Let me hit you with a truth that too many business owners forget: nobody cares how good you used to be. Your track record, your “best year ever,” your trophies—none of it matters if you’re not delivering right now. And that’s not just me talking. That’s straight from Larry Winget, one of the bluntest, most brutally honest business speakers you’ll ever hear—and exactly the kind of voice we all need to be reminded of once in a while.
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The Rule Is Simple: Be Good Every Single Time You Show Up
Larry’s not wrong when he says people don’t care if you were amazing yesterday. Your customers don’t. Your team doesn’t. The market certainly doesn’t. They care if you’re amazing today. And as MSPs, this applies to every ticket, every sales call, every quarterly review.
Your marketing can’t lean on how long you’ve been in business or how great your service used to be. Clients want results now, and your sales pitch better prove you can still deliver. That’s why I tell my clients to build value-based packaging and pricing for MSP services that highlights outcomes, not features. Because performance today is the only thing that sells.
We Make Success Harder Than It Has To Be
Larry says it best: people want to believe success is hard, because that gives them an excuse. “Well, it’s tough out there.” Sure, it is. But you’re not paid to whine about how hard it is. You’re paid to produce results.
This mindset is toxic in a sales team. If your reps think hitting quota is “too hard,” they’ll never do it. If your techs believe selling a project isn’t their job, you’ll miss easy upsells. The truth? Most people just need a wake-up call: it’s simple if you’re disciplined.
Want to be more successful, make more money and enjoy your business more? Great. That’s what we all want. But wanting it doesn’t mean a thing unless you’re willing to show up and do the hard, boring, painful work it takes to get there.
Happiness Is Not Part Of Your Job Description
Now here’s where Larry got some heads to snap back: You don’t get paid to be happy. You get paid to do your job.
That’s true for you. It’s true for your employees. And it’s 100% true for the tech who rolls into a client site with a bad attitude and expects sympathy.
Your customers don’t care if you’re having a rough day. You think a client is going to renew their contract just because you’ve been going through a tough time? Of course not. You get paid to deliver value. Period.
I coach a lot of MSPs who want to build a strong company culture—and I’m all for that—but never confuse culture with coddling. Happiness isn’t something you can create for someone else, and it certainly isn’t something you owe your employees. If someone walks into your office acting like the world owes them joy just for showing up, do yourself and your business a favor: show them the door.
You Don’t Have To Love Every Minute Of What You Do
You’ve heard the saying: “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Cute, right? Too bad it’s BS.
Larry puts it plainly: he loves being on stage, but he hates traveling, airports, hotels and everything else that makes his job possible. You know what? That’s normal. It’s called work for a reason. And MSPs? You’ve got a front-row seat to that truth.
You love your clients, maybe. But do you love chasing them down for payments? Troubleshooting 3AM network outages? Getting ghosted after a perfect proposal? No? Good. You’re not supposed to. What matters is whether you can stomach the grind because the mission is worth it.
And if the mission isn’t worth it? Change it. But don’t confuse “hard” with “wrong.”
Here’s The Takeaway—And It’s A Big One
Whether you’re leading a team, closing a deal or solving a nasty IT problem, remember this: Nobody cares how good you were—only how good you are right now. It’s not that complicated to win; it’s just about showing up and doing your job well. Happiness is not your job—results are. And no, you don’t have to love every part of your business. But you better love it enough to endure the hard stuff, the uncomfortable stuff, the parts nobody claps for. Because that’s what professionals do. That’s what success demands.
