MSP University Managed Services Blog

Our Next IT Sales & Marketing & Service Delivery Boot Camp Is On Me Again!

Bigger and better than ever!

We're holding our next Boot Camp in Baltimore, MD on May 21st-23rd, 2009 with 2 tracks covering IT Solutions and Managed Services Sales & Marketing AND Technical Service Delivery!

Click here for our 3 Day Boot Camp Agenda

Normally $2,995 - click here to find out how you can attend either of these tracks for FREE!

Our IT Solutions and Managed Services Sales and Marketing Track:

• Walks you through each step of your first appointment-and your second, and your third
• Teaches you to conduct a client needs analysis that reveals you as the expert
• Provides you with key talking points and strategic answers to every possible objection
• Clarifies the details of the IT solutions and managed services sales process
• Covers the strategic details of Proposal, ROI Analysis, and Service Agreement - including business-winning PowerPoint presentations
• Allows you to practice your client presentations in role playing sessions with our experts and your peers
• Empowers you to close the deal

Based upon MSP University's successful business, technical and sales and marketing methodologies, our comprehensive IT Solutions and Managed Services Sales and Marketing Track provides attendees the knowledge they need to shorten sales cycles and close more business!

This Track is recommended for: Owners, Marketing and Sales Managers and Account Managers

Normally $2,995 - click here to find out how you can attend this track for FREE!

Our Technical Service Delivery Track:

• Teaches standardized, best practices-based project and problem management processes and procedures that can immediately increase your efficiencies along with customer satisfaction
• Provides an overview of Professional Services Automation, Remote Monitoring and Management and Remote Control tool requirements, functionality and interaction to maximize your resources and scale your services profitably
• Dives deep into best practices for SLA management and service request prioritization, escalation and management to increase your effectiveness and client satisfaction
• Discusses the pros and cons of utilizing 3rd-party service desks and how to manage and integrate them successfully into your service delivery offering
• Covers HR tools such as DISC Behavioral Profiles and Personal Talent Skills Inventories to hire the right technical resources the first time
• Uncovers effective techniques to properly conduct interviews, the right questions to ask and how to put together a performance-based incentive plan and offer letter for qualified technical candidates
• Explores best practices for overall Service Management improvement and success

Based upon MSP University's successful technical service delivery methodologies, our comprehensive Technical Service Delivery track provides attendees the knowledge they need to increase utilization, raise efficiencies, improve client satisfaction and become more profitable!

This Track is recommended for: Owners, Technical Managers, Professional Services, NOC and Service Desk Personnel

Normally $2,995 - click here to find out how you can attend this track for FREE!

Click here for our 3 Day Boot Camp Agenda

 We normally charge $2,995 for attendance to our sold-out Boot Camps - but you can click here to find out how you can attend either of these tracks for FREE!

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Getting Existing Clients to Sign a Managed Services Agreement On The Dotted Line

When presenting Managed Services offerings to your existing clients, you may need to conduct several appointments in order to successfully illustrate their benefits and ease the decision for them to transition to your new service delivery model. You won't want to introduce your Managed Services Agreement during the first client meeting, as that meeting is used to introduce the Managed Services concept to them and how it works (see Selling Managed Services to Existing Clients). 

During your second meeting with the client, you will work with them to determine how much they may be losing each month in service and benefit by NOT accepting Managed Services through a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis (see The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice).

Upon completing the cost/benefit analysis, in many cases you will be able to reflect savings through a flat-fee based Managed Services arrangement – which should make it very easy to get your client's signature on your Agreement.  You can usually bundle in savings obtained from including additional value-added services to help in the analysis, such as Integrated T1's, etc.

During this second meeting with the client, conduct the cost/benefit analysis by gathering required information such as the time they spend managing their vendors, and monetize the savings available by allowing you to perform this function.  Thank the client for their time and let them know you are going to compile the results of the analysis in order to provide them a quote. Set up an appointment to come back and deliver the Managed Services quote – at which time you can again impress upon them the value of pro-active services delivered at a flat fee per month, allowing them to budget for their IT costs for the entire year without extraordinary fluctuations. Your remotely-delivered support services will provide your clients faster response and resolution times, and allow them to focus on running their business, while you focus on handling their vendor issues and keeping their technology operating smoothly.

