On Facebook, I saw a post from an MSP asking how to convince a client they NEED the managed services plan he proposed. Apparently, the client came back insisting they didn’t need “all of that” and demanded a revised agreement with carve-outs to lower the price.
Of course, the majority of the advice given on Facebook ranged from idiotic at best to downright dangerous. One person suggested he cave to the client’s demands, and when they get hacked, go back and upsell them. That’s what you get when you seek FREE advice from total strangers on social media.
More to the point, NONE of the comments got to the heart of the matter – the REAL problem that needed to be fixed was not that he needed a better plan, to change the pricing, to drop down to a lower service level, etc. The REAL problem that NOBODY broached was that he had a TRUST problem. Simply, the client didn’t trust him enough to take his advice as prescribed.
For over 20 years, I’ve sold various forms of marketing and sales advice programs that contain bundled services and benefits. I have never once had someone come back and say, “I don’t need all of that,” and proceed to ask me if they could parcel out a few things here and there to remove what they felt was unnecessary – and if I did, it would be a short conversation: No.
Requests like this reveal one of two scenarios in your MSP: 1) that you’re dealing with a cheap, broke and likely stupid individual who you need to fire as a client that is (hopefully) an outliner and not representative of the majority of your client base, or 2) that you have failed to get the client to trust you to provide accurate advice. If they did, they wouldn’t question your recommendations. That’s why the foundation of what we teach our MSP clients is how to build celebrity, authority and trust (the Trifecta of influence) with your chosen marketplace. When you have all three, then selling, attracting clients, charging premium fees, securing referrals, etc., ALL become easier.
That’s because NOTHING is more POWERFUL in marketing and in the sales process than earned trust. It’s also getting harder by the minute to get it, given nobody trusts anyone anymore. Every vendor is seen as a potential enemy, holding back information and telling us what we want to hear to get the deal done, whether it’s good for us or not. In the guru world, there are a TON of people selling marketing and business advice who aren’t running successful growth companies, sales teams or marketing plans like the ones they sell YOU on. I understand why so many people view us with a very skeptical eye – and frankly, I can’t blame them one bit. They’ve had the proverbial football pulled away at the last minute one too many times by a “Lucy” when they’re crossing their heart that THIS time will be different.
Salespeople start in a hole of lack of trust, as do “gurus” and advice givers like yours truly, because of the bad behavior of so many. It’s unfair to assume ALL are bad, but that doesn’t change the fact, and ignoring it won’t make it go away either.
If you are a salesperson, you have to be intentional and aggressive to NOT appear as a salesperson, selling your advice and status first, building trust before you start peddling what you have to sell on your wagon. Most salespeople get what they deserve because they are unwilling to become the expert they need to become and do the things they need to do in order to better position themselves in the eyes of the marketplace. That IS the problem with 99% of the sales training out there – they teach you how to be a better SALESPERSON, not how to totally and completely change your marketing and approach so you don’t appear to be a salesperson at all.
And remember this: how you do anything is how you do everything. If you want to earn and keep trust, you cannot let your guard down for a single moment and use trust-based marketing strategies to get the prospect, only to turn around and behave like a salesperson. One slip and any progress you made on the trust dial drops right back down to zero. A single promise unfulfilled, one incongruent comment or action, a little chink in the armor, and that prospect is ready to jump up and say, “A-HA! Caught you!” This is an area where you can’t be “a little better” or “a little pregnant.” You have to be all-in or nothing when it comes to earning and KEEPING trust.
If this appeals to you and you want to know how to implement a trust-based marketing strategy for your MSP, you need to join me at one of the upcoming MSP Marketing Roadshow events. Without a doubt, it will deliver the specific steps, strategies, tools and templates you need to position yourself as the most trusted MSP in your market so that you can attract more high-value, high-paying clients who actually take your advice, instead of cheap bastards who fight you over every recommendation, every nickel you ask for.
