Managed service providers participate in a very competitive market, which is why they have to continuously come up with new growth strategies to keep their heads above the water. Not only do they have to improve their marketing and sales process, but they also need to find ways to diversify services and retain clients.
Most importantly, your MSP business needs to take a proactive stance on all its daily operative processes. Copying other companies’ success stories won’t work for your brand because, by the time you implement these tricks, the entire market will change. New, emerging tech gives you a little leeway, which is why you need to be an innovator, not a follower.
In this article, we want to cover the latest trends in the MSP market. Adding these strategies to your MSP business arsenal will allow you to accelerate growth, albeit for a short time, until the competition catches up.
1. Understand Your Position
Most businesses, whether they are MSPs or otherwise, fail at the very first step. Specifically, they might not have a full grasp of their current market position and available resources compared to competitors. It’s vital for MSPs to perform a thorough SWOT analysis and identify strengths and weaknesses before embarking on their entrepreneurial journey.
Entrepreneurs should also determine which processes and tools would be most beneficial for MSP growth. If necessary, you should perform A/B testing and other types of analysis at a smaller scale to get a better grasp of potential benefits and drawbacks.
A good part of the planning phase is also determining who your competitors are, what they’re doing right, and what they’re doing wrong. Finding market gaps will be vital for your growth as it will help you tap into unexploited segments of your target audience and services. You also need to learn more about cyber threats and various other risks that are ahead of you.
2. Analyze Clients Needs
Another vital part of the planning process is analyzing clients’ needs. You need to create a list of the most sought-after services, whether it’s maintenance, consulting, antivirus, cloud computing, or something else. Based on their needs, you can focus your marketing efforts on particular processes or create discounted service packages that will entice almost every lead.
As digital transformation becomes more prevalent in the business world, assessing customer needs also gets easier. Nowadays, you can utilize various marketing and sales tools to analyze the typical buyer’s journey. By determining where most prospects drop off, you can tweak your offer and pitch to maximize conversion rates.
3. Create a Scalable Model
Most MSPs struggle to grow their businesses because they don’t have a scalable model on their hands. Many providers hit a wall at one point or another, and they don’t know how to adjust their processes to the newfound situation. Among other things, they might encounter issues introducing new tech, finishing tasks on time, or having the right personnel.
To overcome all these challenges, entrepreneurs need to predict their future needs ahead of time. They need to be flexible when hiring employees and modifying their workload to accommodate ever-growing client needs. They might also consider adding new software and technology, such as remote monitoring and management, to automate their increasingly complex operations.
Ultimately, the key to unhindered MSP growth is to onboard as many new customers as possible while retaining existing clients and without increasing operational costs.
4. Invest in SEO
Marketing is vital for all managed services. However, with so many tactics out there, it’s hard to determine which one is the best for you. Perhaps the biggest challenge is that every business has its own unique needs, making it harder to find the right tools and processes that would ensure unhindered growth.
All that being said, search engine optimization stands out as the best long-term method for most brands. While investing in SEO might not provide an immediate influx of potential clients, it’s the best promotional tactic for building awareness.
By dominating top spots in search engines, you can position yourself as a top authority in the market, which will simplify client onboarding and generate new partnership opportunities. Most notably, SEO creates the basis for building all other marketing channels by introducing numerous website improvements.
5. Improve Your Messaging
As the MSP space becomes more saturated, brands will have a hard time differentiating themselves from all these other providers. Although this mountain might seem insurmountable, you can differentiate yourself by creating enticing, laser-focused promotional messages.
Your marketing and sales team should brainstorm ideas that would instill life into a service that’s otherwise dull for promotion. Instead of throwing money for PPC and other advertising tactics, you should target a few optimal channels with creative posts. However, make sure that the users understand what you’re offering, as you don’t want to get them confused.
We also recommend spending some money on video marketing. As traditional content formats become obsolete, social media and website videos are now regarded as the best way to boost lead generation and customer retention. Not only are they interesting to watch and give you more leeway for telling your MSP story, but they are also much faster in their delivery.
6. Focus on Security Issues
Cyberattacks are now plaguing just about any industry, public and private companies. Hackers steal billions of dollars every year, and, unfortunately, only a handful of them end up in prison. Even the managed services providers are noticing this trend and are slowly modifying their service offers to accommodate the users’ needs.
That being said, a good way to ensure faster GSP growth is by pinpointing organizations that struggled with their security in the last year or so. Offering your own solutions at the right time can significantly boost your conversion rates, allowing you to onboard a bunch of new customers in no time.
To get the most out of this trick, we suggest you implement new technologies as soon as they become available and create a robust strategy. You can gain a massive competitive edge by using a mixture of vulnerability management, penetration testing, and risk assessment. While you’re pitching security services, don’t forget to introduce the company to the rest of your offer.
7. Invest in Certificates
Another good trick to stay ahead of your competitors is by providing premier service. However, given that all managed service providers claim they’re the best, you need to have tangible proof that will separate you from old and new competitors. Specifically, you need to invest in training and certification for your team.
Businesses that can secure a better education for their employees can better streamline their customer onboarding processes. Not only do they convert at a higher rate, but they also are much faster while doing so. Of course, having extensive knowledge about certain subjects is noticeable during day-to-day tasks, leading to higher retention and better reviews, spearheading massive growth.
7. Get New Technologies
As mentioned several times before, technology is a vital factor for MSPs. If you just take a look at all the innovations in the last year or so, you’ll realize that the IT industry is changing at an unprecedented pace. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if traditional coding is completely replaced by generic AI programs in just a few years.
Speaking of artificial intelligence, this technology will likely be the driving force behind most changes. It already has a massive impact on content generation, software development, and antivirus protection. So, if you wish to stay on top of your game and continue growing unhindered, pay attention to things such as edge computing, RPA, and IoT.
8. Build In-House Team
During the early days of your MSP company, decision-makers should opt for outsourced marketing solutions. Hiring a fantastic external provider will help you onboard first customers and generate new opportunities. However, after a while, you might demand something a bit different.
Many MSPs eventually form internal marketing and sales teams to gain additional control over their day-to-day procedures. Although the development of a team will cost you some money and will stifle your promotional activities for a while, it will work in your favor sooner rather than later.
After a while, having an internal department will help you cut costs while increasing productivity. It will also eliminate all communication and reporting issues that are common when cooperating with external providers.
9. Optimize Prices
Many managed service providers make the mistake of never changing their prices. They choose specific plans and stick to them for several years, even during times of high inflation.
The great thing about MSP offers is that you can always tweak prices and plans’ features to accommodate your customers. We suggest that you regularly check your pricing models and compare them to your competitors (if data is available). You might also consider adding tiered pricing, complementary services, and customized plans so all prospects can find an ideal offer.
Conclusion
If you wish to dominate the MSP industry, you should find ways to increase your growth rate. Use various methods for scaling your business without interrupting daily operations, and make sure to introduce new technology as soon as it’s available.
Ultimately, by following the tricks in our article, you should have a much easier time managing this process and ensuring long-term sustainability for your brand. Most importantly, you’ll get much more leads while retaining existing ones.