If you’re a technology company trying to grow in the Managed Service Provider channel, the competition is fierce, and standing out takes more than just a great product. Today’s MSPs want more than a vendor, they want a partner who understands their business, supports their sales, and adds real value.
This guide will show you how to build lasting, revenue-driving relationships with MSPs and resellers by focusing on alignment, enablement and consistent communication.
Understanding the MSP Business Model
Every MSP business is different, but most share the same core goals: recurring revenue, client retention and predictable service delivery. That being said, the way they achieve those goals is different, and as a tech creator looking to sell your solutions, you need to understand that.
Here’s how to get started:
- Learn what services they offer and where your product fits
- Understand how they go to market and serve clients
- Ask what their clients are asking for and where they feel friction
Most Managed Service Providers provide solutions like cybersecurity, cloud migration, network monitoring, and helpdesk support, but the way they approach each service varies widely.
One MSP might bundle cybersecurity into a managed package with ongoing training and compliance checks. Another might offer it à la carte with different vendor tools. Understanding these nuances helps you figure out exactly how your solution fits.
Before reaching out, ask yourself:
- Where does our solution add value to their service stack?
- Are we helping them solve a specific pain point or open new opportunities?
- Can our product support their unique service model, not just a generic use case?
When you understand both what they offer and how they offer it, you can position your technology as a true extension of their business—not just another tool in the stack.
Engage in Genuine Dialogue
Go beyond sales calls and partnership pitches. Build relationships by attending IT service provider focused events, joining relevant LinkedIn groups, and scheduling informal discovery calls. Ask open-ended questions about what their clients are asking for, what keeps them up at night, and what support they wish vendors would offer more of.
Try this starter question: “What’s one area of your tech stack where you’d like more support or clarity from your partners?”
You’ll uncover both pain points and opportunities and it sets the tone for a partnership based on listening, not just selling.
Helping MSPs Bridge the Knowledge Gap
Not every Managed Service Provider comes fully equipped to support a new solution out of the gate, and there are good reasons for that.
They may have been working with another vendor for years, and your product introduces a new approach or requires a different mindset. Or they understand your technology well enough, but they don’t have the right sales collateral or technical documentation to confidently explain it to their team, much less to their customers.
They might be saying: “I like this, but I don’t know how to train my techs on it,”
or: “This is powerful, but I’m not sure how to explain it to my clients in a way that gets them to say yes.”
It’s not a question of willingness; it’s about having the right tools to succeed.
That’s where your enablement strategy matters:
- Provide onboarding that’s fast and role-specific
- Make your technical resources digestible and accessible
- Create plug-and-play tools for their sales and support teams
When you meet them where they are and help them ramp up with confidence, they’re more likely to embrace your product and bring it to market – with results.
Building a Partner Program
A successful partner program isn’t just a checklist, it’s a toolkit designed to help Managed Serviuce Providers market faster and confidently. The key isn’t just what you offer, but how usable and relevant it is.
If your program requires hours of self-education, guesswork in positioning, or piecing together sales materials, they’ll default to solutions that feel easier to sell. Your goal should be to remove friction, not create more of it.
Here’s how to make your program work for them:
Structured Training That Respects Their Time
Forget 90-minute webinars or manuals full of jargon. Break your training into bite-sized, role-specific sessions: one for sales teams, one for techs, and one for onboarding specialists. Consider building:
- Quick start guides
- Short video tutorials
- Interactive certifications they can add to their credentials
Looking for help building out partner training content? Marketopia can help.
Marketing Resources That Do the Heavy Lifting
Most Managed Service Providers don’t have a full-time marketing team. Equip them with ready-to-deploy, co-branded content they can customize and send with minimal edits. This could include:
- White-labeled email sequences for lead nurturing
- Editable pitch decks and datasheets
- Social media post templates
- Web banner graphics for solution landing pages
Want to scale this effort? Explore Marketopia’s co-marketing services.
