MSP Business Tips: How to Keep Acquiring Clients When Traditional Ones Dry Up

Avoid Common Mistakes

Your MSP business is going to ebb and flow just like any other. There will be times when you have more clients than you can handle, and there will be times when you experience a tangible drought.

Now, if you’re in the desert and there’s no water, what do you do? Commonly, you’ll try to find water through something like a well. You dig through the sand, and there’s a fountain of water, but if you just dig at random, you’re likely going to exhaust your energy before you find the conversion liquid you need.

Meanwhile, if you’ve got the right know-how, you can dig in the right spot immediately. The same goes for sourcing new clients: you need to have the correct skills and knowledge to find them, so you don’t go around hounding anyone who isn’t interested in your business. To do this, consider these several tips:

• Don’t make common “dry selling” mistakes
• Avoid anxiety
• Upsell existing clientele
• Reorganize pitch scripts and templates
• Increase the length of contracts you sell
• Increase referral acquisition: ask for two per satisfied client

Don’t Make Common “Dry Selling” Mistakes

If you’re in a dry spell, you can expect salespeople to get nervous. Many of them are working for commission. A dry spell means they lose money. Some common mistakes they’ll make include buying lead lists, spamming your company to the masses, trying to sell services to the wrong potential prospects, and offering inappropriate discounts.

Don’t buy lead lists. Qualify leads as best as you can individually beforehand. Don’t sell to inappropriate prospects who waste time and give your business a bad reputation. Discounts can be good if done correctly, but they shouldn’t be offered desperately. This can seriously undermine your business and get you contracted with a variety of clients who have no concept of value but do have a money-grubbing ideology providing them with no qualms about getting as much from your MSP as possible and paying as little as they can.

Avoid Anxiety

Your MSP business must understand the anxiousness that comes with being a salesperson in a dry spell and do its best to dispel that anxiety. If it isn’t addressed, common mistakes will be made, and these will compound the dry spell. It’s like struggling to swim when you’re drowning. You’ll quickly use up your energy and not even be able to float, sinking to the watery depths. If you float, though, and expend little energy, you’ve got a heightened chance of survival.

Upsell Existing Clientele

Create a list of clients who would be eligible to upgrade services. Have your salespeople go down the list and feel clients. This is a practice that would benefit an MSP even if sales are doing well. Upselling existing clientele should simply be a common practice.

Reorganize Pitch Scripts and Templates

Representatives usually have what’s called a “call-flow” or a “pitch script,” especially with telesales. This is exactly what it sounds like: from beginning to end, it’s a template into which a salesperson fits their pitch. A lot of these templates can be under-representative of client needs or might even be outdated. A dry spell in sales represents a perfect opportunity to update and refurbish such pitch templates. 

Increase the Length of Contracts That You Sell

Dry spells are going to come sometimes at predictable intervals. Increasing contracts can give you the mileage you need to push through the next one.

Referral Acquisition

If you find a client is pleased with your MSP’s services, you might ask them to refer peers. If they really are pleased, they will be quite happy to. Try and get a referral of two or more new prospects per satisfied client.

Surviving the Drought

If your MSP business goes into the sales desert with strategic waters packed for the journey, you’ll make it through. Even if you don’t have the water, the right strategy can act like a water-finding stick and help you dig a well. So, dig sales well by refining services, avoiding panic, and thinking critically.