The MSP channel is increasingly dynamic and competitive. Whether you’re a small team known for a personal approach, or an enterprise with vast resources at your disposal, you always need to stand out. It’s not just about having the strongest sales or marketing resource – it’s about the service you provide.
Your customers need to know that when they work with your business that not only are they speaking with experts, but they’re working with a partner they can trust. This is where a great customer experience is key.
There are many ways you can improve your service, but at Brigantia we have some suggestions, and they all revolve around two things: solutions, and support. Here’s our process, and how we think it can work for you.
Provide services you really believe in
When it comes to managed services, there are thousands of vendors across the world providing services that cover just about every aspect of business technology. It’s important then that MSPs don’t just provide services for the sake of it. It’s about supporting them consistently, long term.
Ultimately, this benefits everyone. Your customer gets the support they need, while you improve your customer retention.
What makes a good solution?
A great solution will provide better customer experience in a variety of ways. At Brigantia, we have a rigorous process for selecting cybersecurity vendors. This includes looking at the ways their service is optimised to enhance customer experience.
A great example is Heimdal Security. As well as providing best-in-class business security, their service comes with a fantastic UI, which brings together a huge range of services into one easy-to-manage portal. This makes for a better user experience, quicker service, and happier customers.
How do you keep customers in the know?
For MSPs, one of the keys to customer retention is to continually demonstrate the value your solutions provide. This is all about regular communication.
It’s wise to keep customers in the loop with regular correspondence around their technology. It could be a newsletter to all customers, or perhaps a more personal regular check-in. You could provide industry news, or even real-life examples of cyberattacks. It’s best not to resort to fearmongering, but you can reinforce the importance of cybersecurity in general. If they’re more informed, they can engage more with the service you provide, leading to a more positive, transparent relationship. You’ll also be demonstrating that you’re a trustworthy, expert partner.
Use your partners’ resources
An important point: you don’t have to do all this yourself! Remember that manufacturers, vendors, and distributors will publish their own resources.
We’re proud to be partnered with vendors who go over and above on this. A great example is KnowBe4. They develop great products, for which there’s a real need. But their output goes beyond that. Their webinars, whitepapers and other resources are full of valuable, topical insights. Why not forward materials like these to customers?
Is your support service tailored to your customers?
At Brigantia we’re incredibly proud of the way we support our partners. We think there are some best practices every team should follow. Always reply quickly, always have a real person at the end of the phone and always maintain a strong level of product knowledge throughout the team. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s a standard we think every customer-focused business should strive towards.
Beyond that, there are many ways that MSPs can stand out to customers over their competitors. It starts with your solutions. As well as maintaining great product knowledge, it’s important to understand which ones can work together to make a tailored stack for each customer.
As well as your solutions, you should always aim to tailor your communications to each customer. Do you know which communication channel your customers prefer? While MS Teams is dominant right now, not every business uses it. Maintaining great service is about learning what your customers love, and building your experience around it.
Do you provide the added extras?
It’s a cliché but going above and beyond really does make a difference to customer experience. The points we mentioned so far are part of it, but we know the world of cybersecurity is changing all the time. If a new service is released and it’s relevant to your customers, let them know!
Similarly, customer feedback should inform everything you do. A great customer service is one that continually evolves. Gathering regular feedback when a new customer joins, after they work with your service team, after you resolve an issue or even when they leave can be incredibly valuable. Showing off great feedback is also one of the most efficient ways to raise your profile!
Lean on your partners
A final point: your partners should be able to help. At Brigantia, we want our partners to succeed. And since MSPs succeed through great service, we are always happy to help our MSP partners help their customers.
We hope this article has provided at least a few ideas for how your MSP business can go the extra mile when it comes to your customer service. Keeping your customers informed, engaged, and of course providing the best solutions on the market is a tried-and-true recipe for success.
It’s a policy we follow here at Brigantia and hope it’s one that can lead to success for your team as well. For more information about any of the services mentioned here, please get in touch.
