What is SLA (Service Level Agreement) and how does it impact customer satisfaction?

Service level agreements (SLAs) are a way to guarantee the quality of your service and the loyalty of any type of customer.

This service management enables customer satisfaction, which is nothing more than meeting consumer expectations in a certain amount of time.

Continue in this article and learn how to apply the SLA to your business through the following topics:

• What is SLA?
• What is the SLA for?
• What are the impacts of the SLA on customer satisfaction?
• How to apply the SLA?
• Stand out as a leader!

What is SLA?

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an accord between two parties, namely, the entity that will provide the service and the customer that will benefit from the service.

That agreement includes all the characteristics of the type of service that will be provided are specified in detail, as well as their deadlines, quality and the amount to be charged. Among them, we can mention:

• Definition of the results that will be achieved;
• The execution time required for the development of the activity;
• The people who will be responsible for each activity;
• Details about the level of service that will be delivered.

In general, the SLA can be applied throughout the sector that works with service provision, however, it is conventionally used in contracts of companies in the Information Technology (IT) area.

It is important that SLA metrics can guarantee the public's interest in acquiring a certain service, making it possible to identify the quality of the results obtained by the company that performs it.

For this, good communication with stakeholders can be very important!

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What is the SLA for?

If someone creates an SLA, it will be able to evaluate, measure and report service performance levels. Identify the positive and negative points, so that next time the team can correct what is necessary and replicate what is working well.

SLA also directly influences the level of customer satisfaction and the quality of customer service, being essential to improve their performance.

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What are the impacts of the SLA on customer satisfaction?

Now that you know what the SLA is for, let's take a closer look at some of its main benefits.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is related to meeting consumer expectations from the beginning of the purchase journey.

This variable is also related to the compatibility between the brand and the buyer's needs. A satisfied consumer promotes the brand.

It can be calculated by NPS (Net Promoter Score), CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) and CES (Customer Effort Score).

Communication Improvement

One of the main benefits of the SLA is to optimize communication between both parties to the contract.

In this way, those involved are aware of the obligations in a clear and precise way throughout the service desk with a good response time.

Increase in Loyalty

An SLA done right will bring greater customer loyalty.

This ends up being a benefit for both parties, as they will already be used to the quality and reliability of the service:

• The customer will not need to look for a competitor; 
• The service provider will continue selling, not being necessary to prospect for more customers.

Highest Quality Service Provided

Through the SLA, contractual services are more organized, following a standard, that is, all parties to the contract know exactly what must be provided, which increases the productivity and efficiency of the service.

This point will help the company when carrying out a satisfaction survey.

Flexible Contracts

Traditional contracts are usually plastered, everything that is written must be fulfilled. If any changes are identified, it will be necessary to create an amendment, making the process bureaucratic and time-consuming.

In turn, the SLA is simpler, being possible to edit whenever necessary. It is enough that both parties are in agreement, facilitating the execution of the service in an efficient way.

How to apply the SLA?

We will present the main tips that can be applied when preparing the SLA.

Determine the purpose of the service

It is essential to make clear to the customer all the objectives that are intended to be achieved with the execution of the service.

In addition, it is necessary for both parties to be aware of the benefits of the service, and the returns that will be obtained...

Not having a specific objective can reduce the chances of project effectiveness. So be very careful when performing this step.

Define project participants and indicators

After defining the objective, it will be necessary to present the people who will be involved with the project, both in relation to the contracting company and in relation to the service provider.

All activities that each member will be responsible for must be mapped, in order to monitor progress and ensure quality.

It is also important to define performance indicators so that each person's tasks are correctly measured.

Define performance metrics

One way to ensure that what was agreed is actually being fulfilled is by defining metrics (KPIs).

It will be up to the team, through the know-how of each one, to define the appropriate metrics for monitoring the following types of SLA.

Build the guidelines

Each type of customer has its rules and ways of dealing with service providers. Therefore, the guidelines need to be clear.

Therefore, it will be necessary to identify all limitations of both parties in relation to the project. For example, if there is a day when the service will not be available, it is important to make this point very clear to everyone.

There are also cases where one of the parties uses a means of communication that the other party is not used to, and it is also necessary to define this point.

Stand out as a leader!

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