As the founder and president of TruMethods, an MSP training company, I come to the table with 20+ years of lessons learned the hard way. My goal is to help you avoid the ever-expanding potholes on the road to becoming a successful MSP.
Watch the webinar on the 5 Qualities of a World-Class MSP. In this webinar, I’ll dissect and explore what it means to be a world-class MSP. However, before you can understand what the best is, you must first understand what average looks like.
The Average MSP
The average MSP experiences inconsistent results in terms of growing monthly recurring revenue (MRR). Their average all-in seat price (AISP) is less than $100 per seat. The amount of service revenue generated per employee is less than $100,000 annually, and the net profit earned is less than 10 percent.
If that’s you, listen up.
My proven methods have helped thousands of MSPs build stronger and more profitable practices. Now, it’s your turn.
How to Go from Average to World-Class
In the webinar, I’ll break down all the basics you need to succeed as an MSP. The 5 Qualities of a World-Class MSP are:
- Business Planning
- From “I’m too busy” to “My company is too small for a written plan,” I’ve learned that the top excuses for not having a business plan are actually the best reasons for having one. The business planning process is the leading indicator of success, and it’s about more than having a business plan. It’s about having a process with which to implement that plan and achieve results.
- Packaging and Pricing
- Over the past few years, very little has changed in what MSPs need to offer. Clients have technology to be managed and maintained, and they want reliable, timely support. But how those services are offered continues to evolve.
- As an MSP, service offerings and pricing are at the center of your relationship with clients. They impact your quality, margins, and ability to sell to new customers. To be a world-class MSP, your service offering should benefit your bottom line while improving clients’ productivity and functionality, lowering their costs and giving them peace of mind.
- Sales Focus
- The key to being ‘sales focused’ is having a repeatable sales process to build recurring revenue. A managed process will help control and shorten the sales cycle, resulting in selling more MRR at a higher price. Plus, you should always track activities and their results on a regular basis.
- Other major areas of impact are your lead generation process, how you evaluate your current prospects, and how you go about reframing your current clients.
- Being Process Driven
- Leveraging process to deliver superior results takes discipline in every area of the business. Here are a few starting points for becoming truly process driven:
- Establish a culture of process that involves your entire team; let them be part of deciding best practices and delivering on them.
- Be sure the processes are ‘alive’ or improvable as necessary.
- Institutionalize your process knowledge with documentation that is kept current.
- Regularly train employees on processes.
- Leveraging process to deliver superior results takes discipline in every area of the business. Here are a few starting points for becoming truly process driven:
- Gaining Command
- Finally, mastering the 5 Qualities of a World-Class MSP means having total command over your business. The process of gaining command includes:
- Achieving a 360-degree view of your business
- The difference between generating $100,000 and $150,000 in annual revenue per employee
- Learning how to determine your company’s unrealized profitability
- Finally, mastering the 5 Qualities of a World-Class MSP means having total command over your business. The process of gaining command includes:
Being a world-class MSP means adding new monthly recurring revenue at the right price EVERY month. It means having leverage of $150,000 or higher and having 25 to 35 percent net profit margins. More importantly, being world-class means creating opportunity and careers for all of your employees. For business owners, this means creating a level of financial security and independence that most in this industry never achieve. With the 5 Qualities as your foundation for success, I want to help you defy what is believed to be possible in this industry.
Photo Credit: Dark Dwarf via Flickr.com. Used under CC 2.0 License.