From earning a biotechnology degree and working in research to becoming the owner of an IT services company, my journey leading Cornerstone Information Systems is anything but conventional.
For over 40 years, Cornerstone has provided technology solutions, support and break-fix IT services, primarily to Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee communities. Since joining Cornerstone in 1998, acquiring partial ownership in 2003 and full ownership several years ago, I’ve helped steer the company through transformations, supporting growth from a 12-person IT development company to a thriving almost 45-employee IT powerhouse. Despite our success with thousands of customers, transitioning to an MSP model proved much more challenging than I had anticipated.
While I was working to transition into the MSP market, a few dedicated employees recommended that I attend TMT’s Annual Boot Camp, since they specialize in helping IT support companies become MSPs. I had heard of Robin Robins for two decades, but I’d dismissed Robin’s marketing material, never taking the time to read her letters, let alone attend an event. The decision to attend Boot Camp proved a pivotal moment.
Surrounded by peers who had overcome similar challenges, I finally realized that TMT could help provide the strategic road map, accountability and support system to assist Cornerstone’s transition to an MSP. I signed up for Accelerators Club in April 2024 and attended Rapid Implementation in May.
Secrets That Led To Getting Out Of The Break-Fix Rut And Achieving A 43.63% Increase In Monthly Recurring Revenue
Before joining TMT, we were already a blessed and successful company due to our long-term customers and dedicated employees; however, only around $102,000 of our revenue was generated from monthly recurring revenue. To date, we’ve added an additional $948,000 in revenue for 2024, including project work, and an increase of $44,500 in MRR. Overall, we achieved a $1,683,600 rise in our total contract value within six months of joining TMT.
4 Breakthroughs Driving Growth:
- Just Push Go. I abandoned my engineer’s perfectionist mindset and embraced the power of simply starting. As an engineer, I initially thought I needed all the answers, but the real catalyst for transformation came from speaking with other knowledgeable MSPs and discovering that they struggled in the same way we did. This made me realize I just needed to start, even if things weren’t perfect. Now, I just take a step and go, knowing we can adjust if necessary. I take chances I wasn’t willing to take in the last few years and make decisions that are moving us forward.
- Empowering My Team. Transforming an established 40-year-old IT company into an MSP became possible when I stopped trying to shoulder the burden alone. This breakthrough came when passionate employees stepped up, and I gave them permission to “poke the bear” to drive change and push me beyond my comfort zone. By empowering my team of employees to share the vision and contribute to the evolution of our company, we’ve created a collaborative environment where everyone is invested in our success. This distributed-leadership approach not only accelerated our MSP transition but also energized our entire organization with a shared sense of purpose and direction.
- Dedicated Sales And Marketing. A pivotal shift occurred when I realized that, although I had nearly 45 talented employees, no one was completely dedicated to sales and marketing. After attending Rapid Implementation, I realized we were losing customers by not having employees whose sole responsibility was engaging with those customers. We restructured our approach by converting one of our service team leaders into a sales leader and adding two dedicated account representatives. We’re now building a specialized marketing team for campaigns and social media presence, areas I’d previously avoided. By empowering team members who excel in these areas, we’re positioning Cornerstone for significant growth in the coming year, starting with sending our new sales and marketing leads through TMT’s Rapid Implementation program.
- Joining A TMT Peer Group. This proved invaluable as my peer group helped transform our business trajectory. Connecting with other MSPs helped me realize I didn’t need perfect solutions before taking action. This network provides accountability, knowledge sharing and a trusted sounding board for ideas. Through collaboration with peers, we’ve streamlined processes, validated existing systems and gained the confidence to move forward with our MSP transition. The peer group has become an invaluable support system, helping us optimize our operations and better serve both employees and customers.
