Your ONE Tip for Managed Service Providers

I recently reached out to our amazing Technibble subscribers and asked them:

“If you had to provide just one tip about running an MSP to your peers, what would it be?”.

What I got back was a wide range of wisdom from MSP business owners who are in the trenches. Read on.

Business

SYSTEMIZE: Document and organize your systems (repair workflows, billing, renewals, etc.). This keeps you and your team consistent and helps prevent overlooking something. And it makes adding a new team member easier, we just show them where the workflows are and how to document their progress through them. It also gives a baseline for improvement: make tweaks/improvements and see how they help the process (if they’re good: keep them, if not: try something else).
– Tristan B.

Take the time to document everything that you do so you can replicate it as you grow and provide consistency across your company.

When we were growing we were crazy and averaging over 60% some years and the “wheels were about to come off”. Slow and steady growth wins the race. You don’t have to grow 50% – 60% to feel accomplished. This leads me to my next one.

Not all growth is good growth. I would have said no more often. Be “picky” about who you want to serve and who is your ideal client. Knowing this will save you a lot of headaches.
– Helder M.

Create a subscription base so that you are getting residual income.
– Christopher

Tools

• Automation – dealing with (hopefully) a lot of machines, this is essential.
• Price – Find a solution (or solutions) that are economically viable and sustainable.
• Price (again) – Occasionally review prices as License costs can change. Upping the occasional dollar normally doesn’t go unchallenged
• Terms and conditions – Make sure the customer knows what is covered. “Can you come and sort out my TV for me please, see you at 9”.
• Whilst “nice” finding a solution which is “single pane” (all on one screen) is better, sometimes it is more economically viable to split the MSP and antivirus products
• Wake On Lan – Perform automated work in the dead of night. Also useful if the customer isn’t there.

Don’t go overboard with protection (yeah) and rack up costs. Don’t be negligent, but don’t plaster the machines with multiple programs.

Create a set of cheat sheets (something I’ve been meaning to do) showing simple instructions on how to perform essentials, particularly how to run windows “Quick Assist” remote software.
And lastly, just because the phone goes off doesn’t mean you are obligated to answer it.
Let it go to voicemail. We have lives too 😊
– Robert G.

After your people, your tools are your greatest asset. Be sure to choose them as wisely as your people. It’s as hard to fire and replace a vendor as an employee after you have bought into and have become entrenched in their system.
– Tom C.

Being Personable

Don’t think that switching to an MSP business model means that you can just “Set it and forget it”. People do business with you because of you – they like interpersonal communication with you.

I run a residential hybrid MSP. I still do break/fix and a scheduled maintenance plan for a lot of my clients. I talk with my clients an average of 2-4x per year while working on their computers. I share a tip or story – such as the latest scams to watch out for. Clients on my scheduled maintenance plan are my best customers at referring me to others and posting public reviews.

I also send an email newsletter at least monthly to all clients to keep my name in front of clients so that when they need my services, my name is “top of mind”.
– Mark C.

Be personable! You can have all the help desk, remote support and automation behind the scenes, but if there is no face to your company, people will tend to jump ship to another company that has a person they can put a face to. Even during the pandemic, people still like to meet face-to-face and have communication about what they are spending their money on.
– John R.

Mindset & Life

Don’t chase squirrels!
Keep focus on core competencies and your ideal clients. Chasing every client and every dollar will run you down and, in the end, be a detriment to a HEALTHY business. It may be scary not to accept every job that could pay, but after realizing we needed to focus, we’ve been able to streamline. It’s increased our efficiency, improved our reputation, the techs are less stressed, and overall our company is becoming healthier. The health of the company (profits) is key, more so than just growing (increasing revenue).
– Jake S.

Consider the impact to your life of having an MSP company, especially if a one-person shop. It is recommended to have two or more people available to run an MSP service so that you can take a break and take vacations. Consider carefully the type of businesses to whom you offer MSP services. For example, a restaurant going down in the middle of a rush is stressful, while for a small office, it is inconvenient but not necessarily as critical. Be sure to talk over and provide a contingency plan manual for your businesses to address these situations. This ensures everyone has an understanding in advance of the reality of IT systems, recovery times and what to do when they occur.

IT is a broad category these days. More and more systems are IP based, so you can find your tech business expanding in unexpected directions. Determine early on what you really enjoy, what is profitable and what you don’t like doing. Maybe you like managing machines, building out a location and installing IT racks or maybe not. Maybe you have a particular size of business you like to work with, or maybe no preference, then determine that early on. And as your business grows, consider a business manager if you want to stay more focused on the technical aspects. The bottom line is, choose a path that allows you to always love what you are doing and what you do to support your staff and clients.
– Paul W.

Culture starts with you and your leadership team. You must be overtly critical of yourself before anyone else, as culture becomes what you allow to happen, not what you preach.

Have an employee who is habitually late, or who doesn’t do their paperwork promptly? You need to always be on time and never miss your paperwork deadlines. If a rule or policy applies to staff, you need to get it right every time; otherwise, they will always remember that one time you didn’t hit the mark.

Always be above reproach.
– Rob G.

My tip, don’t think cheap. Don’t undervalue yourself and your service. Don’t think cheap. Don’t think your customers are thinking cheap either, and if they are, don’t bend, stick to your pricing model and don’t stress if they leave. There will be others and better ones.
And finally, DON’T THINK CHEAP.
– Leo M.

Thank you to our subscribers who contributed to this and shared their wisdom.