5 Keys to Growing a Customer-Obsessed Managed Services Business

From 2023 through 2030, the global managed services market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.6%, which is faster than the average for other industries. These services are critical for many businesses today, as they reduce overhead, create efficiencies and let companies of all sizes access technical support and other niche services so they can focus on creating a better customer experience.

But customer experience isn’t only a concern for the clients of managed services organizations. A customer-centric approach is necessary for successful growth as a managed services business, too. Check out five tips for creating a customer-obsessed managed service business below.

1. Understand Your Customer’s Business

Customer-obsessed companies have a deep understanding of client businesses. That means spending time with existing customers as well as potential clients to understand their industry, unique challenges, and business goals. This type of customer focus lets you develop processes and offer services that enhance overall customer satisfaction.

It’s important to create a feedback loop that lets you gain this understanding by:

• Engaging in regular communication. Set regular touchpoints with all customers to discuss factors such as sales, analytics, costs, and overall operations. Never assume that the status quo will continue to work well. Partner with your clients so that you’re constantly improving your approach and the services you provide.
• Soliciting customer feedback. Seek your customer’s perspective via regular feedback. Remember that everyone is comfortable communicating in different ways, so offer feedback options that include in-person or phone conversations, email, and formal surveys.
• Conducting industry research. Pay attention to the industry as a whole so you can provide business advice and specific help to your clients.

2. Deliver Consistent High-Quality Service

Building trust with your customer base is important, as that trust can create customer loyalty and lead to growth through referrals and positive word-of-mouth marketing. One of the best ways to build trust and support reduced turnover in your customer base is to deliver high-quality service at all times.

For managed service companies, quality begins with the internal team. Start by doing the human resources work to hire the right team, then ensure you’re providing employee training that supports the utmost quality. Empowered teams are better poised to meet customer expectations.

Don’t forget about staff morale. Happy employees make for happier customers. Build regular performance reviews into your processes and reward team members who help you create a positive, customer-obsessed culture.

Next to your team, your use of advanced technology is most important in supporting consistent quality. Find ways to automate tedious processes so you can scale your business without impacting customer engagement and satisfaction.

3. Proactive Approach

Position your business as a proactive problem-solver for clients. When you see a need or problem coming and solve it before the customer experiences serious issues from it, your business becomes a hero for the client’s bottom lines — is there a better way to support the entire customer experience?

Proactive approaches anticipate customer needs, prevent issues from arising or becoming larger than they initially are and drive continuous improvement for the customer. Some ways you can do that include:

• Implementing regular system checks. Build manual and automated processes to ensure systems are working well. Program automatic notifications to alert your teams when outliers or concerning patterns occur so they can proactively check systems.
• Conducting preventive maintenance. Stay on top of all maintenance. Something as small as an expired security certificate could lead to big problems for clients, and these types of technical faux pas can easily be avoided with organization and due diligence.
• Supporting timely upgrades. As providers of technical services, your team should always ensure every client company has the latest updates and solutions.

4. Regular Communication and Transparency

Transparency breeds trust, which you’ve already learned is a cornerstone of a customer-obsessed company. Create such transparency with:

• Regular updates. Don’t wait for clients to ask. Send updates about progress weekly, or build a dashboard where clients can see progress in real-time.
• Offer clear reports. Avoid data-heavy reports customers can’t understand. Break things down with clear visuals to tell a story about progress.
• Support open discussions. Be upfront and honest about issues and encourage customers to do the same. When you can communicate clearly about problems, you can solve them together, turning a potentially negative situation into a positive win that supports customer loyalty.

5. Invest in Customer Success Management

Implement customer success management with dedicated customer success teams and the use of customer success software to ensure no client need falls through the cracks. CSM solutions and processes are tried-and-true methods for running a successful customer service department, and they help support positive customer relationships.

Get Started Today With Help From DMI

Implementing customer obsession in your managed service organization means investing in communication, quality, and more efficient processes. Taking the time to shore up these factors in your business can lead to better client relationships, more sales, and increased revenues. To find out how DMI can support you in this journey, contact us today.