Managed Service Marketing: Three Bad Habits You Need to Break

Managed service marketing is the process where you introduce and promote your business to potential customers. This is the heart of doing business and it covers a lot of activities – advertising, promotions, sales, and even public relations. Everything else in your business depends greatly on your managed service marketing strategy. And while every MSP has its own unique marketing needs, there are universal practices that could stump growth for any business.

Here are three bad marketing habits that every MSP should avoid.

Putting Things Off

A fact of human behaviour is that we all have a tendency to put things off, or procrastinate, from time to time. It’s a habit of avoiding a task but you know you’ll have to do it at a later date. This habit can be very costly when it takes hold of your managed service marketing. About three months of inactivity will paralyze your sales pipeline for a full year. If you spend too much time trying to decide on your next course of action, you could end up doing nothing and lose a lot.

One main reason for putting things off or taking too long to make decisions is the fear of making mistakes. We put things off because we want to avoid an uncomfortable feeling, the feeling of failure. But mistakes are an inevitable part of making decisions. Marketing mistakes may have adverse consequences, but they also offer an opportunity to learn. This is why successful leaders know that a mistake is made only once. And in running a business, decisions have to be made despite the pain and the risks.

If you feel overwhelmed with marketing tasks, break it down into smaller steps. Pick the easiest place to start and make room for it in your calendar. If you find that you have too much on your plate, you could choose to outsource your marketing activities. Or you can greatly reduce the work required for it by taking advantage of done-for-you marketing content such as our White-Label Newsletters. This can help you get started in your MSP marketing campaign.

Unrealistic Marketing Expectations

There’s no single magic marketing strategy that will bring millions of dollars to your business overnight. Managed service marketing is an investment that takes time. What can help you maximize your investment is to look for patterns and keep an eye on what works and what doesn’t. Setting unrealistic expectations on your marketing plan can cause you to stop your campaign prematurely and you lose money this way. To make matters worse, it’s like taking one step forward and two steps back.

For example, you shouldn’t expect to pay your marketing provider with the money that they generate for you. You’ll have to shell out money to gain more money, and resist the urge to drop everything if you have one or two bad months. Every time you jump from one process or solution provider to another, you have to start all over again. And it may take many more months before you can see any marketing results.

So give whatever solution you’ve chosen a year to work. Results will even out over the course of the year. If you constantly stop and start because you’re not seeing the instant results you want, you’ll never get enough momentum to see solid outcomes. If you think you can’t financially commit to a marketing process, a system, or a marketing partner for a full year (with expenses included) – then you’re not ready to do it. And you shouldn’t invest in it.

Whether you pick a marketing process that you believe in, or hire a marketing partner that you think can help your business – get started and hold steady. Be willing to shell out cash, and give your marketing engine enough time to work.

Neglecting Existing Clients

Of course, the aim of any marketing strategy is to generate revenue for business. And in managed services, you may easily overspend to acquire new clients. It can also be easy to fall into the same trap of treating prospects like gold while basically neglecting your existing customers.

On the other hand, your loyal and active clients have already proven that they are willing to spend and then do business with you. And it’s cheaper to retain them than to gain new ones. If you neglect them in favor of seeking out prospects, they will look for another MSP who appreciates them more.

So build a stronger relationship with your existing clients by recognizing them for their loyalty. If you are willing to bend backwards and offer special deals and incentives for your new clients, your existing ones should have a similar opportunity.

For example, your technology provider unexpectedly lowers its pricing on managed antivirus. Instead of using this opportunity to just win new clients, why not find a way to share this with your existing ones? You may not necessarily lower their pricing, but you can provide extra value. It could be an additional weekly schedule for a full AV scan of their network. Or it could be backing up additional data sets to their cloud storage.

Giving your existing clients this kind of treatment is internal marketing in itself. And one of the greatest marketing tactics is through word of mouth or business referrals. When you create strong relationships with your existing clients, they are more likely to give you positive testimonials and referrals. As a result, you retain your loyal clients and get a higher chance of getting new ones. It’s a win-win.

In conclusion, managed service marketing is a double-edged sword. There are best practices that could bid well for your business. But there are bad practices as well – procrastinating, having unrealistic expectations, and neglecting your existing clients in favor of new ones. However, these bad marketing habits can be eliminated, or controlled, with the right mindset.

So don’t be afraid to make mistakes and stop putting off your next marketing move. Get on with your managed service marketing action plan and keep moving. Don’t be frustrated if you don’t see any marketing results yet, give your game plan some time to work. And never neglect your existing clients, they have the potential to bring in more money for your business.