Are you a B2B company? Do you have Service Legal Agreements in place with your customers? If not, then you are missing out on an important opportunity to be able to improve customer retention and satisfaction.
What is SLA?
A Service Legal Agreement is a contract between a service provider (can be either internal or external) and the end user that defines the level of service expected by the service provider. They are output based in a sense that their purpose is to specifically define what the customer will receive. In short, it is a commitment between a service provider and a client. SLA’s are by contract agreed upon terms between a company and its customers that ensures that the services provided meet certain thresholds. With many companies striving for a high level of service, let us look at why SLA’s are important in the Business to Business industry. Here are the key reasons:
- Strengthen customer relationship from the core
From a customer’s perspective, entering into a business relationship involves a high level of risk. As we all know, a bad relationship leads to operational issues, thus impacting the bottom line and professional career. SLA’s hence come to the rescue: ensuring safety net of accountability that most commonly businesses use to alleviate the fear.
- Increase new business
There is no doubt that a good SLA strategy can lead to an increase in a new business. Leveraging business SLA’s is an incredibly powerful sales tool. Hearing about the success and impact of a thriving SLA program can either make or break a deal. This is a crucial factor especially for those prospects with an experience of poor service delivery in the past.
- Create clear and defined communication boundaries
While defined SLA’s provide clear guidelines for employees to communicate with customers, the benefits of SLAs are not completely one-sided. A carefully constructed agreement can also be leveraged as a resource by the employees for difficult conversations. For example, many companies have that one customer that never hesitates to follow up several times a day and to check in on the status of their issue. When this is happening too often, an SLA can be a key document in reaffirming communication guidelines.
When failures do occur, however, SLA’s prove to be incredibly valuable—to both the parties. This is just a loose outline for an SLA— while some can get very granular and formal, others can get quite informal. The key is knowing what to expect, what you can assume, and what processes are in place to make sure that the service remains consistent.
