MSP 2.0 Business Building

Thursday, November 28, 2013

7C Methodology

The overall goal of the 7C is to give the end client a competitive edge with IT. Competitive edge entails 3 things:

better service or product with IT to generate more revenue
lean processes, automatization with IT to decrease costs
information security, business continuity to maintain credibility

The clients seek competitive edge in every possible way. Our research shows that the IT field has the most reserves. So, 7C aims to unleash these potentials with the help of the existing MSP. The methodology measures and manages these areas which support the three main building blocks of competitive edge:

Continuous: What is the level of IT security?

Data security
Information security
Vulnerability checking
Preventive activities

Competent: How efficient and professional is the IT ecosystem?

Professionalism of the service provider / internal admin
End-user efficiency
Reliability of IT devices
Responsibilities of the IT management

Charge: How proactive and responsible is the IT ecosystem?

Quality of the IT service delivery
Problem management
Proactive behavior

Conscious: How strategy and business-focused is the IT ecosystem?

Quality of the IT strategy planning
Quality of the IT strategy
Quality of IT operation plan
Quality of execution of the IT operation plan

Controlled: How measurable, governable is the IT ecosystem?

IT performance management
Initiatives and development management
Audit, compliance, quality management
Organization of the IT operation

Clear: How transparent, clear is the IT ecosystem?

IT reporting
Transparency of IT department
Efficient, transparent system in place
Cost transparency

Cost effective: How cost effective is the IT ecosystem?

IT procurement management
Lean IT management
IT budget management

7C is a systematic approach with the following items

Methodology
Software application
Education, certification
Shared learning
Business building process

To give you an opportunity to build up your MSP 2.0 practice.

See:

Sales techniques:

vCIO researches:

What is Virtual Chief Information Officer / Virtual CIO?

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

We do not have real sales process

The MSPs usually grow as their client base grows, and also as a result of referrals. Usually it experiences a 10-30% yearly growth. But now the time has changed. The vendors want to go direct, the clients buy services directly from the cloud. There are smaller margins on hardware and software as well, and getting meaningful referrals is more and more difficult because of the growing competition.

It can result in very hectic periods and quick increases after drop downs. It is quite hard to manage.

A well planned, optimized, executed sales process entails predictable new clients and growth. It also entails exact activities and measures regarding the whole sales process.

GET

getting leads - who are not yet aware
getting opportunities - who has some awareness and interest
getting prospects - who is considering our services
first time buyer - trying out our services

KEEP

lock in/high switching costs - to make it hard to leave
service delivery fulfillment - to make sure they feel we are servicing them exceptionally

GROW

upselling - project selling and recurring, or more services
cross selling - to sell other services or service existing ones in more depth
referrals – sending us new prospects

But just imagine:

With ReframingYourClients you are able to

manage the whole sales cycle and the people working in sales
have an exceptionally low acquisition cost
get scalable growth
have tools for keeping clients
ensure exceptional efficiency in growing the service level for each customer
build in motivation and target setting for inside sales
build in tools for getting referrals in a viral way

If you have a dedicated sales guy or department it is quite likely you are able to double or triple the onboard clients with this tool. If you do not have any sales force onboard it makes it really easy to build a predictable sales force without the usual hassles of control, target setting, bonuses etc.

See:

Sales techniques:

vCIO researches:

I hate sales

We do too. Classical sales practices are lame. Techniques, strategies, scripts, manipulation are all part of the dark side. That is why we have developed the 7C Methodology for 5 years.

We believe in asking questions, understanding the clients’ problems, contexts, industry, challenges, people, operations and everything, to be able to help them. Our duty, though, is not to find out what is the best IT solution to them. This is the IT consultants' job. They come and talk and advise and leave. Nothing is happening at the end of the day.

We have to keep asking questions, be curious all the time, and have a meaningful conversation with the clients to be able to find new ways together. It is not about us, it is not about the solutions we can sell. It is about the possible results of the synergy of our relationship. It needs time to open up and have the necessary personal and professional trust. We have to show results from small amounts to be able to get higher commitments. It is a process between the people.

We have to see the problem by digging deep, find some possible solutions, walk around, keep asking questions and only after, can we do something about it and provide our service or offer a product.

This is what ReframeYourClients is all about. It is about the reframing of the relationship, the possibilities, IT in general, our expertise, their capabilities….

But just imagine:

With ReframeYourClients you are able to

offer long term solutions instead of band-aids because the client understands the concept
keep asking the questions which matter
find out the pain points quickly
be accountable on the results and build trust
let the sales happen without effort

As you begin with the initial survey reports and workshops you will very quickly get the idea why people call it an eye opener, or thought-provoking.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Clients do not know what we are doing for them

First awareness of your service:

Since you are doing such a good job as an MSP you basically disappear. You meet the client quarterly, the technicians are not seen very often, all the issues in the ticketing system are solved quickly. That is why you are hired..
However, after a while it may pose a possible risk as they do not experience that you are "working". It has nothing to do with reports and such things; they are just not in a position to be able to judge the amount of work and your level of commitment to ensure that their system is up and running.

Second expectation:

As you may have realized, building up the service offeringsof a solid MSP is not an easy task. It took years to build, optimize with all of the trials and errors. That is why you have a full expertise in this field. But your client knows very little about what you are doing. They are expecting the results, and they do not really understand how and why it is working. But again, they have expectations. These expectations have nothing to do with the services they have ordered. They did not order the service; they ordered the results, the experience you had promised. Well, they have signed the contract, but, what do you do if the CEO complains because your company has charged them 4 hours for setting up his home cinema system with the NAS at his home?

Third alignment:

If awareness and expectation are met, there is alignment. Either you can align the system from bottom up, case by case using trial and error, or, if an issue comes up you may fix the expectation or the service awareness. That is a very unpredictable and slow process. The other way to do it is from top to bottom. That means, you have to see the big picture and break it down into details. Usually, it seems impractical, so the client does not have enough patience to go through the process altogether.
The solution is a mix of both.

But just imagine:

With ReframingYourClients you are able to

collect all the necessary issues that should be aligned (bottom) in a questionnaire
analyze it from both parties' perspective
have a workshop where you are able to present the differences
have the conversation about how to fix misalignments in an action plan
set up the proper awareness and expectation to be able to set the relationship to the next level

To be aligned with the client is the first and most important step for developing a fruitful relationship. But there are further steps you can use to increase your credibility to WOW your clients all the time.

See:

Sales techniques:

vCIO researches: