I discovered my love for business during chemical engineering studies in university, when I realized I wanted my day-to-day career to be focused on interacting with people. After gaining sales experience at Pitney Bowes and Xerox, I launched DAGI in 2011 as a document management and scanning service, working alone. I would collect documents from clients by day and digitize them at night, often while watching hockey.
When clients requested phone services, DAGI pivoted to VoIP systems. Early in 2018, my CTO, Andrew, drove our transformation into a full managed services provider (MSP), dropping break-fix work for recurring contracts. As a result, we became among the first in Southwestern Ontario to offer unlimited support without hourly billing.
But by early 2025, we faced frustrating numbers. Despite years of work, we were trapped in a “one step forward, two steps back” cycle, growing only $50K annually and stuck at $614K revenue. We couldn’t afford additional technicians, retain talent or build management teams for long-term goals.
The Unexpected Gift That Busted Us Through Our Plateau
Having learned sales at major corporations, I found this plateau maddening. I knew how to sell but didn’t know what I was doing wrong or how to break through to the next level.
As luck would have it, an existing partner, Galactic Advisors, offered us free passes to Technology Marketing Toolkit’s Boot Camp in Dallas. I was familiar with TMT because Andrew, who had been following Robin Robins for years, would occasionally bring her solutions to me for consideration. We’d never really done any marketing, and I knew we had to do something different, so I decided this was the perfect opportunity to check TMT out.
The Simple Concept That Led To Giant Leaps
Recognizing that now was the time to invest and join TMT, I made a decision that I firmly believe has been crucial to our success: to fully commit, dig deep and implement strategies proven to work for thousands of other MSPs. We weren’t here to dabble with marketing tactics. We weren’t going to reinvent the wheel. We were going to follow TMT’s proven process EXACTLY as prescribed.
We trusted the process. We didn’t cherry-pick strategies. We’ve implemented the complete system as instructed, with minimal changes to tailor it to our own market, as we aimed to achieve the revenue TMT had projected based on our expected performance. We’ve added a significant amount of revenue to our bottom line – a 28.39% increase in four months – and it’s all because we trusted the process, did the work and implemented exactly what they told us to do.
This One Miniseries Revealed Why I Was Stuck
After signing up for Accelerators Club in April 2025, I immediately dove into the TMT Toolkit before attending the Rapid Implementation Workshop (RIW) in June. This early engagement set the stage for my biggest breakthrough during TMT’s 10-week pricing miniseries.
Absorbing every detail about packaging, pricing and profit margins, I confronted my own limiting beliefs about pricing. I had been grossly undervaluing our services. Not because clients wouldn’t pay us what I asked, but because I was afraid they’d say no.
After hearing them say, “The only person who has sticker shock is you,” I gained the courage to significantly increase our hourly rate and present our price as logical and representative of our value. I thought, “Why am I the one judging what a client thinks is going to be too much?” Will’s training gave me the confidence to charge more and finally tell clients what the price is, letting THEM decide for themselves how they wanted to react to it.
The Campaign That Delivered $409,436 Total Contract Value
At RIW, with this new pricing structure in place, and using TMT’s automated follow-up sequences and presentation templates, I scheduled 20 TBRs in one month. We added $11,373.23 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR). All were 36-month contracts, which translates into adding $136,478.76 per year for a total contract value of $409,436.28. We also added $37,823 in hardware sales. I prioritized outreach to clients with the highest growth potential. I tailored conversations to address their specific needs around security and hardware upgrades prompted by the Windows 11 end-of-life deadline. Before, I would never have had 20 TBRs in a month.
Of the 20 TBRs conducted:
· Three were simple check-ins with clients already at proper pricing levels.
· Four resulted in expanded services and increased contracts.
· 11 to 12 accepted price increases ranging from 15% to 50%.
· Only one client was lost. I wasn’t unhappy to see them go because they weren’t willing to listen to our advice anymore.
In the TBRs where pricing was discussed, we increased or converted previous contracts in 15 out of 18 meetings. We are now launching another TBR campaign to focus on our lower-end phone-only clients, aiming to migrate them into a managed services contract.
