Combining Marketing Math, 96 Touchpoints And Authority, I Brought In $78,301 In MRR And $451,755 In Revenue To WIN This Year’s Better Your Best!

Adam SpencerGenius of the Month Leave a Comment

Building Enough Desperation To Become This Year’s Better Your Best Winner

I’m living proof that ANYBODY can become a Better Your Best finalist or even WIN it all to become Technology Marketing Toolkit’s Spokesperson. I started my business in 2004, and it would remain a break-fix-only business for the next 15 years. Back then, when my wife and I were just starting out, painful hives covered my entire body and would even close off my throat. Turns out our run-down apartment was contaminated with meth! All we had to show for it was a mountain of debt and hives that made me miserable for years!  

Adam Spencer, CEO of 911 IT

Three years later, our first child, Zoey, was born with a condition called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning she was born with half a heart. Drowning in medical debt, I was forced to move my entire company and seven employees into our tiny basement while my family lived upstairs. Sick, cramped, in medical debt and without any recurring revenue – this became our life for many years!

I tell you all this so you can understand my state of mind when I received Robin Robins’ Godfather letter in November 2018. Robin says you need desire or desperation to change. That same month, I had to take money out of our personal savings account just to make payroll. I was DRIPPING with DESPERATION. Little did I know it was the very fuel I needed to go on to accomplish big things.

Using A Rubber Duck To Help Convert 95% Of Our Clients To MSP

Before discovering TMT, we were 100% break-fix. Then Robin’s team taught us how to sell, and we put a plan together.

We created an invitation package to our Lunch and Learn event, complete with a rubber duck (See Marketing Example). The letter read, “Don’t Be A Sitting Duck…Come to our Lunch and Learn Seminar!” During these group presentations, we talked about the cyberthreats our clients face today. Then we presented a plan to proactively help protect their businesses from those threats. It WORKED as every single client except one signed up! In fact, most clients signed up right on the spot. Thanks to this campaign, we went from 100% break-fix to 100% recurring revenue MSP clients!

How Earning 3X More Starts With A 30-Second Phone Call

When we first started sending Robin’s direct mail campaigns, we were mistakenly targeting businesses that couldn’t afford our services. One day, we jokingly said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just CALL these prospects to get their information?” So, that’s just what we did.

Not only did we earn 3X more using our list-cleaning-by-phone script, several Accelerators Club members also doubled or tripled their results. In short, we call everyone on our list and tell them we are sending them a package. We ask if they are the correct person to receive it and verify the IT decision maker. Next, we verify their address, e-mail address and number of devices.

By the end of that 30-second call, we know if they’re a good fit, if they have enough computers and who to send the letter and all future e-mails to. This seemingly simple twist on list cleaning brings us triple the number of appointments and clients! Always market to a clean list.

Are You Touching Prospects 96 Times A Year?

We borrowed a term from last year’s Better Your Best winner, David Javaheri: “Marketing Bombardment.” Our goal is to be in front of our prospects all the time. Last year, our squeaky-clean list had 3,000 contacts. Every single one of those 3,000 contacts would receive from us:

  • A physical Done-For-You newsletter (See Marketing Example) every single month that usually brings us one or two leads each month.
  • A physical Done-For-You postcard (See Marketing Example) featuring our branding every single month.
  • One lumpy direct mail campaign every quarter. We rotate between Robin’s Aspirin campaign, the Band-Aid campaign and the Closer Look. We started small by sending just 25 letters a week. Today, we are regularly mailing 250+ a week.
  • Three follow-up phone calls for every direct mail piece we send out.
  • A weekly Tech-Tip E-mail (if we have their e-mail address).

What’s crazy is that when you add all of it up, every single one of those 3,000 prospects are getting a touch from us 96 TIMES A YEAR. That’s 288,000 total touches! And our goal this year is to get our list to 6,000 prospects so we can double our results from last year.

Establishing My Authority And Making Extraordinary Impressions Are The Reasons Our Closing Rate Is 67%!

When I was on that stage at Boot Camp and handed the Sharks my Shock-And-Awe box, I could see their eyes LIGHT UP. Instantly, they recognized I was an IT authority. Plus, I made an impression that made me stand out in their minds.

