In business and life, the only certain thing is change. During the pandemic, the need to interact remotely nurtured the rapid adoption of digital tools in the workplace – allowing remote workers to service global customers. From remote-only to hybrid workplaces, the norm has shifted in how we service both our customers and manage our teams. On one hand, this presents an enormous opportunity for MSP businesses to increase their market share. But, as many organizations have learned the hard way, it’s not easy to build an optimized and profitable remote or hybrid workplace. In our experience servicing a growing community of over 1,000 MSP helpdesk organizations, one thing has become clear: efficiency is the kIn business and life, the only certain thing is change. During the pandemic, the need to interact remotely nurtured the rapid adoption of digital tools in the workplace – allowing remote workers to service global customers. From remote-only to hybrid workplaces, the norm has shifted in how we service both our customers and manage our teams. On one hand, this presents an enormous opportunity for MSP businesses to increase their market share. But, as many organizations have learned the hard way, it’s not easy to build an optimized and profitable remote or hybrid workplace – and it’s not going to get any easier or less complex for IT providers. In our experience servicing a growing community of over 1,000 MSP helpdesk organizations, one thing has become clear: efficiency is the key to profitability, particularly in this challenging labor market, and the top way to drive efficiency is automation. Here are some of our top takeaways for MSP helpdesk organizations for why increased efficiency is the key to optimizing your remote or hybrid organization for profitability – and client and tech satisfaction.
Top 3 Remote & Hybrid Workplace Takeaways For MSP Helpdesks
1. There’s No Going Back When It Comes to Remote Work.
According to industry studies, as far back as 2021 70% of companies were planning to adopt a hybrid model, and that same year 66% of employers were investing in redesigned workspaces to accommodate remote and hybrid workers. The decision to offer hybrid or remote work is not right for every business, employee, or MSP helpdesk. That said, we can’t control the way our clients choose to work, so the shift to hybrid and remote working is likely to impact our businesses in some way going forward.
And that presents a huge challenge for MSPs. As you well know, security risk skyrockets when you can’t control variables and you can’t be sure where people are working each day when they’re working remotely. It also makes it challenging to schedule with people across time zones and communication service preferences. While it’s a challenge, it’s also an incredible chance for solo MSPs to garner market share that was previously unavailable to them. The key is efficiency and optimization through investing in the right technology and solutions to empower your ability to work securely beyond your local geography with remote employees and/or clients.
We designed TimeZest to work across time zones and to seamlessly integrate with the PSAs your service team is already using, like ConnectWise Manage and Autotask, as well as for owners working in Office365 and integrate with your and your clients’ preferred communications applications like Teams or Zoom. We also make it easy to reschedule, eliminating no-shows and the frustration of scheduling ping pong for your clients and helpdesk team.
2. Seamless Integration Is A Necessary Efficiency.
At TimeZest, we’re MSP-industry veterans and we understand the burden on dispatchers and tech teams to provide fast, effective service to your clients – especially when you are working across state lines and time zones. In our lightning-fast modern business environment, it’s on us as service providers to meet our clients where they are – not force them to communicate and engage in the way that works best for our organizations.
We designed TimeZest with this level of near-instant integration and white-glove service in mind. Here’s how we did it:
- PSA Integration: siloed solutions are cumbersome and force you out of your workflow to engage – and, even then, support scheduling can quickly devolve into a game of scheduling ping-pong that costs your company more than 2 weeks every year. TimeZest integrates into existing platforms like ConnectWise Manage and AutoTask so the support appointment is scheduled during the ticket generation process quickly and efficiently.
- Communication Tech Integration: if you’re using phone or email to schedule support appointments, you’re leaving money and client and tech satisfaction on the table. We have to communicate where our clients are communicating, so we designed TimeZest to work with your (and your clients’) existing preferences for communication, such as Microsoft Teams.
3. Attracting & Retaining Top Talent is Paramount.
One of the key areas to operational efficiency is avoiding churn. Onboarding and training new talent are costly activities, so MSP helpdesks must attract and retain top talent for the long haul. Unless you have a watertight, efficient process in place, when a valued, experienced tech leaves, they take their knowledge and efficiency with them. From rescheduling support tickets to client no-shows, these seemingly small losses of time add up to both lost revenue and team member dissatisfaction and burnout. Automation is the key to preserving your talented tech and dispatch team members for the high-value work that you hired them for – and for your growth and success in the market.
When your techs are harried and taxed by inefficient scheduling, your clients feel it. One of the most exciting pieces of feedback we receive at TimeZest is that our solution helps MSP helpdesks improve client perception of their helpdesk team’s availability. Their helpdesks are just as busy before and after implementing TimeZest, but new TimeZest customers have shared that complaints about them being available to help clients went away. Our revolutionary automated scheduling solution ensures techs are assigned to the right jobs for their skills at a time that is mutually beneficial to the client and the tech. In short: everyone’s happy.
Your Partner For Whatever’s Coming Next
Automation is your key tool to avoid being left behind in this rapidly changing and challenging marketplace. As MSP helpdesks well know, the changes we’re grappling with today will surely be different a year from now. The truth is – the problems MSPs are facing aren’t exclusive to support teams – and neither is the opportunity for increased profitability. Sales, marketing, and virtually any department in your organization can benefit from the efficiency that comes with automation. We’re here to help with our revolutionary scheduling automation solution, TimeZest. To learn more about our seamless PSA integration and how you can harness the power of TimeZest to optimize your MSP helpdesk, start your 14-day free trial today.
