What is your most valuable asset? No, I’m not talking about your winning smile or superior intelligence… but the asset that is most import to your business success. Here’s a hint to what I’m looking for: I once worked for a CEO who told me “I’d rather lose a good customer than a good employee.” His point was simple; a good employee is more critical to the success or failure of a business than a high-quality client. For the scholars in the crowd, yes, strictly speaking an employee is not an asset, but the success of a service business is much more dependent on the quality and skills of its personnel than inventory and products that depreciate. This brings me to our seventh and final managed services best practice – “best in class” MSPs invest in and develop their team members.
Our CompTIA MSP Partners 2010 research found that the most successful MSPs spent more on training their technical and sales professionals than on any other business investment. Furthermore, training climbed the list of important best practices in 2009. Consider four of the first best practices I identified and discussed in previous blog entries:
- Define and execute a strategy for growth
- Develop and deploy new technology solutions
- Invest in and execute marketing programs
- Sell beyond the IT department
Each of these best practices are intimately tied to the quality and training of your staff. Defining and executing a strategy for growth requires that you aggressively win new business, implement processes that allow you to accommodate that new business and engage with new customers in a manner that ensures a long-term relationship. All of these steps require new and/or highly developed staff skills. A new level of understanding is needed by your technical staff, as well as your sales and marketing team members when developing and deploying new technology solutions. To successfully execute marketing programs you must have a staff that can leverage the business benefits of the managed services delivery model. Finally, selling managed services is not the same thing as selling a product or time and materials services. It requires a stronger understanding of your customer’s business, a more refined pitch that speaks to business drivers and an ongoing engagement with the customer that ensures they are satisfied with the services received. Employee training is paramount to implement and benefit from all four of these best practices.
I’ve often heard MSPs make the following objection to staff training, “if I train my staff and give them new skills, I will either have to pay them more or they will walk out the door.” While it is hard to deny that this is true, these actions are better than the alternative. If you don’t train your employees, it becomes more difficult to provide high-quality IT services, to maximize revenue opportunities and to contain business costs. Also consider the unquantifiable effects of poor employee morale brought about by low company and individual performance. It’s a brave new world, and MSPs must equip their employees with the skills and understanding to be successful. Best in class MSPs understand this reality and willingly invest in their best asset – their employees.
You can read more about employee training and other managed services best practices at CompTIA’s MSP Partners website, www.msppartners.com.
