Selling software support contracts can be a lucrative strategy for an IT consultancy business.
However, IT companies should be careful to avoid these key pitfalls when determining the scope of these contracts:
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Supporting Obscure Software: While it is reasonable for clients to expect their IT company to support the common operating systems (OS’s) and office applications (apps), it is less likely that an independent firm can fully support custom-made systems or specialist lines of business applications. Agreeing to support these programs can be a time-drain and cause problems in terms of accountability.
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Allowing Third-Party Maintenance to Elapse: Clients sometimes assume that signing a support contract means that they can neglect other maintenance agreements they have in place. This can be dangerous, as companies can find themselves in a position where they no longer qualify for updates and patches. Software support contracts should work together with these agreements and not be seen as a replacement for them.
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Failing to Define Boundaries: It is crucial that IT support providers make very clear what can and cannot be expected as part of a support contract. For example, if weekend and after-hour support is not available or is separately charged, clients must be fully aware of this and agree to the terms. It is essential that a two-way dialog takes place so that nobody has unrealistic expectations.
Support contracts are a great way for your customers to have continuous IT support in place, while your firm enjoys more gratifying and financially lucrative client relationships.
What do you make sure you specify when you sell software support contracts? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below here.
And to grow your software support business, especially with SaaS and IaaS, be sure to enroll now in our free 7-day eCourse: Go-to-Market Strategy 101 for B2B SaaS Startups and Scaleups.
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