Two years ago, a potential $6K-a-month client chose another MSP because they had more authority than us. Later that year, Robin talked about how to become the industry authority. So, last year we committed to establishing my authority. I became an Amazon best-selling author of my first book, Cyber Storm. I was also on the cover and had a feature article in MSP Success Magazine. Robin’s team helped improve our website, complete with testimonials, “9 Reasons to Choose 911 IT,” our services and our values. Plus, we made an exciting “sizzle reel” with TMT’s Done-For-You team.

It wasn’t enough to simply have these authority marketing pieces. We needed to package them in a truly unforgettable way – inside our custom-branded Shock-And-Awe box (See Marketing Example). The very first thing our potential clients (and the Sharks) see is our video brochure. It looks like a book, but when you open it, it plays our sizzle reel video and our company theme song. Nobody throws this away! Not only does it create that “WOW!” impression, it’s boosted our closing rate to 67% last year, adding 38 new clients!

Proof It’s All About The Numbers

By last July’s Producers Club, we had already closed $24,436 of new MRR. But the sales weren’t coming in as quickly as I wanted. The second I heard Robin’s presentation about planning your growth by numbers, things “clicked.” I immediately put together a marketing plan in Excel (See Marketing Example) by working backwards from our goal.

Using this Excel sheet to track all of our marketing activity and results, we brought in an additional $53,865 in new MRR, bringing my total for the year to $78,301. We were able to fire several clients that were not profitable and not too needed – $8K of MRR worth of bad clients. This brought our total MRR growth to $70,893. By tracking our numbers through this sheet, we have learned:

  • For every $1 we spend on marketing, we get $7 in annual recurring revenue.
  • Last year, we brought in 129 raw leads, and 52% of those leads were qualified.
  • Of prospects who were qualified, 85% of them booked a meeting.
  • While the industry average is a 23% closing rate, ours was 67% last year.
  • It costs us $4,532 to get a client.

The power of the spreadsheet is that when you track it weekly, it tells you if you need to do more marketing or less to get the results you want. It’s just simple math. If you’re not sure what your numbers are, Robin has released industry averages you can use until you learn your own percentage of qualified leads, closing rate, etc. You’ll find my marketing plan spreadsheet on the Dashboard.

A 4-Time Graduate Of Rapid Implementation Explains Why Once Is Not Enough

I love Robin’s Rapid Implementation Program so much I’ve gone through it four times now.Our first Rapid was at the start of 2019, when we first signed with Technology Marketing Toolkit. Then we went through Rapid again in 2020. In 2022, we went through it TWICE – once at the start of the year and once at year-end to give us that push to finish strong.

Rather than think of Rapid as a onetime workshop built for members just starting with TMT, we see it as an ongoing growth tool that all MSPs should utilize to reinvigorate their marketing efforts. For us, it makes a big difference and always pushes us to find that little bit of extra low-hanging fruit. And maybe it’s just what I needed to cement my Better Your Best win. Every time I go, Rapid gets better and better and will always be a part of 911 IT’s marketing plan.

ANYBODY Can Make The Better Your Best Stage. Here’s How…

Turns out, there’s one little secret that all Better Your Best winners have in common. Last year, David Javaheri discovered that secret. Mike Bazar uncovered the secret the previous year. And Charles Swihart, Sitima Fowler – they ALL knew the secret.

It’s just three little words: Do The Work. When I first started and was still wearing a tech hat, I didn’t have time to do the work. So, I FOUND TIME, which involved late nights and weekends. Find the desire or desperation. Do the work. And maybe YOU can be on the Better Your Best stage next year.  

How A Change In Mindset Helped Us Bring In $78,301 In MRR And $451,755 In Revenue

One of the hardest things to change is mindset. Thanks to Technology Marketing Toolkit, their entire team and my Accountability Group, my mindset has definitely changed. I learned how to think BIG by aggressively marketing to 3,000 prospects and creating a fluid marketing plan spreadsheet that ensures our leads are qualified and we are closing deals.

Today, our house is our home, without employees coming in and out all day. Today, my hives are gone, thanks to a daily regimen of Cherry Coke Zero. Today, we’ve paid off all medical debt. Today, our miracle daughter has grown the left side of her heart. She’s 13, plays softball and loves life and brownies. And today, I am blessed to be this year’s Better Your Best winner. Thank you, TMT!

Want to quickly and easily add 1-2 high value clients this month? Attend our next FREE MSP Marketing Training to learn how.