Remember to summarize your client’s Managed Services benefits just before you present the quote and Agreement:

1. Experience Increased Operational Efficiency
2. Reduce and control their Operating Costs
3. Cost-effectively gain access to enterprise-level support and response
4. Experience minimized downtime
5. Can now focus on running their business, not their vendors
6. Realize peace of mind knowing their network is being monitored 24/7

The Benefits of Managed Services for the You

Does the process of transitioning your existing clients to Managed Services seem like a lot of work?  Don't forget your own benefits to having your clients on a Managed Services Agreement: You’re able to bill each of them in advance each and every month, perform your services proactively, remotely, and can focus on delivering solutions to your clients that continue to lower their costs, improve their efficiencies and mitigate risk. All of these benefits strengthen your position as a Trusted Advisor and true Business Partner with your clients.

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Why Are Some MSPs Growing While Others Aren't? - Webcast

Please join us this Thursday March 26th @ 9am PST as I conduct a special webcast with David Russell.

Topic: Why are some MSPs growing while others aren't?

It could be their people. Each employee you more fully engage in sales, services delivery or support enables your business to grow faster than before. MSPs that understand this principle, invest in their staff and put processes and procedures in place to help them achieve increased success in their work roles are naturally more successful than those that don't.

Our special guest for this valuable Webcast is our good friend David Russell, ManageToWin CEO and MSP University Boot Camp Sponsor, who will share how his FREE "talent management system in a box" will help your business become stronger than ever before. 
 
There are also lucrative ongoing commissions to be earned from recommending MANAGEtoWIN to your clients. 
 
During our most recent Boot Camp, MSP University encouraged attendees to use MANAGEtoWIN as a door opener with new prospects. The very next week one attendee was meeting with a client when asked, "What type of systems do you have in place for HR?"  It immediately opened up a new sale and deepened his relationship with the client. 
 
Your role as your clients' Trusted Advisor extends to all systems and solutions that can increase their efficiencies and profitability and mitigate business pain and risk - this role naturally extends to HR processes and solutions.
 
To grow beyond a Trusted Advisor and become a true Business Partner to your clients, you must leverage not only your Technical, but also your Business Acumen. This Webcast will show you how to reinforce your role as a Business Partner to your clients by helping them ease the management and increase the business value of their most challenging and costly operational burden - their staff.

You don't want to miss this special Webcast - register now!

Click here to register!
 
About MSP University's Webinar Series
 
MSP University's Webinar Series is meant to inform. The more you know about your industry, the products and services available to you and your clients, and how to market and sell those products and services, the greater your opportunities to increase your value to your clients, as well as your business success. 

About Erick Simpson

Vice President and CIO of Intelligent Enterprise, a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner, and MSP University,   Erick is a recognized industry expert and IT and Managed Services author, speaker and trainer, and contributor to numerous industry publications and events. Author of "The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice - What Every SMB IT Service Provider Should Know...", the definitive book on Managed Services, and the follow-ups in MSP University's Managed Services Series "The Best I.T. Sales & Marketing BOOK EVER!" and "The Best I.T. Service Delivery BOOK EVER!", Erick has also co-authored the HTG publication "Peer Power - Powerful Ideas for Partners from Peers".
 
About David Russell
 
David Russell is CEO of MANAGEtoWIN and author of 2 books on how leaders can overcome their addiction to poor management habits. He has been in the computer industry for 27 years as a reseller, managed services provider, vendor and entrepreneur.  He specializes in helping entrepreneurs, small-midsize businesses, global non-profits and churches can increase profits by systematically through better utilizing talent.  His clients include Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, Ingram Micro, Tech Data, ConnectWise, Catalyst Telecom, Vistage and the Entrepreneur's Organization members.
 
