Terry Hedden (00:00)
Today’s guest with the Grow Limitless podcast is Austen from Falcon Networks. His story might be one that resonates with you is because he is a right-hand man who joined an MSP that had been in business for 30 years. They had achieved some success, sure, but the pace was slow and they were running more of a lifestyle business and now are driving a rocket ship. If you want to be inspired, if your business is one who got stagnated, you want to explode and achieve your ultimate goals objectives,
This one’s a must listen.
Awesome man, I am so glad that you’ve decided to join the GROW Limitless podcast. I’m eager to hear your story about what led you to become an MSP, some of the challenges you faced, and kind of how things are going now. ⁓ Kick us off, Austen, tell me a little bit about your journey. What led to you becoming an MSP?
Austen Scheer (00:55)
Well, I’m gonna change a little bit of the format here, because I’m actually a bit of a special case. ⁓ I’m the right hand man to our MSP’s owner, ⁓ Alan Winkle is the one who started our MSP. He started it 30 years ago, actually, ⁓ this year, 30 years ago. ⁓ I’ve been working with Alan for several years now, and I’ve been in the MSP space for about seven years. ⁓
Falcon Network Services is primarily focused, well, we’re in the southeast area of Michigan, our specialty is in the healthcare vertical and several other compliance-oriented verticals, compliance-driven verticals. So that’s kind of just the gist. ⁓ So I wear a lot of different hats. It’s hard to give myself a title, ⁓ but.
That’s a little bit about me and about our company.
Terry Hedden (01:58)
Okay, so you’re in a position where you want to help the owner achieve the goals for the business. Talk to me, I guess more on the marketing sales growth side. What was the solution that got them where they are today?
Austen Scheer (02:13)
Well, where we are today is actually pretty unique. mean, we started with Marketopia very recently and ⁓ we’re here because we want to grow and we want to take advantage of a more structured sales process. ⁓ We’ve gotten to where we are today because our clients love us and they love to refer us. ⁓
Terry Hedden (02:37)
the best kind of lead possible.
Austen Scheer (02:39)
Exactly, ⁓ but you know that the market being what it is that slowed down relatively so we’re hoping to take advantage of like I said a structured sales process just being a bit smarter with our marketing and our sales so that we can expand our reach pick up more clients
Terry Hedden (02:57)
Yeah, that’s great. the success that you had to get you where you are, what was the main, is it word of mouth that got you the leads and then just great at building relationships? Is that how you were able to close those deals?
Austen Scheer (03:12)
Yeah, it’s definitely word of mouth. ⁓ We’ve had great success with our partner relationships, vendor relationships. They’ve brought us a lot of business. And, you know, once we start a relationship with a new client, it doesn’t take too long for us to establish the trust and, you know, the relationship. And it’s certainly a huge focus of ours, kind of blending high security with high touch service, you know, so
It’s sort of a natural fit once you get that first conversation, moving it past the, you talked a lot of, you talked about it a lot at the peer groups, you know, building trust in the sales process is a bit of a novel concept ⁓ to us and thinking about that more intentionally.
Terry Hedden (03:59)
Yeah, well, plan to fail and fail to plan, right? So going in there with the intent is gonna yield the result you’re looking for. So Austen, walk me through the process that you went through in terms of, I guess kind of figuring out the word of mouth isn’t gonna get you where you’re trying to go. And then you went out there looking for different solutions. Walk me through that process. I know you ended up with Marketopia, but my guess is you probably didn’t just stumble into that one and sign on your first day. You probably did some due diligence, ⁓ internal reflection, kind of what’s best for us, what do we need the most, and then you made that decision. Walk me through that process.
Austen Scheer (04:36)
It’s kind of funny because we’re sort of just, ⁓ we’re onboarded with Marketopia in large part because of your marketing. it just sort of, you struck at the right moment because we’ve been, in the last 12 months I’d say, we’ve just come to the realization that we’ve got to make a bigger investment in marketing and in our sales strategy. So push came to shove and the first marketing call, that we got, we knew we’d gotten a lot of ⁓ outreach from Marketopia in the past, and Alan was like, you know what, it’s time for us to have a conversation with these guys. And it didn’t take long. mean, we had conversations with your solutions team and kind of sealed the deal. mean, it was right place, right time. ⁓ So for us, it was just a bit of a…Yeah, I would just say it was a good fit ⁓ timing wise and so that’s how we got started. mean stales were the way they
Terry Hedden (05:40)
compete it was just us or nobody huh
Austen Scheer (05:43)
I mean, we’d gotten a lot of calls. I’d say that reputation ⁓ for Markitopia, your reputation preceded you in a good way. We’d heard a lot about Markitopia and we’re part of the, I’m trying to, for some reason my memory is escaping me, IT nation, I think it is.
