Over the last six months, we’ve seen a growing number of our MSP partners take an à la carte approach to managed services using our freemium software offerings. By turning their focus to one or two managed service offerings such as endpoint security and taking a phased approach to the sale (versus pushing for an all or nothing contract), many of these partners are doubling their business and finding an easy “in” with existing clients and prospects who have been on the fence.
A key to success for many of these partners has been a combination of the right sales and marketing offerings, as well as the confidence to lead with simplicity and use N-able’s freemium offerings to build a value proposition their clients can’t afford to ignore. Here are a few key takeaways I noted in talking with these partners about the new “less is more” approach to selling managed services:
Rule # 1: Keep IT simple. Don’t try to sell your customers a total solution if that’s not what they are in the market for. Start off with something easy to digest (like managed endpoint security) and then earn the business from there.
Rule #2: Market the basics. Make sure your value proposition is something SMBs already understand they need. Improved security, less costs, maximum productivity or even something as simple as IT that works day and night.
Rule #3: Lead with value, not a big contract. Again, start small and get a foot in the door. Then leverage our reporting tools to proactively discover all IT issues and all IT service opportunities. Help your SMB customer mature into managed services one step at a time.
Rule #4: Find the right vendor partners. Team with a vendor or partner that can support you with all of the above. As you know, the right partnerships can make or break a company. Look for a partner who has a sincere interest in your success and has the technology you need to meet and exceed your customers’ expectations.
The bottom line is you must offer the IT services and support your customers need at a price they can afford. With the economy and IT spending bouncing back, customers are hungry for efficiency, but still cautious with their dollars. Now is the time to learn how to leverage the freemium offerings N-able has built into our new N-central 7.0 technology to grow your business!
Remember – own the data and you will own the customer.
Cheers,
Gavin