“Now that I have sold my MSP, I have a confession to make. I am better at sales than I am at IT. (Thankfully I am also self-aware enough to know it, so I hired real IT professionals for my team.) As I chat with others in the channel, I have come to learn that this was not typical and many MSPs struggle to close sales.” These are the words of Alex Farling, one of the co-founders of Lifecycle Insights.
On Ninja RMMs crowdcast this week, we shared some sales strategies for MSPs. When I talk about sales, I am not just talking about new prospects, I also am talking about selling into your current client base as part of your vCIO or QBR (SBR if you aren’t doing your quarterly business reviews quarterly) process. Selling happens through every step of your customer journey.
I thought I would share here some of my favorite lines that helped accelerate the sales process. Everyone has their own style, but feel free to steal or mangle my go to lines.
Gather pain without running down the competition “What could your current provider be doing better or different that would have kept you from calling me?”
Get your Budget with Bracketing “Mr. Customer, I have worked with several clients with similar concerns to the ones you have told me about, and in those situations they spent between $$ and $$ in IT services to resolve those issues and provide adequate IT support. If I came to you with a price in that range, can we do business together?”
Get the decision makers to the table ”When I return to review the results of our pre-sales assessment I’m going to deliver some information that impacts every department in your organization. Since switching IT providers is such a large decision, it would be best if we can schedule the meeting when your entire leadership team can be available. Can you schedule for your team now, or do you need to get back to me with a couple of dates/times?”
Get commitment for the QBR “Cybersecurity has changed a lot in the last decade, and yesterday’s solutions don’t address today’s risks… and it’s changing faster every day. That is why we ask all of our clients your size to commit to regular Strategic Business Reviews. If we take you on as a customer, are you and your leadership team going to be able to meet with us quarterly to ensure that you stay ahead of the rapidly changing threat landscape?
Bonus – After your QBR’s use these two lines:
Confirm that you delivered value “Mr. Customer, did we deliver enough value to you today to justify having a conversation like this again 3 months from now?”
- If yes – see [Get the referral]
- If no, ask what information they needed to see that was missing from today’s presentation.
Get the referral “As a business owner, I’m always looking for ways to grow the business. Would you be willing to introduce me to someone you know that would see value in having a similar strategic discussion about their business technology?”
If you are aiming to improve your process for presales or business reviews, contact us. We’d be happy to talk!
