Most MSPs show up to a sales meeting and spend the first 20 minutes explaining why they’re good. That’s backwards. By the time you’re sitting across from a prospect, they should already be sold on you, or at least well on their way.
That’s the job of the Shock-And-Awe box.
You’ll see how some MSPs are closing 70%+ of opportunities from cold leads using this strategy.
What Is A Shock-And-Awe Box?
A Shock-And-Awe box is a physical or digital package of marketing materials sent to a qualified prospect before your formal sales meeting. The name is internal. Never tell a prospect you’re sending them a “Shock-And-Awe box.” Call it your pre-meeting materials, or let them know you’re sending over a package about your company.
The concept has been around for decades, popularized in direct marketing circles, and it works just as well today for MSPs as it ever has.
Where It Lives In The Sales Process
Here’s how it fits in:
- Lead comes in: from SEO, referral, trade show, networking, wherever.
- Quick qualification call: 10 minutes to confirm they’re a real prospect. You’re checking: decision maker? Actual need? Qualified budget? Contract situation?
- Discovery meeting scheduled: a full 60–90 minute session, in person or on Zoom.
- Shock-And-Awe box goes out: before the discovery call, not at it.
That window between “appointment booked” and “meeting happens” is your opportunity. Most MSPs leave it empty. This fills it with intention.
What Goes In The Box
The box isn’t a branding exercise. Every piece of material should serve a purpose: answering the questions a prospect is already asking, and positioning your MSP as the obvious choice regardless of price.
Strong inclusions:
- A thick testimonial book: real stories from real clients, in their words. Volume matters here. A single testimonial page reads as cherry-picked. A book reads as proof.
- “What we do better than every other MSP” document: this is your chance to name the differences plainly. Be specific, not vague.
- FAQs: address the objections before they’re raised.
- Tchotchkes with purpose: a branded pen, a squeeze ball, a mouse pad. These aren’t the star of the show, but they make the package feel like a package.
Warning on volume: More is not better if the content is filler. An overstuffed box of low-quality material actually hurts you, signaling desperation, not competence. Curate it.
Physical Vs. Digital
There’s a digital version and a physical version. The physical box carries more weight, literally and figuratively. When done well, it arrives and feels like something worth opening.
The digital version still works, especially for remote prospects. The key is that it looks designed and intentional, not like a PDF dump. If you’re a TMT member, there are sessions and resources on the Dashboard walking through how to build both versions.
Delivery Method Is Half The Battle
The material itself only works if the prospect actually sees it before the meeting. That means thinking through delivery deliberately.
One example that’s working: Sending someone out in person, scripted and dressed professionally, to hand-deliver the box directly to the office. This element signals importance before the prospect even opens it. When they do open it, one MSP using this method closes between 70–80% of those deals. His employee’s line when prospects are impressed flipping through the materials: “If you think this is impressive, just wait until you see what it’s like to work with us.” That one sentence cements the front-runner status in the prospect’s mind.
If in-person delivery isn’t feasible: FedEx it. The goal is that it arrives in a way that gets opened and looked at before the meeting. If it gets stuffed in a pile and ignored, you’ve wasted the effort.
The Most Common Ways MSPs Get This Wrong
1. Poor execution on the materials themselves
If it looks like a sixth-grade art project (neon labels, no design, cheap materials) it signals the opposite of what you want. A prospect deciding whether to hand you access to their entire IT infrastructure is reading every signal you send.
2. Handing it out at the meeting instead of before
This kills the purpose. If you show up and hand it to them right there, you’ve just created an objection: “Let me take this home and look through everything before I decide.”
3. Loading it with volume instead of value
Stuffing the box just to make it feel substantial dilutes the actual content. The prospect starts skimming and stops paying attention.
4. Changing the process
If the tactic isn’t working, most people change the wrong thing. Before you conclude it doesn’t work, look at what you actually did. If your version barely resembles the original concept, the problem isn’t the concept.
The Bottom Line
The Shock-And-Awe box does the selling of your company so the sales meeting can do what it’s actually meant to do: connect with the prospect, dig into their specific situation, and map your solution to their real needs.
Done right, expect a 10–20% lift in close rate without changing anything else in your sales process. For some MSPs executing it at a high level, close rates hit 70–80%.