What Made The Biggest Impact And Delivered A 300% Increase In MSP Contracts
Our technology business reviews (TBRs) initiative yielded remarkable results, with nine signed contracts and seven pending contracts out of 22 customer meetings about transitioning from break-fix to managed services. The remaining six meetings still led to significant additional project work. Before, we’d only converted three customers to MSP services during a two-year period. By empowering my employees and learning from TMT coaches and peers, I now better understand how to price, sell, market and deliver our MSP offerings. After I talked to several other MSPs and TMT coaches, it became clear we needed to create a great package and tools and procedures, and ensure the right employee mindset in order to deliver exceptional service before deploying marketing campaigns on a large scale. We now feel confident our packages are competitively priced and offer terrific value to customers while remaining profitable for us. Plus, my employees are excited about the new opportunities this provides. After testing our sales process, onboarding support procedures and TBR templates, we determined what was working and fixed what wasn’t working. We’ve set the stage to create massive growth in 2025.
The Transformational Shift Revolutionizing Our Business Model
Shifting from reactive problem-solving to proactive engagement has completely changed the dynamics with our customers. Previously, we didn’t schedule TBRs. We only met with a customer when they called with a problem. Now, instead of waiting for problem calls, we conduct regular check-ins in person, by phone and e-mail, to engage with customers and schedule TBRs, focusing first on understanding client needs before proposing solutions. Rather than presenting an immediate sales pitch, we follow up in a week or two with a customized proposal.
Recommendations from TMT quarterly business trainings on pricing and onboarding led me to make changes to our stack, contract and onboarding process while confirming we were competitively pricing our customer solutions.
This consultative approach, combined with streamlined contracts and enhanced service offerings, dramatically improved both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Implementing a more structured onboarding process and comprehensive service stack eliminated frustrations for employees and clients while strengthening our MSP foundation.
Our 2025 Growth Plan
While we added close to $1.7 million in the first six months, I know we are only scratching the surface. With over 1,000 customers, a proven system in place and personnel to back it up, we’ve set the stage to unleash massive growth once we open full throttle in 2025, employing the following strategies:
Relationship-based sales through TBRs. We regularly interact with our customers and use a proactive TBR sales approach. Previously, we lost customers to other MSPs because our approach centered on pitching services and fixing emergencies, creating tension over costs and timelines. Shifting to relationship-based sales through TBRs, we will continue to focus first on understanding customer needs before presenting solutions. By converting break-fix clients to fixed-fee managed services, we align our success with our customers’ success; the fewer problems they have, the more profitable the relationship. This new partnership approach has dramatically reduced customer frustrations while enabling our team to provide the proactive care they always wanted to deliver.
Social media marketing. I’ve never been a fan of social media; however, during Rapid Implementation, I realized how important a strong digital presence is for an MSP. I didn’t even have a personal LinkedIn profile. So we enhanced our company’s LinkedIn page and I created my own professional profile page, customizing both based on proven recommendations shared with MSPs during Rapid Implementation. I’ve also tasked our marketing and sales team with continuing to expand our social media presence.
Trust-based marketing. To build trust in our new account representatives, our long-term technicians personally introduce them to customers during site visits or service calls. The technicians explain that these representatives will provide additional support to ensure consistent customer care. This hands-on approach leverages our established relationships, as customers trust our technical staff’s endorsement of the new team members.
Building authority. We’re expanding our community presence through cyber security education initiatives. Our cyber security specialists conduct training sessions at chamber events, clubs and leadership organizations. Account representatives present existing customers with the opportunity to partner with us, where we offer training for their customers and employees, particularly during MSP onboarding. This approach allows us to give back while building authority in our communities.
Website, Social Media and Marketing Icon Upgrades. We revamped our visual branding by redesigning our service icons and captions to be instantly recognizable. By improving the clarity of our service representations and adding managed services to our offerings, we ensure website visitors can now understand our complete service portfolio immediately.
The transformation at Cornerstone isn’t just about business metrics: the processes we’ve put in place revolutionized our entire company culture. By embracing change and stepping out of my comfort zone, I’ve discovered that success comes not from having all the answers but from having the courage to start and the right team to support the journey.
We’ve created an energized environment where customers and staff thrive, with dedicated employees willing to help move the needle forward, a peer network that understands our challenges and a clear strategic direction. Moving into the New Year, we’re not just changing our business model, we’re building a more dynamic, engaged and forward-thinking organization that’s ready to tackle new challenges.