Incentives That Drive the Right Behavior
Skip generic rebates. Create performance-based incentives that reward both activity and outcomes. For example:
- Bonuses for completing training or certifications
- Co-op funds for launching a campaign or event
- Margin increases tied to customer retention or service bundling
Make sure your rewards reinforce the behaviors that lead to long-term revenue—not just a quick deal.
Improving Communication with MSP Partners
Clear, two-way communication is the heartbeat of any strong partnership. It’s about creating a culture of transparency, responsiveness, and shared problem-solving. When Managed Service Providers feel heard, supported, and aligned with your roadmap, they’re more likely to invest in the relationship and champion your solution to their clients.
How to Improve Communication with Partners and Resellers
1. Establish a Regular Schedule for Meeting
Don’t just meet when there’s a problem. Create a flow for communication such as monthly partner syncs, quarterly business reviews, and ad hoc chats as needed. Use these meetings to:
- Share product updates or product previews
- Offer marketing or sales enablement support
- Ask for feedback and gather success stories
2. Create a Feedback Loop
Too often, MSPs and service providers are viewed only as “resellers” rather than frontline informants. They’re the ones dealing with customer questions, objections, and end-user needs.
Treat their feedback as an asset. Set up easy ways for them to share it:
- Quick feedback forms after launches
- Dedicated Slack or Teams channels
- Annual partner satisfaction surveys
And most importantly, act on it. When you implement a partner’s suggestion, let them know. It builds trust and shows their voice matters.
3. Share Insights, Not Just Updates
Don’t limit communication to transactional updates (“New version available,” “Training now live,” etc.). Share insights that help MSPs grow.
Examples:
- “Here’s how one partner positioned our product to win a major client”
- “3 messaging tips we’re seeing drive conversions”
- “Industry trend we’re watching and how it impacts your clients”
The goal? Become a source of strategic value, not just technical updates.
4. Offer Responsive Support Channels
When MSPs run into issues, whether they are technical or sales-related, they need fast answers. Offering live chat, priority email response, or a dedicated partner portal can make all the difference.
If your support feels slow, generic, or hard to access, they may hesitate to prioritize your product, even if it’s technically excellent.
Want to build a scalable, partner-friendly support model? We can help with that.
Make Your Product Part of Their Growth Story
Your product might be technically brilliant, but if it doesn’t clearly fit into how an Managed Service Providers grow their business, it won’t gain traction. Strategic alignment isn’t just about making your features match their service list; it’s about making your solution feel like a growth engine for them.
The best partnerships are built on shared priorities. You want to drive adoption; they want to drive revenue and retention. When those goals overlap, everyone wins.
How to Build True Alignment
1. Host Joint Planning Sessions
Rather than handing down goals, invite your partners and resellers to co-create them. Discuss what success looks like on both sides, what metrics matter most, and how you’ll measure progress. These sessions are ideal for:
- Setting quarterly targets
- Planning co-marketing activities
- Launching new service bundles together
This turns your strategy into our strategy. That changes everything.
2. Map the Customer Journey Together
Every reseller has a unique approach to how they onboard, support, and retain customers. Don’t assume your sales funnel fits theirs. Take time to understand their client lifecycle and adapt your materials, demos, and support around it.
This might include:
- Customizing product messaging to match their positioning
- Adjusting trial periods or onboarding for their processes
- Aligning your support hours with their service commitments
Your flexibility shows you’re invested in their success and not just your own.
3. Share Roadmaps Transparently
Let partners see what’s coming by including them in feature releases, pricing changes, new market entries and ask for their input. This builds trust and allows them to prepare their clients (and their teams) in advance.
Just as importantly, ask them about their roadmap:
- Are they expanding into new verticals?
- Adding new services?
- Investing in a sales or marketing team?
When you know where they’re going, you can position your partnership as a vehicle to help get them there.
Providing Exceptional Support and Enablement Resources
A great product means little if your partners struggle to sell, deploy, or support it. Many MSPs work with multiple vendors and platforms. If your support is slow, overly technical, or disconnected from their day-to-day reality, they may quietly de-prioritize your product, even if it solves a real problem.
