MSPmentor

CEO Gary Pica and the TruMethods team never seem to stand still. Indeed, TruMethods, which focuses on managed services sales training, is preparing to host a Winner’s Circle event later this month in February. Here’s the update.

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In the classic reseller channel, sales and marketing back in the day consisted of hanging up a sign and waiting for customers to walk through your front door. That was fun while it lasted. Today, with the world becoming smaller and the marketing noise becoming louder, managed services providers like you have to fight through a whole web of marketing and sales options to make your impact. It is overwhelming, really. But don’t panic. Marketing and sales can be broken down into four major components. Here’s how to get started.

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Each Tuesday, MSPmentor’s Ask a Mentor service publishes a reader question and invites you to weigh in with recommendations. This week’s question comes from a Florida-based seeking some information on sales compensation strategies. Here’s the question and our reply…

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I had dinner last night with a few MSP industry insiders. One of them is a business intelligence expert. She spends her days focused on Google Analytics, lead generation and sales pipelines. Somehow, we started discussing early career moves. She mentioned her early experiences at the Olive Garden restaurant chain. To my surprise, she described how the Olive Garden measures employee performance (i.e., sales) and other daily business metrics. It made me think: If restaurant chains with college employees have mastered the art of the upsell, why haven’t MSPs?

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Increasing revenue without spending more is a tall challenge within your managed services business. But there are three potential ways to make that dream a reality. Here’s a quick guide to get your started.

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The greatest strength any one person can have is to understand their weaknesses. And if you’re a fledging VAR / IT Consultant that is looking to transition to an MSP, the reason you won’t be successful is that you can’t sell. Let’s have a grown-up discussion about the white elephant in the room. The reality is that you are an IT and tech person. You are really good at it and you’re Left Brained. I get it. None of us are great at everything. You gain your customers through referrals and the good work that you do.  You bill here and there, but it’s a lumpy process and you’re always off to the next fire. You have no time to think about building your business.

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Take a moment to think about how you want to start the New Year, as 2010 is coming to a close and you’re prepping for 2011. You’ve had personal New Year’s resolutions, probably even kept some of them. I propose four business resolutions for managed services providers, VARs and solutions providers; these are actionable and vital to the success of your IT business in 2011.

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Between end of quarter sales activity and the rum-pum-pum-pum of the holidays, Web 2.0 time is at a real premium. So help a blogger out.  Here are 25 top of mind, discovery-type questions that I like to use in order to qualify potential sales leads. What about you?  What are your favorite customer probes?  Let’s go for 50 and help each other get ready for a killer 2011.

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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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Regardless of the combination of managed services you offer to your clients, your success hinges on your ability to clearly demonstrate the value of those services.  You can have a killer software lineup, 24 hour service, and an iron-clad SLA, and you’ll still find prospects who hem and haw over everything from price to minute implementation details.  However, there are a few common objections that frequently come up in sales conversations with SMB owners. Here are the three most common objections and how to handle them.

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The managed services gold rush has created a cottage industry of consultants and organizations that are assisting MSPs with marketing, sales, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic business tasks. Three recent examples include MSPexcellence, MSPXchange and Ulistic’s MSP Marketing initiative. Here’s a closer look at each organization and its backers, plus a broader update on the coaches and pundits assisting MSPs with their business efforts.

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What’s the most logical place to find new revenue? One obvious tip: Check in with you existing customers and upsell them new services. But in many cases that’s easier said than done. What you really need is a simple, repeatable upsell strategy that you can use across your entire customer base. Here it is…

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Regardless of the industry, great sales rainmakers are a rare, but valuable breed. These top producers, typically the founders, owners, or head executives at small to mid-sized business, are pros at pitching their company’s value, building rapport with prospects and cementing new relationships, and ultimately closing the sales deal to acquire new customers. For MSPs, the “Rainmaker Sales Model” involves some rewards — and some risks. Here’s an overview.

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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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Our next two MSPmentor Live webcasts are fast approaching. Both events focus on sales and profitability strategies — though each event will lead down a different path. If you’re trying to bolster your managed security services revenues, sharpen your sales strategies or cut your operating expenses then take a closer look at these two webcasts. Here are some quick details.

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I have observed the very best MSP sales pros in action and I have witnessed the very average MSP sales “wannabes” perform at a much lower level. What do winning MSP salespeople do — day in and day out — to separate themselves and their companies from the competition? Here are five behaviors that separate winning sales pros from the rest of the pack.

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Want to steal some secrets to sales success from two of the world’s most successful managed services providers? Today’s MSPmentor Live Webcast (July 21 at 2:00 p.m. eastern) should do the trick. The topic is 5 Sales Tips From Two MSPmentor 100 Companies. Here’s a look at what we’ll cover during the webcast, plus some background on each one of our guest speakers.

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Want to steal some secrets to sales success from two of the world’s most successful managed services providers? Our next MSPmentor Live Webcast (July 21 at 2:00 p.m. eastern) should do the trick. The topic is 5 Sales Tips From Two MSPmentor 100 Companies. Here’s a look at what we’ll cover during the webcast, plus some background on each one of our guest speakers.

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When it comes to lead generation for managed services providers (MSPs), what’s really effective and what’s just hype?  It’s an age-old question that has riddled the channel for years and left many to take a shotgun approach to marketing and advertising, or even worse, to rely on their vendor and distribution partners for leads.  Either way you look at it, nobody is winning.

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Don’t settle for stagnation! With the economic downturn, you’d be smart to replace any lost business and pursue growth. Here in our local IT company, we’re ready for new business; we have the manpower and capacity, and there is plenty of talent we can hire if we need more staff. So here’s how we’re filling our sales funnel: a trade show.

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Sometimes the best managed services sales tips are short and sweet. During our June 23 MSPmentor Live webcast, ARRC Technology CEO Alex Rogers called on MSPs to rethink their approach to sales. Among Rogers’ three recommendations…

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N-able Technologies CEO Gavin Garbutt (pictured) appears addicted to a freemium software strategy. And there are indications that the freemium effort is catching on with end-customers and managed services providers. The latest N-able move involves free Windows password management software that could generate qualified sales leads for mid-market MSPs. Here are the details.

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Gary Pica, founder of TruMethods and a well-known managed services veteran, is onstage at the Ingram Micro Seismic Partner Conference in Dallas. Pica is sharing managed services sales tips. Here are some of the highlights, plus a hint about Pica’s next potential career move.

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