Mario Zaki, The CEO of Mazteck, an MSP based in Mahwah, New Jersey, admittedly had grown complacent. For 15 years, Zaki ran Mazteck, then a one-man, mostly break-fix shop, out of his home. He did not conduct any MSP marketing campaigns. He was content; because he was able to afford nice things for his family, he didn’t feel the need to reach for more. Zaki explains his previous thought process: “Why would I hire someone and pay them $50,000-$60,000 a year,” he says, “when I can just work a little harder, do it all by myself, and save the money?”
However, he acknowledges, “I was working from 6 in the morning to 10 at night. It was exhausting. My kids were 4- and 5-years-old at the time, and I wasn’t able to spend much time with them. I didn’t have a company; I had a job. I didn’t even have the freedom that the average employee does, with personal days available.”
He adds, “I was constantly thinking, ‘I don’t need to go to every little recital.’ That mentality was hard. That’s what made me want to change.”
A Fortune Cookie And A Dollar Bill
The day that changed everything for Mazteck—and Zaki—was cold and rainy. Zaki was at home with his kids and decided to order-in Chinese food for lunch. When the food arrived, Zaki checked the mail before bringing everything inside. As his kids dug into their sesame chicken, Zaki opened up a large envelope, addressed to him. It contained a letter—and a dollar bill, stapled to the front page.
The dollar bill had piqued his interest. Zaki read the letter, sent by Technology Marketing Toolkit founder and CEO Robin Robins, and was intrigued about the marketing program.
Then, Zaki cracked open a fortune cookie—the only one his kids had left behind. It read: “Don’t be afraid to take a chance when the opportunity of a lifetime appears.”
“There it was,” says Zaki, “my sign from the universe. I had to take this opportunity of a lifetime. I was either going to sink or swim!”
Getting Serious About MSP Marketing Campaigns
First thing that Monday morning, Zaki signed up with TMT and got serious about marketing.
In the first few months, Zaki scheduled a quarterly business review with his regular clients, telling them Mazteck was raising its prices and transitioning to a managed services model.
At the QBR, Zaki gave them a printout of all their IT expenses for the month and the year. It included information like how much they were already paying per support call.
“I showed them what they would be looking at with the new price increase and explained that under managed services, AV and all the security tools they were used to paying for would be included. They’d also have unlimited support; in some cases, they actually saved money by switching to managed services. And at the end of the day, even if there was less money in my pocket, managed services are more consistent revenue. I knew, month in and month out, what I’d be getting from each client. Whereas with break-fix, on busy days you make more money, but some days you make nothing because nobody called.”
The majority converted to managed services clients, resulting in $18,875 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR).
Zaki also onboarded a technician and an administrative assistant and acquired two new clients. “I was no longer content, but hungry for more,” says Zaki.
Mazteck dove headfirst into marketing; they’re currently sending 150-200 mailers each week and running at least three campaigns at any given time.
Mazteck’s new MSP marketing campaigns and Zaki’s newfound desire for growth has enabled Mazteck to thrive. They’ve expanded from a one-man shop to a 10-person team in just over four years. Their MRR and annual revenue have skyrocketed, shooting from less than $2,000 MRR and $200,000/year to over $145,000 MRR and $2 million/year. Zaki printed a book (Dirty Little Secrets), Mazteck was awarded #85 in the MSP501, and, for the first time in 20 years, Zaki was able to go on vacation without his work laptop.
Kill Your Complacency
“If you invest the time and effort to market your company, you will be able to grow it and take it to the next level of success,” Zaki explains. His biggest regret now is that he wasted 15 years in a state of complacency, instead of striving to grow Mazteck to what it is today. “I learned being content is the worst possible thing a business owner can be,” says Zaki. “Being content meant I was limiting myself from growing—as an owner, as a partner, as an individual. I realized what I had built was not a business; it was a job. A job that was 24/7, with no downtime for me to be able to step away or take a small vacation with my family.”
Ever since opening that letter and fortune cookie, Zaki has been done with being content. “No more waiting for the phone to ring and profiting only when a client is having an issue.”
Mario Zaki is a finalist in TMT’s Annual Better Your Best Contest and will be presenting at the IT Sales and Marketing Boot Camp. View his video interview with TMT founder and CEO Robin Robins here.
