mspsales

In this episode, our team discusses The Game of Risk here at MSP Business School.

2:20 – Brian suggests that organizations engage with customers to understand risk and take the next step in risk management by introducing frameworks to them to manage their organization. Cyber liability insurance can be a challenge for some organizations, so it is important to engage with customers and understand risk during the sales process.

3:11 – Robb said that he’d like to define a little bit better about “What are we talking about when we're talking about risk? Are you talking about it as it relates to the insurance side? Are you talking about the hacking side? What exactly do you mean when you say the global word risk?”

7:21 – Brian explains that there is a challenge of not all risks needing to be solved right due to the cost justification versus the percentage opportunity of risk. For example, if a customer has 3 to 4 risks, it could be that they have a realistic budget and are looking to protect to the best of their capabilities. 

12:12 – Robb inquires how to coordinate the sales process between the sales rep, the owner, and the sales LED. He is blown away by the variety of ideas discussed.

17:19 – Brian emphasized the importance of having a good cyber security posture for businesses. There are a lot of different frameworks and regulations that are industry-based, so it is important to focus on cyber frameworks. These frameworks are groups of controls that businesses can define and measure against over time.

21:12 – Brian explains that CIS is geared towards non-targeted companies that don't have security professionals on staff. It focuses on protecting and detecting the first 3 identities, then moving up to implementation where they usually have security professionals, and then dealing with vendors that are the companies that support us publicly.

24:53 – Robb stated that the ads of services are picking up for code management, and they are seeing a lot of interest and opportunity on the upper side as well. There is a lot of opportunity out there right now.

27:54 – Brian's most important idea is to understand the risk and not focus on fear or uncertainty in doubt. He emphasizes that not all risks are equal and not all risks need to be attended to immediately.

Vince Tinnirello joins us today on MSP Business School. Vince leads the Business Development team for Anchor Network Solutions and today we talk about the steps he has taken to help grow the business 2x in three years.

2:01 –  Vince kicks off his backstory by sharing the career path that ultimately sent him towards a career in IT.  Coming from a hospitality background, Vince saw that the standard IT companies they worked with didn't deliver with a customer service focus and that became his mission

7:26  – Brian shares his experience in the hospitality sector and Vince responds by sharing about a presentation he has given in the past about "Customer Service the Marriott Way" and shares how problems and questions in the hospitality industry translates to the issues we face in IT.

11:41  – Robb kicks off a discussion on how Anchor got past the $2.5M barrier that many MSPs get stuck at and grew to $6M+ in just 3 years. Vince shared how he helped the team get past that and the steps taken by his management team to drive upward success.

15:03  - The conversation shifts to client assessments/raters that allow you to measure the relationships with your customers.  Tim brings up criteria for firing a client and the team expands on this concept.

22:26 - We close out the conversation of how Vince came to understand how culture is real and plays a part if generating client success.

Host Karl caught up sales trainer and coach Gil Cargill to talk about the importance of business-focused communication during sales calls.

You hear it all the time: Don't talk about what you sell; talk about the client's needs. But how do you actually do that? How do you guide the conversation away from the price and still get the sale? Gil gives us some tips - and Karl back to get some juicy details.

Too many technicians think clients care about technology. They don’t. They care about how you can improve their profit, improve their productivity, or help with cashflow.

Gil gives some great tips on how to get the conversation started, and to get the prospect to buy in to a productivity audit. His approach is very conversational and is totally focused on the client rather than the technology.

Contact Gil for his free starter evaluation:

Web Site: http://www.gilcargill.com 

Phone: 310-447-4102

:-)

Sponsor Memo: Linode

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Their guide, “The Golden Ratio of Price to Performance in Cloud Computing“ details how alternative cloud providers and open source tools can lower costs and ease moving to multicloud envoirments.

This resource and more at https://linode.com/mspradio. 

:-)

Jesse Hill is the President of Tier 3 IT Solutions a MSP located in Edmonton, Alberta.  Jesse chats with us about running a business he grew up in and the lessons he has learned since taking over the business.

We start with Jesse's story about an acquisition they made and the challenges they faced during the transition and in their approach to the merging cultures.  He discusses things that they did not evaluate during this acquisition that impacted the bottom line.

