Ok, I am going to ruffle some feathers with this article, so readers, beware!
There is an exceptionally good reason that 94% of MSPs cite marketing/lead generation as their No. 1 problem in business. The frustration is justified as what MSPs do and pay to have done almost never works.
Marketing Pitfalls
Terry Hedden
There is no shortage of cheap marketing options for MSPs.
Vendors put out free content and free systems to generate leads, mostly for their services. We have cheap SaaS vendors offering screaming deals for their system and a dozen or two pre-baked marketing plans. We even have people who offer tiny marketing plans that do a small fraction of what needs to be done to produce results. Finally, there are offshore appointment setters offering to schedule appointments for the salesperson.
There are pits of despair with every one of them; many MSPs get nothing for their money and, even worse, destroy the reputation they have worked years or decades to build.
The dirty little secret is it is hard, and thus, expensive to get a qualified MSP sales appointment. You have to do a lot of things to create a reliable flow of qualified appointments. You can cut corners to get it on the cheap, but that just leads to pages torn and tears shed.
The reality is, you need to do it right — or not do it at all. Doing it cheaply can lead to no good leads, no real sales, and no ROI. Even worse, you can damage your reputation and make it even harder to get a good appointment in the future.
3 Key Elements to Close Deals
You need marketing, lead generation, and a sales process designed to close marketing leads to be successful. Investing in just one may work for some, but only those who already are good with the other two. To turn your profit gear fastest, you need to be great at all three.
No. 1: Marketing
You need to create a killer website and market it using search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) so people can find you. You need emails to go out on a regular basis to keep your brand top of mind when the time comes for your prospect to find a new IT partner. You need a social presence with a strong following with regular posts to show that you are alive and trustworthy. You should place digital ads on social media and search platforms, and consider traditional marketing if budget allows.
No. 2: Lead Generation
In the MSP space, there are two ways to go. First, put a digital budget toward pay per click on social platforms that allow targeting of B2B buyers (i.e., LinkedIn) and toward the search engines. Without that digital spend, your posts are not seen by anyone who doesn’t interact with your posts regularly and your website is likely ranked lower than most people surf to on Google or Bing.
The other way MSPs get qualified appointments is by picking up the phone. Calling 2,000 prospects a month might get you five to 15 good appointments a month. It is demanding work, but it is amazing how well it works! You can filter out the leads you don’t want, laser target your prospects, and get what most MSPs really want: Qualified appointments for their sales teams.
No. 3: Sales
A lead that doesn’t close is a travesty, which is why the last step of sales is so important. Most MSPs have sales processes built for word-of-mouth leads. You need one built for colder leads; strangers who don’t have any reason to trust you and believe you.
That process must be designed to get people to decide to move versus the natural temptation to procrastinate.
Doing all three is how MSPs grow 20%, 30%, even 50% per year.
Terry Hedden is CEO of Marketopia. He formerly was founder and CEO of Infinity Technology Solutions, which sold in 2012. Visit 4u2grow.com, powered by Marketopia, for training on best practices for marketing, lead generation and sales methodology for the channel.
Image: iStock