Click here to register!

 

Erick Simpson
MSP University
Subscribe to my blog here
Subscribe to our Newsletter here 
Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Selling Managed Services to Existing Clients

In most situations, having a relationship with a prospect makes it easier to “sell” something to them.  A relationship is the key to becoming a Trusted Advisor, and is necessary when you need to gain the prospect's trust in you and your services in order to make a sale.  When it comes to selling Managed Services to your existing clients; however, you may find it's actually more difficult than selling to a new client.

The ease with which you transition your current clients to the Managed Services model will rely greatly upon the perception they currently have of the service you offer.  If you have primarily been a “break-fix” provider generating solutions only after something has been broken, the client will have a difficult time relating to your new proactive Managed Services offering.  If you have already been establishing yourself as a Trusted Advisor offering proactive solutions; however, you will probably have an easier time with transitioning existing clients to Managed Services!

Marketing Process for Existing Client Transition

It doesn't matter how you perceive your company – it really only matters how your clients perceive your company.  Here is a 3-step process for helping your clients "reset" and gain the image of your company that will lead them to the transition to Managed Services:

1. Write your clients a letter, introducing your decision to transition to a proactive service delivery model
2. Call your clients a few days after sending the letter to set up an appointment do discuss your new service delivery model
3. Conduct a meeting with your clients and give them a short presentation extolling the benefits to them of proactively managing their infrastructure and vendors

It's important that you don't try to “sell” Managed Services by phone.  During the appointment you'll deliver a presentation about the benefits of Managed Services (there is an example PowerPoint presentation available to readers of our best-selling The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice).

During your client meeting and presentation, your goal is to show your client that you are no longer a “break-fix” company.  The new Managed Services model allows you to be a proactive IT service provider that will provide your Client better support and increased uptime, while saving on costs. 

Your presentation needs to stress the following 6 benefits of your new service delivery model to the client:

1. Increased operational efficiencies
2. Reduction and control of operating costs
3. Cost-effective access to enterprise-level support
4. Minimized downtime
5. Regain focus of running their business, not their IT or vendors
6. Peace of mind that comes with 24x7x365 monitoring

Schedule Another Meeting Right Away

Once you've gone over the initial presentation and explained the client's benefits of a Managed Services model, set up a second appointment to do perform a Managed Services Cost Analysis – in order to show the client what they save, or what additional services they'll receive for the same amount of money.  (There is a worksheet available on www.mspu.us to perform this analysis). Don't leave without scheduling the appointment to avoid losing momentum.

It is during the second appointment that you will reveal the true cost benefits to the client, overcome any oobjections and close your Managed Services opportunity.

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

 

 

3 Value Added Services for a Complete Managed Services Offering

Managed Services is only a single component within a comprehensive and well-rounded Annuity-based IT Service Delivery Model.  There are 3 services you should be offering your clients in order to give them the most value for their dollar:

1. Network Monitoring
2. Remote Help Desk
3. Vendor Management

Network Monitoring

There are numerous monitoring tools and services from many companies, and all share some commonality – from the ability to monitor basic events to the ability to customize and even trigger Alerts. 

Network monitoring tools are used for the purpose of alerting of problems that can affect the normal operation of a critical device or service.   For instance, wouldn’t you like to know when CPU utilization is high on a SQL Server, and for how long? How about receiving an Alert when Disk Space has dropped below a specific threshold? Or when a Backup Job has failed? Or if the Exchange Information
Store Service has stopped? Or if a VPN connection has dropped? Or a Website or Web Server is down?

These alerts can impact a Client's uptime if they are dealt with in a timely manner when they are received.  Effective network monitoring tools can keep track of just about every Windows (and even some other Operating Systems') events generated, along with network hardware events, 3rd party software events and virus alerts.

The primary benefit of network monitoring tools is that they work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. 

Remote Help Desk

With a well-trained staff and a solid SLA and Escalation Process, your Help Desk is your company’s best representation of value to your Clients. If your Help Desk is inefficient, your Clients will
suffer, and you will lose them. If your Help Desk is World- Class, your Clients will continue to utilize your Services, and will be happy to refer you more business, be open to more Solutions, or participate in Testimonials – or all three.

Thanks to the ability to provide support from a remote location, it's possible to give unlimited remote support to your clients  between business hours, included in their Managed Services monthly fee.  It helps client's budget their IT costs for the entire year, knowing there will rarely be a need for an additional help desk support fee.  If the client chooses to pay more, you can offer remote service after hours.

You may be wondering how it's possible to profit if you're providing unlimited support.  The reason it works out is because you only need to go onsite when there is a physical Hardware failure, or some extraordinary reason.  If you are properly maintaining the client's server, using network monitoring to proactively monitor the status, you are not as likely to see a failure that requires a complete recovery and onsite visit.

Vendor Management

In this value-added service, you actually manage all of the client's infrastructure vendors for them:

• Telco/Long Distance/Teleconferencing – SBC/ATT/Bell/Verizon/Sprint/All Others
• Broadband – SBC/TelePacific/XO/MPower/All Others
• Network Fax/Copier/Printer – Xerox/Toshiba/Panasonic/Minolta/HP/All Others
• Web/Dev/Database – Webmasters/Developers/All Others
• Line Of Business Software – AccPac/Legal Solutions/TimeSlips/Quickbooks/Point/All Others
• Hosting/Co-Lo – Web Host/Co-Location Facility/All Others
• Equipment – Dell/HP/IBM/Cisco/All Others
• Point Of Sale – Keystroke/MS Retail Management System/All Others
• Phone System – Avaya/Lucent/Nortel/Panasonic/VoIP/All Others
• Local Phone System Service Company – All

Why would you want to take on this extra headache?  Chances are, you're already supporting your client's vendor relationships anyway and not getting paid for it – you may as well include this as a service so everyone benefits.  You probably get calls from your client's vendors when they're onsite, asking for help or passwords to install new equipment you weren't prepared to deal with; or your client calls because they were working with one of the vendors and messed something up during an upgrade; or a frantic cry for help from your client who is trying to install equipment from the vendor that they don't need – and the list goes on. 

You are already managing your client's vendors in a reactive (and inefficient) way; using a vendor management system you can manage them proactively (and much more efficiently).

For more information about how to put together your Managed Services offer and deliverables, click here.

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

We'll Build You A New Website in 7 Days Flat!

That's right - MSP University will build your new website in 7 days flat!   

Does your website really drive revenue, or is it simply a company brochure?
   
Is your website client-facing and designed to attract your specific target audience?

Does your website clearly identify your prospects' pain and explain how you can solve their problems?

Does your website accurately reflect all of your services and solutions?
 
Is your website content ineffective (and/or delaying launch) because it was designed by someone that does not completely understand your business, industry or target market?

MSP University's 7-Day Website Solution is the answer!

Click here to watch a short, 6-minute video showing you just how we can develop your website in only 7 days that is affordable, effective and drives revenue!

There is simply no other organization with MSP University's experience and expertise that can design and deliver your Website solution in only 7 days that:

• Drives revenue and repeat business
• Is client-facing and attracts your target audience as part of your marketing process
• Identifies your prospects' pain and positions your organization as the solution to that pain
• Showcases every single one of your products and services
• Contains meaningful, relevant content developed by experts in your industry!

Why wait any longer when you can have the website that represents your organization and its services effectively and professionally and drives revenue!

After you watch our short, 6-minute video, click here to get started immediately and have your site up in only 7 days, or simply pick up the phone and dial (888) 248-9964, extension 241.

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Identifying Profitable Verticals To Market Your I.T. Services To

It might seem like the most appropriate strategy for identifying appropriate vertical markets to focus your marketing efforts on would be to look at your existing clients, determine how many clients you have in each vertical, and then select your top two or three.  The potential problem of this method is that you may have many clients in a poor vertical right now, and it wouldn't make sense to focus your efforts on a vertical market that isn't performing that well.

