vCIO Allstars 12/3- Emotional Intelligence/ Client Relationships

 

 

Chat Log 

 

00:17:55 Jeroen Potters | PIT Pro: Like to know how everyone is keeping track of client status / build out a Customer File
00:22:29 Jared Belcher: Appetite for change is variable at each company as well. They may be resistant to change, or they may be cognizant of their employee's resistance to change and have accepted that.
00:22:59 Jared Belcher: Their level of trust towards you is important to how they receive that as well.
00:24:13 Rob Danser: Absolutely
00:25:18 MarcHutzell: These questions will be part of every SBR I do and will be what I will talk about first. • What motivates your business? • What is changing in your industry? • What changes do you see for your business? • What things are holding you back? • What is working well?
00:26:15 Matt Cortner: Similar to Marc, we use these 10 questions derived from that business canvas model Rob was talking about. Items to discuss\know about our clients (derived from the business model canvas): 1. Who are the clients’ key partners? 2. What are the key activities of the client? 3. What are the key resources of the client? 4. What is the clients’ cost structure? 5. What is the client’s value proposition? 6. Who does the client have vendor relationships with, how are they? 7. What channels does the client use for product and services? 8. Who are the clients’ key verticals or customer segments? 9. Where does the revenue stream(s) for the client come from? 10. Are you trying to grow or sustain?
00:26:50 Jennifer Berry: Ooh, I like those
00:28:24 Bill Taylor: "What does success look like in the next 3 years" when talking to a business owner can go a long way, too :)
00:28:47 MarcHutzell: I like that question!
00:29:29 Rob Danser: 👍
00:30:37 Bill Taylor: Also... suggestion, learn about their KPI's and how they measure success. If you can understand their KPI's and show that your efforts are improving their business by their measure of success it can be extremely impactful
00:31:11 FabrizioB: Sometimes the internal IT Manager represents a wall between the decision makers and the vCIO and recommendations, how do you work to get those managers on you side and avoid the feeling that you are there to take their job?
00:35:49 Bob Tukin: I offer to have the meeting at a restaurant. No one says no to free food.
00:36:41 Erin O'Donnell: @Bob yes that was big for me to, pre-COVID of course. I live in a very blue state, so we've been on lockdown a lot.
00:39:49 FabrizioB: Thanks!
00:40:18 MarcHutzell: i use Zomentum
00:40:24 Joel Osera: Post ITs? lol
00:40:39 Bob Tukin: Trello
00:40:40 Jared Belcher: Rocketbook and Connectwise
00:40:45 brandi: CW
00:40:51 Matt Cortner: CW, One Note
00:41:32 Jeroen Potters | PIT Pro: My question was more towards how you structure the info, not per se the tool itself
00:44:18 Jennifer Berry: I'm interested in this too, that's something that has been lacking for us
00:45:33 Joe Giltner: We document that type of information in a section called "Client Summary" in IT Glue. It gets updated regularly by the vCIO and Network Admins as conversations evolve over time.
00:46:00 Matt Cortner: we use IT Glue for company notes
00:46:15 Jennifer Berry: We have a section for that type of info, we just rarely fill it out...
00:46:23 brandi: we do something similar Marc
00:48:02 Erin O'Donnell: I use CW Manage in the contact profile section.....Or notes in the activity entry on my schedule. With my rocketbook, I always save the file as "YEAR.MONTH SUBJECT MEETING". Then, when anyone goes into the company in Manage, they can search attachments uploaded by the me (or the vCIO) with "meeting" in the description and they'll pull up all of my notes
00:48:08 Jennifer Berry: yea, that's what I'm wondering. I'm trying to build out a standard list of info, but still trying to figure out how to standardize that per client
00:48:32 Bill Taylor: Once you know what you want to track, build fields into a CRM (or something like it) and update them after every meeting. I think HubSpot has a free CRM. Then you can easily report on the fields as long as the system you use allows for it
00:48:40 Bill Taylor: Or just what Matt said :)
00:48:40 Jennifer Berry: I am looking to create a "client snapshot" as well, about the tech they have, do they have servers or are they 100% could, where's there email, what's their backup solution, etc.
00:48:43 Jeff Solheim: ok, dumb question, what is CW?
00:48:56 Jennifer Berry: ConnectWise
00:48:59 Rob Danser: connest wise- not a dumb question
00:49:10 Erin O'Donnell: no dumb questions! the only dumb one is one unasked ;)
00:49:11 brandi: sorry, thanks JEnnifer!
00:49:21 Jennifer Berry: Aboslutely :)
00:49:40 Jeff Solheim: Thanks!
00:49:59 Erin O'Donnell: @Jennifer, we store everything client related in Passportal, and create the requisite entries in the Apps & Services modules
00:50:33 brandi: We use Hudu
00:50:47 Jennifer Berry: Yea, that was kinda my though, a quick snapshot of just what the solution is, and then the deep dive info in the relevant section
00:52:00 Erin O'Donnell: This is a screenshot of where we dump everything relating to the client. If you were to go into the Applications module, for instance, it would list the 11 LOB apps that this client uses, including whether they are on a server (and specifies which one), who the app owner is, if it is cloud based, which backup system is being used, admin credentials to manage, etc.
00:52:18 Jennifer Berry: I like that
00:52:25 Jennifer Berry: Thank you!
00:53:13 Bob Tukin: This is our general layout.
00:53:32 Jennifer Berry: Thanks!
00:53:35 brandi: We put that in ConnectWise but also I share that with the teams in our huddles
00:53:42 Jennifer Berry: Yea, I agree, those nuances are really hard to track
00:54:24 Jeroen Potters | PIT Pro: @josh spot on, that’s what I mean
00:54:44 brandi: I hightlight things if we have a "hot button" client we need to watch, we go through their DISC "profile" and remind the team to treat them carefully. A good thing to keep communicating with the team
00:55:05 Jared Belcher: We also have a decent structure in ITGlue for tracking client applications etc - but not for revenue, top vendors, top expenses etc isn't tracked anywhere.
00:55:07 Matt Cortner: good point, we use the credit hold memo pop up in CW as well.
00:55:21 MarcHutzell: our IT glue set up
00:56:45 Bill Taylor: Revenue streams, profitability, market position, strategic goals
00:56:46 MarcHutzell: we use MSPcfo to track customer revenue
00:57:04 Bob Tukin: We set Importance in ITG so everyone knows if a critical system/app goes down.
00:58:32 Isaac Grover: @Rob - is there a reason that EI topics are only held quarterly?
00:59:08 Jared Belcher: Maybe because buys don't like to talk about emotion?
00:59:23 brandi: 😆
00:59:32 Jared Belcher: *guys
00:59:34 MarcHutzell: :)
00:59:35 Bill Taylor: What an emotionally intelligent answer :)
00:59:46 Jennifer Berry: 😆

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