Making the Most of Service Level Agreements

Improve customer service by utilizing service level management tools

Making the most of service level agreements involves human and technological resources. Information technology (IT) is a field in constant evolution, where assessments, reviews and audits continue on a daily basis to improve products and service. In current times, sometimes customer service is the only thing that sets your organization apart.

Train your employees to seek customer satisfaction with an eye on cost-to-service ratio, then use developing technology to track performance against existing service level agreements. If you want to improve your service level agreement skills, review the following information:

1. Creativity and flexibility are necessary for an SLA manager.

2. Service level agreement software and tool kits ease development fears.

3. Service level agreements are dynamic documents.

 

Choose an SLA manager

An SLA manager is a major component in creating and managing service level agreements (SLA). This multifaceted position requires skills ranging from sales, education, negotiation, communication, facilitation, conflict management and psychology to organizational knowledge, respect for others, win-win concepts and SLA experience. SLA manager responsibilities include (but are not limited to) point of contact for difficulties, conflict resolution, change processes, effectiveness assessments, service reviews, growth opportunities, delegating and training.
Try: The SAS Institute provides access to an article that details the role of an SLA manager. For a computerized approach to SLA management, see Enterprises for options.

Examine the wide array of SLA software and tool kits available

With training and knowledge, creating and managing SLA documents is manageable and brings growth to your organization. For a sample service level agreement form, audit/review questionnaires, training and more, check out the tool kits available. They ease intimidation factors of developing SLAs. Also take advantage of SLA management services, software and templates to build a service level agreement that satisfies provider and client.
Try: QMS software provides a toolkit that promises to manage service contracts, performance evaluations, escalation and more - plus they offer a free 30-day trial.  The SLA Guide provides service level agreements, sample templates and more; it walks you through an agreement clause by clause, so take a look at the resources available for do-it-yourself tools.

See change as improvement when updating a SLA contract

Service level agreements and commitments develop from current trends and situations, so SLA documents are dynamic and need periodic reviews for updating. Use service level management when SLAs require change due to environmental shifts, changing client needs or expectations, workload changes or improvements in measurement tools and processes.
Try: For in-depth information about the living document (SLA), see Karten Associates. Microsoft provides detailed stages for reviewing an SLA.

 

• Once you receive customer and performance tracking feedback, review the results with a focus on turning weaknesses into strengths. This is a benefit of having an SLA.

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