MSPmentor

Successful selling requires an understanding of the buyer’s mind, and most MSPs fail to develop a clear understanding of their customer’s true needs. Specifically, many MSPs don’t understand why buyers do — or don’t — buy from them. Great businesses take the time to understand their buyer’s psyche. Let’s delve a little deeper.

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Back in May 2010, I wrote a blog post called “Selling the Real Value of Managed Services.” Now I’m back for an encore because sales strategies — what works, what doesn’t — is the core issue facing aspiring MSPs. I believe it’s key to understand what you are really selling to your prospective clients in order to bolster your sales efforts. Let’s take a look. So let’s take a closer look at what you may be doing wrong… and what you can do right.

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A vital component of building your managed services sales and marketing strategy is defining your ideal customers. Most small VARs and MSPs fail to do this and it’s a critical mistake. They try to be all things to all customers. They do break fix work, managed services, deal low-budget customers, high-budget customers, end-users, and businesses of all sizes and shapes and verticals. It’s time to simplify. Here’s how.

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We have all dealt with upset customers. They often blame us for issues that are out of our control. It happens all the time. It’s the nature of the IT support business in which we compete. But, there’s good news. You can use proper support as competitive advantage. Here are seven ways to do so.

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At Virtual Administrator, I get to work with a lot of small IT providers and Managed Services Practices. I have noticed a common mindset that many, if not most of them have that hinders their ability to get new clients and build a thriving business. They are fixated on selling their services purely based on cost and features.

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What services should you include — and exclude — in your managed services offering? A recent call from one of our Virtual Administrator partners got me thinking about that question. John (a fictitious name) told me a story of a managed services client who demanded a service I feel lies outside the scope of a reasonable managed services contract. Here’s the story, and some guidance for established and aspiring MSPs.

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Normally, I like to keep my blogs to advice and tips on how to market and sell managed services. This month, I am going in a different direction. I want to ask you a question that I am unsettled on. I want to hear your opinion and get your thoughts on this. After making the switch to a managed services business model, what do you do with customers who refuse to give up your break-fix services?

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A lack of focus on sales is a common error I see a lot of small MSPs make. Heck, most have no dedicated sales staff or sales plan whatsoever. The standard way of doing business is to wait for the phone to ring and hope for new business. This is a mistake. All great businesses are built with a strong sales attack.

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Do you want a few quick and easy ways to upgrade your customer satisfaction now? The answer lies in your phone — and the following four tips. They’re simple tips. But will you actually embrace them?

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Running a managed services practice is all about generating recurring revenue. Too many small IT providers get so hung up on the service part of Managed Services that they forget about the other ways to make recurring revenue. Here is my top ten list of ways to generate recurring revenue.

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Marketing seems to perplex some small VARs and managed service providers (MSPs). Despite the misconceptions, there are tons of easy, low-cost, and even free ways to market your business. To help out, I have organized a list of 10 easy marketing ideas…

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Recently, a friend of mine who owns a small business told me “Paul, I tried marketing and it didn’t work.”  I asked “What kind of marketing did you try?” His reply, which I’ll share in a few sentences, mortified me. And it offers some important lessons to managed service providers.

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Recently, our company was brainstorming new and creative ways to get a foot in the door with SMBs to sell Managed Services. Times are tight, so it takes a little ingenuity to nail down an initial chat with business owners. You need something that will get them excited, and Managed Services doesn’t always do that by itself.

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Our VirtualAdministrator partners often ask us how to package and price their managed services offerings. Structuring your offering correctly can be vital to the success of your business. If you charge too much, you risk scaring customers away — charge too little, and you cheat yourself. Too many plan options confuse customers, while too few limits your market. A great method to use is a tiered offering. The Silver, Gold, and Platinum approach as we call it. Here’s how to get started.

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From time to time we hear about “zero-day” or other critical viruses that garner national interest, and require immediate action. The most recent example was the Conficker virus. Naturally, business owners started asking “am I protected?” As we looked at the steps necessary to resolve this issue for our own customers, we were again reminded why being a Managed Service provider is so critical.

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Making the switch from the traditional “Break-Fix” model to a “Managed Services” way of doing business can be a frightening prospect. One of the most common questions we hear from our partners is “How do I sell this to my clients?”  Most VARs feel hesitant to present an MSP way of doing business to their already existing break-fix customers, and understandably so. Here’s how to overcome that issue.

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