I’ve been asked many times from start-up MSPs about the number one campaign they should be running to generate more monthly recurring revenue (MRR) every month.
Rather than tell you myself, I turned to my clients who are currently crushing it. Read what they did to increase their sales, grow their MSPs and beat the competition in their market.
(Wanna skip the reading and download your free 8 word-for-word MSP marketing examples? Click here now!)
This MSP owner, Roland Parker, began his business in Zimbabwe, Africa until the political climate became too dangerous. He and his family fled to Katy, TX, planting the new office for Impress Computers. Read on as Roland walks us through his journey in moving his business from a break-fix model to a monthly recurring revenue model that launches him into hyper-growth…
ROLAND PARKER, Impress Computers
Hyper-Focused On Increasing Monthly Recurring Revenue And Profitability
Roland Parker
For a 28-year-old break-fix IT company, we were putting an emphasis on growing the MSP side of our business. Because we have a storefront, we have successfully divided our company to include break-fix and MSP. We now have technicians who solely work on the MSP side as well as marketing focused on growing our MSP client base. Currently, our business is 40% MSP, 60% break-fix.
We Never Believed In Direct Mail Until It Brought Us Our First MSP Client!
Before discovering Robin Robins’ marketing, we focused on e-mail, blogging and digital marketing. We had never sent a SINGLE piece of direct mail. I guess we assumed nobody looked at physical mail anymore, and digital was the ONLY way to get their attention. Imagine our surprise when we mailed a few sales letters and received a call back from an eager prospect wanting to meet! That initial win became a $1,000 boost in monthly recurring revenue and $7,600 in equipment sales!
Getting our first MSP client from a new direct mail campaign was exciting. Direct mail has been our single best marketing campaign so far Out of the blue, we had people phoning and requesting appointments. With such a response, we now send out 100 campaign letters each and every week. Plus, we recently hired our own outbound telemarketer to follow up like we should.
While continuing to build on our direct mail list (up to 523 prospects), we were forced into scheduling Technology Business Reviews with clients. Since we hadn’t been doing these on a regular basis, this became a new opportunity for client upsells and cross-sells.
Our “Ready To Sign On The Dotted Line” Secret Weapon
We just love our Shock-And-Awe box! It has become part of our process: we send out the direct mail campaign, follow up with a phone call, start sending out e-mails, and if they request an appointment, we hand-deliver our Shock-And-Awe box. Inside our box, we feature a booklet of testimonials, a FAQ sheet, which is a great opportunity to respond to objections, a Client Bill Of Rights, 10 Things We Do Better and more.
By the time we meet with prospects, they are already HALF SOLD on Impress Computers because of the one-of-a-kind impression our Shock-And-Awe box makes, as well as the credibility we had already built up. In the past, it would take a long time and multiple meetings before referral prospects considered our services. Now, the prospect is usually ready to sign on the dotted line the moment we meet. It’s like night and day.
Now, Roland is a finalist in the Better Your Best Competition at our 2022 IT Sales and Marketing Boot Camp where he will present his best marketing tips in front of judges and thousands of other MSP business owners to try and win a brand-new sports car and become Technology Marketing Toolkit’s Spokesperson for the next year.
Get 8 word-for-word MSP marketing pieces HERE.
Next, start-up MSP owners, Terry Blackstein and Kerry Brown, turned to their MSP as their sole form of income after a partner at their previous company stole a year worth of company revenue. Now, their MSP was their lifeline, and they found a way to not only make it work- but EXCEL. Read on to see how they did it…
TERRY BLACKSTEN & KERRY BROWN, BITOS LLC
Using The Phone Book As Our “List,” We Realized Marketing Was Not Our Strength
Terry Blacksten and Kerry Brown
When we turned the calendar to 2020 (something we don’t advise, BTW), we realized that our MSP – BITOS, LLC – was simply a start-up. For us, a husband/wife team, our MSP was our new baby. Unfortunately, we had no direction, no roadmap and no clue where to start. Our first “attempt” at marketing was a hideous postcard campaign. Our “list” was the local phonebook…60% of the postcards were RETURNED…and we never even considered following up. NO LEADS!
Next, Kerry would spend days “canvassing” businesses (which really meant wandering around office buildings with an OLD LIST and getting disappointed when he learned they moved out). NO LEADS!
The sobering reality was that our new MSP was truly a family business. Kerry is the President and Owner. Terry is the Wannabe Marketing Guru. Our son is the Chief Technology Officer, and our daughter is our marketing assistant. We were spending our retirement savings to desperately grow this business. And if it failed, we fail EPICALLY because FOUR family members are out of work! Sure, we’re CRUSHED when we invest 12- to 16-hour days and WEEKENDS, and NOTHING is happening. Rather than give up, we chose to become stronger. I think the Blues Brothers said it best…
“We’re on a mission from God.”
