Opening day of TMT’s 17th Annual IT Sales and Marketing Boot Camp in Nashville brought together more than 1,200 MSP business owners and decision makers, plus hundreds of virtual attendees, for four days of education, networking, and some “shagadelic” fun—all designed to provide MSPs with the tools, strategies, and community to grow their businesses and position themselves in the top tier of the industry.
In her opening keynote, Robin Robins, founder and CEO of TMT and MSP Success, aka International Master of Marketing for this Austin Powers-themed event, stressed that while the industry has changed, the fundamentals of business growth remain the same. “Success in business and achieving results really still come down to choices and behaviors,” said Robins, who acknowledged that feeling overwhelmed and stressed at times comes with the territory of being an entrepreneur.
“For any business to grow,” she stressed, “it does really require an extreme approach to productivity. It requires you to go above and beyond the average productive person.” She defines “extreme productivity” as above average growth of enterprise value, sales, and profitability.
Achieving this requires making choices and setting priorities. “The major reason a lot of MSPs fail to grow is because they grossly underestimate the difficulty of the task of profitable growth. Therefore, they fall short on the sufficient activity and effort to achieve the results that they want to achieve.”
Robins explained the defining characteristics that set the top tier of MSPs apart: They have a clear goal, a burning desire and a belief they can achieve it, and they obtain the skills and tools they need to succeed.
Over the course of her keynote sessions this week, Robins will detail key strategies that will take entrepreneurs on a path to extreme productivity and achieve growth that will set them apart from 80% of the market. Check out tomorrow’s coverage for a detailed look at the 10 strategies!
Other Dispatches From Opening Day: Yeah, Baby!
Kaseya‘s Michael DePalma, VP of business development, and Greg Jones, VP of business development EMEA, laid out five behaviors that give MSPs the confidence to charge higher rates for your services:
- Know the direction of your market
- Build your brand
- Determine how your solution answers a market need
- Create the right advisory board
- Take advantage of an emotional sell
In a breakout session, Jon DePerro told MSPs about compliance shifts in 2024 that will radically change how you and your clients do business. These include new PCI DSS requirements, HIPAA changes, CMMC rulings, and FTC safeguards. Businesses will all need help with these requirements, said DePerro, who is chief compliance officer at Vector Choice, an MSP in Atlanta, and VisibilityMSP, a cybersecurity and compliance service for MSPs.
DePerro advises getting up to speed on industry and state-relevant rules to protect yourself and your clients. He also recommends going through a compliance process yourself. “The thing that I would most impress upon you is you have to have done for yourself what someone’s going to ask you to do for them—before they need it.”
And in a panel discussion on market development funds (MDF), moderated by TMT’s Tonya Gentry, MSP business owner Wayne Hunter, CyberQP’s Cynthia Schreiner, and Kaseya/Datto’s Jason Pryce, talked about how MDF is a key resource that many MSPs are leaving untapped.
While asking vendors for MDF can be intimidating, the panelists shared methods to increase your odds of getting a yes, even when asking for the first time. Their advice: be sure to do your research and put together a plan. If you know how much a vendor might be willing to give you, you can create a specific actionable plan for that amount. Above all, be creative—vendors are far more likely to run with an idea if you’re trying something out-of-the-box. Format doesn’t matter! You could be proposing a cybersecurity webinar or a company-sponsored luncheon. But whatever you plan, it better be unique, partner-focused, and drawing a crowd.
This was just a small sampling of the high-growth strategies and sessions MSPs took advantage of on day one of Boot Camp, in addition to a groovy expo hall with all the latest trends and technologies for running your business. Stay tuned, baby!
