7 Lessons from Starting, Scaling & Selling My MSP
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The document outlines seven key lessons for starting, scaling, and selling a managed service provider (MSP), including establishing a sales process, investing in customer success, and identifying ideal customers. It emphasizes the importance of accountability, healthy competition, simplifying contracts, and maintaining customer connections to drive growth and retention. Each lesson is supported by specific tips and strategies for effective implementation.
7 Lessons from Starting, Scaling & Selling My MSP
- 1. 7 Lessons From Starting, Scaling & Selling my MSP presented by: Eric Dosal, Co-Founder, CEO BrightGauge
- 3. A Little About Me & My MSPRevenue Time $8.8MM $800K www.brightgauge.com Great Exit
- 4. #1 – Put a Sales Process in Place Tip: Each Opportunity Must Have a Next Step! www.brightgauge.com
- 5. Monitor Your Sales Opportunities www.brightgauge.com
- 6. Tips: Sales Process ¨ Document what works for your best sales person(s) ¨ Break out the process into clearly defined steps ¨ Don’t get too complicated with v1 ¨ Match your Opportunity Stages to each step ¨ Identify the right tasks to move to the next step ¨ Review regularly to identify bottlenecks www.brightgauge.com
- 7. #2 – Invest In Customer Success www.brightgauge.com
- 9. It’s About The Long Term Relationship www.brightgauge.com
- 10. Customer Retention is Key $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $525,000 2% Churn 1% Churn .5% Churn -1% Churn www.brightgauge.com
- 11. Give them the KPIs to monitor www.brightgauge.com
- 12. Tips: Customer Success ¨ Focus on EXCEEDING Customer Expectations ¨ Buy in for this role must be top down ¨ They are your farmers & account managers ¨ They keep your accounts from churning ¨ Should be compensated on Account Growth ¨ Give them the KPIs to monitor www.brightgauge.com
- 13. #3 – Identifying Your Ideal Customer www.brightgauge.com Banks 1. Security Concerns 2. Valued Reputation 3. Required IT Audits SMB Services Firms 1. 40 +/- Users 2. Multiple Offices 3. Services Firm Big Boys 1. 200+ Employees 2. Technology Based 3. Needing Flexibility Analyze Your Current Customers & Specifically Your “BEST” Customers… Then Ask Where They’re Friends Hang Out
- 14. Break Them Down Into 4 Buckets www.brightgauge.com A - Customers B - Customers C - Customers D - Customers
- 15. Objective Characteristics of Each ¨ Total Revenue Contribution ¨ Total Profit Contribution ¨ Types of Services They Leverage ¨ Referral Business Opportunity ¨ Perception Amongst Your Team ¨ Personality of the Client ¨ Payment History ¨ Soft Benefits (Logo, Market Importance, etc.) www.brightgauge.com
- 16. Game Plan For Each Group ¨ Group A ¤ What are the top 2 or 3 themes of this list ¤ Where do their friends hang out? ¨ Group B ¤ What qualities are they missing from Group A? ¤ Can you upsell / change relationship? ¨ Group C ¤ Do they bring enough incremental margin? ¨ Group D ¤ FIRE THEM TOMORROW www.brightgauge.com
- 17. #4 – Holding My Team Accountable www.brightgauge.com
- 19. www.brightgauge.com One Major Problem… No Accountability!
- 21. Real Time or Manual Updating www.brightgauge.com
- 22. Benefits of Accountability via Scorecards www.brightgauge.com ¨ Provides transparency of what to focus on ¨ Creates alignment with your team ¨ Holds each team member accountable ¨ Identifies problem areas quickly ¨ Keeps your team on track with your goals
- 23. #5 – Creating Healthy Competition www.brightgauge.com
- 24. Driving Competition the Right Way Pros ¨ Increase employee engagement ¨ Almost immediate improvement ¨ Top dogs will shine Cons ¨ Mandated play isn’t really “playing” ¨ Increase in cheating & cutting corners ¨ Novelty will wear off www.brightgauge.com
- 25. Driving Competition the Right Way ¨ Set team goals ¨ Must be transparent ¨ Get everyone’s buy in ¨ Explain each person’s impact ¨ Encourage teamwork ¨ Change them up www.brightgauge.com
- 26. #6 – Simplify The Contracts www.brightgauge.com
- 27. Tips: Simplifying Contracts ¨ Make the Contract a Marketing document ¨ Explain the VALUE they will get, not the techie work ¨ Simplify the T&Cs, they are just a hurdle ¨ 3 Year deals with 6 month termination clauses ¨ Don’t forget the annual increase 3% - 5% To Learn More Watch: https://youtu.be/oqTG3O7WfSE www.brightgauge.com
- 29. #7 – Connect With Your Customers www.brightgauge.com
- 31. Expanding Your Relationship www.brightgauge.com Your Client Point of Contact The Person That Signs Your Check The Boss (El Jefe)
- 32. Onsite Customer Breakfast (every 120 days) ¨ Prescheduled in advanced ¨ Confirmed with 24 hours before ¨ Must include food (bagels or donuts) ¨ Must be in the morning ¨ Must review currently open issues (bring the list) + = www.brightgauge.com
- 33. Tips: Connecting With Your Customers ¨ Visit your customers regularly ¨ Client Satisfaction surveys are a MUST ¨ Give your customers a channel to communicate ¨ Share the positive with the team ¨ Address the negatives quickly and transparently ¨ Communicate the way they want to hear from you www.brightgauge.com
- 34. 7 Lessons From Scaling My MSP www.brightgauge.com 1. Standardize Your Sales Process 2. Invest in Customer Success 3. Identify Your Ideal Customer 4. Hold Your Team Accountable 5. Create Healthy Competition 6. Simplify Your Contracts 7. Connect With Customers
- 35. How BrightGauge Works – Jan ‘17 www.brightgauge.com
- 36. BrightGauge by the Numbers – Jan ‘17 ¨ 1,000+ Partners ¨ 11,000+ Active Users ¨ 15,000+ Active Dashboards ¨ 19,000+ Client Viewers ¨ Over-The-Top Support ¨ Dedicated Success Team ¨ Built by a MSP for MSPs www.brightgauge.com
- 37. Over 20 Integration Partners – Jan ‘17 www.brightgauge.com
- 38. Resources to Learn More 1. Service Management Best Practices from Netrix IT 2. Sales Best Practices: How we grew our MSP 10x in 5 Years 3. How Investing in Customer Success Drove Our MSP Growth 4. Tips On Structuring Your Long Term Contracts 5. Sample Compuquip Managed Services Contract 6. How to Identify Your Ideal Customer to Grow Your MSP 7. Improving Your Business with KPIs 8. Best Practices on Designing & Using Dashboards email me at edosal@brightgauge.com www.brightgauge.com
- 39. Resources to Learn More (Links) 1. http://info.brightgauge.com/customer-best-practices-webinar-service-management 2. http://info.brightgauge.com/sales-best-practices-webinar 3. http://info.brightgauge.com/how-investing-in-customer-success-drove-our-msp-growth 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqTG3O7WfSE&feature=youtu.be 5. http://info.brightgauge.com/hubfs/Files/BrightGauge_ManagedServAgreement.pdf 6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpO4_3bjqIE&feature=youtu.be 7. http://info.brightgauge.com/kpi-101 8. http://info.brightgauge.com/dashboard-best-practices-webinar Note: These links match up to the prior slide in case the others aren’t clickable www.brightgauge.com
- 40. Any Questions? www.brightgauge.com Eric Dosal Co-Founder, CEO BrightGauge Software edosal@brightgauge.com Learn more: www.brightgauge.com/resources