Additionally, you don't want to focus on a vertical that has more users than desktops, such as the manufacturing industry.  It's true that the manufacturing industry has some of the largest head counts within any vertical market, but having a large number of people does not mean they have a large number of computers or servers to support them.  In manufacturing, often the opposite is true – there are more people than computers in operation and, barring some exceptions, this may not make it as profitable a vertical to focus on in the SMB space as others.

There are several perspectives you will want to consider when choosing which vertical markets you plan to focus on, including:

• The vertical's ability to pay for your services
• The number of prospects in your target vertical found within your desired service area
• The suitability of the vertical's environment for your services
• The vertical's gross revenues and number of desktops
• Your own familiarity with the vertical
• Your ability to deliver your marketing message to them at equitable cost.

Determining if a Vertical is a Good Return on Your Investment

Part of the process for selecting a vertical market involves your ability to market to that vertical at an “equitable cost”.  This means that the cost of marketing to the vertical will offer a good return on that investment.  If it costs a few thousand dollars to purchase a qualified list of leads within your target vertical, send out your direct mail and make follow up phone calls to set appointments – the ability to set 10 appointments from the effort might translate into a good return on your investment (ROI) and therefore a good choice for a vertical market.  Why?  Using strong marketing strategies for managed service providers may result in obtaining several new Managed Services Agreements for every 10 appointments you set – and as you know, each new client can be worth thousands of dollars per month for your business.

For more information about how to identify your vertical markets, start reading on page 21 of The Best IT Sales & Marketing Book EVER!

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Partnerships Are A Difficult Ship To Steer

Join Stuart Crawford from Calgary’s Small Business Specialist, Bulletproof InfoTech and George J Sierchio from Action Business Partners as they discuss one of the most difficult areas of business today, Partnerships.  Partnerships can help your business succeed in new areas with business partners and also allow you a bit of a safety net with others to share your risk.  What dangers lurk beneath the surface when you go into unchartered waters?  George and Stuart will discuss and share some of their experience with business partnerships. What works? What doesn’t? What to do when you are doing all the work?  They will also share tips and tricks to bring your partnership back up to the surface or when you decide to abandon ship.

Listen live to Small Business Radio on Friday, March 13 at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific Time.  Listen live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb. 

Miss an episode, catch up on back editions online today.

If you interested in being interviewed and sharing your story, email Stuart today at radio@stuartcrawford.com

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Increase IT Service Delivery Revenues Through Vertical-Specific Marketing

When working with our Partners, we've noticed that the more vertical-specific a Partner is, the more successful they are in terms of gross revenues.  Partners who have not focused their marketing efforts on specific verticals generally have the lowest gross revenues and are more likely to rely on referrals as their primary source of new client acquisition.

The benefits of focusing on specific vertical markets are numerous.  Once you focus your efforts on a specific vertical and understand the biggest “pains” that industry experiences, you can offer solutions that will decrease or eliminate those common pains, reduce their costs and increase their efficiency.  Working with multiple businesses within the same industry means you already have the potential solutions to their pains – since they're all going to experience similar problems!  You can do the research and come up with solutions once; and then leverage that knowledge to all businesses within the same industry experiencing the same problems.

For example, if you decided to focus on the vertical market of Attorneys, some of their common business “pains” may include:

• Being heavily dependent upon email
• Requiring access to their files and email while traveling, in court sessions or trials
• Use specific business applications which are a challenge to maintain and keep up to date, like Timeslips or Westlaw
• Often work long hours, evenings and weekends to prepare for motions and trials

As you address these specific pain points that most Attorney's experience, you can create marketing messages that will attract Attorneys looking for solutions to these problems.  A sample of a marketing message you might use could be:

“Frustrating email problems got you down? Having trouble getting to critical files in the office when you’re at home or in court? Tired of waiting on the line for Timeslips Technical Support? Call us now to find out how we help our Legal clients reduce email downtime, provide secure remote access to critical data when out of the office, and quickly handle Timeslips and Westlaw technical support issues.”

