As important as it is, sales and marketing can fall by the wayside for many MSPs, due to lack of time, knowledge, resources, or motivation. But CETech, a New York state-based MSP, has proved how essential sales and marketing really are.
That’s because in just four years, CETech achieved $1 million in organic revenue growth. This has averaged out to 20-30% year over year growth, making CETech a $5 million dollar company. The MSP began in 1998 and was officially incorporated in 2006, but sat stagnant until about 10 years ago, when Sue Brumm, head of the sales and marketing team and one half of the husband-and-wife co-owner duo, made a change with the help of her husband Fred Brumm, who manages the operational side of the business.
Creating Something From Nothing
Prior to joining TMT, CETech relied entirely on referrals. “We had zero marketing,” Sue says. “And so, we started forming a sales and marketing team.” Today, the team consists of Sue, a marketing manager, a salesperson, and a sales development representative.
CETech does a lot of direct mail campaigns, largely themed for different holidays or occasions, and maintains a newsletter, but they’re most focused on their seminars, which they organize, start to finish. “We host them, bring in sponsors, and bring in partners we work with,” Sue explains. “We’ve partnered with banks before, as well as insurance companies, to talk about cybersecurity insurance. We’ve worked with a local FBI agent, who’s a cybersecurity expert. We’re doing our second seminar with him soon. Part of our mission is to educate, obviously, but also to hopefully get connected with some new people, and they can learn a little bit about us.”
The MSP has conducted 8-10 of these seminars since 2018 and has seen great ROI when it comes to lead generation. “Sometimes people will call us a year after attending a seminar and follow up,” Sue says.
Another smart marketing move has been to contact other award winners in their local area. “We’ve won best IT outsource cybersecurity company in our local area, for the fifth year in a row,” Sue says. “So, we’re very proud of that and we’re doing an outreach to all the fellow winners. “It’s a good way to hopefully do some lead generation, as well as start conversations with others.”
CETech is running the same strategy with the other winners of the Rochester Top 100, which they’re on for the third year in a row. “It’s the fastest growing companies [in the area], and we’re doing an outreach canvassing campaign. We’re giving [all the other winners] plants.” Then, Sue includes messaging about CETech helping the other companies continue to grow with each gift.
Managing And Prioritizing Their Existing Customers
However, CETech’s success can’t be solely credited to Sue’s efforts and new growth. Fred understands the importance of managing and taking care of the MSP’s existing clients. He explains, “One of our lessons leaned is that growth is much harder if you’re losing customers on the way. It’s really hard to grow when you’re bleeding out the back end. So, operations are really important, to make sure that after you spend the money and time to get a new customer, you don’t lose the existing ones.” Sue agrees, saying, “That’s the other side of growing and having good marketing and sales—you have to handle it operationally as well. You can’t do it isolated. You have to focus on both so you can scale both.”
To this end, CETech prioritizes quality customer care. “Our goal is not to be the biggest but to be the best,” says Fred. “Our industry has no rules or regulations, meaning anybody can say they’re an MSP. But there is one certification—the SOC 2 compliance—which we’ve held for the last three years. It’s our way of showing our customers that we’re going the extra mile to ensure their data is safe.”
Their goal of “being the best” can be seen throughout every corner of their company culture. “One of our core values is ‘Our customers’ challenges are our own,’ so this involves taking complete ownership over our customers’ services and always striving to brainstorm creative solutions to meet their needs,” explains Fred. “Another one of our values is ‘Unquestionable integrity,’ so, taken together, we promise to treat their business like our business.”
Additionally, CETech does price increases each year, to ensure that their longer-term clients are staying profitable. “We evaluate each account’s profitability and then make those adjustments,” Fred says. “We also have a vCIO account manager team that focuses in on what they’re currently purchasing, what products or services they might be missing, and tries to fill those gaps.”
Starting Somewhere, Moving Forward
When asked about their advice for MSPs who hope to follow in their footsteps, Sue recommends starting wherever you can. “Do something,” she says. “Create a list, get an SDR to make phone calls, find someone to send some mailers. It’s about starting somewhere, moving forward, and really focusing. The only way you’re going to really grow is through some good marketing and sales—so dedicate the time and resources to that.”
Fred agrees, adding, “It doesn’t matter what you’re selling. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. If you don’t market, you’re not going to grow. If you’re not selling or advertising your product or services, you’re not going to grow; it’s a pretty simple concept, actually. It’s not simple to do, but if you don’t do it, then you don’t grow.”
Thanks to their persistent sales and marketing experts and their high standard of service and customer satisfaction, CETech has seen astronomical growth over the last few years. Looking ahead, they plan to continue pursuing their mission of being the best (not the biggest) provider of cybersecurity and IT services throughout the Rochester, Buffalo, and Syracuse areas.
