MSP BUSINESS MANAGEMENT WEBINAR Gordon Tan INCREASE RETENTION AND BUILD ‘STICKY’ CLIENTS

AGENDA 1.Identify unhappy clients 2.Stop clients from defecting 3.Strategies to increase client retention 4.MSP service benchmarks 5.How R&G grew revenue (and profits) by focusing on retention

Customer Satisfaction? As defined by Gallup Organization is: 1.Accuracy 2.Availability 3.Partnership 4.Advice

How much does it cost? Losing just one $1,500 contract each year for 4 years and you will lose $180,000 in revenue. The average MSP currently has just over 12% of their clients “not satisfied” – or open to competitive offers!

1. IDENTIFY UNHAPPY CLIENTS Before you can increase client retention, first you need to identify which clients are unhappy Then, find out why are they unhappy? Establish a baseline for your service so you can track improvements

1. IDENTIFY UNHAPPY CLIENTS Regular onsite IT meetings Ticket closing surveys Quarterly customer feedback surveys Trend results Has client gone quiet?

2. STOP CLIENTS DEFECTING Once you know a client is unhappy, you need to implement programs to stop them from defecting. The most successful MSPs have formalized procedures for winning back unhappy customers Here’s how we do it at R & G….

WINNING BACK A CLIENT  Identify unhappy client through surveys  Call client immediately and arrange face to face meeting  Add them to a “Customer Watch” list  Organize a team meeting with staff to discuss possible causes of issues  Meet with customer  Propose a "customer win-back" plan – do you need to make some concessions? Can they be “Win-Win”?  More communication is often key!  MAKE SURE YOU DELIVER ON YOUR PROMISES

Here’s an example  Client was managed services paying us $4,200 a month – very demanding (by our standards)  Client gave us poor heartbeat scores – dropped significantly  Added them to our “Customer Watch” list  Organize a team meeting with TAM to discuss possible causes of issues which were highlighted as: -A couple of stuff ups on our end -Communication from the client -Client was more demanding than a traditional client

Here’s an example 5.Met with client on-site 6.Explained our situation and our solution: -Accepted responsibility for stuff ups – offered to fix for free -Weekly phone call with the client -Increase our service agreement for the additional demands 7.The result was client is now happy and we increased contract by $1,300/mth

3. STRATEGIES TO INCREASE CLIENT RETENTION Identify the baseline and then work on improving Accuracy and Availability first. Charge more! Create a “customer intimacy” initiative for 2014 Quarterly Business Reviews “Laptops and Lunch” Webcams More regular feedback processes once or twice per year or ad hoc surveys are not what the BIC companies do!

3. STRATEGIES TO INCREASE CLIENT RETENTION Create a customer oriented culture Culture is “social control” – sets of information used to determine what behaviors are appropriate in the absence of procedures 1.Get management buy-in 2.(Re-)define values 3.Align incentives 4.Make at least 1-2 “symbolic” changes 5.Talk about it until bored 6.Hire/Fire against cultural fit 7.Celebrate and reward people who exhibit values

3. STRATEGIES TO INCREASE CLIENT RETENTION Offer a service that extends beyond your bare product Be their trusted ‘IT expert/advisor’ Stickiness by layering products together Be prepared to cut lose-lose clients Set better customer expectations during onboarding Show that you care by remembering special occasions Have a regular service improvement focus through gathering feedback each quarter

4. SERVICE BENCHMARKS – Why is it important? Benchmarking is about finding the best “bang for your buck” for resources you will invest eg. Where will my resource investment create the most value for my business Study by The Dunvegan Group shows 9% of your clients will leave simply because they perceive a competitor offering to be better. Our data shows the same…. Because becoming best in class (BIC) creates enormous value for your business

Some more reasons to be “Best In Class” BIC companies have 70% better retention rates than average MSPs BIC companies are growing on average at 30% pa. BIC companies are getting more referrals BIC companies can charge higher prices for their services

MSP SERVICE BENCHMARKS ACCURACY (attention to detail) 8.1 out of 10 // 8.6 out of 10 PROMPTNESS (response times) 8.0 out of 10 // 8.4 out of 10 PARTNERSHIP (collaboration) 8.6 out of 10 // 9.3 out of 10 HELPFULNESS (advice and consulting) 8.7 out of 10 // 9.5 out of 10

5. R&G INCREASED REVENUE BY FOCUSING ON RETENTION As of last quarter, R & G has finally reached BIC satisfaction levels for a company of our size in Australia This process has taken 12 months (4 quarters of constant analysis & improvement) Total Revenue increased by 25% last FY – MRR by 40% We are now able to charge more, and are more profitable

5. R&G INCREASED REVENUE BY FOCUSING ON RETENTION How we did it 1.Implemented Client Heartbeat to get baseline and get quick wins 2.Increased price 3.Cut customers where it was “lose-lose” 4.Culture 5.Implemented customer intimacy initiative 6.Quarterly Client Heartbeat meetings

CLIENT HEARTBEAT 1.Gather client feedback 2.Improve client satisfaction 3.Retain more clients Used by over 400 MSPs big and small Integrates with CW & Autotask

1. GATHER CLIENT FEEDBACK Simple, personalized surveys – with automated follow-ups Industry high survey response rates (60%) Runs on autopilot Passes all feedback into a simple dashboard

2. IMPROVE CLIENT SATISFACTION 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

3. RETAIN MORE CLIENTS 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

4. COLLECT TESTIMONIALS If we detect positive feedback we’ll ask for testimonials and collect them automatically The client can also share these to their social media

SPECIAL FOR THIS WEBINAR ONLY Receive a 30% life-time discount on Client Heartbeat 1.Create an account 2. with account 3.Account must be activated by December

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Questions?

INCREASE RETENTION AND BUILD ‘STICKY’ CLIENTS Gordon Tan Thank You