The marketing message is specific to their actual business pains, which will be far more effective than a general message that simply states your company provides remote access to files and handles technical support issues.  Once you've discovered the challenges a specific industry faces, you can develop solutions and compelling marketing messages that will have businesses within that vertical knocking down your door for the solutions to their problems!

When you generate new clients from referrals, chances are you'll end up working with businesses across a wide variety of industries.  Every industry has its own unique challenges and “pains”, and you'll spend far more time trying to figure out what those pains are so you can provide solutions.  Select a handful of verticals to focus your marketing efforts on and leverage the knowledge you gain.  You'll soon profit from the time you’ve already spent learning the workflow, business processes, line of business applications, troubleshooting and maintenance techniques of the original client, and apply this knowledge to the new client – saving you time and effort and allowing you to provide higher quality services to all of your clients.

Click here to learn more about vertical-specific marketing

Erick Simpson
MSP University
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Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services
MSP University helps MSPs succeed...period.

Sign Up For Mike Iem's Newsletter Now!

Thanks to our good friend Karl Palachuk for reminding us to sign up for Mike Iem's excellent newsletter.

Sign up for Mike's excellent newsletter now by clicking here!

From Karl's blog post (I couldn't have written it any better, so have copied it here):

If you haven't met Mike Iem, get a quick intro to him and his mission at the SMB Conference Call Archives.

Mike Iem is working for Microsoft on an initiative focused on supporting SBS partner groups in the US and sharing information with partner groups Worldwide!

He is a very-available liaison for to Microsoft. Over the last few years he has organized the SBS Partner Tours and worked with the SBS Leads Groups to provide information and resources to all Partner Groups (user groups) and individuals.

One of the hottest things Mike produces from time to time is the super-amazing Partner Group DVD. This is the one golden DVD you need to know what's going on for partners in the SMB space. The 2009 DVD is almost ready.

In the past, the DVD has put together marketing programs, videos, demo tools, screen shots, webinars, white papers, and LOTS of other great information and updates targeted specifically for the SMB Consultant. This is literally all the content you need from Microsoft in one awesome package.

Mike reports that the DVD is "complete" and churning through the Microsoft process to distribution.

There's a 99% chance that this will be distributed as an ISO image for download. So if you're not a member of a user group, you'll still have access to it.

But you don't want to miss out, so please Join Mike's Newsletter NOW so you won't miss the announcement. It will probably come out in the next two weeks. So now is absolutely the best time to sign up for this email newsletter. Free, of course.

Sign up for Mike Iem's Super Newsletter NOW: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102241330914

Mike has done some amazing things for the SMB Community. The whole 5w/50 webinar series was his baby. He has organized tours, kept the user group leaders informed, provided us with resources, and a lot more.

Please do yourself a favor: Join Mike's low-volume, high-content email list today.

In addition to the DVD information (when it's released), Mike's newsletter always has great information on marketing and promotions that will help you make more money.

Tune-in now. You'll be glad you did!

MSP University has contributed 6 Managed Services Webcasts and 7 Best Practices Guides to Mike's Partner Group DVD covering:

• Creating Managed Services Agreements
• Developing Infrastructure Upgrades and Managed Services proposals
• I.T. Solutions and Managed Services marketing techniques
  
• Increasing revenues as a Trusted Advisor
• Closing Managed Services business in 3 appointments or less
  
• Creating effective appointment-setting scripts
• Successful appointment-setting and telemarketing techniques
  

So show Mike some love for all he does for the community, register for his excellent newsletter now, and get a copy of his awesome Partner Group DVD.

Sign up for Mike's excellent newsletter now by clicking here!

Erick Simpson
MSP University
Subscribe to my blog here
Subscribe to our Newsletter here 
Join MSP University FREE for all things Managed Services