How to Deliver Reliable, Scalable Support
1. Build a Resource
A generic documentation portal isn’t enough. Create a partner-specific content library that includes:
- Sales guides and pricing breakdowns
- Installation/configuration tutorials
- Troubleshooting playbooks
- Customer use-case examples
- Co-branded email and landing page templates
Organize it by use case or role (sales rep, tech lead, marketing coordinator) so MSPs can quickly find what they need.
2. Offer Tiered, Personalized Support
Some partners may only need email-based support and access to self-service tools. Others, especially top-tier MSPs, may benefit from:
- Dedicated partner success managers
- Priority access to technical engineers
- Fast-track escalation procedures
Tailoring support access based on partnership level signals that you respect their time and contribution.
3. Provide Continuous Product Education
Managed Service Providers won’t promote what they don’t understand. Product updates, new features, and integrations should be accompanied by timely, digestible training. This can include:
- Short how-to videos or webinars>/li>
- In-app tooltips and release notes
- Certification programs for deeper learning
You’re not just educating them; you’re giving them new reasons to re-engage with your product and advocate for it.
4. Help with the Hard Stuff
When MSPs encounter resistance from clients or hit snags during onboarding, be ready to step in. This could mean:
- Offering sales engineering support during demos
- Jumping on a joint call with a hesitant customer
- Assisting with proof-of-concept deployments
These moments are high stakes. How you show up during them often defines how long and strong the partnership will last.
Recognizing and Rewarding High Performance MSPs
Strong partnerships thrive on mutual success, and recognition is a key part of that. When partners feel their effort is acknowledged and rewarded, they’re more likely to prioritize your solution, promote it confidently, and stay invested for the long haul.
Incentives don’t have to be over-the-top. Sometimes the most effective rewards are the simplest: a spotlight in a newsletter, early access to product updates, or co-marketing funds for hitting training or revenue milestones.
Want help building a tiered incentive program that MSPs actually care about? Let’s build it together.
Action Steps to Celebrate Success and Drive Engagement
Create Tiered Recognition Levels
Build partner tiers (e.g., Silver, Gold, Platinum) based on revenue, customer success metrics, or enablement engagement. Make the benefits of moving up tangible:
- Early access to features or beta programs
- Co-marketing funds or campaign support
- Invitations to executive strategy briefings
Make each level feel like an accomplishment, and a springboard to the next.
Highlight Wins Publicly
Feature top-performing MSPs in newsletters, webinars, or blog posts. Shining a light on their success does more than stroke egos, it gives them social proof to attract new clients and validates your program’s value. Even a simple “Partner Spotlight” section on your website or LinkedIn page can generate goodwill and community.
Use Bonuses Strategically
Offer monetary rewards or marketing development funds (MDF) tied to specific behaviors, not just outcomes. For example:
- Completing a training program
- Participating in a case study
- Hosting a joint webinar or event
- Upselling a specific new feature
This reinforces not only what you want them to sell, but how you want them to show up as partners.
Solicit Partner Feedback on Your Program
Ask Managed Service Providers what recognition actually matters to them. You may be surprised that some might value leads or insights over bonuses, while others may appreciate exclusive training or access to your leadership team.
By involving partners in shaping your program, you create a sense of ownership that goes beyond financial incentives.
Conclusion: Partnership is a Mindset
The most valuable MSP relationships are built on consistency, collaboration, and commitment. Becoming a strategic partner means showing up with empathy, clarity, and shared purpose. It’s about enabling, listening, rewarding, and growing together as a partnership.
At Marketopia, we help technology innovators grow their partner channels. Whether you’re launching a new channel program or optimizing an existing one, we provide end-to-end support from partner recruitment and lead generation to co-marketing campaigns, sales enablement, and ongoing engagement strategies.
Our team knows what today’s MSPs are looking for and how to make your company the one they want to grow with. Ready to take your partner strategy to the next level? Let’s talk.
