5 Marketing Habits That Keep Your MSP Business from Growing

5 Marketing Habits That Keep Your MSP Business from Growing

Feb 17, 2016

In our last blog, we share how you can combat the idea that MSPs won’t give you the support you need when you need it . In other series blogs, we also covered the common myth that MSPs are determined to replace your existing team, and the myth that MSPs are too expensive. Now let’s take a look at a major concern: security.

Are your clients still on the fence when it comes to relying on an MSP vs internal IT? Do they worry that it will mean a serious risk to their security? They’re not alone, but we’re here to dispel that myth with some serious facts to help you ease their concerns and earn their business.

70% of businesses would prefer to pay for support in matters of cybersecurity, rather than do it themselves.
Your clients are likely among those businesses, focused on keeping security strong but not armed with the right staff, resources or expertise to take it on in-house. So now they’re worried about how to staff up or working on understanding managed services and how they might be able to help.

 

What Do MSPs Do?MSP vs internal IT – busting MSP myths

Well, when it comes to security, a lot. Security is one of the top five concerns for businesses all over the world right now, which means your clients are just as worried about it as you are. But handing over access to their most important data and systems makes your clients understandably nervous about security risks. It’s up to you to help them understand that you’re on their side, an expert in locking down their security and ready to make security simpler.

Your clients need to hear that you have their security top of mind. Help reassure them by reinforcing your focus on being ahead of new attacks, and recommit to your position as their cloud guru, ready and able to help them move everything to the cloud without risking their vital information.

 

Advanced Security Protection

Just like the rest of the managed service provider industry, you are devoting time and resources to making sure your clients can work on-site or migrate to the cloud with minimal downtime and maximum protection. As you speak to current and potential clients, let them know that security is one of the main reasons a company will choose to work with an MSP, and help them see that you’re the one who will armor their businesses against threats, allowing them to focus on growing faster thanks to your proactive protection.

If you’re talking to companies looking for IT managed services, leverage security as a foot in the door instead of a roadblock. Counter their concerns with your expertise, dedication and focus, and you’ll start seeing the benefits as new and existing clients turn to you for their security needs.

It’s time to get the information you need to combat MSP myths and get down to the business of helping your clients succeed. Download our guide to Busting MSP Myths today.

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Close More Deals with Better Sales & Marketing Tactics

Close More Deals with Better Sales & Marketing Tactics

Feb 3, 2016

Last week, Marketopia CEO Terry Hedden (@thedden03) appeared at ITEXPO in Fort Lauderdale. This is the only event dedicated to communication solutions for the enterprise mid-market, resellers and managed service providers.

While there, he spoke as part of an interactive panel discussion and lead a session for MSPs entitled “Sales & Marketing: Lessons Learned from the Trenches.” Terry’s presentation focused on what it takes to close more deals and find more opportunities for MSP businesses.

In case you missed it, here’s a quick rundown of the key points to help you improve your sales and marketing efforts in order to grow your business.

 

Strong Teams Drive Your Sales Process

Your sales team gets the gears turning by working together – but separately – to make your machine hum. Each team member knows his or her role and understands the importance of that role within the sales process. Whether they are the one focusing on qualifying passive leads, the closer, the cross-seller or the one responsible for a smooth transition to the account manager, they each have a distinctive part to play.

 

Here are three key steps to the selling process:

Prospecting: Defines specific targets based on ideal customer profiles,
as well as leverages advanced prospecting techniques and enables technologies to produce a steady flow of leads.
Sales Team: Finds the right connections and perfect-fitting clients. Then, they close the sale and start clients on a continued process of upselling and cross-selling.

Sell to Success: The circle continues, starting with the team finding the right fits, focusing past the close and finally, pulling, not pushing the sale.

 

Get Physical with Your Professionalism

There’s a reason that “dress to impress” is such a common phrase. This is because not all communication is strictly verbal. How you are perceived needs to be the reality. You have to be able to communicate that you can be trusted, that you are knowledgeable, and that you will create a path to success.

When it comes to your proposals and sales quotes, you want them to also really shine and look professional. Proposals and quotes should:

  • Remind them you are a trustworthy partner.
  • Convey a solutions description in a way that’s easy for them to understand.
  • Convey project tasks.
  • Present solution components.
  • Look perfect; remember, perception is reality and professionalism makes a difference.

