How to expand your MSP service offerings
One of the biggest challenges that MSPs are currently facing right now is knowing what to offer (in terms of services) and how to offer it. Due to the pandemic, the business landscape is tricky, and has forced all professional businesses to really look at their services/products and to find a way to reinvent them.
Today, we’ll explore a few ways that could help your MSP business flourish during hard times. The key here is to be resilient, and to create the best conceivable plan for success that will overcome current obstacles.
1. Add more to your current service offerings
The most valuable data you have on your business, is what you currently offer in terms of services. Ask yourself, what do I offer? and What could I be offering now? The most in-demand solutions for our particular industry as MSPs are email security, backup, compliance, and disaster recovery. A great portfolio would showcase an array of solutions that would cover the demand for businesses today. If you offer just security, but not compliance or disaster recovery solutions – research vendors that could help you add these services to your offering (almost instantly).
2. Go bigger with your client size
Sounds like common sense but many MSPs tend to go after companies that are the same size that they are. It’s only natural, but there is a major opportunity for service providers to start making their way into to larger organizations with 50 employees or more. If you already have solid experience with servicing small businesses (25 employees or less), now could be your opportunity to leverage your services to slightly larger organizations. Of course, you will have to think about how to position your business (resources, employees etc) when attempting to attract larger fish. A great way to enter a larger market size is on price, and the ability to offer the best service. Ask your prospective clients, what are they paying now, and perhaps position yourself at a lower price point to land your first larger client.
3. Service Bundles vs. a-la-carte – provide both!
A recent study revealed that 43% of solution providers listed Sales as their biggest challenge this year. Most likely, you are already offering your services a-la-carte, individually. This is a great option for clients who know exactly what they need, or are on a strict budget.
That’s no surprise – but we have a little pro-tip that may help you, as it helped us. Service Bundles are a great way to pitch clients. They offer a clear way to understand the actual cost of services, and the value that they bring. A “bundle” already tells us that there is more than one service included, and that is of great value! What type of service bundles do you currently offer? Here at ExchangeDefender, our individual solutions can be packaged into three distinct packages: Security, Compliance, and Continuity. We looked at all of our clients and determined which services were most popular. Our study showed that for email compliance, our clients were using our Corporate Encryption and our Email Archiving solutions individually. So, we bundled them together and called it a “Compliance Suite”, which automatically raised our revenue, even if by a few dollars per user.
4. Create a sales and marketing plan
Yes, we know – you have heard this a lot, but its true. About 60% of service providers, we surveyed claimed that they did not have overall sales goals, even though they have a solid business plan. It’s important to create brand awareness, to show the world that your company does exist, and has been operating in good-standing since (enter year number here.) Is your website current? Have you created social media profiles for your company? Now is the time to send out company mailers, email newsletters, along with social media ads for facebook, reddit, google – you name it. Here’s a great guide on how to create your own sales and marketing plan.
It sounds like a big money investment, but you control the budget for every aspect. For ads for example, you create your own limits, even if it’s just $5 dollar per day. The same can be said for facebook, youtube, and google ads. Creating your own company social media profiles are free, and so is starting a cool blog for your clients to spread the word.
