Let’s have a brutally honest moment here.
If your website, your emails, your LinkedIn profile, your pitch deck, your trade show booth, your lead magnets… all blend into the same vanilla noise as every other MSP out there, then don’t be surprised when your phone’s not ringing. You’re not invisible. You’re forgettable. There’s a difference—and one is fixable.
You’ve got a positioning problem. And if you don’t fix it, you’re going to end up another faceless, replaceable vendor that prospects ghost after one conversation.
Let’s fix that.
Step One: Get Clarity Or Get Crushed
The very first step in transforming your business from forgettable to freakin’ fantastic is this: get absolute clarity of position.
Clarity of position means your target market knows EXACTLY who you are, who you serve, what you do, and why you’re the one they should trust. Not “we’re an IT provider” or “we help businesses with technology.” That crap could be written on a napkin by a third-grader. You need a real USP.
Think about it—when you don’t clearly define what you do and who you do it for, your prospect has to work harder to figure it out. Guess what? They won’t. They’ll just scroll to the next option. You’re Waldo, lost in a sea of lookalikes, wearing your little red-and-white uniform and wondering why nobody’s picking you out of the crowd.
Step Two: Build Real Marketing Assets (Not Random Crap)
You’re not in the business of generating leads—you’re in the business of generating trust. And trust doesn’t come from a single post or a fancy graphic. It comes from assets—tangible proof that you’re the real deal.
I’m talking about:
- Writing a book.
- Hosting a podcast.
- Running a killer newsletter.
- Publishing articles in industry media.
- Having a high-authority website that says, “I know what I’m doing.”
Your marketing assets are the tools that pre-sell your expertise. When someone sees you’ve written a book or are being featured on podcasts and stages, you instantly move from vendor to trusted advisor. From “another MSP” to the authority in the room.
Let me say it clearly: real marketing assets are trust accelerators.
Step Three: Fix Your Sales Process Or Burn Every Lead You Worked For
Now let’s say your marketing actually worked. A lead comes in. You get the meeting. You’re in the room with a decision-maker.
And what happens?
You start geeking out about patching protocols, RMM dashboards, and firewall configurations. They check out. You’ve just torched the trust you were building.
Why?
Because you don’t have a diagnostic sales process. A strategic, structured way to lead the conversation—not just show off how much you know about networks. Your sales process should make the client feel like you get them better than their current IT provider ever could.
If your sales process is weak, inconsistent, or still based on winging it—you’re leaving money on the table and opportunity at the door.
Step Four: Become Omnipresent Or Become Obsolete
Let me ask you something: when your prospects are asked, “How’d you hear about them?”—what do you want them to say?
The GOLD STANDARD is this: “I see you guys everywhere.”
Not “I got your postcard once.” Not “You cold-called me.” You want omnipresence. Ubiquity. You want to be in their inbox, their LinkedIn feed, the webinars they attend, the industry newsletters they read, the podcasts they download.
Because when you achieve consistent omnipresence, that’s when the real magic happens. People don’t just see you—they start trusting you. And trust is the only thing that sells.
Not price.
Not speed.
Not “great customer service.”
Trust. Period.
Step Five: Are You Actually Building Trust… Or Just Hoping For It?
If we were sitting across the table from each other right now, and I asked, “What are you doing—specifically—to build trust in the marketplace?” could you answer?
Could you rattle off a list of actions you take every week to earn trust in your space? Or would you stumble through excuses and wishful thinking?
You should be doing things like:
- Publishing content that educates and positions you as a thought leader.
- Showcasing testimonials and client success stories.
- Speaking at industry events.
- Running webinars.
- Offering real insights for free (not a glorified pitch deck).
If you’re not doing at least five things to build trust right now, don’t be shocked when prospects ghost you after the first meeting. Trust is a process. Not a pitch.
Step Six: You’re Not “The Best”—You’re The Best For WHO?
This one’s going to sting.
There is no such thing as being “the best.” There is only “best for a specific person in a specific situation.” That means you need to know—down to the bone—who your ideal client is, what they believe, what they value, and how to speak directly to that.
Here’s the exercise:
“My service is for people who need [X] and believe [Y].
My service is NOT for people who need [X] and believe [Z].”
Fill that in. Tattoo it on your forehead. Live by it. Because until you know who your real client is, you’re just another MSP tossing generic spaghetti at the wall and praying something sticks.
Bottom Line: Clarity. Consistency. Confidence.
Most MSPs don’t fail because of lack of skill—they fail because of lack of clarity, lack of consistency, and lack of confidence in marketing and sales.
You want better clients? High-value contracts? Long-term recurring revenue?
Then stop hiding in the crowd like Waldo. Stop hoping referrals and luck will carry you to success. Get clear. Get loud. Get seen.
You can’t outsource your hustle.
You can’t shortcut your brand.
You can’t fake trust.
You want to win? Put in the damn reps. That’s how real businesses are built.
