Would you feel comfortable flying in a commercial airplane knowing the pilots skipped the pre-flight checklist?
What if the pilots announced that this was their hundredth flight and they’re just going to run through the checklist they have memorized in their heads?
You’d probably be thinking, “Excuse me stewardess, I’d like to get off this airplane now.”
The SOP Advantage
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are documented processes that ensure quality and reliability of service. Just like the pilot’s checklist, SOPs allow businesses both large and small to create a consistent experience for customers. In the business of Managed Service Providers (MSPs), delivering standardized services for your clients allows for human error to be minimized, quality of service to be consistent, and profitability to be increased.
High Business Valuation
By executing SOPs in your MSP, you are able to value your business at a better rate. Why? Because SOPs are an asset to your business. SOPs can differentiate you from your competitors. Customers will see your standardized practices as an advantage. By developing and sharing SOPs with clients, you can contract a much better price structure.
Scale with Quality
Just like building a house, you want your MSP to be built on a solid foundation that can withstand the test of time. SOPs allow you to scale your business with consistency. With SOPs in place, you’ll have a much easier time onboarding new employees and clients. Without SOPs, your business will run inefficiently as you and your employees complete hours of re-work.
Things to remember!
Build an SOP Culture This is probably the most important aspect of the onboarding process. Lead from the top-down and share the importance of documenting procedures with your employees. By solving problems “with” your employees and not “for” them, employees will acknowledge the benefit of creating and utilizing SOPs daily.
A Common Misconception Do you think an SOP template tool is too expensive for your MSP? My number one recommendation is to not skimp in this area of your business. Whether you are a large or small MSP, when building the foundations of your business, you’ll want an SOP tool that is easy to work with and meets all of your business needs.
The Secret Ingredient: Selecting the Right SOP Tool
You may have some options when choosing an SOP tool for your business, so what should you look out for? We've prepared a short checklist to help you make the right decision.
Here’s a quick SOP Tool checklist and examples to think about when onboarding a new SOP tool:
Centralized: Does it provide easy centralized access for your team and clients?
Auditing: Does it have an auditing element in order to track changes?
Flexibility: Can you use the tool for what you need?
Ease of Use: Is it simple to add or edit documents?
Hosting Method: Do you want a SaaS product, or do you want to house your own?
Setup: Does it require a huge amount of effort to setup?
Industry: Is it industry specific, with ready made content?
SOPwerks
Ready to create SOP's for your MSP business? We can help! Our mission at MSPwerks is to develop MSP tools targeted to help MSP's run their business, reduce employee stress, increase overall productivity, and generate healthy revenue. Our MSP tool, SOPwerks, is an easy-to-use, online platform that makes creating quality SOP's simple and fast. Create your own SOP from scratch or use one of our MSP SOP templates filled with checklists designed by MSP industry experts. Learn more here: MSPwerks.com
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