Let me ask you something uncomfortable.
Are you running your business, or are your customers running it?
Most MSPs believe they’re in control. But look closely at how pricing decisions are made. How often are exceptions granted? How do service standards get bent?
If you’re honest, you may find you’ve been negotiating with a natural law.
And you’re losing.
In the 1800s, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto discovered that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. That pattern didn’t stay economically.
It shows up everywhere.
Twenty percent of your clothes get worn 80% of the time. Twenty percent of the floor in your house gets 80% of the wear. In most sales teams, 20% of the reps produce 80% of the revenue.
You cannot outwork a natural distribution. And your client base follows it too.
Twenty percent of your clients generate 80% of your revenue, profitability, and growth.
Inside that 20%, it concentrates even further.
1%—Your Whales. Your largest, most strategic, most profitable accounts. Casinos don’t make their real money from the casual gambler. They make it from the whales. So do you.
4%—Baby Whales. High potential accounts. Strong leadership. Positioned to grow. With intention, they become whales.
15%—Core Best Customers. Together with your whales, they make up your top 20%. Price is not their first question. They will implement your recommendations. They allow you to do your best work.
That’s your profit engine.
Then there’s the middle 60–70%. Good. Not great. Cautious. Episodic. Some can move up, if you lead them.
And finally, the bottom 10–20%: Price–driven. Resistant. Slow to invest. Hard to serve profitably.
Here’s the part most MSPs underestimate: The bottom 20% quietly shapes your company.
They push back on price. They demand exceptions. They consume disproportionate time. They erode morale.
If you’re not intentional, your systems, pricing, messaging and service standards slowly adjust to accommodate them. Lower fees. More flexibility. More reactive work. Thinner margins.
Not because you chose that strategy.
Because you drifted into it. If you don’t design your business around your top 20%, the bottom 80% will design it for you.
Now let’s talk about pricing. Have you ever tried to “price out” a nightmare client?
You raise the fee, expecting them to leave. They complain. And they stay.
That tells you something important. You tolerated lower pricing than necessary. Their budget was more flexible than you assumed. You just never insisted.
Most pricing problems are not market problems. They are conviction problems.
Every time you are underpriced to avoid discomfort, you train your clients, and your team, that your standards are negotiable.
Leadership is not about being liked. It’s about being clear. Clear about who you serve. Clear about what it costs. Clear about what you won’t tolerate.
Here’s your assignment this week:
1. Identify your top 20% by profitability, compliance, ease of service and growth potential—not just revenue.
2. Document what they have in common. Industry. Size. Leadership style. Risk tolerance. Buying behavior.
3. Audit your bottom 10–20%. Decide who can be developed, who gets a strategic price increase, and who needs to be released.
4. Review your messaging. Does it speak directly to your top 20%? Or is it written to avoid offending the cautious majority?
The MSPs with the healthiest margins and the strongest growth are not lucky. They are intentional. They protect their standards. They price with conviction. They develop their middle. They release the bottom. They do not let drift set the direction.
The 80/20 rule is not optional. But leadership is.
Choose which 20% you’re building for.
