3 magic questions to ask about your MSP’s marketing

Selling managed services is HARD and SLOW. There are four big problems that cause this, all of which are out of your control.

Specifically...

Problem 1: Decision makers don’t know what they don’t know

Ordinary business owners and managers know next to nothing about technology. In fact, they don’t even know what they don’t know about technology.

They can’t explain what the cloud is in a sentence that makes sense. And they don’t understand how dangerous ransomware is.

This explains why you can’t talk to them about technology in the same way you’d talk to another technologist. They’d just glaze over. And if they do that, you’ve lost the sale. No-one buys something they don’t understand.

Problem 2: Prospects make buying decisions with their hearts, not their brains

Their brain prefers to make decisions based on facts. And that’s a big problem for the ordinary decision makers.

Because to them… all MSPs look the same. Their websites might have different words and pictures, but the themes are the same. And the messages are very similar. Many MSPs copy the marketing of other MSPs… and consequently end up in the “soup of looking samey”.

Faced with this, the brain says, “Yeah… they all look the same… I can’t make this decision” – and the brain delegates the decision down to the heart.

Problem 3: Inertia loyalty rules

This is the thing that keeps us with our CPA (accountant) years after we decide they’re not right for us.

And it’s what persuades an ordinary person to stay with their incumbent MSP long after they’re ready to move on.

Why? Because “better the devil you know”. Aka: “It feels safer to stay with someone I know (and dislike) than it is to move to you”.

These decision makers might not understand technology, but they do understand that if it goes wrong, they’ll be in big trouble. And people are more motivated to avoid pain than they are to pursue gain.

Problem 4: People only buy when they’re ready to buy

There are many things you can sell that you can persuade people to buy today rather than tomorrow. But managed services isn’t one of them. For all the reasons we just discussed.

For many decision makers, switching MSPs is a distress activity. They’ll keep putting it off until it becomes urgent. And it’s only on the day that they wake up ready to act, that they’ll start paying attention to your marketing.

Good news! You can overcome these problems by asking yourself 3 magic questions

(and I have some suggested answers, too)

Magic question 1: How can you know when the time is right?

There are a couple of ways to know.

First, people leave clues by their behaviour. For example, we give the members of my MSP Marketing Edge a comprehensive IT Services Buyer's Guide (it's updated every year).

It's about how to pick an MSP. And no-one in their right mind would want to read it, UNLESS they were thinking of switching MSPs. So the very nature of someone requesting the guide is a signal of intent.

You can also use tools like HubSpot to track how much of your marketing someone consumes. An increase in activity can be a signal of intent.

Or, a better way... you can just ask them. Get an outbound phone caller for your MSP. Call people all the time. They are relationship building calls, not sales calls.

Make sure your caller asks people when their current contract is up. Some won't know, some won't say, but many will. Then target them with a marketing campaign 2-3 months before.

Magic question 2: What are the emotional reasons people would buy from you?

This is a biggie! Look back at problem 2, above. Give prospects plenty of emotional reasons to pick your MSP, and you will totally transform your marketing.

Luckily, there's an easy way to answer this question. Ask yourself this… what are the BENEFITS of working with your MSP?

For example:

• They will be much better protected from cybercriminals, so will sleep better at night
• Their technology will never hold them back
• Their staff will complain less

Benefits talk to their hearts. While features talk to their brains. That leads nicely into...

Magic question 3: What are the logical reasons people would buy from you?

Ask yourself this… what are the FEATURES of working with your MSP?

• 24/7 support in your office and when you're working at home
• Strategic technology review every year
• Proactive approach to updates out of hours

Make your own list of your top 3-5 answers to magic questions 2 and 3. And then make sure those answers are all across every piece of your marketing.

Emotional reasons (benefits) first. Logical reasons (features) second.