MSPmentor

Question: If you’re a managed service provider that resells laptops and other hardware to your customer base, how do you promote your company brand over the hardware maker’s brand? The answer comes from MJ Shoer, president of Jenaly Technology Group, a managed service provider in New Hampshire.

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I was watching CNBC over the weekend. A special business report explored how Phil Knight built the Nike empire. Ever wonder where that famous “Swoosh” logo came from? The answer involves a low-cost graphic design student from Portland State University. It’s a rather intriguing story, especially for MSPs that need to work on their branding.

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You’re a managed service provider. You’ve got a solid company name but you don’t have a solid tagline. That could be a big mistake. In the age of search engine optimization, I believe a strong tagline could be worth millions of dollars in new sales and market capitalization. Skeptical? Here’s one simple case study where a great tagline transformed a no-name technology company into a well-known brand.

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Alpheon and Do IT Smarter, two members of the MSPmentor 100, are proving there’s more than one way to brand a company in the managed services market. Both managed service providers have revamped their web sites and customer messaging in recent weeks. And in some cases, the efforts avoid the need to mention managed services. Here’s some perspective.

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“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”  Variations of this quotation have been attributed to Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford and other revolutionaries in our history. I’m not sure if anyone really knows who coined the phrase…but I don’t think anyone would contest its truthfulness. Planning and success go together like PB&J. And although we are fairly comfortable in planning our business meetings, sales pitches and supporting data I’m willing to bet that most managed service providers do not sit down and plan a marketing strategy.

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I spent Tuesday evening in New York City at a blogger conference, the Mashable NextUp NYC event. Guest speakers included representatives from major media companies and Web 2.0-crazed college students and recent college graduates. I bet many of those “kids” — armed with their Web 2.0 communication skills — could propel the managed services industry forward. But the Web 2.0 workforce also comes with some limitations.

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Generally speaking, IT managed service providers are technologists, both in training and previous professional pursuits. The managed services market is also highly fragmented, with a long list of small technology and software companies all battling for the attention and business of end users and IT service providers. The value focus in all of the selling and marketing efforts has resulted in a disturbing trend carried over from the hardware selling models: A focus on tools, technology, and features/functions. Here’s how to avoid that trap at all costs.

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Managed service providers often ask me what types of Web 2.0 technologies — if any — to embed into their Websites. If you read MSPmentor regularly, you know I praise MasterIT (an MSP in Bartlett, Tenn.) for their use of viral video. But earlier this week I stumbled onto Jenaly Technology Group’s redesigned Website. A quick look at both sites offers peer MSPs some practical guidance for Web 2.0 and video success.

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Amy Katz (MSPmentor’s co-founder) and I spent Wednesday visiting a range of companies across Southern California. We were particularly impressed when we visited inhouseIT, ranked No. 8 in last year’s MSPmentor 100 list. The executive team’s secret sauce: Sales processes, branding and projecting a professional business image.

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In part 1, I described how you can line up vendor money to pay for your branding efforts. Here in part 2, I explore a specific case study: In late 2007, Trailhead Technologies Inc. was a managed services provider without a clear brand — and without Web site.

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