Terry Hedden (06:07)
And that’s why I can’t nation of all periods
Austen Scheer (06:09)
I, you know what? It’s, might not be IT Nation. I’m trying to remember what it’s called, but we’re,
Terry Hedden (06:13)
you of the peer groups?
Austen Scheer (06:16)
No, I don’t think it’s that. Hold on. Let me just pull it up. I’ve got it right here. For some reason, it’s just escaping me. we’re a part of several groups. Frankly, we’re very tool set oriented. We’re always connecting with as many platforms as we can to learn more. But long and the short of it is, we’ve gotten referrals, or references from these platforms we’re a part of.
Terry Hedden (06:48)
That’s great. Well, mean, hopefully, you know, we’ve been in business for 11 years. We produced more qualified sales appointments than all of our competitors combined. So I’m thankful that there’s the reputation out there and that people know about us and say good things. it’s appreciate that little, ⁓ little bit. You know, it’s Running a business is not always easy and maintaining your reputation can be very difficult, especially over time. 11 years, we’ve probably helped a thousand MSPs grow over those 11 years.
You want everyone to achieve their potential. Talk to me about yours, Austen. What are your sales goals? I know you came into the organization with some personal income goals, I’m guessing. Tell me about those. Tell me about the company’s growth goals. And I guess, how do you feel you are in terms of being on track to achieve them at this point with the decisions you’ve made up to today?
Austen Scheer (07:45)
Well, being that we’ve really just started, know, we’ve got big goals. We want to pick up at least one client a month, ⁓ you know, which in the grand scheme of things shakes out to, you know, several leads and a certain percentage turnover or conversion rate. ⁓ And a lot of that is just frankly new to us. We’ve not been focused on sales hardly at all ⁓ in terms of, I would say, a structured sales process. That’s really where
We’re wet behind the ears. We’re new to this. We’re babies. ⁓ you know, like I said, that’s our goal. ⁓ We right now, I think, have to come to terms with the amount of investment that is required from our staff. know, we’re going to need to put a lot of effort internally into that sales process that you outlined and that we’re digging our teeth into. ⁓ So it’s a commitment, it’s an investment, and we’re just kind of really starting with this. ⁓ Yeah, that’s sort of where we’re at right now.
Terry Hedden (08:59)
Okay, well it sounds good. A customer goal a month isn’t a lot, right? Like you say, it’s just a math equation. How many leads do need? How many pitches do I have to do to get to the one a month? It’s a math equation. People in this industry, frankly, I commend you for even having that strain of thought because so many people in this industry almost see it like magic. Like, oh, I just, you know, it’s hard to grow two customers a month or one customer a month. You’re like, actually, no, growing two customers a month is simply twice as many leads as one customer.
It’s not that hard, know, it’s a math equation, but people tend to overthink it. What was your background coming in Austen to kind of give you that perspective of understanding that sales and marketing are really just processes and you do a certain amount of things that gives you a certain amount of at bats, you know, and then that converts to a certain number of pitches and that converts to a certain number of customers. What was your background to kind of bring you into this business with that mindset?
Austen Scheer (09:56)
funny. I’m⁓ tooting your horn a lot here, Terry. mean, I’ve learned ⁓ basically all I know about sales through your process so far. I mean, I’ve not really been a sales guy. I’ve been a customer relationship guy, ⁓ technical guy. My focus, ⁓ I mean, maybe I would say sales to ⁓ on a small scale when it comes to just products and services to our existing clients. ⁓ But looking at sales as a process that you can understand and can systematize is new to me. And frankly, I think the fact that I don’t have any prior experience or, you know, I guess the experience of maybe running an MSP on my own helps a lot because, you know, I’m watching your videos and it’s soaking it in. I’m learning a lot at once. And I think it’s a great introduction.
Terry Hedden (10:55)
Love it. I’ll tell you Austen, I share that optimism. One of the things that, one of the challenges helping entrepreneurs and small businesses is that to have the opportunity to help them, they had to succeed. So helping people who’ve achieved goals and maybe built a business that makes a million in revenue or whatever, gives them a certain amount of…skills and experience but also hubris about it, you know, and it helps sometimes to have someone come in with just a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of ears and not all of that experience because what got you where you are today very seldom is going to get you where you’re trying to go. And that really applies a lot of MSP because so many businesses are built on word of mouth leads. And the process of converting a word of mouth lead to a customer is very different than one that’s going to convert a stranger to a customer. so marketing doesn’t, well, Our goal in marketing is to get leads from all sources So we try to market every month to referral partners to get you more word-of-mouth leads But the reality is that even doing that there’s a finite number of those ⁓ Out there. It’s a lot easier to find people who are interested in learning about your products and services You know, they’ve never heard of you or maybe they’ve gotten some emails or some phone calls But at the end of the day, they don’t know you and they don’t know anyone who knows you at least from their knowledge so they they require a more of a nurture. You’ve got to climb that ladder to earn the right to make them a customer. You’re starting off with a stranger and you certain amount of emails and certain amount of looking on your website might get you to rung one and then getting some white paper, some case studies, maybe looking at some social feeds gets you to number two, getting some phone calls to kind of build that relationship, talk about their the business and their needs and that type of thing. Maybe you get you to rung three or four and at the end of the day you’re walking in the door on rung four of that 10-step ladder.
