An IT Manager Speaks

We’ve talked a lot about servicing the end customer here on The Business of Tech. But when was the last time we heard directly from an actual end customer?

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Tom Cahue recently joined for a bonus episode, but he’s not the usual customer service expert I’d think to reach out to. He’s the IT Manager for the Mary Campbell Center in Wilmington, Delaware, and believe it or not, it was his own idea to stop by the show.

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After hearing the lessons he wants the MSP community to know, I have to agree that his story’s worth hearing.

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Keep reading for a stellar example of MSP / customer relations gone awry with a surprisingly happy ending.

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Cahue’s MSP Partnership

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Cahu’s work with the Mary Campbell Center is unique. They’re a long-term care facility for those with physical and mental disabilities with the goal of promoting independence. IT-wise, this means that the in-house team spends most of its time helping residents with their personal tech (Xboxes, iPads, Skype cams, etc).

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In 2011, Cahue decided they needed help with the back end of things, so they did a quick ‘MSP near me’ Google search and found a local provider. Local was important, as they needed 24/7 help with networks, switch management, routers, the firewall, and servers, and a 1-800 style of service wouldn’t work.

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However, around 2019, their small MSP was bought out by a nationwide network. Suddenly, their down-the-road person became a 1-800 number two time zones over. Their contract was bought out too, so nothing was supposed to change on Cahue’s end.

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Where Things Went Wrong

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Everything was fine for a while, but eventually, small inconsistencies between their original agreement and their new service began cropping up. What Cahue didn’t know was that the MSP upgraded their packages, leaving their contract in an awkward grandfathered-in-in-between.

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But this behind-the-scenes move wasn’t communicated to Cahue. And on a Sunday before Labor Day, a simple internet outage from DNS issues took 13 hours to fix with very little support over the phone. They told him he’d have to visit a local office, but this new MSP model was only open 8-4 Monday through Friday.

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Where Things Went Right

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Cahue’s board was ready to drop the MSP immediately, but they didn’t just fight to keep the Center as a client – they went above and beyond by flying people out to tour the facility, walking through the details of the contract, upgrading them to 24/7 service, building out a plan to improve equipment, and most importantly, taking 100% of the blame for the outage.

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Even better, when the MSP’s team jumped in to rebuild the relationship, they fell in love with the Center’s mission and took time to connect with residents. After seeing the tech in action and how it’s helping people, they ended up customizing the program to the Center and Cahue’s team.

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“Where there was a mistake, they found an opportunity to build an even more engaging and trustworthy partnership. And we couldn't be happier,” he said.

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Top Takeaways

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It’s easy to see why this story matters, but I asked Cahue to outline what, exactly, made the ultimate difference for him.

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He explained that despite being a small client to this large MSP…

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“Allowing us to feel special and communicate our needs to not only the people up top but also for them to come out and view our facility, take us seriously, talk to board members, talk to individuals who are very concerned, and eat a lot of humble pie, in lack of a better word, is how they showed me. They messed up, but they did everything right,” he said.

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Breaking this down even further, he shared three specific lessons for MSPs from the POV of an outsourcer:

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1)??? Name recognition: Define the exact people a customer will be working with and ensure everyone is comfortable with each other.

2)??? Policy clarity: Ensure customers know the exact details of upgrading policies and procedures, especially during and after a merger.

3)??? Collaborative expertise: Allow customers to ask questions about details and recommendations for industry tips like preferred hardware.

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Above all, Cahue believes that personality and value alignment are most important.

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For people in his position…

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“If you work better with a certain attitude of people, go with them and then vet their technical abilities later,” he said.

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For MSPs working with folks like Cahue…

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“Tailor your approach to a specific business. You can't paint with a broad brush on an MSB because so many different businesses are so different,” he said.

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The AI Question

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Would it be a BoT interview if I didn’t ask about AI? I couldn’t resist asking Cahue for his take on how generative AI may help his work, and his answer was quite interesting.

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On top of the obvious surface-level applications like chatbots helping customers with HR-type questions, Cahue is hopeful about AI’s potential to help with infection prevention:

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“I believe the predictive portion of AI in collaboration with Power BI is going to become more and more crucial because, in our infection prevention program, I think if we can spot trends before they become trends, we can stop at least the hospital transfers that we can control,” he said.

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He sees this potential for facilities housekeeping teams in particular. In an ideal world, he wants to use AI to predict where certain areas of the facilities might spread specific infections.

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No two customers are alike, but Cahue’s insight can strengthen any type of MSP relationship.

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Have these tactics worked for you? Do you have similar stories to add? As always, my inbox is open for comments, questions, or whatever else is on your mind.

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