Expectations are good! - Part 2

In part 2 of the 3-part series on a perspective into SLA Management and Customer Expectation, let's look at some basic checkpoints on SLAs that can help build a rock-solid foundation to manage customer expectation.

An SLA Checklist Built Around Customer Expectation

Defining a comprehensive SLA and process is the first step to ensuring the business goals and IT are well aligned. In most cases, users/customers will end up defining expectations, if the business fails to do so, and more often than not, they will not be met.

Building a comprehensive SLA cannot be a templatized approach. As with each organization’s unique goals and resources, SLAs must be carefully defined such that they access the organization’s resources and strengths, address and mitigate the shortcomings while ensuring the continuous exceeding of customers’ expectations.

The following is a checklist that aims to address a few of the many considerations that go into creating a comprehensive and effective SLA structure whilst keeping in mind how it is intertwined with customer satisfaction.

1. A clear mission

Defining mission statements for the IT organization is one of the best methods to ensure there is a clear alignment with the overall organizational vision and mission. Why does the IT org exist? What are its responsibilities? How will it empower the organization to achieve its business goals? Document a clear mission statement that forms the fabric of your organization’s service desk. Ensure that your mission statement (and perhaps even the roadmap) is believable, achievable and implicitly followable by the service desk team members.

2. Scope of the service desk

‘What services can we and can we not provide as a team?’ Defining the gamut of services to be made available is the first step in creating a strong SLA structure. Consider this stage as an opportunity to take a long, hard look at the standard of any existing services and prioritize on bridging the gaps where needed. While documenting scope, include service exceptions, special cases, grievance redressal, escalation policies and contingency plans.

3. Stakeholder buy-in

SLA setting must be an organization-wide exercise. The complex inter-departmental relationships necessitate that all departments involved must be represented. Direct involvement of all teams is thus imperative and is a chance to map out the various roles, responsibilities, and requirements at provider, customer and even management levels.

Attempting to reach consensus helps foster healthy relationships, mutual respect, and ownership between stakeholders. Defining clear escalation matrix will identify the roadblocks/anomalies in the case of SLA breach.

4. Metrics, Reporting, and Cost

Defining the qualitative and quantitative measures are a no-brainer in the SLA drafting process. Metrics are more than just operational and performance-related data and must include a plan that covers additional KRAs at team levels, reporting frequencies, a list of reporting stakeholders at all levels and roadmaps for the future.

Cost is another key consideration determines outcomes at many stages of this checklist. For example, the cost difference between 4-hour response and a 1-hour response is significant. Unreasonable expectations arise from lack of clarity in terms of the cost to deliver the desired outcome. Then it becomes a negotiation.

5. Transparency and Feedback

Transparency, especially in tense situations helps create trust at both stakeholder and customer levels. Being accepting of mistakes prevents ‘passing the buck’. Strained relationships between teams usually have a ripple effect at customer experience and overall satisfaction levels and not in a positive way. In such cases, regular updates and empathy have a better chance of winning back understanding and trust.

It’s essential to open channels that facilitate feedback from all stakeholders. Many organizations are wary of negative feedback but must instead see those as opportunities to bridge gaps in the overall customer experience and strive towards the greater goal of continuous improvement. Learnings must be incorporated as part of the regular SLA review and setting process.

Stay tuned for part 3 where we discuss the efficacy of looking at SLAs and Customer Satisfaction through different lenses and how making the choice to lean in heavily on either one requires a holistic view of the mutually accepted expectations.

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