away from the more basic transactional approach.
Documentation is a tangible way to prove your priorities
How did you know this would all come down to documentation in the end? It almost always does, and there’s good reason for that. Documentation is an excellent way for you to showcase to your customers that they’re your priority.
Your documentation says to your client, “your information matters.” When you have all of your clients’ data documented in one secure and central location, your team is in a better position to provide the assistance your clients need. Show the client that you take the time to document their environment fully and it demonstrates a strong commitment to their success.
When your clients are a priority, it’s obvious. In the sales, in the relationships, and in the documentation.
Interested in how IT Glue can help you prove your commitment to your clients’ data and information? Sign up for a demo.
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.