 

Measure Results. Learn from Mistakes. Constantly Improve.

Unfortunately, clients rarely come knocking at your front door looking for services and support. Instead, it’s a process that takes a lot marketing efforts to find those leads and turn them into clients. In order to be successful, you have to create a marketing plan that is best for your business.

 

Formulating the perfect marketing plan requires:

  • Strong Commitment
  • Repeated Messages
  • Multiple Mediums
  • Consistency
  • Diligence

 

When it comes to marketing, you must remember that this is not an expenditure. It’s an investment for your business. You must be committed to your plan and stay patient. Create a budget you can stick to; we recommend 3% or more of revenue. Your return on investment (ROI) should be measured quarterly or semi-annually, because it takes time to make a close.

 

Final Note to Consider

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to successfully marketing your business. It’s not something that can be put on the back burner. You can’t just send out one email every now and then. That’s throwing away your money.

You might want to look at outsourcing if you are not a marketing guru or don’t have the resources for a dedicated marketing professional. Marketopia is an MSP and IT services marketing agency uniquely positioned with expertise throughout the entire IT channel and dedicated to helping businesses just like yours.

At the end of the day, however you go about it, you need a solid sales team, professional proposals and a diligent marketing plan. With these gears in place, your business will be growing faster in no time.

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Here’s Another Way to Grow Your MSP Business: Transition to Sell Cloud

Here’s Another Way to Grow Your MSP Business: Transition to Sell Cloud

Jan 27, 2016

We were on the road again last week. This time on the West Coast in sunny California. Los Angeles to be exact. We were invited by our partner CompTIA to help present a five-module cloud training course for attendees to earn their Executive Certificate in Cloud.

Marketopia CEO Terry Hedden (@thedden03) led the sales module. It was entitled “Selling Your Cloud Solutions.” He spoke directly to those who are new to selling cloud solutions or simply want to improve their results.

In case you weren’t able to make it out to LA last week, we’ve broken down and truncated Terry’s presentation here so you can also rake in the benefits of making a successful transition to selling cloud solutions.

 

Evolve Your Sales Team & Process

When you make the move to selling cloud solutions and cloud management services, you will quickly realize that to be successful, you need to make a few changes to how you sell.

However, if you take in and execute each of the following steps, you’ll be well on your way to joining the best-in-class solution providers who have already successfully embraced the cloud business transformation.

 

New Sales Model: There are two different sales paths you can take.

  • An integrated approach is when an existing sales team represents cloud solutions.
  • A separate approach establishes a separate cloud-focused sales group.

 

Sales Team Makeup & Skills: In order to develop an effective cloud sales team, there are three different types of roles you need to put in place.

Consultative Sales Executives – Focus on finding what’s right for the client. In the integrated model, they will understand when an on-premise solution is a better fit.
Inside Sales Team – This team is well-versed in selecting cloud solution opportunities based on their understanding of their clients.
Account Managers – They help nurture the recurring revenue stream associated with cloud solutions being sold.

 

Updated Sales Messages: After you make the move to cloud, your sales team will be engaging in new conversations with prospective clients. There are four primary messages they must convey:

  • Access to New Solutions
  • Lower Total Costs
  • Operating Expenses (OPEX) vs. Capital Expenditure (CAPEX)
  • Business Growth

 

Stronger Sales Process: You will also need to adjust your sales process. Specifically:

  • Demand Generation – Identify well-qualified leads.
  • Sales Close – Have a sales team that sticks to the script and doesn’t negotiate.
  • Account Management – Renewals are critical for the recurring sales model.

 

Sales Compensation: Opposed to the traditional IT sale, selling cloud delivers its revenue on a steady subscription instead of a one-time payment. This leads to new ways to pay your sales team. Whether it’s annuity payments, up-front disbursements or incentives, you have to discover which one will work best for your team and business.

It’s no secret that nowadays the cloud is affecting all businesses. Current and potential cloud clients can be identified across the entire spectrum from small business to mid-size business to the enterprise. No matter which client segment your managed service provider business serves, there’s plenty of opportunity through offering public, private or hybrid cloud solutions.

Of course, these companies are looking to grow. Access to previously unavailable technologies is allowing them to improve their business efficiency. Because cloud service adaptation is increasing faster than many expected a few years ago, now’s the time for your MSP business to embrace the transformation to selling cloud.

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