About 27 years ago, even before Y2K, I started Computronix. After many years of just scraping by, we started spending crazy amounts of money to build a 50-team operation. We were growing to millions in revenue, but little did I know that all of the debt being used to grow was going to end up on my shoulders and put us into a tailspin.
Computronix
As we all know, a giant mergers-and-acquisitions wave was hitting not only our industry, but all businesses – and Computronix got clobbered. In the span of about a year, we lost five of our top clients, costing us approximately $500,000 in annual revenue!
With all these new expenses and lost revenue, it was imperative that we ramp up sales again fast. I had been in business for over 27 years at this point, and closing that half a million dollars in sales had taken YEARS. I didn’t have years to get it back.
I had bought Robin Robins’ Toolkit about 15 years earlier (and let it gather dust) and had gone to probably 10 Boot Camps. I knew TMT had the sales and marketing strategies we needed. Plus, by parting with our old PSA, we knew their Keap CRM and Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) would save the day. Before I knew it, we had joined Accelerators Club and went through Rapid Implementation Workshop.
A Renewed Focus On TBRs = $273,000 In Revenue
I had been trying to do TBRs (technology business reviews) in an orderly, strategic manner for probably a quarter of a century. Thankfully, one of our first assignments at the workshop was to send out e-mails to clients to schedule TBRs, but with a new approach we had not been using before.
We focus our TBRs around a tool we use for assessments, where we discuss technology infrastructure, managed services, security and cloud services. The results exceeded our expectations! From just 10 TBRs, we increased our MRR by $14,725, which is worth $273,000 in long-term contracts! Plus, we picked up $64,890 in new projects. These 10 TBRs represent just a FIFTH of our clients, and today we’ve closed even more business as a result.
The lesson? There’s money sitting in your current client base that you’re NOT getting, and valuable services you are denying them. This renewed process will continue to allow us to serve and profit for years to come.
How I Raised My Rates A Whopping $74 Per Seat And Clients Happily Said “YES!”
I’ve heard Robin repeatedly emphasize the importance of increasing your rates. Admittedly, I hadn’t increased my pricing for most clients in 15 or 20 years! Honest.
To feel comfortable about increasing our prices, we completely revamped our security stack and upgraded our offering. We went from a virtual Chinese menu of technologies to a simple, single-bundled package where everything is included. Next, we sent our clients e-mails that touted our improvements, including our advanced security stack and dark web scan, our new NOC and SOC, our improved EDR and unlimited remote support. Then we conducted a TBR with each client.
For the first time since George W. Bush was president, we raised our rates. And significantly. Yes, we were worried we would lose some clients as a result. We raised our rates from about $120 per seat to around $194 per seat. To our surprise, we didn’t lose a single client!
Every Week, We Add Another Marketing Initiative
For more than two decades, marketing and Computronix were like oil and water. Sure, I tried a couple of postcards here and there, but with zero consistency. By going through the 17-week Rapid Implementation Program, every week we learn something new. We are making every effort to implement as many marketing oil wells as possible. Here’s what we did:
- Reviews and Testimonials: Using Robin’s testimonial campaign, we received several first-rate testimonials from our clients and secured several 5-star reviews on our Google Business Profile.
- SEO: Fortunately, I have two secret weapons: TMT and my son, Eric Monies, who is an expert in digital marketing and SEO. He’s been able to get us to rank #1 in organic search for “IT support in Stamford.” Heck, when you do a search for “IT support in Manhattan” and compete with hundreds of MSPs, Computronix is #3 in the results.
- Website Conversion: While our strong SEO brings us a lot of organic traffic, conversion was another story. For example, we get a lot of calls for residential Mac repairs, yet we only service businesses. So, we began working with TMT to improve our site’s conversion. The result is a “Robinized-ish” website that is bringing in much more qualified inquiries.
- Drip Marketing: Now that leads are coming in, we had to initiate some type of drip marketing to stay top of mind for these prospects. To do this, we send out the Drip Tips campaigns provided in Keap by TMT. We also use TMT’s templates to post on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn along with our own content. Next, we will be utilizing their monthly mail-out postcards to send to both clients and prospects.
- Trust-Based, Authority Marketing: To stand apart from the competition, we are developing our Shock-And-Awe box. One key component will be the book I wrote a couple years ago titled Surviving & Thriving: Bitcoin, Blockchain & The Metaverse. Not only was my book a bestseller on Amazon (for like a day or so), but it’s also an amazing credibility enhancer when I’m talking with prospects and clients. I can’t believe the response I get from that one book!
- Prospecting: If my younger self could just see me now…running Robin’s Aspirin direct mail campaign every week! Initially, we didn’t know what the hell we were doing – pulling a list together, figuring out what goes where, stuffing the envelopes – but like anything you do with consistency, it gets smoother over time. This is just getting ramped up, but doing it has really focused our efforts on prospecting and understanding our market.
In Roughly One Quarter, We’ve Added $273,000 In Total Contract Revenue
My new favorite quote: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” The teacher tried to appear 15 years ago…but I guess I wasn’t ready. But after enduring massive revenue losses of about $500K, I was finally ready.
We had NEVER been able to create or implement a consistent, profitable sales funnel. That changed with TMT! Not only have we increased our MRR by $14,725 over a 100-day period and $273,000 in total contract value, but we’ve also added $64,890 in project revenue. I can confidently say that the strategies, campaigns and coaching of TMT has influenced every sale we’ve made in this period.
Here’s what I now know you must do:
- Craft your unique selling proposition (USP). Your USP demonstrates how your MSP stands apart in today’s overcrowded MSP space.
- Define your TARGET MARKET and IDEAL CLIENTS. We are fortunate in that we work with the very industries and people we WANT to work with.
- Hire the RIGHT people. With the right people in the right seats in your business, you must delegate to people smarter than you.
- Get the RIGHT sales and marketing information and resources. For us, that meant joining TMT’s Accelerators Club and going through their Rapid Implementation Workshop.
- TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATELY. Assume the “Ready, Fire, Aim” approach. If you wait around for perfection, you’ll never accomplish a thing.
Of course, you already know this. We’ve all heard it a thousand times. But until we actually internalize it, change our mindset and DO IT, nothing will change.
To access all the campaign examples mentioned by this month’s Marketing Genius Of The Month, go to the Dashboard under the Marketing Strategy Brief resource and access them there.
