What you may ask is a client experience process? Good question as it took us a while to figure it out. We had all the usual items that one would think an MSP should provide to its clients – quarterly business reviews, alert reporting, end user satisfaction reporting, etc. The problem was we were counting on each individual account manager to deliver Everon to their clients in their own unique way.
This as I am sure you are aware is difficult to manage as you scale and ultimately will fail. You will discover as you talk to your clients that they actually crave process. They want you as the expert to tell them the steps you are going to take them through to get the most out of working with your organization.
Set expectations and then over deliver a consistent service across clients – now that is scalable!
To accomplish this across your organization you will need to create a timeline, we use the calendar year, and map out the phases of the client relationship.
We believe all client relationships go through the following phases:
Rapport building – the client is just getting to know us in this phase of the relationship
Shared goals and plans – in this phase we are working with the client to map out plans and initiative to bring their technology into compliance with best practices
Impact - in this phases we uncover the client’s business objectives and make strategic technology recommendations as we begin to make a meaningful impact on the clients business
Strategic planning – in this phase we take the client through a series of exercises that outline areas for increased productivity within their business through technology
Feel the love – this phase is exactly what it sounds like - we have processes and solutions that have been delivered to the client allowing them to get the most out of their technology as well as getting the most out of their investment in working with us and we continue the repeatable scalable process over the coming years
All of these phases are necessary to bring value to the relationship with your clients. If you try to immediately impact a clients business before you have built rapport and created shared goals and plans you will fail every time.
I would venture a guess that your key relationship people innately go through these phases with a client but wouldn’t it be nice to have these documented and everyone in the organization trained on them?
Map out your client experience outline and share it with us we would love to know if there are other phases you are taking your clients through.
JC
