Getting from $400k to $4m - the Four Biggest Operational Challenges - Gordan Tan

Getting from $400k to $4m –the four biggest operationalchallenges

Gordon Tan – CEO of Client Heartbeat

Gordon@clientheartbeat.com

Our MSP today

• 31 FTE• $4.1m turnover in FY2014• $150k/mth worth of Managed Services

The beginning - $400k, 3 FTE

Obstacle #1 – Hiring & retaining the right people…

Why it’s a problem…

• You need sales• You can’t do everything!• Can’t afford to pay people• If you train them up they leave

What we did…

• I went into sales (hired a tech manager)• Sold the “dream”• Paid peanuts• Read about people management

Sales Services Technical

BDM (me) Service Co-ordinator Technical Manager

What we did…

1. Set a vision2. Be honest3. Be authentic4. Be fair5. Get to know them as people6. Let them be heard

1. Create a vision

• Because noone wants to work for your sh** little company• Start with WHY – sell them on your vision• Create values (it’s not a waste of time)

2. Recruitment…

• Hire & Train if you can• Don’t settle for less• If he wants $50k, give him $50k• You need people you can rely on

Hiring & Retaining People

Final Tips:

• Getting your first few hires right is absolutely essential• Hire slow, fire fast• Don’t underestimate the power of your vision and values

$1.2m, 6 FTE

Obstacle #2 – Being too busy…

The Problems…

• Too busy to do anything strategic• Not doing the things you promise• Bad response times to clients• BAD customer churn

What we did…

• Sales• Did nothing for too long!• Lost a couple bad clients• Eventually increased our prices• Implemented Service Desk bonuses• Moved “up the food chain”

1. Increase your Prices

• Just do it! You won’t come out behind I promise• Do less work for more money• Increase price = more resources = better service = more clients =

increase price

2. Incentives for Staff

• Incentivise the result you want• Service Desk bonus worked really well for us

3. Used GFI

• Kaseya, N-Able were too time intensive for us• GFI “just worked”

$2.3m, 16 FTE

Obstacle #3 – Retaining Clients

The Problems…

• Didn’t know why we were always losing clients• Not enough “customer intimacy”• Hard to know where all your clients are at

What we did…

• Sales• Hired Service Co-ordinator• Developed Client Heartbeat• Implemented Incident & Problem Management• Restructured Team

TAM TAM TAMService Desk

1. How do you retain customers?

New research on the human brain

Why this research matters to MSPs

• It’s not enough to appeal to LOGIC• We must appeal to the limbic (emotional) brain - It’s about creating a

feeling (freedom, reducing stress, feeling cared for)

2. Monitor Client Satisfaction

• Send out a quarterly survey• Identify “At risk” clients• Do something about it!

$3.1m, 25 FTE

Obstacle #4 – Systemising the Business

The Problems…

• More people = more problems!• Reliability of service• You need more managers/team leaders• Systems are low priority

What we did…

• Sales• Starting measuring more stuff

• Efficiency – effective hourly rate• Service Desk - average time per ticket, average response time %

• Started documenting more procedures• Get team involved via mini-games

1. Pick the metrics that matter

• What are your smart numbers?• What is your one critical number?• Can you measure these in real-time?• Are your staff kept updated?

2. Focus on building a “production line”• Build your own production line

Your MSP Production LinesProjects

Audits

Helpdesk

Consistent, reliable outcome

Gross Margin$

Some caveats

• Good people can prop up poor procedures• Nothing beats good culture first and foremost• Procedures are so you can scale

In summary

• It’s harder at 3-5 staff, than it is at 25 staff• Be prepared to learn from mistakes• Change comes incrementally• If we can do it, you can too

Client Satisfaction Monitoring on Auto-pilot.

1. Gather client feedback

2. Improve client satisfaction

3. Retain more clients

4. Collect & Share Testimonials

• Used by over 300 MSPs big & small

• Integrates with CW & Autotask

Simple, personalized email surveys – with automated email follow-ups

Industry high survey response rates (60%)

Runs on autopilot

Passes all feedback into a simple dashboard

Gather Client Feedback

Track and monitor changes in satisfaction on an individual client level and on an overall company level

Benchmark satisfaction against other companies in your industry

Improve Client Satisfaction

Client Heartbeat uses past scores and industry data to identify unhappy customers

Get instant notifications so you can proactively follow up, address concerns and retain their business

Retain more clients

If we detect positive feedback we’ll ask for testimonials and collect them automatically

The client can also share these to their social media

Collect and share testimonials

Here’s what your peers say about CHB…• Within a week of using Client Heartbeat I was comfortable

recommending it to 10 of my peers. – Myles Keough (Spadetech)• Very valuable solution!!!!!! Every company can benefit from using

Client Heartbeat - it is a key metric for any executive to follow. – Janice Siddons (TUC Managed Solutions)

• Client Heartbeat is a straightforward simple tool we can use to track how we are going in our business, without having to wait for customers to tells us we are doing something wrong! – Wayne Moore (Divest IT)

Thank you – Questions?