Increase Revenues Through Standardization
IT companies and MSP’s are providing a number of services, support, and products to their customer base. For many, providing just what the client wants, provides a satisfying enough business experience. The one thing that most IT providers would most likely agree on, is that the customer does not always know what they want, or better yet, know what they need. In this, there is a good amount of opportunity for IT companies to educate customers as well as provide a standard suite of products and services to help protect customer businesses.
Standardization is a pretty well implemented practice for most MSP’s and helps drive profitability in termed contracts by creating predictability, prevention, and ease of troubleshooting. When most customer contract networks are similar or alike, they are much easier to manage and allows for your staff to gain more experience and knowledge.
Now imagine if you apply these same standardization practices to any network you encounter. By believing and knowing that this standard set of products and services is needed by all companies it becomes less of a sale and more of a passion. We know that there are a number of standard solutions that businesses need to be efficient, safe, and secure.
*Security – Antivirus, AntiSPAM, Firewall
*Backup –Archiving, Compliance, BDR, Offsite/Cloud Storage
*Network – Switching, Battery Backup
*And many many more…
Create a set of business core minimums that you can discuss with your customers. These minimums will set the standard for any network you encounter and can provide a baseline for the serviceability of any environment. Your goal should be to bring any network up to these baseline standards whether they are a contract customer or not.
It may be surprising how many customers have not implemented minimum standards due to lack of education. Many IT companies are afraid to discuss additional needs based on the fear of customer rejection. Just remember it is always better to educate and have a customer say no, than to never provide the information and have the customer ask why you did not inform them.
Frank Gurnee
VP, Channel Services, ExchangeDefender
(877) 546-0316 x4777
frank@ownwebnow.com