Building Sustainable Growth
While pricing corrections generated immediate revenue, I now understand that sustainable growth requires a complete marketing foundation. Before TMT, we didn’t have a great website. We didn’t have a funnel. We didn’t have standard operating procedures or guidelines on how to answer the phone. Therefore, I worked with my newly hired Client Relations Coordinator, Megan, whom internally we call the “Chaos Coordinator,” to implement multiple TMT campaigns simultaneously. Aimed at attracting and converting prospects, these include:
· The 9-Word E-mail campaign: While I’d done something similar before, the systematic approach made this outreach more effective and trackable.
· Marketing Automation Hub: TMT’s “Robinized” website platform turned our site into a 24/7 lead generation machine with seamless social media integration.
· IT Buyer’s Guide: We used the template for the IT Buyer’s Guide, customizing it to differentiate from competitors in our market who were using the same template.
· Cybersecurity Drip Tips campaign: This gets us out in front of people constantly. We use it at trade shows, offering a ballot at our booth to win a gift in exchange for their contact information. We scheduled 30 meetings by also offering three ballots when they signed up for a cybersecurity audit. One of our giveaways was a Plaud AI device, a physical piece of hardware you can wear that will record and transcribe meetings. Many of these leads are good referral partners.
· The Advil campaign: We adapted the Aspirin campaign by using Advil since we were unable to source small aspirin packets in Canada.
· Canvassing with humor: Although I have always done cold-calling, it never occurred to me to offer something valuable when prospecting. Megan and I created custom postcards specifically for the 70 businesses in our area and produced unique stickers for packs of popcorn featuring the message “Just popping in to introduce ourselves”. Without trying to sell anything, we went door to door, greeting people with lines like “This may sound CORNY, but we just wanted to POP in and introduce ourselves.” This simple, creative approach made conversations easier and left a lasting impression. As a result, we are starting to build relationships with these neighboring businesses.
· Building our CAT: The Celebrity, Authority and Trust (CAT) plan is also in the works. I’m starting an IT podcast with another MSP I met through TMT. I’m also accepting more speaking engagements around cybersecurity and compliance, which we recently added to our stack. We applied for and were chosen as a finalist for the MSP Titans Of Industry Award and are focused on getting featured in publications and other media.
· Networking: I’m a serial networker, but in the past I was guilty of saying, “I’m just in IT” or “I do IT.” Now I’ve scripted a more engaging elevator pitch and dangle a little carrot by saying, “I help business owners sleep better at night.” I no longer use technical jargon; instead I sell peace of mind. When they ask how, I say, “You’re a business owner. You want your IT systems to work. We’re going to make sure they are, and we’re going to make sure they’re secure so you don’t have to worry about it. The peace of mind comes in with our regular auditing and reporting strategy.”
In addition to the marketing systems, direct access to successful MSP owners like Mike Bazar and Will Nobles has been invaluable. These previously impossible conversations, combined with Accountability Groups that pair us with similar-sized MSPs in different markets, tackle the isolation of running an MSP while driving real growth.
Beyond The Numbers: DAGI 2.0
The numbers don’t lie. We’ve already increased our overall revenue by 28.39%.
However, perhaps more importantly, these results came from existing clients – we have not yet begun serious prospecting for new accounts.
Beyond revenue growth, our company has fundamentally changed the way it operates and has undergone what I like to call a “DAGI 2.0 transformation.”
Mindset changes include:
· Customer-first mentality with improved service delivery processes.
· Live phone answering with dedicated sales and support lines.
· Standardized operating procedures for all client interactions.
· Regular marketing and sales meetings to maintain momentum.
· Enhanced technology stack to deliver premium services.
This comprehensive approach has positioned DAGI not just for immediate revenue growth, but for sustainable expansion. Now that we are armed with the proper systems, messaging and processes, we are preparing to launch our first major prospecting campaign in November 2025.
While it can be challenging when you’re stuck between $500,000 and $1 million, looking back, I’m glad we found the money and committed to the process. Going all in has already paid off.
Nothing good comes easy. I’ve discovered that the key isn’t finding a silver bullet – it’s committing to a proven system and trusting the process to work.
