Spoiling customers with Same-Day service

[lsi]

This might belong in the MSP thread but lately we've been pretty busy and the busier we get, the more irate customers are becoming. I had to really nail down what the issues have boiled down to and it seems to be this: we've spoiled our customers into believing that if they have an urgent issue, we will make them a priority and get to it the same day. The problem is, our client base has grown and we can't always get to everyone same-day anymore. Lately I've had a couple of customers become really irate when we told them we had nobody available today but could send someone out tomorrow. We actually have MSP customers that pay for priority contracts with SLAs and they were all in line first. Our other customers do not pay for any sort of SLA but most of them do pay us some sort of monthly fee for blocks of hours, maintenance etc. For most of them, we just hadn't evolved our plans and staffing enough to be able to offer SLA-based plans at the time they were sold. Somehow we've inadvertently trained most of our customers to believe that if they pay us monthly they must be entitled to same-day service. At this point it seems the only option I have is to send out emails to all of my non-priority customers and explain to them that unless they are willing to pay for a Priority contract, I can no longer guarantee that Same-Day service will be available (not that I ever did explicitly guarantee it to them). I will also try to sell them on a more expensive service contract if they feel same-day service is important to them rather than just having a budget plan which is the only thing we used to offer in the past. Has anyone else had to deal with this issue? How did you address it?

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

I haven't had to deal with this, but could see it being a problem in the near future. You could same something along the lines of "we have an option for express service at such and such rate".

 

[mraikes]

Congratulations! It's a good problem to have. Yes, we train our customers and shape their expectations through their past experiences with us. But as investment advisers always say, past returns do not guarantee future results.

Your written agreements with your various customers should be specific as to response times involved. If not, shame on you. If they are, than this is simply an up-sell opportunity for those folks with slower responses. Don't present it as a negative '"I'm so busy I can no longer support you in the manner to which you've become accustomed." Instead, simply present it as a statement of fact and a new offering add-on for existing customers. "Tacoma Computer Service is now offering same day repairs to our Gold Members! Not a Gold Member? Click here to upgrade your membership! Do nothing, and as a silver/lead/brick/dust & dirt member you'll continue to enjoy our 7 day response time."

If they bite - great. If not, you've documented the option and you can refer back to it in the future.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Do nothing, and as a silver/lead/brick/dust & dirt member you'll continue to enjoy our 7 day response time."

LMAO, that's an awesome way to put it. (Obviously not to the customer).

 

[lsi]

Lol. That's the problem - all customers typically receive quick turnaround right now and if they have an urgent issue we go out of our way to make sure the urgent issues get same-day service. But it's not always sustainable and I do need to sort out expectations for those who aren't paying for Priority service. We are actually contemplating scheduling non-priority customers for the next day even if we can get to them today.

 

[CompConfig]

We tell all of our clients that are not on high priority contracts from day one when they call for help that we will to get to you by tomorrow. Then when we are sure we can cover them we will call back and say this time we were able to move things around to help you out and we will get there today. This way they expect next day but but are very happy with us for normally servicing them better than they expect.

 

[ZenTree]

You need a clear SLA for tasks and support levels written into any contract. Anything they get super quick is a bonus. We had this issue a while back but make a point to quote the agreed contract and said they had an upgrade option. Most of the clients stuck to their current level and were happy with the adjustment, once they had time to get used to it.

Every service we offer now has clearly defined SLA for first response times etc.

 

[CTL]

I started out offering 4 hour and same day response. Luckily early on I saw that it could easily become a problem as I grew. I changed all agreements to 24 hour\Next day response. We usually do get to most contract clients the same day, but I just wanted to cover myself.

I am currently at my max, my managed services clients keep me busy. I cant offered to loose a big account because I am running around putting out fires break fix work and not available for there call. Non contract clients now wait upwards of 1 week for me to get to them. Most wait and others don't. I feel bad sometimes, but I always offer them managed services so it is technically there decision how fast they want service.

