Top Strategies to Manage Client Support Requests

Have you ever had a client that won’t follow your processes? Maybe they call the owner for all of the support requests. Or they call you after hours for non-emergencies. Or generally won’t follow the established support processes you use in your business

Today we’re talking about getting your clients to follow processes to get support the way that works within your business.

My name is Adam Hannemann. Welcome to Ramblings of a Geek. I’ve been in the MSP space for the better part of a couple of decades and have seen my fair share of questionable client behavior when it comes to getting support. 

Common Scenarios 

There are a couple of common scenarios where this seems to come up more frequently.

• The client that won’t reach out to the service desk and only reaches out to the owner, Account Manager, or their preferred technician. 
• The client that doesn’t follow the after hours process and then complains that you don’t respond after hours like they expected.
• The client that calls after hours for emergencies for clearly non-emergency work.
• The client that doesn’t pay their bill on time and gets frustrated when they’re on credit hold. 

There are plenty of other examples of this type of thing, but this is a good start. Let’s talk about solving this for your MSP.

A couple of prerequisites for success

When you start your MSP you probably just gave everyone your cell number and email address. That’s super common. If this is you, it’s time to get a phone number and email address that’s generic for your clients to use when there are support needs. 

First: Get a phone number that isn’t your personal cell number for them to call. That number can be forwarded to wherever you want it to go, but the important piece is that this becomes your ongoing support phone number. This number is the one you publish with your clients as early as possible. 

Second: Create a generic email alias/mailbox for your clients to email instead of emailing you directly for support requests. Something like help@yourdomain.com works great. Even if this just delivers into your mailbox at first, you’ve decoupled the support request from emailing you directly.

The sooner you do these two things the better off you are. 

So, presuming you have these things in order what’s next?

The Importance of Setting the Right Tone

From the moment a client engages with your MSP, it’s essential to establish a clear and structured support process. This not only sets expectations but also ensures that clients understand the most efficient way to receive assistance. A well-defined process helps prevent scenarios where clients bypass established channels, which can lead to inefficiencies and frustration for both parties.

In other words, get on the same page about HOW to obtain support with your company early. Then, continue to reinforce the behavior as you go. Let’s talk about some key ways to do this well in your business.

Strategies for Reinforcing Good Behavior

• Proactive Onboarding: During the onboarding phase, take the time to walk clients through the support process. Highlight the benefits of following the established procedures and how it leads to quicker resolutions and better service. Teach them early the best way to get support from your company. Your support process should be included in all of your onboarding documentation and in your contract that outlines the services you provide. 
• Regular Communication: Make sure that as you communicate with clients that you are consistently reinforcing the proper support procedure. Make sure that the messaging is consistent and that in every ticket template, newsletter, email signature, and other communications that the proper support numbers, URLs, and email addresses are used. 
• Incentivize Compliance: This might be the most important piece. You MUST make the support process GREAT when they follow the process. Reward the good behavior. Make it obvious that if they follow the support process that’s where they get consistently good service. 
• Feedback Mechanism: Create a feedback loop where clients can share their experiences with the support process. Use this feedback to make improvements and show clients that their input is valued and leads to tangible changes. This is where your CSAT and NPS process comes into play. I’ve talked about that in a couple of different spots in the past, but I’ll also record a video about CSAT and NPS coming up soon.

Correcting Bad Behavior

Let’s say you’ve done the above and the client STILL won’t play by the rules. Here are some examples of things you can do to try to steer the client in the right direction.

1. For the client that emails a member of the team including the owner create an automated way to let them know that they should email the support email instead. For example, depending on your PSA you could forward their email into the PSA and have the PSA let the client know that, “Oops, you did the wrong thing. We’ve got your request and will work on it soon.”
2. For the client that calls the owner or directly calls team members a common fix for this is to make sure that your voicemail message lets clients know that messages left on voicemail won’t be returned, or returned eventually. Basically, the client should know that voicemails left won’t be treated as emergencies. 
3. When a client doesn’t follow after hour emergency procedures this can be a bit tricky. Especially if it’s a real emergency. This is what I’d recommend:
   1. First, respond and help them through the situation. The first time they goof up here is not the time to “be right” and enforce the support process.
   2. Then, reinforce the proper procedure and let them know that they were lucky that you caught the issue this time. Next time it’s possible that you won’t respond outside the process as your process is designed to make sure that the person that’s on-call gets notified properly. 
   3. When they don’t follow the process in the future it’s up to you how you want to handle the situation. I would suggest responding eventually, but this isn’t a situation where you drop everything if the client is a repeat offender here.
4. For the client that calls after hours for non-emergency items there are a couple things I’d recommend:
   • First, make sure that you have what is and isn’t an emergency well established.
   • Then remind the user that this isn’t an emergency and someone will respond during the next set of business hours.
   • If this a repeat offender you may have to get the owner of that company involved. If it is the owner of that company you may have to decide to fire them or not.
   • One way that helps avert this type of issue is to charge for all after hours support. This stops this sort of thing real fast.
5. For the client always on credit hold that is looking for help there are a couple of things that come to mind:
   • Don’t just help them when they’re on credit hold. This is a bad habit to get into.
   • If it’s a user calling let them know that you need to talk to the owner of their company before you can help them. Then have that uncomfortable conversation and hold them accountable to paying your bill.
   • You may have to fire clients that don’t prioritize paying you. You aren’t running a non-profit business, and if they don’t pay you this is a problem.

Keep YOUR MSP team on the same page

All of the above is great once you implement it. It all falls apart when a member or two of your staff (and I’m also looking at you MSP owners) don’t hold the line and let clients subvert your process. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE needs to hold the line here and follow the process. If your team can do this well, your clients will figure out that following the process is the best way forward.

Reinforcing positive client support behavior from day one is about creating a culture of compliance and efficiency. By setting clear expectations, maintaining open communication, and incentivizing adherence, MSPs can foster a supportive environment that benefits both the client and the provider. Remember, the goal is to make the support process as seamless and intuitive as possible, ensuring a positive experience for everyone involved.

If you found this discussion insightful, consider subscribing to my newsletter below for more tips on optimizing your MSP operations and enhancing client relationships. Thank you for reading, and see you next time!