The demand for MSP business services keeps rising, as more organizations continue to entrust their IT operations to external specialists. The potential for growth has attracted more players to the market, with some resellers recasting themselves as providers. To emerge at the top of the competition, MSPs must differentiate their services, create brands, manage profitable deals, appraise business partners, and woo skeptical clients.
Here are some habits that highly effective MSPs have established to ensure their position at the top:
Communicate Business Value
It is important to communicate to prospective clients exactly what your company does, your areas of specialty, and your edge over the competition. The most effective way of achieving this is through specializing in a specific niche. When clients know that you are effective in a certain area, they will give your business first priority before trying the competition.
Select Clients
As a new MSP, it makes sense to take whatever work that is available. As your business grows, it is important that you be selective about the clients you serve. You should consider the effort it will take your business to support a client’s environment and the specific area of expertise required. The level of your client’s in-house expertise will determine the effort you need to support their environment. Since most MSPs have realized that it takes less effort to support more servers, you can consider selecting clients with more servers.
Establish Client Trust
Earning the trust of your clients is important because you will have access and provide protection to sensitive private data. Establishing trust requires you to consider even the smallest details like time-keeping. Another effective way of earning their trust is by offering professional consulting services. Although you may gain by selling expensive technology, recommending the appropriate technology regardless of cost will make your clients trust you.
Standardize Technology Offerings
A successful MSP business makes sure it develops expertise in the technologies it uses so that the time and effort needed to deploy and manage them is reduced. This may differ from one provider to another. For instance, some MSPs may choose to use technology from one vendor to deliver a service so that they can offer the same technology to all their clients.
Craft a Profit-Oriented Pricing Strategy
You should consider evaluating your own business costs, such as cyclical costs, for the technologies your business uses to deliver services. You can also look at your overall expenses on a monthly basis and then base your price on the total numbers.
Establish a Sales and Marketing Process
Successful MSPs understand that it is essential to develop a repeatable sales and marketing process, which includes:
- Prospecting and Marketing – Generate leads by studying potential customers, attending industry events, creating blogs, cold calling, and establishing campaign designs.
- Preliminary Contact – Gather relevant information about your prospect’s current needs that qualify them to become potential clients.
- Technical Presentation – Make a formal presentation of how your company meets the specific needs of your potential client.
Invest in Continuous Learning
Ongoing education is essential because your business and the market in which you play are constantly changing. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you have to engage other providers and learn about the current and emerging trends in IT technologies. Another way to stand out and be on top is to seek certification for the services you provide.
Being a highly effective MSP business requires evolving and adapting to the changing market requirements. Clients will value your worth by the services you offer and the way you offer them, so it is important to have the necessary skills to back up your business.
