The one meeting that gets executives back in the room
Here’s a pattern I see at almost every MSP, including ours for years. You sign a new client. The CEO is in the room. You sold them a vision of the future: better technology, fewer problems, IT that supports where the business is going. They’re excited. They sign. And then you hardly ever see them […]
If you’re not doing strategic planning with your clients, start here
I meet MSPs all the time, and so many of them are in the exact same place. They’re not doing real strategic planning with their clients. Maybe they meet some of them somewhat regularly, but rarely all of them, and rarely with any real structure. It’s the thing they know they should be doing, but […]
Your MSP doesn’t have a sales problem. You’re thinking about growth wrong.
Most MSPs trying to grow are doing it backwards. They invest in sales. They outsource lead gen to firms that book meetings for them. They hire marketing agencies. They build out a sales team. All of that is great. But it’s almost never the first move. The first step is to reduce your churn as […]
What your co-managed clients actually want
In managed services, we sell the cake, not the ingredients. The client wants peace of mind and a business that runs. They don’t want to hear about which EDR we picked or why. Co-managed is the opposite. Your point of contact is technical. They care deeply about the ingredients. They want to know your stack. They […]
5 signs your vCIO services aren’t working
Meetings are happening. Roadmaps exist. Nobody is complaining. But going through the motions and delivering value are not the same thing. Here are five signs of issues worth looking into: 1. Your QBRs are about tickets and uptime QBRs aren’t the problem. Operational meetings have their place. The problem is when that’s the only conversation […]
A client just got acquired by PE. Here’s what we did.
Last week it happened to us in our MSP. A client we’ve had for years got acquired by a private equity firm. Funny enough, we did a webinar on exactly this topic two weeks ago. I followed my own advice, and I want to share what that looked like in practice. What happened Our client […]
Your clients are drowning in AI noise. Here’s how to help them.
Last night I sat in a room with seven CEOs. These aren’t tech people. They’re business owners running companies with 20, 50, 400 employees. Typical MSP clients. Smart people. Busy people. And every single one of them is stressed about AI. They’re watching viral AI videos, reading AI headlines and posts on LinkedIn, and they’re […]
What is a vCIO?
There are so many different versions of a “vCIO” in our industry that it’s easy to get confused. Let me bring some clarity. A vCIO is not a dressed-up account manager. It’s one of your most technical resources who becomes your client’s trusted technology advisor. For anything related to technology, strategy, risk, and major decisions, […]
Stop making your vCIO do everything
If one person at your MSP is handling IT strategy, billing questions, escalations, and check-ins, you have a structural problem. The fix is simple: separate your vCIO and Account Manager roles completely. These are two different jobs with distinct skill sets. The vCIO: strategic technology advisor Your vCIO is like your client’s outside counsel, a […]
The QBR is broken for most MSPs
I’ll be direct: the traditional QBR model most MSPs follow is flawed. Too many MSPs believe that meeting once a quarter to review tickets, projects, and performance metrics proves their value. They then talk about what’s coming next and call it “strategic.” It’s not. It’s reporting. You’re meeting the wrong person At the beginning of […]
