Cloud Economics: How to Reduce Customer Churn in the Cloud with Exceptional Service Delivery

By Ryan Walsh

Unique offerings can fetch a higher price. That’s a given, but differentiating oneself in the cloud is tricky. Many managed service providers (MSPs) sell the same solutions, making it all too easy for end customers to compare services apples-to-apples. 

What if we told you that by focusing on one aspect of your cloud-services practice, you could make your offering one-of-a-kind? A high percentage of marketing leaders believe customer experience is that area. According to Gartner, more than half (53 percent) of marketers are making it a top priority. 

One research firm expects customer experience to surpass price to become the top brand differentiator by 2020.

Bottom line? In a world where nearly all things are equal, the customer experience is king.

For MSPs, much of what determines whether the customer experience they provide is positive or negative comes down to service delivery. Here are easy ways to improve the three pillars of service delivery:

On-Boarding

Creating a smooth on-boarding experience is essential if you want to build a lasting relationship with new customers. Unfortunately, many companies fail to invest in making this process easy and intuitive for the customer. Try this: The top cause of on-boarding friction is poor handoffs between teams. To make new purchases move seamlessly from sales to procurement, ask questions including: 

Concierge

The customer experience suffers when there’s not a guide in place to help customers navigate it. Try this: Empower any employee in your company to deliver a concierge experience by centralizing all customer information in a single, easy-to-use database. 

Support 

Make sure customers can get help quickly when something breaks down. A support ticketing system, like a PSA, with automated workflows, can help you deliver support services faster.

Ryan Walsh is the chief channel officer at Pax8. Ryan has dedicated his career to enabling business improvements with internet or IT-based solutions and startups. Ryan holds a B.A. in business economics from Colorado College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Walsh also is a member of The Channel Futures Think Tank.