"Future-proofing the business" has become a buzzword in the channel because it works — when done correctly. To prosper over time, every MSP must not only deliver financial performance but also innovation so it can lead with influence and crunch big sales numbers. Once you start focusing on innovation in everything you do, you are bound to grow multifold and earn respect from your customers and employees alike, which can lead to long-lasting partnerships.
Furthermore, investing in everyday innovation can also help you position yourself as an expert in the industry - one who contributes to healthy competition in the channel. Let’s not forget that a company-wide innovation strategy is also an opportunity for your MSP to find new markets and introduce new products.
1. Reimagine Your Service Portfolio
The 2020 disruption has influenced businesses around the globe. New patterns of customer expectations and needs have emerged during the crisis. So, to stand out in today’s economy, analyze what makes your MSP’s offering unique given the changing business landscape. Revisit your product catalogs and compliance status to create a bigger impact and value for your clients.
It is widely known how cybercriminals are taking advantage of post-pandemic to step up attacks. Reimagine or think of offering security services and tools that can help your clients shore up defense outside the firewall. To create a list of potential new offerings, get knee-deep with clients to understand what their top-of-mind concerns are. Use this understanding to re-package your offerings. For better decision-making, keep a tab on metrics like your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and the Lifetime Value (LTV) of a client.
Sometimes, bulking up your offerings can help you tailor your solution for a client. So, other than obvious MSP offerings, think about how you can make vCIO part of your service. In addition to this, you can always consider adding free end-user software training to your services mix.
2. Get Creative with Personalized Client Management
Do your best to create a personal experience at each customer touchpoint — from onboarding to contract renewal. Make extra calls to talk to big-ticket accounts and listen for business nuggets hiding in those calls carefully. Consider adding a personalized client loyalty program, a month-free upgrade, and engaging content as personalized gestures. To add a further personal touch, keep mailing them 'business excellence' webinars, blogs, and podcasts, showcasing your thought leadership in an ongoing nurture campaign.
To let existing customers know that their opinion matters and to make them feel valued, drop in customer satisfaction surveys at multiple points in the customer journey. By interpreting these surveys regularly, you’ll have actual data about what exactly resonates with customers– something that can ultimately help you uncover service gaps and improve your service delivery.
3. Intentionally Create an Internal Culture of Innovation
Reevaluate your own perspectives of what it means to be innovative to successfully encourage it across your business functions. Misconceptions about what innovation means can inhibit you from realizing that abilities may already exist within your tech teams. Shape a work culture where inefficient processes of last quarter can be forgotten in an instant. Encourage your team to always question and challenge everything you have been doing as a business for years so they never get stuck in unproductive ruts.
A key component of fostering a culture of innovation is giving your talent the freedom to fail. One of the best-established connections between innovation and work culture has to do with the way failure is treated. The fear of failure can cripple the flow of ideas and ultimately employee productivity. Teams across your MSP need to feel safe to come up with new approaches and to try them out. And, this can be achieved if leadership creates an environment where failure and sharing ideas are the norm and part of the process.
Guest blog courtesy of IT By Design. Read more guest blogs from IT by Design here.
