What Is Managed Services?
Managed services is an IT service in which you proactively monitor, manage, maintain and troubleshoot a client’s IT infrastructure, cyber security, backups, devices and end-user systems on a monthly basis for an agreed-upon fee. Key Point: There is no “one size fits all” managed services agreement or “best” to deliver; it truly depends on the needs of the customer you are serving and your capabilities.
I want to talk packaging and pricing when it comes to any type of managed services. There is no one size fits all. There’s no one best managed services agreement to deliver. It depends on the needs of your clients. And as you grow and become more operationally mature as an MSP, you are going to be able to add on things that you might not be able to do right now, like advanced cyber or compliance as a service because maybe it’s just you or you and a couple of techs and you really don’t have the capacity to do those things and that’s fine. Sell what you can deliver, do the best you can, and then as you grow your company, you’ll be able to add those on. I want to make sure you guys understand managed services technically is like anything monitoring and maintaining a client’s network in that capacity, but whatever you land on, make sure you never sell a client less than they need.
Most the time you sell a client less than they need (more often than not) is because they are selling you. “Oh, I don’t think I need all that. Oh, I don’t need that kind of backup. I don’t need the cybersecurity, I don’t need all that advanced endpoint stuff. I don’t need two factor” or whatever it is. Right? The thing I would encourage you is never sell a client less than they need. Stand your ground. You are the expert and need a philosophy about what you do.
What Is A Company Philosophy And Why Is It Important?
I have a philosophy at Technology Marketing Toolkit about sales and marketing. My philosophy is direct response marketing. Meaning when I send a campaign out, I want it to directly generate leads which turn into opportunities, which turn into customers, and it turns into revenue. I don’t just do arbitrary branding, okay? Branding is a byproduct of direct response. So, I have a philosophy. If a client came to me wanting me just to do branding, I would turn them down because that is not my forte, number one. It’s not that I can’t do branding, it’s just that my philosophy says you do direct response, then you do that. Or for example, if a client came to me and they want to buy an email list. We won’t sell it to them because my philosophy is you have to earn permission to email people. We don’t want you to spamming them and you can’t just take some list you bought and stuff it in to keep and broadcast because you’re going to get shut down. You’re going to get labeled as a spam. And then your domain name is going to be harmed. Not just your people shut you down, but any ISP email service provider is going to shut you down. Constant Contact, MailChimp, Connectwise – I don’t care who it is, they’re going to shut you down. So that’s my philosophy. I’m going to tell you to go somewhere else to buy it because I’m not selling that to you because I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I don’t think it’s good for you. I don’t think it’s the right approach to marketing because that’s my philosophy. That is what I believe. And you need to have a philosophy around technology. What is good, what is the right way about it? And if you have a client who’s sitting in front of you saying, I don’t need that, and you know they do, but don’t back down because if you back down now, you’re allowing them to make a bad decision and explain it to them. Say, look, I can’t let you not buy this now. If you don’t want to buy it, then maybe you should find another MSP who’s willing to do that kind of work for you. You know, maybe somebody else will do that.
What Are The Benefits of Having a Clear Company Philosophy When Selling Managed Services?
Having a clear company philosophy give you an opportunity to explain why you are adding a service or increasing price. It also showcases your proactive approach to responding to new threats and risk. There are two ways you can approach this, either they don’t have a choice, or they can sign a waiver. Always make sure to highlight the risks to build value. Having a firm philosophy, that you believe in. opens the door to revisit existing clients and gives you the opportunity to cross sell or upsell. It also sets you apart from the competition. Ultimately is gives you a unique selling point and protects you from selling yourself short.
2 Key Points
- NEVER Sell A Client Less Than They Need
- NEVER Discount Or Cheapen Your Services
Why Sell Managed Services?
Managed services create a steady and predictable revenue stream, so you are not in a cycle of “feast or famine”. It allows you to hire and plan for growth without losing your shirt instead of being fearful of hiring techs. One of the most important reasons to sell managed services to point out is your clients. They are better served and protected from data loss, downtime and cyber-attacks. Managed services also puts you in front of clients that actually value IT. The best clients want managed services, not break-fix. It also breaks you out of being a tech-with-helpers and into becoming a mature business owner.
Having a clear company philosophy exponentially helps sell managed services. One of the biggest objections will be price. Don’t blame the client for being stupid, cheap or stubborn when the real problem is your inability to properly persuade them to do what is best for them.
A Few “Head Trash” Items To Kick To The Curb
- Don’t Assume They Won’t Buy
- Don’t Bow Down – You Are The Expert!
- Companies DO Spend Money On Managed Services
To get started, choose the approach you want to take with clients and build a philosophy around that idea. Hold fast and believe in it.
Want to learn how to set up Autopilot Marketing Systems to consistently get 1 To 2 high-profit managed services clients every month? Join our next FREE MSP marketing training to get the blueprint.
