This article was written by Ray Green, founder of MSP Sales Partners, which helps MSPs build scalable sales teams through specialized coaching and management programs.
I got a call recently from an MSP owner doing $7 million annually. His close rates had tanked over the past 12 months, and he was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
Was it the economy? Recession fears? His process?
We ran our audit and discovered something I see constantly in this industry. The problem wasn’t his reps. It wasn’t his process. It wasn’t even the market.
It was his sales model.
The Full Cycle Trap
This MSP had two reps doing everything—prospecting, lead generation, outreach, networking events, qualifying calls, discovery calls, proposals, closing, and account management.
By most accounts, having two people who can each effectively run the entire process, from demand generation to account growth and retention, sounds efficient. It’s not.
One rep was great at lead generation. He had mastered LinkedIn, figured out automation that didn’t sound spammy, and was incredible at starting conversations and moving people to qualifying calls. A phenomenal opener.
The second rep was a phenomenal closer. Give him a qualified prospect, and he could find the pain points, understand the buying process, run discovery, present, and close the deal. But neither one was particularly great at account management.
In good times, when leads are flowing and buying cycles are shorter, those inefficiencies get masked. There’s enough volume to hide the problems in the sales process. But when competition increases, M&A activity picks up, and clients get acquired, those inefficiencies become killers.
Create Specialists to Scale
It’s economics 101. Specialization gets you more net output because you have the right person, focused on the right job, all the time.
Right now, your great opener is using maybe a third of his time on what he’s exceptional at. The other two-thirds are spent on things he’s only OK at. When you let him focus all his time on something he’s awesome at, or when your closer stops spending half his time prospecting and focuses entirely on converting qualified opportunities, you get better production. You get better quality outputs. You get a more scalable system.
Plus, it’s extremely challenging to find someone who’s genuinely good at opening deals, closing deals, and growing your client base. Typically, you end up with someone who’s OK at all three. And, that person will naturally avoid the things they’re not great at and focus on what they prefer.
This is like asking your quarterback to also be your best receiver and your best lineman. Could they do it? Maybe. Should they? Absolutely not.
Your first hire on the tech side wouldn’t be expected to handle level one support, advanced technical issues, and cybersecurity. You understand the benefits of specialization on the operations side. The sales side is no different.
The Three-Role Structure
That’s why we recommend this structure for MSP sales teams:
- SDRs/BDRs: Responsible for catching everything inbound, maximizing those opportunities, and creating outbound opportunities. Their job is putting qualified appointments on the table.
- Closers: Responsible for running discovery, guiding prospects through assessments, delivering proposals, and closing deals. They convert opportunities into revenue.
- Account Managers: Responsible for retention, customer service, and growth. They’re looking for opportunities to upsell, maximizing lifetime value, and keeping clients long-term.
All three are sales roles that require different skills. Each one deserves focused attention.
Why You Should Make the Switch
The MSP we restructured late last year implemented this model in Q1. They’re now seeing 30% growth, while others in the market are flat or declining. The reason is because they have the right people in the right seats; they’re specialized and can grow more efficiently.
When it’s time to scale, you don’t need to find a unicorn who can do everything. Instead, add more of what’s working and hire specifically for the role you need.
Additionally, the full-cycle model many MSPs use creates massive business risk. If you have one sales rep great at everything, they become the most valuable person in your business. Now you’re held hostage by that person. If they leave, your entire sales operation collapses.
By breaking down your sales team into components, you’ll de-risk the operation and make it more scalable. You’ll create a system that can run without depending on finding unicorns.
The Implementation
That said, this doesn’t mean you need to hire three people tomorrow. Start with where you are.
If you’re doing all the sales yourself, hire an SDR first. Get someone focused on feeding you qualified appointments so you can focus on closing.
If you have an SDR setting appointments but you’re still doing all the closing, add a closer. Train them on your process, give them qualified opportunities, and focus on growing the business—instead of being stuck in discovery calls.
If you have both, but clients aren’t growing or retention is suffering, add an account management focus. Make sure someone is dedicated to maximizing the value of existing relationships.
Fix Your Sales, Fix Your Growth
Your sales model might be the constraint that’s preventing your growth. Not your reps. Not your process. Not the market.
The businesses pulling ahead right now aren’t the ones with the best individual performers. They’re the ones that have built systems where specialists can excel at what they do best.
Stop asking your people to be good at everything; start letting them be great at something. The difference in results will surprise you.
For more sales advice, check out how to turn a prospect’s objections into the key to winning a sale.
