While you may think your customers’ Microsoft 365 data is backed up, chances are it’s not. Finding a comprehensive and easy-to-use cloud backup solution that will resolve this problem is a growing priority for MSPs. Once that solution has been solidified, your team now must demonstrate its value and display the urgency to your customers.
How can MSP sales teams demonstrate the importance of this type of solution?
One of the first questions that MSPs need to ask their customers is, ‘What are you using to protect your 365 data?” This is a great conversation starter with the end customers, because you aren’t asking if they are protecting Microsoft 365 data, but what are they using to do so. It sets the expectation that they should already be protecting their Microsoft 365 data. A lot of SMBs still don’t realize that Microsoft is not backing up their data. They think it’s protected, but they don’t realize that deleted data sits in the recycle bin. Once they exceed their data limit, the recycle bin data will be permanently removed. If the data is compromised by attackers, that data will no longer be available to them without a backup.
Another angle is to take the conversation from just backup and into business risk mitigation that your managed services can offer. The conversation should focus on the business benefits your services can offer, and not on the features and functionality of the security stack. Ultimately, it’s all about how you can protect customers while helping them meet business goals. Data is a critical asset to businesses and protecting it is essential. Once you’ve landed the opportunity with backup, you can easily expand to other service offerings available in your stack.
How can MSP marketing teams support sales?
Marketing can complement sales in demonstrating the value of Microsoft 365 data protection through various ways. First, they can address the problem that a lot of organizations are facing today: a lack of trust in backup and recovery solution. In terms of messaging, make sure to communicate this value: “Yes, we do backup for Microsoft 365, it’s per user license with unlimited data storage, and we keep user data forever even once they leave the organization.”
Crafting slide-decks and presentations that highlight why backup for Microsoft 365 is vital, will be valuable, too. Include videos that show an attacker compromising an account or maybe highlight how multi-factor authentication (MFA) can be compromised. The Barracuda team has covered this at partner events in the past and the feedback was highly positive.
Co-op webinars is another opportunity to take advantage of. A lot of MSPs will be nervous about running a webinar and setting an incentive to get 50 registrations and 30 attendees. Especially if the webinar is focused on the solution itself such as Barracuda Cloud-to-Cloud Backup. Make sure that you have the right presenters in place to support each other and answer questions. Barracuda always suggests teaming up with a sales engineer for this reason.
Barracuda has a variety of case studies showcased on their website as well. There’s truly no better way to display how pivotal these solutions are when they’ve helped your customers defend against cyberattacks, generate revenue growth, and achieve overall success. Find customers that have switched vendors, find out why they chose to move, how you helped, and their feedback on the solution or process overall.
Empower your customers
MSP sales and marketing teams have the tools in place to demonstrate the value of Microsoft 365 backup but need to use those tools properly. Crafting the right message, using different approaches to further your conversations, and utilizing collateral such as success stories or video demonstrations will be key. Your customers will be pleased to hear from other Microsoft 365 backup solution users, too. Don’t forget to leverage those references! At the end of the day, you want to empower your customers and build their confidence. With the right solution in place, you’re already halfway there.
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