In a recent wave of tech layoffs, an employee posted their shock and dismay over their employer’s sudden decision to downsize by cutting 90% of the staff. Their comment was “I thought I was indispensable.”
She went on to list her promotion and contributions to the company, which were impressive. I don’t know her or the situation, but it did seem as though she’s someone you would not want to let go – but that’s the way the world works. In business, nobody is truly indispensable.
As entrepreneurs, we strive to be indispensable to our clients by creating products and services they can’t live without. In the advice business (consulting and coaching), we use the term “pain of disconnect” to describe the strategy of making our programs sticky by getting clients to use our software, services, templates, etc., so that canceling is a giant inconvenience. But no matter what you do, there’s nobody who has a 100% retention rate.
MSPs, by nature, have a high pain of disconnect baked into their services. It’s PAINFUL and often costly to switch IT providers, so clients will tolerate a certain level of dissatisfaction with their MSP, staying with someone long after the dew has gone off the rose.
But that SAME benefit is also a giant hurdle in getting new clients. YOU have to demonstrate a high level of competence and be able to convince a prospect that firing their current IT company and hiring YOU is going to be worth the pain of switching. Most don’t put enough into figuring out how to convey that to their marketplace.
But even the most “indispensable” businesses get fired by their clients. Right now, I know of several very successful MSPs who are dealing with a giant hole in their MRR due to losing their best clients to an acquisition – no fault of their own. Many lose them to a cheaper competitor. Point is, NOBODY is truly and completely indispensable in the marketplace, and you can quickly go from complete confidence, assured of tomorrow’s paycheck, income and revenue, to being fired without warning. There is no such thing as “solid ground” other than in YOUR ability to recover quickly when faced with a sudden loss of a client, revenue stream or even key employee. This begs a few things to keep in mind:
First, never take anything for granted. Complacency breeds laziness and puts you in a vulnerable position. One of the worst things that can happen to a sales rep is a GOOD month of sales. It makes them relax and stop prospecting, ensuring a very slow month or two to follow. Same with an MSP that is comfortable with their income. If you want to be truly secure, you need to operate every day as though your clients can and WILL fire you. Same with employees. The good ones can and will leave without notice. If you take their loyalty for granted, you’re a fool.
Second, always be recruiting and marketing. Trying to replace a key client that represents a lot of MRR is painful and intensely stressful – but it’s a lot less painful and stressful IF you have a steady flow of inbound leads, a database of qualified, unconverted leads you’ve been nurturing, a solid base of high-value clients you’ve developed and multiple marketing campaigns you’ve already refined and can depend on to work.
If you need a good sales development rep, you better hire three. If you happen to have a good SDR, you’re not on solid ground and you better start looking for their replacement today. If you don’t provide them with upward career potential, they will leave you for someone who will. Many just won’t make it, and you’ll need to let them go sooner rather than later.
Third, constantly develop, strengthen and expand your skills and abilities to market, sell and PRODUCE. The one thing and only thing you can count on is YOUR ability to produce – to creatively and quickly pivot to a new strategy, a new approach or a new pathway when the one you’re on is permanently blocked. The late genius copywriter Gary Halbert often said that all problems can be solved by a good sales letter. I don’t agree that everything can be fixed by a good sales letter, but the list of things that can’t is pretty damned short, particularly if you understand that by “sales letter” he means a process for convincing, persuading and selling your idea, your product, your company, your way. LOTS of doors open when you have the ability to craft such a campaign.
Finally, if you permit yourself, your MSP business and your services to be viewed as a commodity, interchangeable with any other MSP in your area, unremarkable in any way, you lose. You have no power in the marketplace. You are NOT indispensable. And you will lose much harder and faster right now, when the economy is soft and we’re seeing an influx of small “anything for a buck” MSPs starting up who willingly sacrifice themselves to poverty because they don’t know any way to get a client other than by being cheap.
Want to know how to stop being viewed as an interchangeable commodity? Join us for the final MSP Marketing Roadshow event, where I’ll show you exactly how to elevate your status to trusted advisor so you can attract a much higher-paying, higher-value client.
