Be Different. Deliver Excellence.
Photo Credit: Gary Pica facilitating MSP panel at IT Nation 2016 breakout session.
Last November I participated in a one-hour breakout session at IT Nation led by Gary Pica, founder of TruMethods, and an industry leader in the MSP space. He’d brought with him a panel of MSP owners from all walks of life whom seemingly had nothing in common other than achieving great success in their business ventures. Through a series of questions and answers a theme began to develop. It became very clear how important it was to, “find what you’re good at – and stick with it.” Each of these panelists understood their target customer and through time became known as the experts in that particular vertical. These owners were not only charging a considerable amount more than their competitors for their MSP offering, but they had also developed incredible COI’s based on the level of service and value they were able to consistently provide to their customers.
One of the most critical pieces of running a successful MSP business is keeping the sales funnel full of qualified, interested prospects. However, before filling the funnel, you need to define a “qualified” lead. The best way to do this is by creating your target customer profile (TCP). If you don’t have a TCP, rest assured the best in the business have a firm grasp on theirs; and if you do have a TCP, are you sticking to it? Can you further refine it?
While there are a plethora of variables to consider for your TCP, here are a few to help you get started:
The list goes on, but the point is to get a specific as possible without limiting your funnel too much. You should be able to identify within 3-5 questions whether or not your prospect is worth pursuing. Through trial and error it will become clear who you’re best suited to serve. This kind of decisive action keeps the funnel clean and worthy of your time.
Jake Wagner, an Account Manager for Collabrance, is responsible for sharing, coaching, and training partners on Managed Services best practices. Jake is a great resource providing value to help partners achieve greater success in their business. Jake graduated from the University of Dubuque with a bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing.