CompTIA Launches Tool to Help MSPs With Client Relations

CompTIA, the nonprofit association for the technology industry, today announced the release of a tool to help managed services providers (MSPs) improve customer relationships, from initial prospecting to contract renewal.

The Managed Services Client Lifecycle is designed to help MSPs with customer acquisition, retention and growth.

Built as an infographic, the tool allows MSPs to visualize each stage of the customer lifecycle, and offers information about essential steps required to manage the relationship effectively.

MSPs can also obtain templates of contracts and other documents needed to successfully negotiate each stage.

“Many MSPs are winging it, with no real direction or understanding of what it takes to bring on a new customer and keep the customer for the long term,” said Vince Tinnirello, community chair and CEO of Anchor Network Solutions, a Colorado based provider of IT consulting services. “The Managed Services Client Lifecycle can help them identify and evaluate all areas of their business to assure that they’re doing all they should for their clients.”

The tool is the product of the CompTIA managed services community, which seeks to provide MSPs with information and tools to help them run more successful businesses.

A soon-to-be-released CompTIA survey found that the top two immediate priorities for MSPs were increasing net new customers (62 percent) and expanding business with existing customers (58 percent).

“Each of these lifecycle steps must work together to build an effective MSP business model,” said community member John Tippett, vice president and general manager of Aisle8, a Charlotte, N.C.-based unified manufacturer and distributor serving IT solution providers.

“This tool provides a graphical overview of the MSP client lifecycle and helps visualize how each area is related,” he said. “The interface brings a breadth of resources together for easy access in each of the major cogs.”

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