Art Leiby started The Lerepco IT Group in New Jersey in 2013. With over 35 years of IT experience, he knew how to deliver fantastic service for his clients. What he didn’t know was marketing. Sure, he used a marketing firm. But as Art’s wife and soon-to-be VP of Business Development, I would get mad at him and say, “Look at the newsletter they’re producing for you! It’s boring and doesn’t speak to the marketplace!” I knew he had to do something different.
Then one day, I came across a dust-covered binder in our basement. It read, “Technology Marketing Toolkit.” I looked through it and knew it was pure gold. I asked Art, “Why aren’t you using THIS marketing?” Apparently, the marketing firm told him it was too hokey and people wouldn’t respond to it. So, the minute I started working with Art, I blew the dust off the Toolkit and started putting it to use!
Lerepco IT Group
Losing 60% Of Our Business, We Needed To Embrace Marketing (And FAST!)
During the pandemic, businesses were affected by closures, acquisitions and downsizing. Well, our clients were no different. With just one phone call, we toppled from a stable, growth-focused MSP to one of desperation. Our top engineering client had been absorbed by a massive firm, and our main contact was no longer there. About 60% of our revenue at the time…VANISHED!
While we had been using the Toolkit for a while and were part of MSP Launch Academy, we knew we needed to do more. Growth was stagnant. So, we made three moves that would transform our business:
1. I hired a fresh English major graduate, Jessica Luhr, as our new marketing assistant.
2. Together, Jess and I attended The Lerepco IT Group’s second Rapid Implementation Workshop last fall to get back in the growth headspace.
3. We joined Accelerators Club to be around like-minded peers.
New Clients Were Just 9 Words Away!
During the Rapid Implementation Workshop, we were challenged to send Robin’s 9-Word E-mail. Almost immediately, we had two doctors respond that they wanted to move from their break-fix services to our three-year Managed Services Agreement! We expect to close that deal soon.
“Just Answer The Damn Phone!”
Robin always reminds us of the importance of answering your phones LIVE. We thought we were…until we were CAUGHT with our pants down at the workshop. Just one little “secret shopper” exercise to call our office, and our phone call went straight to voice mail. How embarrassing!
Because we knew answering phones live was critical to our success, we resolved to address this fallacy immediately.
Back from the workshop, I luckily answered the damn phone. It was a prospect desperately needing IT services. And because this law office shared the same name as my daughter, we instantly connected. All it takes is one phone call that can dramatically shift your business. For us, that one call became a new client worth $2,135 in NEW MRR!
Our Most Successful Marketing Initiative Brought In A Crazy $133,799 In Added Services And New Projects!
“Hey, can we get together sometime?” That was the old way we used to ask clients for Technology Business Reviews. Then Robin gave us a new process and campaign to book our TBRs. Almost the minute we sent them out, we had FIVE responses! Plus, our automated system sends reminders. It’s so impressive how well it worked for us.
TBRs have been extremely successful for us. A real game-changer! So far, we’ve gained $133,799 through TBR upselling and projects! As a result of the TBRs, we’ve upsold $54,000 worth of added services, $79,799 in projects and even brought in a NEW CLIENT! And we’re not even done yet. Not only have we raised our rates with our clients, we upgraded them with firewalls, cloud migration, e-mail management, laptop configuration and more.
At the time of writing this article, Art just met with a client who wants to enhance their security. We expect them to DOUBLE their MRR from $12,000 to $24,000! We should be signing that new contract any day now.
Closing Deals With Confidence
Answering the phone was simply step one to securing this new client. Next, our president, Art Leiby, conducted a 30-minute discovery call. Then, we set up an impressive presentation using AudIT and Galactic Scan. Finally, to set us apart, we sent them our custom Shock-And-Awe box, complete with our marketing differentiators, a logo mug, mouse pad and Art’s solo author book titled In The Crosshairs: Why Your Business Is A Hacker’s Primary Target And What You Can Do NOW To Secure Your Data. The client immediately signed the deal and called us back to say, “Wow! You really know your stuff!” The done-for-you book really boosted The Lerepco IT Group’s image.
Putting A New Jersey Twist On The Aspirin Campaign
In the past, we sent out sales letters here and there with no follow-up e-mail or phone calls. So, when we started sending Robin’s Aspirin campaign, we wanted to do it right. We’ve religiously been sending out 25 Aspirin letters each week and following up with an e-mail and three phone calls.
Jessica and I enjoy making those phone calls. Heck, we want to grow. So, if a phone call could lead to new clients and new MRR, I’m all for it! Of course, New Jerseyans can be blunt and even mean. They won’t hesitate to yell at you or slam the phone down. Therefore, we take Robin’s phone script and put our little New Jersey twist on it. We add our own personality and feel people out, so it sounds more authentic. It must work because we’ve driven lots of prospects to our website. And now we are transitioning to Robin’s Closer Look campaign. Fingers crossed!
Turning Prospects Into Leads With Our Postcard Hack
Can a direct mail prospect become a qualified online lead? We’ve proven it. We start with Robin’s Closer Look sales letter. Next, we use some of her copy, position it to target law firms and then create our Closer Look Postcards. The postcards drive the prospects to our website, where they can sign up for a free penetration test.
We also use TMT’s Prospect Detective – once a prospect is on our website, it immediately alerts us and tells us what company they’re from. From there, we are able to track them and even continue to follow them online with retargeting ads. Plus, upon each website visit, a postcard is automatically generated and sent out by PostcardMania.com. We expect to close multiple deals through this offline-to-online marketing strategy!
From Quiet And Under The Radar To Loud And Proud
Before I joined the team, The Lerepco Group was pretty quiet and flew under the radar. Aside from our clients, few knew about us. I’m a “Let’s get out there” type of person, and everybody throughout New Jersey and Philadelphia should know who we are.
Today, Jessica and I make ourselves known in the community. We do a lot more sponsorships, including supporting our local petting zoo, Paws Farm, in Mount Laurel, NJ. We also support our clients’ local events with billboards.
And clients LOVE when we pop in to surprise them with Girl Scout Cookies, donuts or mouse pads! Even Art is putting himself out there. He recently launched his SECOND book that he wrote with Will Nobles, and Art will be featured in MSP Success Magazine as well. As a result, multiple JV partners have asked him to speak at various events!
Hungrier Than Ever, $133,799 In Projects And Services And $3,880 In MRR Is Just The Beginning!
HUNGRY! That’s the best way to describe Art, Jess and me. I’m back in that mindset that I’m always looking for that next deal. In fact, we have five leads we have yet to close, so we’re going after those hard right now.
Not only have we onboarded a new client with $2,135 in MRR in the past 90 days, we added $54,000 in services and $79,799 in projects. Also, because we will soon DOUBLE our biggest client’s MRR from $12,000 to $24,000 in the coming weeks, we have just moved into a LARGER OFFICE. This will give us the space to provide training to this customer. Plus, we soon expect to TRIPLE our number of employees. With our new marketing team, we are extremely confident about our growth these past 90 days and into the future!
To find all the campaign examples mentioned by this month’s Marketing Genius Of The Month, go to the Dashboard under the Marketing Strategy Brief resource and access them there.