Its hard trying to scale this type of business. I have grown so much in the last few months that things are now heywire trying to handle managed services and non managed services clients.. Thats how much\fast managed services can change your business. With the shortage of Level 2 techs there is really no option but for me to at some point soon stop taking new business. To hire a Level 3 tech would take a good amount of my profit and most Level 3's don't stick around that long.

You cant please everyone and you will burn out quickly trying too.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Compare your list of clients on an SLA, with your capabilities. Picture it on a scale or some bar graph...if you're at the point where you cannot maintain your SLA with MSP clients...that's a good problem to have, it means you've grown, you've added to your client list.

Now...you have to find the point where you have all of your techs plates filled with work...and ask "when is it time to hire another tech...before I start losing clients because I cannot help them fast enough"

It's a hard question to answer. Or nerve wracking at least. But before hiring another tech, you can examine your support tools for your current MSP clients...and see what sort of streamlining you can to do automate things more.

 

[nlinecomputers]

The other issue that goes hand in hand with this is your rates. The old 80/20 rule applies and you should consider bumping up rates enough that some of your smaller clients WILL leave with the cash flow made up by the remaining loyal customers that do pay. Less work with same amount of income. And if you don't have much client flight then the increase in cash flow makes adding a tech more affordable.

 

[inetuk]

We grade ALL requests from clients no matter what plan/agreement they have. So critical incidents are dealt with first and others are planned and all customers know if they have a critical incident it will be dealt with straight away and their smaller jobs with be done within our published time frame, and each incident is assigned a priority in this is emailed/communicated to the client.
See attached .pdf

 

[lsi]

We grade ALL requests from clients no matter what plan/agreement they have. So critical incidents are dealt with first and others are planned and all customers know if they have a critical incident it will be dealt with straight away and their smaller jobs with be done within our published time frame, and each incident is assigned a priority in this is emailed/communicated to the client.
See attached .pdf

That's very insightful but we would never be able to sustain that type of service for all of our customers. Do you require all of your customers to pay for the same level of support? We have too many little guys (5 or less computers) who would be demanding emergency service when their main computer didn't boot up or some other problem popped up that was preventing their business from operating that day. I understand it's a huge inconvenience when that one computer is down but these little guys are not paying for the same attention that my $2000/month or $4000/month customers are.

 

[ZenTree]

Completely agree Isi. They want priority service they should be paying for it like some of your other customers. Else what are those higher paying customers actually paying for?

 

[drpcfix]

Do you have a support staff receiving tickets and doing at least the first touch on them, or is it just you?

 

[lsi]

Do you have a support staff receiving tickets and doing at least the first touch on them, or is it just you?

we have a support staff. Our Dispatcher takes the calls and she usually receives the brunt of the angst when she has to tell a budget-plan customer that all of our onsite techs are out on calls and we have to schedule them for tomorrow. Usually the Dispatcher hands the call off to one of our two helpdesk guys running phone support. But if they can't fix it and we need an onsite then that is where we are coming up short. I could keep hiring onsite guys to keep up but my budget won't keep up if customers aren't also willing to pay more. I guess I know what I have to do:
1. Spell out to the budget customers that they aren't entitled to Guaranteed Same-Day Service
2. Sell them on a more expensive plan that will get them an SLA

I know some of them are going to perceive this as a downgrade in their service but I can't afford to keep hiring techs to cover budget customers.

 

[nlinecomputers]

So in other words, you are spending too much time on clients that aren't bringing in enough revenue. I say again, this is a sign that your rates are too low.

 

[inetuk]

That's very insightful but we would never be able to sustain that type of service for all of our customers. Do you require all of your customers to pay for the same level of support? We have too many little guys (5 or less computers) who would be demanding emergency service when their main computer didn't boot up or some other problem popped up that was preventing their business from operating that day. I understand it's a huge inconvenience when that one computer is down but these little guys are not paying for the same attention that my $2000/month or $4000/month customers are.

Hi Isi, as I said we grade all request for support and inform the client when they should expect a resolve. Clients know if their systems are down they take priority and they also know if it is not urgent it will be resolved within the time frame. This works for us, maybe not for everyone, all clients know that all requests are graded and actioned in level of severity this also applies to domestic clients also!