The last insight on “Why CSAT Scores Lie” sparked some brilliant conversations. Many of you recognised the "feedback theatre" problem - collecting CSAT scores religiously while missing the bigger picture of relationship health.
But here's where most MSPs get stuck: you've got the early warning system working, but what do you actually do when red-flag customers start popping up?
Your NPS scores are flagging at-risk relationships, your CSAT trends are showing service delivery issues, and your response rates are declining for certain customers. You can see the problems coming, but you need systematic processes to address them.
This is where the magic happens: transforming feedback intelligence into structured improvement processes that actually save relationships and prevent future problems.
Most MSPs operate in permanent reactive mode. When something goes wrong internally, they fix it and move on. When a customer relationship starts deteriorating, they throw more resources at it and hope for the best.
This approach has three major flaws:
The result? Being stuck in firefighting mode, burning out their teams and losing customers they should have been able to save.
Continual Service Improvement (CSI) is your internal improvement engine. It's the systematic process of identifying what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change to deliver better service.
CSI isn't about perfection - it's about consistent, measurable improvement over time.
SIP: Saving Relationships Before They're Lost
Service Improvement Plans (SIP) are your customer relationship recovery tool. They're triggered when specific red flags indicate a customer relationship is at risk.
Think of SIP as relationship CPR - intensive, focused intervention to get things back on track.
Here's where it gets interesting: good CSI prevents most SIP situations; and a SIP situations root cause will more than likely (read: should) land on your CSI register.
When your internal processes are running smoothly, you're less likely to have the service delivery failures that trigger customer relationship problems. When you do have issues, strong CSI processes help you learn from them and prevent recurrence.
But even the best MSPs will occasionally need SIP processes. Sometimes external factors (customer organisational changes, budget pressures, unrealistic expectations) create relationship challenges that require structured intervention.
When you're focusing on service improvement, you’ll need baseline measurements to know where you stand. If you're not currently tracking any metrics systematically, take a look at some examples below.
These core metrics form the foundation of any improvement programme. The key is establishing baseline measurements first, then setting realistic targets for improvement – oh, and make sure you cascade the metrics to all involved!
I used to find that having specific trigger criteria that helps identify when a relationship needs immediate attention through a formal Service Improvement Plan (SIP) really useful. You can find an example one below.
The beauty of this trigger system is that it gives you early warning signs before relationships reach crisis point. Some triggers (like SLA breaches or formal complaints) automatically activate SIP processes, while others (like communication reduction or budget pressure) flag for review and potential SIP.
Important note: The RAG (Red/Amber/Green) thresholds shown in our comprehensive metrics framework are suggestions based on industry benchmarks - you'll need to adjust these based on your current performance and improvement goals, or establish your own measurement criteria that reflect your business context.
Even if you're starting from scratch with no formal measurement processes, simply implementing these basic tracking systems will give you the visibility needed to move from reactive firefighting to proactive improvement.
While the trigger system tells you when to activate a SIP, there are hundreds of other metrics that help you understand how well your Service teams are performing. These include relationship health indicators, service recovery measurements, and business protection metrics.
If you're not doing either process systematically, start with CSI. Here's why:
1. Foundation first - You can't consistently deliver great customer service without solid internal processes
2. Easier to measure - Internal metrics are more within your control
3. Immediate impact - Process improvements show results quickly
4. Prevents SIP situations - Better internal operations = fewer customer relationship crises
1. Pick your key CSI metrics that address your biggest pain points (don't try to track everything)
2. Set up monthly review meetings - 1 hour, same time each month
3. Identify the biggest pain point from your metrics
4. Define one specific improvement action - not ten, just one (you can add more when you’ve nailed the process, got the capacity and making progress)
5. Implement and measure for 30 days
6. Review results and adjust or move to next priority
Once your CSI process is running smoothly (3-6 months), add SIP for your highest-risk customers. Start with clear trigger criteria and a simple escalation process.
So what do you need to do when one of the SIP triggers has been activated? Here's a simple process you can introduce to make sure you have a good handle on your at-risk customers.
If you want to implement SIP processes immediately, we've created comprehensive templates you can download and use right away. These include everything we've discussed:
You can grab the spreadsheet with the triggers, metrics and SIP templates, click: Download the complete SIP Implementation Templates
These templates will get you started with systematic relationship monitoring and recovery processes. You can implement them in spreadsheets, track progress manually, and start seeing results within weeks.
But here's the thing: Managing all these processes manually gets complex quickly. When you're ready to automate the monitoring, streamline the workflows, and scale your improvement processes across your entire operation, that's where Oprising comes in.
Our platform takes these manual frameworks and transforms them into automated systems with dashboards, alerts, and accountability tracking that actually works. Because let's face it - spreadsheets are great for getting started, but they're not great for getting stuff done consistently.
Start with the templates. Scale with Oprising.
Most of your competitors are still operating in reactive mode. They fix problems when they occur, but they don't systematically improve their processes or proactively manage customer relationships.
By implementing both CSI and SIP, you're building:
CSI and SIP aren't just nice-to-have processes - they're an absolute necessity (I might be *slightly* biased!). In a market where technical competence is table stakes, your ability to continuously improve and proactively manage relationships is what sets you apart.
Start with CSI to get your internal house in order. Add SIP to protect your most valuable customer relationships. Both processes require discipline and consistency, but the payoff is transformational.
Your Service Desk doesn't have to be in permanent firefighting mode. With the right processes, you can move from reactive chaos to proactive control.