We’ve mentioned (here and here) how much more profitable it is to sell a premium program that gives the customer better outcomes than it is to negotiate on labor rates.

 You’ll need a few things to sell a premium program:

1. Technology-enabled differentiators
2. A proactive maintenance and/or inspection plan
3. A defined service level agreement (SLA)

The goal of your SLA is to clearly state your customer service promises that will reduce their pain and indicate how easy you’ll be to work with. Your SLA should cover:

• Your commitment to respond. Be specific about how quickly you will respond to emergency work.
• A promise of a priority response. Give your attention to them first for maintenance or inspection work over customers that haven’t committed at the premium level.
• How you’ll share the risk. Explain that by buying into the program, they’ll receive a valuable customer rate and/or eliminate some additional charges that non-plan customers pay like trip charges or OT labor.  

You don’t have to go so far as to promise to love, honor, and cherish your customers, but let them know what you promise in return for their agreement to buy in at your premium program level.