With 25+ years of experience, Michelle Coombs specialises in transforming IT operations and service delivery for MSPs and internal IT teams. Her expertise combines business performance management, IT service  management, and leadership development.

She focuses on helping MSPs move from “in the business” to “on the business” thinking while addressing operational costs and customer satisfaction challenges. Her mission to eliminate “Wild West Service Desks” and create streamlined Service Control Centres demonstrates her strategic approach to operational transformation.

An Interview With Michelle CoombsHow to Empower MSP Teams to Solve Their Own Problems

In one role, Michelle managed 70+ employees on 24/7 service desk support. “Sometimes I was tempted to go in and fix the problem for them. But I knew that I had to take a step back and ask the team what they needed from me.

“How can I overcome those blocks to them doing their job, and how do I communicate better with them to make that happen? And over time, I developed a technique that worked really well. I stopped them coming to me for my suggestions.

“Instead, I encouraged them to say, ‘Michelle, this is my problem and these are the solutions I’m considering.’ Then I’d help them to decide which of those would be best for them. Sometimes I thought it would be quicker even then to do it myself, but they wouldn’t be self-sufficient.”

How to Deal With Business Bottlenecks

Bottlenecks do happen in business, says Michelle. But once you realise that there’s one in your MSP, then you need to act to eliminate it. Michelle gives an example of one small team she helped to look at challenges in a new way.

“One team member was the bottleneck because they were the only person who could raise a ticket. Whenever a customer had a problem, the other staff would have to go to this individual to have tickets logged.

“And if they were offsite, the team had to wait until they came back. So the obvious thing to do was to set everyone up with the ability to log tickets. But when it’s the way something has always done, it’s hard to look at it with fresh eyes, even if the current process is inefficient.”

Using a Coaching Mindset to Empower MSP Teams

No matter how small a team, Vera says, a leader with a coaching mindset can make a huge difference to how it performs. Michelle explains that it wasn’t something she experienced at the start of her career, but was fortunate to learn it in a later role.

“I started a job with a really supportive Chief Operating Officer who included me in things. He put me forward for the senior leadership team’s coaching and development programme, which was amazing. And then I was managing my own team.

“At first I used to think, ‘Why won’t these people do what I want them to do?’ I thought it was their problem. But I soon saw that it was the way I conveyed the messages to the team. So I did a heap of work on myself to make myself a better manager and leader for my staff.”

The Importance of Everyone Using the Same Helpdesk Procedure

MSPs operating 24/7 monitoring and resolution are relying on teams to work nightshifts without any supervision. So, Vera asks, how can management make sure they perform the same way as the day shift?

Michelle says they need to have appropriate soft skills and customer training and understand how to interact with customers. If someone rings up with a problem in the middle of the night, they’re already worried. So tone of voice and how the employee communicates with the caller is crucial.

“But I think there also needs to be work around quality. Obviously there’s CSAT and so on to make sure the customer is happy with the service they received. But you could also do something like a ticket quality check to make sure that they’ve captured all the notes.

“Have they logged it correctly, done appropriate triage and decided on the next steps, whether that’s escalation or a fix. Do a random quality assessment on 10 tickets for each person to make sure they’ve done what they’re supposed to.”

How to Empower MSP Teams to Deliver Better Customer Service

Many MSPs have a process whereby the technicians wait until they’ve got customer feedback before closing a ticket. But of course, that feedback doesn’t always come. So how can MSPs and their teams better engage with customers?

“The biggest challenge I had as a service desk manager,” says Michelle, “is that team members wouldn’t just pick up the phone and speak to a client. They’d use every other method to avoid it.  They’d send an email, ping a message on Teams, whatever they could do.

“But if they would just make the call, all the little mop-up bits could have been dealt with in 10 minutes. And the MSP would have have happier clients. So if there’s one thing I’d encourage more people to do, it’s pick up the phone and talk directly to customers.”

Prioritising the Human Element in a Tech Business

At a time when AI is reducing interactions, the best thing for our very technologically advanced industry is to go back to a phone call. Being human is the solution, says Vera, and Michelle agrees.

“Think about when we first introduced interactive voice response services (IVRS) when people rang up and they’d end up repeatedly hitting zero so they could speak to a real person.

“Using AI is like putting IVRS in all our businesses in one shape or form. And yet we all want human interaction. AI might be helpful, but I don’t think it’ll take over the world of support desks right now. We all need help from a human.”

How to Connect With Michelle CoombsVisit the Tech Leader websiteVisit the Oprising websiteConnect with Michelle on LinkedInHow to Connect With Vera and LenkaSubscribe to the Wired for Connection RSS FeedFollow @tubblog_msp on InstagramConnect with Lenka on LinkedInVisit Vera’s website: T-ConsultingFollow T-Consulting on LinkedInFollow T-Consulting on FacebookFollow T-Consulting on TwitterConnect with Vera on LinkedInMentioned in This EpisodeSMB IT Expert: Robert CioffiMSP peer group: GTIAMSP peer group: The Tech TribeYou Might Also be Interested inPodcast: How to Succeed with Excellent MSP Customer ServiceHow to Inspire Your Team to Plan Ahead – and Stay Accountable – in 2025Elevate Your Client Retention Strategy With Outstanding Customer Service