lessons from the worlds top 5 msps max2014 - gordon tan

CLIENT INTIMACY – SECRETS FROM FIVE OF THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL MSPS

Gordon Tan – CEO of Client Heartbeat

Gordon@clientheartbeat.com

Research Process

• Analysed data of 316 MSPs using Client Heartbeat• Reached out to the top 10 and 5 agreed to participate in our research

The top MSPs….

We identified “3 secrets” to their success

Secret #1 - Let’s start with a story…

A story about the airline industry

A losers market

The US airline industry has lost $52 billion dollars since 2002.

JetBlue

• Started in 2000• New low cost airline decides to enter the market….• Formerly from SWA• Started flying in 9 cities…

Would you invest your money?

• Losers market!• Very capital intensive!• Massively competitive• Commoditised• Dangers with Growth• Problems with Scaling

By 2007• Over 60 destinations and 160 aircraft• Today the 7th largest airline in the US employing 9,600 staff

“What keeps me awake at night is figuring out how we grow this culture. How do we bottle this and keep it going. At the end of the day it’s all about attitude”

Here’s what David Neeleman has to say…

#1 - In the top 5 MSPs, they felt development of company

culture was the biggest driver of their results

What is “Culture”?

Culture is social control. It is sets of information that tells staff what to do in the absence of procedures

“It’s impossible to monitor the actions of every employee no matter how many accounting and compliance controls you put in place…a company’ cultural code is supposed to equip front-line employees to make the right decisions”

Fortune Magazine

Culture

Culture

• Everyone has a culture – it’s whether you choose to leave it unmanaged or managed

• The top 5 manage their culture• It’s common sense!

How do you affect culture?

• You affect culture by:• Defining Values• Hiring/Firing based on Values• Incentives• Symbolic changes• Management constant reinforcement (often from Director)• Celebrate

Remember

• Much of what we accept as true, or important comes from our external environment and peers

• Up to 98,000 people die each year from medical errors. In a study 73% of doctors reported washing their hands

The actual observed rate was 8%

2

#2 – In the top 5 MSPs everyone had systemised/structured

Customer Satisfaction processes…

But the real secret was the combination of the structured

and the “unstructured” (culture)

Systemising Client Satisfaction

• Client Feedback is integrated through multiple “feedback loops”• Quarterly Business Reviews• Integration into company meetings• Quarterly customer feedback surveys

• Trending the results

• Formal meetings scheduled to improve client satisfaction

Systemising Client Satisfaction

• These procedures ensure staff consistently act on any feedback• Formal procedures to deal with “at Risk” Clients

3

#3 – But first another story..

#3 – The Top 5 maintain their prices and understand the

reasoning behind it

Price and Service

• Low price = less resources = harder to deliver good service• The Top 5

• Maintain their price• Are selective with clients

Let’s Recap:#1 – Culture #2 – Client Sat. Procedures #3 – Pricing

Actionable strategies from each of the Top 5…

Abussi

• Standardisation is a big help in delivering great service

Quorum IT

• Staff retention is key to great service

Leading IT

• Answer phones live and try to resolve issues straight away – 40% first call resolution

Clear Path IT

• Treat clients as “close friends”

Apex IT

• Use PSA to find contacts they haven’t spoken to in 2 months – give them a call!

The Top 5 challenge themselves to think and act different…

At Client Heartbeat we challenge you to become Best in Class

Why Best in Class matters…

• BIC companies have 70% better retention rates than “average” MSPs• Losing just one $1,500 contract each year for 4 years and you will lose

$180,000 in revenue.

• BIC companies can charge higher prices for their services• BIC companies are growing on average at 30% pa.• BIC companies are getting more referrals• BIC companies get higher sale values

Client Satisfaction Monitoring on Auto-pilot.

1. Gather client feedback

2. Improve client satisfaction

3. Retain more clients

4. Collect & Share Testimonials

• Used by over 300 MSPs big & small

• Integrates with CW & Autotask

Simple, personalized email surveys – with automated email follow-ups

Industry high survey response rates (60%)

Runs on autopilot

Passes all feedback into a simple dashboard

Gather Client Feedback

Track and monitor changes in satisfaction on an individual client level and on an overall company level

Benchmark satisfaction against other companies in your industry

Improve Client Satisfaction

Client Heartbeat uses past scores and industry data to identify unhappy customers

Get instant notifications so you can proactively follow up, address concerns and retain their business

Retain more clients

If we detect positive feedback we’ll ask for testimonials and collect them automatically

The client can also share these to their social media

Collect and share testimonials

Here’s what your peers say about CHB…• Within a week of using Client Heartbeat I was comfortable

recommending it to 10 of my peers. – Myles Keough (Spadetech)• Very valuable solution!!!!!! Every company can benefit from using

Client Heartbeat - it is a key metric for any executive to follow. – Janice Siddons (TUC Managed Solutions)

• Client Heartbeat is a straightforward simple tool we can use to track how we are going in our business, without having to wait for customers to tells us we are doing something wrong! – Wayne Moore (Divest IT)

Thank you – Questions?

Credits to: Charles O’Reilly Stanford Graduate School of Business for various facts & figures