Jesse then moves to a story of an event that helped shape Tier 3 Solutions.  He attended a conference that helped him see that they truly did not have a defined sales process and how this led to an overhaul of their sales division.  We discuss how you can't shortcut the process and steps they took to get sales in line and improve the close rates.

Jesse then shares steps they are focused on for 2021 that will help them grow and develop as an organization in 2021.  Tier 3 is planning improvements to keep the team engaged as they continue to work remotely.  He also talks about how they work to continually improve the relationship with the team and help them feel closer to the decision making process.

Today we discuss the marketplace as the pandemic rages on.  May MSP's are fighting to stay afloat as we head into what looks like it can be a long winter.  Robb starts the discussion sharing that in the peer groups he operates sales pro's are indicating that the race to the bottom is on.

We then dive into the difference between building strategic relationships for the long-term vs. solution selling.  The goal of a strategic approach is getting closer to the customer and by leveraging a more aligned approach to client management, margins can be preserved.

Brian talks about the fact that the solutions starts through understanding.  We are seeing a trend to solution first selling where solutions are't being fully fleshed out and quotes are hitting the streets.

We then discussed how both companies strategies need to be aligned to have a successful relationship and to box out commoditized competitors. Tim and Brin discuss how sales reps can struggle with the strategic discussion as it is a conversation that many reps are not accustomed to holding and as a result their only sales tool is the discount.

We then discuss that training and a culture of empowerment can help sales teams to elevate and preserve margin when taking on a small shop delivering only a lower price.

Robb then shares practical tactics for how sales people can approach their meetings.

Today's we break down the prospecting process, how to get organized, focused, and targeted in your plan.

Robb kicks off the conversation with the concept of the Dream 250, a process OSR Manage and their sales teams live by.  This process helps you get laser focused and find those valued relationships each sales rep requires.

Tim discusses tactics to get to those target prospects.  We dive into a multi-channel approach to sales prospecting and using cold-calls as intelligence gathering.  It's not easy to get to your best prospects and the process helps you make each step a valuable exercise on the way to engaging your target.

We then engage on how to qualify MSP clients so prospecting time is not wasted on low value targets.  We discuss the information you need to obtain and when to cut a prospect loose.

We also address the common sales gripe, "the leads are no good and I don't have enough".  The truth is not the leads, but your approach and mindset will really dictate success.  Most reps give up on a lead to early and we discuss what the proper expectation should be (psst....its not 3 calls).

In this episode we MSP Sales models that can be leveraged beyond the owner led sales model.  We discuss how to get started and the steps you need to take to set yourself up for long-term customer acquisition success.

Tim starts the discussion in outlining owner led sales.  This is the most common way most MSP's get started.  Robb expands on the owner-led sales model generally starts with the 'friends and family" referral approach and how that doesn't scale.  We discuss the realities of this model and why it often doesn't scale.

The discussion then moves into sales tactics and how the money is in the follow up.  This starts in the prospecting phase and moves through each step in the sales cycle for MSP's.  When this becomes a larger problem this can be an indicator that it is time to expand the sales team.

Robb talks about getting focus and really driving opporunity by building your 'Dream 250".  Many MSP's do not focus on clients that are similar to the companies that they have had success and building pocket verticals.

We then move into the transition phase of moving past the owner-led sale and building a team.  We also discuss why the oowner can never really remove themselves from the sales process until you have scale in your overall business.

We then discuss what these new sales models look like and the roles that need to be filled.  Also, we hone in on when a full-time sales manager is really needed in the business and its later that you think.

We close the masterclass on identifying the key roles needed to build a strong MSP Sales engine and drive success.

In this episode we discuss our the various sales approaches in use at MSP’s and MSSP’s today.  These include owner-led, inside/outside sales team, and hybrid sales models.  Robb discusses the realistic expectations for bringing on your first sales person and what support a new MSP Sales Rep will require.

We then discuss how to transition from a word of mouth and refer sales organization and move into a true prospecting led sales engine.  Robb dives into how one of the biggest things that OSR Manage teaches owners making their first sales hire is patience.

We also identify one of the easiest things to fix in your sales team, improving follow up and staying in touch and driving sales through a pleasantly persistent approach to sales.

MSP’s also need to understand and develop sales metrics.  If you don’t have a measurable plan your sales hire will fail.  Develop your process before making that first hire.

We close the meeting with how to interview and hire those resources and tactics to weed out the ‘big talkers’ and identify the producers.