Sometimes slow, reliable growth means beating out your competition.
Paul Marchese, president of Batavia, New York-based MSP Marchese Computer Products (MCP), knows this better than most. By playing the long game and out-of-the-box marketing strategies, Marchese has steadily built his MSP for over four decades. And the numbers don’t lie—since 2019, MCP’s revenue growth rate has been between 20 and 25%.
Here’s an inside look at the strategies behind MCP’s success.
The Shift from Tech to Owner
One of the moves that made the biggest difference in MCP’s growth was Marchese’s mindset shift from tech to owner. “I was a typical tech owner—more tech than owner,” he says. “It got to the point where some of my lead techs sat me down and said, ‘We understand that you’re a Level 3 tech, but next time we ask you to do something, tell us you’re too busy.’”
Not only was Marchese spending time on technical work instead of running the business itself, but his fast pace and efficiency were actually harming the team in the long run—because he wasn’t properly documenting the fixes. “It was one of those things where I already knew the end,” Marchese says. “I was looking for the shortest path [to a solution], rather than documenting it so that it’s repeatable. But that’s not how you grow.”
“That was my biggest mindset shift,” says Marchese, “to get me out of the tech side.”
The Key to Marketing? Do Things Differently and Keep Moving Forward
According to Marchese, the biggest growth catalyst for MCP has been doing things systematically: “Keep with the task and always look to move forward,” he says.
“The reality is if I could have told myself, as a beginner MSP in 2005, to stick with X, Y, and Z and not stop, I would be way better off today,” says Marchese. “I think that’s really the key piece that I learned. It’s not instant gratification. You need to understand what you’re going for and stick with it.”
He also advocates for targeted marketing tactics versus a broad-based strategy. “The shotgun approach doesn’t work; that’s the truth,” he says. Also, he advises differentiating your business. “Look at where your market presence is, who your competitors are, and what they’re doing or not doing. Then radically do something different. Separating yourself from your competition is extremely important.”
“If you’re doing the same thing or sending out the same letter as everyone else, you’re just like everyone else [in the prospect’s eyes]. But if you’re thinking outside the box, [the prospect sees you as] not like everybody else.” And that makes all the difference when it comes to catching your prospect’s attention and winning the sale.
Slow and Steady (Growth) Wins the Race
While many MSPs focus on banking big numbers and rapid growth, Marchese finds slow, steady growth to be a better strategy. “To me, it’s not about explosive numbers,” he says. “It’s about sustained, logical growth. I don’t want to go from where I am now to triple [that] next year. Because ultimately, I think that would hurt my clients because that rapid growth isn’t sustainable.”
There’s also the issue of hiring additional staff to keep up with a rapidly increasing workload. “Something happens when you’re trying to hire all those people. You can’t train them all; it becomes a nightmare,” Marchese says.
“So methodical growth is really [preferable],” he explains. “If you can grow 25% year over year, that’s a good number. Even 20% is above the norm these days.”
“[All MSPs] have the same goal,” Marchese says, “but there’s two ways to get there. It’s the old tortoise and the hare [fable]. The tortoise ultimately always wins that race, because they don’t sustain any damage. They methodically think about [their next move].”
For more MSP success stories, read how Will Lee overcame the talent drought and made a remote market work for him.