And you’ve got to earn the right to climb the other six steps to win the deal. Whereas on a word of mouth lead, you’re coming in on step eight. Someone else put their reputation on the line. To elevate you beyond what you really deserve to be, or you could view it as you’ve earned it with that other company to earn that trust, but at end of the day, it’s a lot easier to go from step eight to step 10 than it is to go from step four to step 10. So you’re coming in with a fresh set of eyes, and I’m telling you that the chances of success with you is a lot higher than it is for someone who comes in thinking they know the answer and they just need more leads. Because at the end of the day, giving leads is very easy for us. The reality is it’s a math equation. If we do twice as many emails, we get twice as many customers or meetings. If we do twice as many phone calls, we get twice as many customers. Twice as much digital spend, we’ll get twice as many at best. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if we get you one appointment or a hundred appointments, you got to close the deal for anything to happen. Sales is the R in ROI, right? We are the I, the investment, but you produce the R. So come in with that mindset. I would applaud you for that and tell you that your chances of success are a lot greater.
If you have the work ethic, the discipline, follow the teachings in there and just run the system. If you do that, you’ll win more than your fair share and it’s ironic to say that, but sometimes coming in with less experience is an asset. So you fall into that category. So you’re probably a lot more positioned to succeed than you give yourself credit for. Just coming in with a good attitude is a great indicator of long-term success.
Austen Scheer (14:33)
I appreciate you saying that, Terry. That definitely boosts the wind and the sails a little bit. mean, it’s something that we want to strive for, ⁓ being committed to a process, devoting ourselves to the system that is proven. I think it makes a lot of sense. That’s one thing that can, you were talking about how MSPs sort of view it as magic they get this ⁓ lead suddenly and they’re just gonna convert it and they’re gonna get customers that way. ⁓ I think in some way, sales as a language is a bit ⁓ foreign to a lot of MSPs and maybe a bit mystical in a sense. And so it helps to demystify it by being, laying it out the way you have. ⁓It is a structured process. really like that language of earning the right to get to the next rung of the ladder. ⁓ Because ultimately, I think that’s what it is. Even after the sales process, when you’re working with the client, you’re earning the right to maintain that relationship, to continue that relationship. It seems logical that it would happen before you’ve started the relationship. You earn the right to the next date or what have you. So that makes a lot of sense.
Terry Hedden (15:59)
A lot of people these days have an entitled thought process. They know they’re great. So why, of course, I’m entitled to the meeting. Or I know I’m the best, therefore I’m entitled to pitch my services. people love me, and therefore I deserve the leads. You’re like, no, actually you really don’t. At the end of the day, you’re not entitled to anything. At the end of the day, virtually everything in life is about giving something to get something. And the reality is you’ve got to invest in that relationship.
And you’ve got to invest your time energy and talent and helping that prospect get from Who’s this Austen guy to you know what Austen’s my guy? I want to dedicate I want a five-year contract annual price escalations automatic renewals full bore managed services 250 bucks a user That’s a journey you know from how do you spell Austen because you’ve got a unique spelling all the way up to I’m ready to get into a long-term business relationship with Austen So that’s great, so you started to study the methodology you came to the on-site peer groups.
What are your initial thoughts? I guess what have you, ⁓ what are your thoughts on the digital learning? What are your thoughts on the peer groups and the live training so far?
Austen Scheer (17:10)
I it’s great. I thought the peer groups were a great introduction to your company. It was great to network with other MSPs, hear about the state of affairs in our industry from different perspectives, different MSP owners. That was a huge help and a huge insight. ⁓ The topic of AI has had my brain just firing on all cylinders all day long. Every day I’ve been doing all kinds of AI research recently, that was excellent topic. I can barely recall all of the things that were covered, but it was a huge help. It was great.
Terry Hedden (17:59)
Awesome, well that’s great to hear man. I’m really happy for the opportunity and thankful for the opportunity to work with you. I look forward to you being on the peer groups in the future, coming to more on-sites and also consuming that on-demand learning that is gonna be able to help you learn at your pace. You don’t have to travel to Tampa to sit with me. You can literally consume it when you want and I’m confident you’re gonna be successful. You come with a great attitude, great presence about you and I look forward to watching you succeed and thrive as a managed service provider salesperson.
Austen Scheer (18:33)
Thank you, Terry. I appreciate it.
