Over the past several years, we’ve seen a fundamental shift in the function of technical support organizations. We’ve moved from the simple work of identifying product defects into the more complex work of explaining to customers how to use and implement our software – and in some cases, even other peoples’ products. Bill Rose, SSPA founder and executive director stated it well in the June 2004 SSPA Perspective…”[m]ost modern tech support organizations spend as much as 85% or 90% of their time focused on usability issues, how-to problems associated with implementation, integration, and basic problems with how to use software applications -- not problems with the coding or functionality of the programs.” The increased complexity of support calls means increased cost per incident.

As we provide this increased level of support, we unfortunately find ourselves crossing the invisible line that separates pure support from consulting services. To make matters worse, in most organizations, that is blurred – at least in the eyes of customers. In an era of increased focus on the bottom line, we would do well to draw a clearer distinction between support and professional services, and maximize the revenue our companies receive from consulting services. How does an organization migrate in that distinction without degrading customer satisfaction and loyalty? There are a few key steps:

Define the scope of standard support internally -- Support engineers and management must agree internally on what is and is not covered under standard support. This may not be an easy task based on the complexity of the product and on the level of customization customers have performed on the product. There are some important questions that the scope of your support policy should address:
• Do you support only the current release, or the current plus “x” number of past releases?
• If your products are supplied in source code form, do you provide support when the customer has modified and rebuilt the source?
• If your documentation specifies supported environments (host OS, etc.), how far do you go in supporting customers running in different environments?
• How do you handle questions about integrating your product with a third-party product?

Answering these key questions will help you define what your technical support department should do. Anything outside this specification is then considered “out of scope,” and a possible opportunity for professional services – and more revenue.

Publish the scope of support externally -- Once a standard is developed and agreed upon internally, make sure your customers know what that standard is. Take every opportunity to educate your customers about the process and the scope of your technical support. Some ways to do this are:

• Add a “Scope of Support” section to your support web site.
• Include a support overview in all product documentation.
• Send a brochure or manual on support with every product shipped to a customer.
• Ensure that support and its scope is discussed in all training classes and seminars.

You should also educate your sales and field technical staff as to what the scope of support is, so they can set expectations and help resolve any misunderstandings customers may have.

Provide "boiler-plate" contracts for certain types of services work -- Many out of scope requests tend to fall into specific categories: backporting a fix from version "x" to version "x-1"; customization of a product to do a specific function; porting a hardware-specific driver from platform "A" to platform "B", etc. Rather than negotiating each opportunity individually, work with your sales and services departments to set standard prices for these types of work. Ideally, you’ll be able to set the contract and pricing in non-negotiable terms, which reduces the time and expense of reviewing and modifying contracts.

A clear delineation between support and services activity can provide substantial increase to your organization’s bottom line. Paid services opportunities will have an immediate effect. Services bundled with products can increase sales and strengthen relationships with customers—just make sure that the customer understands the total value of what you’ve provided them.