Our son watched Robin Robins’ videos and recommended her program to us. Since we were draining our retirement savings on wasteful marketing and since the world fell off of a cliff in March, we were ALL-IN! Before we knew it, we bought the Toolkit, signed up for the Rapid Implementation Workshop and joined Accelerators Club.
Not only do I tend to overanalyze everything, I am ultra-reluctant to spend money. When Terry and I first got married, it took me almost three months to agree on a $600 couch. Joining Accelerators Club was no couch. In fact, at the time, it was roughly 10X our MRR. We weren’t just dedicating 10% of our revenue to marketing…we were investing 1,000% of our revenue to Robin’s marketing!
(Spoiler alert: It WORKED!)
Our Aha Moment Resulted In A 3,166% Increase In MRR!
While at the Rapid Implementation Workshop, Robin asked us to send 9-Word E-mails and her “Got A Minute?” e-mails to clients and prospects. We were a start-up MSP with only $150 in MRR to our names! How could WE compete with these big MSPs that had been in business for YEARS? We were going to get slaughtered!
But we actually WON! We sent 244 e-mails in one day, which was more than the rest of the class COMBINED, and we won a two-day training with Chris Voss! That was our Aha Moment that we COULD compete with larger, more experienced MSPs. Even better, that single exercise resulted in a new IT opportunity at six locations for $4,900 in MRR and also $4,900 in project work. That’s a 3,166% increase in our MRR just by confidently sending an e-mail! (To get the actual e-mail click here)
Download Your FREE Guide With 8 Word-For-Word MSP Marketing Campaign Examples Here
Lastly, this MSP owner and Better Your Best 2022 Finalist, Scott Hagizadegan, grew his start-up MSP, Shield IT Networks, by $89,492 in monthly recurring revenue in the first 90 days. How did he do it? Read here, and get his word-for-word marketing examples below…
SCOTT HAGIZADEGAN, Shield IT Networks
Re-creating In JUST 90 DAYS What Took 21 Years To Build
Scott Hagizadegan
Your first year in business is typically your most vulnerable year. Because I was a brand-new MSP with zero revenue, a big investment in marketing right out of the gate caused me to pause and wonder if I should wait to first ramp up revenue. I knew it would take time for the marketing to bring new leads and new revenue, so I came to the realization that I could not afford to go slow.
I latched onto a new GROWTH mindset. As Robin puts it, I needed to work ON my business, not IN my business. For far too long in my other company, I was riding the brake pedal when it came to sales and marketing. Now, I was finally FLOORING the gas pedal!
Adding $89,492 In New Monthly Recurring Revenue By Adding A Multimedia Marketing Approach
I just realized how fortunate I was to attend the March Rapid Implementation Workshop in Nashville, since the lockdowns were right around the corner. Going all in on Robin’s marketing provided an abundance of opportunity from both prospects and clients across multiple media.
In the first 30 days since attending Robin’s workshop, I took advantage of several of Technology Marketing Toolkit’s marketing programs, including:
- Signing up to be a co-author in their Amazon Best Seller book titled On Thin Ice. This opportunity would help me to be recognized as a trusted leader in the cyber security space.
- Jumping on Robin’s MAP Infusionsoft program. We’ve learned that Infusionsoft is essential to track our calls and e-mail opens, automate delivery, segment our list and provide alerts to keep our marketing moving forward. Without this tool and all of the campaigns already set up in Infusionsoft, it would have taken us months to build out these campaigns.
From Losing My Business To A Global Pandemic, How I Not Only Survived But THRIVED!
I think we can all agree that this has been one HELL of a year. But as someone who has successfully run an MSP for 21 years and built a fanatically loyal client base, I think I’m in a position to offer a little advice to other IT business owners today.
First, you need to TRUST the process and fully engage in Robin’s entire marketing engine. Believe me, I spent way too many years with a half-assed approach to marketing. It only works when you fully commit.
Second, surround yourself with successful people. Marketing is important, but accountability is where you’ll gain so much value. I’m fanatical about CrossFit (well, before California shut them all down). CrossFit works because like-minded enthusiasts PUSH each other and hold each other accountable.
Third, get out of your comfort zone. Diet, exercise, business, personal growth… We are our own worst enemies when it comes to our limitations. Do what frightens you a little. Do what CHALLENGES you. That’s how you grow!
By embracing these life lessons and implementing a proven marketing system consisting of cross-selling our clients, attracting new clients and keeping our new MSP front of mind for both prospects and customers, we added $89,492 in new MRR and $6K in new projects in our first 90 days!
So there you have it folks. All three of these MSP start-ups have something in common, they stuck to the process and DID THE WORK. If you want a taste of the marketing materials used by Scott and others, download your FREE guide below.
