5 Growth Hacks For MSP Survival In 2021
By Joseph Landes, Nerdio
It’s 2021 and the MSP market is ripe for growth. As an MSP business owner, you probably have goals of bringing your business to the next level but might not know where to start. Your growth strategy must align with the market to guide strategic implementations of forward-looking technologies. To support this effort, here are a few ways to streamline your business and grow your MSP practice by the end of this year.
- Move To The Cloud
With the average enterprise using more than 1,000 cloud services and the accelerated move to remote work, 2021 is a prime year for MSPs to take advantage of the climate and grow their practice within the cloud. Without question, moving to the cloud has an array of benefits that provide a deep competitive advantage, including better storage methods, scalability, and flexibility.
MSPs should use the cloud internally to improve their systems and also advise their clients on cloud migrations. If you are taking the latter approach, there are a few steps you can follow to ensure your growth in the cloud is optimized from the beginning.
- Step 1—All new customers you onboard into your practice should be 100% cloud from Day 1. Don’t buy new servers!
- Step 2—Take your existing customers and design a hybrid approach to first bring them to the cloud with Microsoft 365 and then move their infrastructure to the cloud with Microsoft Azure.
- Step 3—Fully migrate all remaining customers to the cloud as their on-premises equipment needs to be retired or simply breaks down.
Moving your practice and your clients to the cloud is an investment but no longer a risk. Gone are the days where building a strong practice in Microsoft Azure was left up to fate and luck. Now that cloud migration has entered the mainstream, you can rely on tried-and-true methods from professionals who have made the leap and are growing their practice to new heights.
- Learn About Bundling And Resale Within Azure
So, you’re in the cloud, your processes are running smoothly, and your clients are happier than ever. But did you know, beyond the added benefit of efficiency, you can make money by reselling Azure? Two common approaches MSPs can utilize are bundling and resale, where MSPs bundle their managed services and resell Azure infrastructure separately from the managed services agreement. This can not only benefit your practice but your clients as well.
MSPs can save significant costs by understanding the levers that are available to optimize Azure costs and increase your margins. This can include becoming a cloud solutions provider (CSP) to take advantage of the CSP program benefits and learning about Azure Reservations and Azure Hybrid Benefit to save up to 70% off the list price of Azure.
If you are still daunted by the task, MSPs can utilize third-party vendors to help with the management and optimization of cloud capabilities. This can help you reap the benefits while maintaining focus on your core practice.
- Focus On Value
One of the single most impactful changes you can make is to start charging what you are worth. Increasing your managed services rates can feel like a daunting task, but there are many ways to approach this. In many cases, you will need to reset expectations with your existing clients. One opportunity to do this is to roll out a new type of service such as Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD). Clients will be more willing to pay increased fees because the value of the solution and the service they would be receiving in the cloud is substantially increased.
- Engage Your Clients
Talk to your clients. I know this sounds silly at first, but it can’t be said enough. Create a regular cadence of meetings with each client. Some people call them Quarterly Business Reviews. Certain clients will need monthly meetings. When you go and speak with them, have an agenda, and keep to the same agenda every single time.
Engaging with your clients regularly gives you visibility into their business and their goals and provides a chance to unlock new kinds of potential growth. You’ll find that from this new position, issues they are having can often be solved by implementing new technology. In addition, regular conversations build a stronger relationship between you and another business owner. When you ask for them to introduce you to someone else that can use your services, they will feel much more comfortable doing so.
- Become A Thought Leader
So, you know how you’re going to deliver your service, the value you provide, and you’re using regular meetings to engage with clients and create a feedback loop. It’s now time to become a thought leader, elevate your platform, and showcase your expertise on a larger stage. To do this, find where your target clients like to hang out, online and in-person, and make sure you have a presence there. Ask for the chance to speak, provide presentations, attend happy hours and other networking opportunities, and most of all – have fun when you take part! You have the expertise and experience, it’s now time to share it. Having a thought leadership platform not only helps you bring in new leads but also increases brand reputation and inspires confidence in existing clients. Although it may seem like a daunting task at first, once you have established yourself as a thought leader, you’ll find that new clients are naturally drawn to you - and they’ll already have a good understanding of the value you offer.
About The Author
Joseph Landes is the Chief Revenue Officer at Nerdio, where he focuses on helping MSPs build successful cloud practices in Microsoft Azure. Prior to joining Nerdio in 2018, Landes worked for Microsoft for 23 years where he held numerous senior leadership positions at the company’s corporate headquarters in Redmond as well as in Eastern Europe, India, and Brazil.