Busting through today’s hiring challenges as an MSP

We all know how time-consuming current clients can be, especially when your goal is not to meet expectations but exceed them. But when you’re so focused on the daily management of your customers’ needs, this can limit your ability to bring on new clients and stunt your growth. Oftentimes, the sole idea of onboarding and supporting new clients can almost feel like an impossible notion when your team is already at capacity. 

When your team is stretched too thin, the initial idea is to staff up, but we all know “busy season” isn’t always year-round. So how do you keep techs engaged during occasional downtimes in ticket volume? 

Headcount is expected to fluctuate, but controlling costs is always a key consideration in any business decision. Headcount costs can be the most scrutinized aspect in any business, small or large. Plus, in the current IT hiring market bringing on new techs can be a costly, if not impossible, task. 

The current tight labor market has created a candidate-favorable hiring environment making it more difficult than ever to find the right team members to augment your organization. According to the latest CompTIA Tech Hiring Jobs Report, hiring activity for top tech jobs is up across all job role categories, with states like Texas, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey seeing significant increases in tech job postings. 

Another point to consider is in the post-pandemic era, with more people continuing to work from home, there’s an even greater requirement for infrastructure, software, and apps to help workers achieve their daily tasks. And now, as MSPs work to increase their reach, there are simply not enough qualified candidates to fill the necessary positions for scalability. 

You’re also likely to experience slowed innovation, missed project deadlines, burnt-out employees, and growth limitations when facing an IT talent shortage. But bottom-line—regardless of the known hiring challenges happening worldwide—you’re responsible for the satisfaction of your clients. If your help desk falters in any manner, you are going to be the first to hear about it. And more importantly, it’s up to you to be the first to remedy the situation. 

Before you turn to your human resources manager, hiring manager, or office admin to size up your local talent pool to determine your potential options, why not rethink your help desk strategy? 

Utilize your current headcount 

The turnaround time from hiring to a “fully integrated” employee takes some time. Training, adjusting, and sometimes just getting a new employee’s tech setup can take longer than expected. Depending on how quickly you need to fill talent, you might be better off reorganizing your current teams. Restructuring can allow your most talented team members to be dedicated to higher-purpose tasks and enable less-experienced technicians to handle time-consuming lower-value tasks. 

Think about the client perspective 

When deciding how and where you need to grow, it’s a good idea to ask yourself—and your team—would your clients benefit from a change in how you handle their needs? The answer to this question can give you insight into where you should prioritize growth and truly reveal if adding more employees will positively affect customer satisfaction. 

Think outside of the box 

How many new team members would you need to hire to make a real impact, and can your budget support that? Instead of petitioning for the ever-popular new headcount, try finding ways to accelerate growth within the organization. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but it is possible. 

Turning to experts in the Help Desk field is a wise option for you to consider. At ConnectWise, we’ve provided outsourced Help Desk services to MSPs large and small to fill in the gaps. We’ve seen MSPs grow their client base to new heights without adding a single technician, and we’ve seen large MSPs right-size their help desk team to fit their financial goals better. 

The appeal of an outsourced help desk is that it can be built to fit your unique needs. A great example is maybe you only need coverage on nights, weekends, and holidays to offer a higher level of support to your clients; an outsourced help desk can make that happen—and quickly. Or, perhaps you need an immediate response team for a single client that expects white-glove service; an outsource help desk can provide that service or alleviate your internal team of menial tasks so they have more time to provide the exceptional support that the customer expects. 

The ConnectWise white-label operational model ensures that when your clients interact with the ConnectWise Help Desk, it is clear that it is an extension of your team. Calls will be answered using your name and your clients will be provided with the exact support you specify. In fact, when you work with the ConnectWise Help Desk, each of your clients will be onboarded and given the same style of care your organization would personally deliver. On top of that, an outsourced help desk resource can: 

• Accommodate phone, email, and chat support  
• Support your organization during business hours, after hours, or 24/7/365 

• Integrate with the tools your team is already using  

But the most important aspect of the ConnectWise Help Desk toolset is cost savings. You won’t believe the expense improvements you can gain when you use the ConnectWise Help Desk. 

There is no end to the challenges ahead of you as a Help Desk manager; however, turning to ConnectWise to accommodate many of your help desk needs may provide just the remedy you’re looking for. Get started today by seeing how much you can save, and then let us tell you about all the technical expertise we can offer to your organization.