Commercial Integrator April 2023 - 11

tion with your customer at a business level,
beyond technology. Take them.
Tony Tsao (Purplo Consulting Inc.):
Prepayment or pre-authorized payment
plan, we've found, is the best way to prevent
this problem in the first place. Since
we moved clients to prepaid terms in our
MSP agreements and billing operations
about two years ago, we've eliminated
90% of this issue. For the rest (e.g., odd
break-fix projects, final payment missed),
our approach is not to wait. We recommend
establishing a standard follow-up/
escalation process such as this:
1. On the seventh and 14th
days overdue,
automated email reminder and
" friendly reminder " phone calls from
our frontline worker.
2. After 21 days overdue, a phone call from
our admin team and an official notice
with payment deadline by 30th
day.
3. After the 30th
day, send final notice with
five-days-until-service-suspension notice.
4. After the 35th day, suspend (but don't
delete) services.
5. After the 40th
6. After the 60th
day, send to the outsourced
collection agency.
day, turn to small claims
court. Where we operate in Vancouver,
Canada, there is a simple, expedited
online system called Civil Resolution
Tribunal for anything less than $3,000.
CI: If your client doesn't take cybersecurity
seriously and/or introduces
unnecessary vulnerabilities,
what are best practices for helping
them make that change?
Bodner: Of course, it is situational and
very much dependent on the services that
a client is buying and their expectations of
you as the IT service provider. But there is
no doubt that having a good " CYA " letter
signed by the client is a good practice.
And I think that getting people to become
more aware of the increasing importance
of cybersecurity is an educational process.
We should take it upon ourselves to find
ways to teach our clients.
Hassel: We use our best efforts to educate
the clients about security vulnerabilities.
We underscore the seriousness of breaches
and the costs to mitigate them. The old
adage " An ounce of prevention... " is what
we try to instill. At the end of the day, howcommercialintegrator.com
Tsao:
Communication, disclaimer
document and possibly resignation. We
schedule a meeting with the client to
explain why we believe certain cybersecurity
practices and safeguards are necessary
as part of its company risk-management
strategy. Lay out the must-haves and the
nice-to-haves, according to the risktolerance
level. Compromises may be
made, depending on the compliance and
regulatory level required. For any major
compromise that deviates from best practices,
prepare a disclaimer document for
the client to sign. If a client does not sign
and insists on skipping on critical safeguards
- especially if already breached
previously - be prepared to walk away
from the client since it may attract heavy
liability for the IT service provider.
CI: How do you deescalate the situation
when your client and your business
encounter a dispute about either
service levels or support hours?
Bodner: The first step is to have a good
MSA, a service level agreement (SLA) and
other legal documents in place. These
documents are meant to protect both
parties and bring clarity to the relationship.
Once the relationship is in place and the
" prospect " becomes a " client, " it's critical
to do a proper job at record-keeping
and documenting issues, trouble tickets,
communication exchanges, etc. When
client about expectations. Although
an inquiry or ticket may be responded
to outside of standard hours, that is for
our convenience. If a client wishes for
" platinum " service, there is an associated
cost. We have found that setting proper
expectations at the outset serves to minimize
conflict.
Jamgotchian: I can't recall something
like this having happened, but it's a phone
call or a face to face. Sometimes, you
need to let the frustrations get out before
you can have a frank discussion. Worse
case, you point them to your contract/
agreement. If you don't have those spelled
out there, that's a problem. But I don't like
doing that because, if you have to point
to the contract, there may be a bigger
problem afoot.
Tsao: There should be documented
SLA/hours and a dispute-resolution process
in each agreement signed. If a conflict still
arises despite that, the first step is typically
an open discussion on the differing views.
Issues can often be reconciled through
mutual understanding, negotiation and
concession exchanges. If the parties cannot
resolve conflict this way, it's important to
have an impartial third party to mediate or
arbitrate without resorting to court. Ultimately,
a clear and well-written agreement
that facilitates two-way communication and
understanding on both sides would likely
be the ideal way to handle disputes.
APRIL 2023 Commercial Integrator
11
'Ultimately, a clear and well-written agreement
that facilitates two-way communication and
understanding on both sides would likely be the
ideal way to handle disputes.' - Tony Tsao, Purplo Consulting Inc.
ever, it is the customer's decision to protect
themselves or not. If the latter is the course,
then a self-serving disclaimer is used.
Jamgotchian: We put them on notice.
We lay out the risks associated with their
decision and risky behavior. Most of the
time, this is verbal, but, if needed, we
provide a written notice. It states very
simply that you have chosen not to take
our recommended path and, as a result,
these are the risks associated with it. And,
as outlined in our MSA, you are responsible
for outcomes associated with it. It very
rarely gets to that.
a dispute does arise, stay level-headed.
Be solution oriented. And be empathetic
to the client. Opening with " It must have
been very frustrating to not be able to
access your email " is much better than
opening with " Well, you didn't download
the update like you were supposed to, so
it's not our responsibility! "
Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.
But, at the same time, don't be taken
advantage of. Communicate effectively,
and most of your problems will find a way
to get resolved.
Hassel: We try to be very clear to the
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Commercial Integrator April 2023

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