IT techs grapple with new challenges as digital tools grow more advanced. The consistent flow of innovation generates higher dependency on IT MSPs. Perhaps the heaviest demand on these service providers is offering quality customer experiences. Without exceptional customer support, MSPs are likely to lose business.
According to Accenture, the estimated cost of customers switching due to poor service is $1.6 trillion in the United States. On the flip side, if satisfied by the customer experience, 73% of clients will recommend a company to other potential buyers.
IT automation proves essential to meet client demand for superior customer service. Automating processes offers several critical business advantages to MSPs, including reduced costs, improved efficiency, and more satisfied customers. But these benefits are only possible due to the valuable time saved through adopting the right IT automation tools.
Read on to discover three ways that IT automation saves you time and fuels business growth.
Centralize Your Customer Ticket Data and Information
Data gaps are the death knell for speed and efficiency. And when it comes to MSP customer success efforts, these gaps spell doom for customer satisfaction. If you don’t house all your support information in one place, it impacts the speed at which you can resolve customer tickets. Consider; every time your IT techs have to stop and track down information to assist a client, they waste precious time.
Data centralization and automation help your team achieve their KPIs and improve customer satisfaction. However, you cannot simply throw money at a random app and expect things to change. You must choose wisely.
By selecting a solution that offers robust client portal software to centralize all your customer information and offers IT process automation within a single platform, your team will spend less time searching and more time-solving.
Helpful Hint: For even more ways to save time through centralization, ensure the software you choose will integrate with other tools. Look for a solution that connects with apps like Microsoft Teams, Datto AutoTask, and ConnectWise to consolidate even more.
Streamline Your Team’s Workflow
IT process automation accelerates your entire customer support process. Let’s take a detailed look at what an automated customer support journey looks like with the right tools.
- Simplify Form Submission: Your client portal software can give you a leg up starting at your first support touchpoint. Create custom forms and ticket request types for your clients to simplify ticket submission and quickly specify the request type for your internal team.
- Route Tickets Appropriately: Customers want to interact with the right person upon initial contact. Build workflows to route clients to the appropriate technician the first time to avoid extra friction points.
- Trigger Action & Workflows: Smart tickets generate new actions or trigger complete workflows based on ticket updates. Administrators can create the customized criteria for these triggers to maximize efficiency.
- Automate Approvals: IT automation keeps your team at optimal productivity by automating approvals in-app to accelerate ticket progress.
- Prioritize Your Critical Tickets: Expedite urgent issues and fast-track your VIP clients automatically to tackle your most pressing items first.
- Standardize Replies & Automate Follow-Ups: Save your team’s time by triggering automatic replies and follow-up communication asking for any outstanding details.
- Update Clients Regularly: Informed clients are happy clients. Send automated updates on ticket status and other important information.
From ticket submission to the final resolution, find a client portal, or one that works with your PSA, that automates your process from end-to-end with clear visibility for your team and customers.
Enhance Customer Communication
Automating IT processes further saves time for MSP techs by improving customer communication. Your client portal software can make the experience more user-friendly through custom menus and easy navigation, so quotes and ticket submissions are simple to reach. Your customers can also chat with techs in real-time through the portal to get questions answered quickly.
You can automate critical messaging to cut down on confusing and extraneous back-and-forth over support tickets. For example, some platforms like DeskDirector allow you to trigger automatic updates on an open ticket and pre-empt inquiries by sending outage notices and offering customers helpful visibility through automated digests.
Finally, prove your value by sharing analytics and reports with clients and offer valuable training and informational content. You can further collect their feedback by automating surveys to get a pulse on customer experience.
Drive Better Business With IT Automation Tools
In order to reach optimal performance, your MSP IT techs need to automate as many tasks as possible. This way, they can focus on problem-solving and assisting customers. Faster ticket resolutions mean happier customers, reduced labor costs, and a higher ROI. Empower your team with a robust customer success platform and enjoy the business benefits that come along with it.
Want to see how client portal software will boost your business? Try the DeskDirector free trial today. 
