This is a philosophy that can elevate your business in dramatic ways. It is a way of approaching how you sell that says: I don’t work for my MSP… I work for my client. We touched on being more than just their MSP in this article as well.
You’re out there selling IT services either because it’s your job as a sales professional or you own the MSP. Or both.
This is how you make your living. If you don’t sell, you don’t eat.
Selling your IT Services is important to you and the success of everyone in your company and to your family. It is easily one of the most important functions in your MSP. No new customers, no business.
If your goals don’t match your clients
Now, the reason someone buys and becomes a client is not to earn you a commission or feed your family. To the prospect, it’s not about you, your commission or your company. It’s about them and their success. And why wouldn’t it be, right?
There’s an old saying in sales: You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough people to get what they want. It may seem strange to think about possibly putting your own interests behind that of your client’s. But it’s a proven fact that doing this, helps you in the long run even more. And it aligns your goals with that of your clients.
Being on their team means…
A great teammate is always trying to help their teammates. Because if their teammates win, so do they.
They selflessly help one another. Make each other successful. Care about the entire team.
Take the fall and the blame if needed. Be willing to fall on the proverbial sword for them.
In MSP terms, it means you are helping them in ways no other IT provider can. You’re taking a seat at their table and treating them as if you were a part of their business.
To truly sell at the highest level, you need to put them first. You’re not on team ‘you’. You're on team ‘them’. This elevates your business because of two key reasons:
1: When they know you’re on their team, you will have their total trust
2: What is good for your client is always good for you and your business
Here’s some ideas to always keep yourself thinking like their teammate:
Understand their needs
Demonstrate your understanding of their needs. In the sales process, this begins and ends with listening to them. It is amazing how many people just don’t listen as proven by most people out there feeling no one ever hears them.
Do you always feel heard? You may very well feel that businesses you buy from just don’t listen and hear you. How does that make you feel?
Go above and beyond
We live in an age where human interaction and concern for others seems like a thing of the past. When you approach business as their teammate, you just went above and beyond what almost everyone else is doing.
Sadly, it takes such little effort these days to really dazzle your prospects and clients. Most salespeople today close the sale and are not heard from again until they want more money.
One of the great examples in the channel of going above and beyond are Matt Solomon and Dan Tomeszewski of ID Agent. They are out there working with their clients every day. They create content to help their clients sell more effectively and are always engaging.
Another is George Bardissi from bvoip. George chartered a bus twice to take it to MSPs around the country during Covid-19. He found a way to bring value to MSPs safely and help them during a difficult time.
There are actually too many other great examples of vendors in the channel doing a great job of going above and beyond to list here. How can you emulate what these folks are doing in your own business?
Be of service
Selling is service. When you approach selling from making a commission or landing a new client, you’re selling for your reasons.
Shift to selling to serve. This puts you on their team. When you’re genuine about this, they will sense it and it will mean more loyal clients who happily shout your name to other businesses.
Need some training on being of service (and a good laugh). Here’s an actual employee training from a random business on the internet:
Speak their language
Nothing shows someone you don’t understand them more than talking over their head. In the last part of Mastering The Sell we talked about being clear like water. And for MSPs, this is especially important.
Talk to them so they understand exactly what you’re saying. When they can clearly see the value you bring to the table and understand what it means to their business, you’re on their team.
Go beyond the sale
The sale has not ended when they become a client. If they only hear from you when they have a problem or when you want to sell them something new, you’re not on their team at all. And they will sense it by avoiding setting appointments with you.
Now, you may be doing everything right. Unfortunately, their opinion becomes their truth. Whether they feel you’re on their team or not, they are right.
So, as an MSP you need to be doing outstanding Quarterly Business Reviews like a teammate. You need to resell them on your value every three months. But more than that, it will demonstrate how important their needs are to you. But only if you approach this the right way and…
Use audIT
audIT helps put you on their team. With audIT, you’re not just outputting technical details that every other MSP can. You’re going much deeper with them.
And if they keep avoiding you when you ask for QBR appointments because they feel like you’re only doing them to sell and they’re confusing to them, have no fear… audIT will change their minds...
With audIT, you are putting a qualitative presentation together that goes into far more detail about their business needs. The best is that it won’t look or feel like a sales presentation to them. It will feel like you're serving them well. And you will be! Whether in a prospect meeting or business review, they will see you as a member of their team with audIT.