Three Managed Service Customer Types and How To Deal With Them

Managed services are inherently a customer service job. As a result, managed providers will invariably run into problem customers. This can be a challenge, as losing a managed client is much more significant than losing a break-fix customer. Problem-managed service customers commonly follow three archetypes, and each type can be managed with the correct strategies.

Before diving into managing the most common problem clients, one fundamental element must be in place: the renewing service contract. This document must have the technical details of what items are covered under the managed service agreement the customer is buying. This document should have all the technical details about what systems, services, applications, and operating systems are covered. The contract should have a lifespan, and then it should be reviewed, revised, and sent to the customer for renewal. This will be useful for resolving issues, as outlined below.

Without further ado, it’s time to examine the first archetype.

The “needy” customer who puts in a large number of tickets

It’s a problem when customers put in “too many” tickets. However, the volume of the tickets often parallels the content of the tickets. Hopefully the headache causing problems are worked out with a client shortly after they are on boarded (such as old failing hardware, unstable configurations, etc.). If these issues are still lurking in the client environment, then the conversation needs to be had with the customer about addressing the source of the issue.

If the customer does not have any glaring issues, then it’s time to carefully examine the nature of the tickets coming in. A lot of times, service contracts do not cover application support (as in assisting customers with how-to questions with spreadsheets, word processing, or line-of-business applications). However, when these tickets come in, technicians are often guilty of helping users with the seemingly simple or quick requests. The harm in this is it makes the client think that these requests will continue to be answered, so they will continue to put in tickets for application support, and the volume of these requests will quickly increase. The above logic also applies for any other software/hardware requests that are not covered in the service contract. In general, these requests must be answered either by pointing the user to an online tutorial, or politely explaining that what they are requesting is application support, and it’s not covered under the agreement (optionally, assistance could be offered as a billable service).

Other times, customers will ask for things that sound reasonable, but are not related directly to the management of the client environment (such as network documentation, upgrading mission critical applications, or troubleshooting personal devices connecting to the managed network or services). The saving grace of these requests is the service contract. Certain things can be explicitly defined (like application upgrades being included or excluded) and other things (like troubleshooting email on cell phone or home computers) can be implicitly defined as things not covered by the agreement.

As a closing thought, customers who put in a large number of tickets rarely seem to be on top of all of them. One powerful tool is internal ticket handling policy. If a customer opens a ticket but then does not reply in a timely fashion (something that is normally defined in business days), having a policy to close the ticket until the customer replies can do wonders to clean up ticket lists (based on the supposition that action is pending customer input).

The “cranky” customer who is never agreeable

Like all branches of business, managed services thrives on happy customers. However, 100% satisfaction is rarely attained. On occasion, managed providers will run into customers who seem to always be unhappy. While most customers only put in tickets when things are malfunctioning (and are thus unhappy about the present malfunction), the archetype of the cranky customer is best described as someone who is as upset about minor issues as they are about major issues.

A twofold approach seems to work best for these customers. Assuming that any glaring issues were cleaned up during on boarding, these customers are upset about minor things. That being the case, the first big step is customer education. Customer education takes time, so working with your primary contact for each customer is preferable. Also, sending out newsletters or other content to your customers can be a useful way to distribute information.

The other half of dealing with cranky customers involves individual attention. At large managed providers, there are full time positions for a semi-technical person to meet with large clients to see how things are going, and to listen to how the customer feels. Smaller managed providers might not have the need for a full time position for this, but having regular proactive contact with cranky customers (via phone calls, emails, meetings, video conferencing, etc) will normally win them over.

The “cheap” customer who never wants to spend money

Money is something that businesses focus on a lot (and understandably so). This becomes an issue when a business who is a managed customer does not want to spend money on IT. The brunt of the solution for this falls on customer education, and how tickets for problem items are handled.

It’s easy to forget at times that managed customers not only buy a set of services, but also the expertise and experience of the technicians. A lot of times, customers are unaware that some outdated hardware or software is problematic. When a technician is able to identify that something has the potential to cause headaches and that is relayed to the customer, the battle is half over. Making the customer understand the business impact of not spending on proper software and hardware will also help show that this is less about making a sale and more about the best interests of the customer.

The identification and notification of a problem is most effective if it is done proactively during maintenance or repairs. Telling a customer that “This will be non-supported next year” or “This is fixed for now, but it won’t last much longer” plants the seed. Cheap customers will take lots of watering and sunlight to turn that seed into a sale. Having a statement of what is supported in the service contract will also help, as it will be possible to tell the customer that whatever device or software will not be covered when they renew. This will either prompt the customer to replace the objectionable technology, or remove the responsibility of managing it.

In the end, IT customers can be hard to please. However, identifying patterns of problem customer behavior and creating strategies can pay large dividends. Along with well written service contracts, strategic actions can make large improvements in customer relationships and the stability of customer environments.