Building Blocks of MSP Channel Success Part 2: Cracking the MSP Code

Key Strategies When Selling to the MSP Channel

If you are selling to MSPs now or thinking about doing so in the future and don’t understand what makes the MSP channel unique, then I’ve written this blog post for you. 

Many vendors with cutting-edge solutions want to show off their speeds and feeds and talk about their amazing features. Their technology may be better than their competitors, but that isn’t what really matters to MSPs.

The advice in this post may sound like it was written by Captain Obvious, but it’s all based on lessons I’ve seen vendors learn the hard way. I’ve seen too many trade show booths, ads, and webinars where vendors focus only on their technology and the problems it solves. They are proud of their solution, and they should be, but let’s be honest; they all start to sound the same after a while. 

It’s no secret that the managed services market is extremely competitive. Most MSPs are focused on serving their customers, hiring staff, improving processes, enhancing solutions, and finding new clients. The reality is that only a small percentage of MSPs are interested in changing or expanding their technology stack. So if you’re lucky enough to get a few minutes of their time, you’d better make it count. 

Here are some practical tips and advice to help you grab an MSP’s attention and stay ahead of the competition.

Unleash Your Unique Value Proposition
I cannot stress enough the significance of a consistent message incorporating your unique value proposition (UVP). If you haven’t established a UVP yet, developing one should be your number one priority. Start by answering these questions:

1. What specific challenges do MSPs face that your solution uniquely addresses compared to other offerings in the market?
2. How does your solution streamline MSPs’ processes and improve their efficiency, ultimately enabling them to serve their clients better and grow their business?
3. What long-term benefits and competitive advantages can your solution provide to MSPs, and how can they effectively communicate this value to prospects in a compelling and memorable way?

In short, answer the question: “Why should I change?” from an MSP’s perspective, as MSPs are very change averse.

I suggest you come up with several variations of your proposed UVP and run them past existing MSP partners for feedback, or better yet involve them in the development process.

I was playing around with our UVP today. This is one of five that I came up with: “Channel Mastered is your specialized MSP channel transformation partner, empowering vendors with a team of experienced MSP industry experts with tailored, proven processes. Our comprehensive solutions address the unique challenges vendors face, from market research and channel strategy to executive support and partner recruitment and enablement. Experience unparalleled growth with Channel Mastered’s suite of services, designed exclusively for the managed services channel.”  What do you think? 

Once you’ve crafted your amazing UVP, you need to use it consistently across all your marketing materials. Integrate it into your website content, brochures, presentations, and trade show material. You might also consider adding it to your email signatures, social media profiles, and your other communication channels. Don’t be shy about using your UVP anywhere and everywhere you can – it should be a key part of your marketing strategy.   

By creating and consistently reinforcing your UVP, you can establish a powerful and unique brand identity that sets you apart from your competitors and helps you connect with your ideal prospects on a deeper level.

Trust Matters
Trust is everything in the MSP world. Consumers trust businesses to deliver quality products and services, and businesses trust MSPs to keep their technology running smoothly and securely so they can deliver on that trust. You play a big role in this trust game. Before an MSP will even consider partnering with you, they need to know they can trust you. 

Transparency is key to building trust with MSPs. Be upfront about your products, pricing, and support. That means offering clear information about what your products can and can’t do and making sure prospects understand what they’re paying for and for how long. The most successful MSP channel vendors do a great job of presenting easy-to-understand pricing on their website along with public roadmaps that describe features under review, planned, or in progress and let readers suggest and vote on new feature requests.

Building trust is not just about the individual connections you make; you also need to be an active participant in the larger MSP community. That means attending or sponsoring events, sharing resources like blogs and webinars, and being constantly active (and responsive) on social media. You don’t want to be just another vendor trying to make a buck. You want to be seen as a valuable part of the MSP community by sharing your knowledge and expertise. There are some great MSP membership organizations that vendors can consider participating in. Do your research to identify those that make the most sense for you.

APIs Are Not Optional!

A published API is very important when partnering with MSPs, as they have already built many of their operations and processes around specific technologies. They need solutions that can easily integrate with their existing systems. If your solution lacks an API or does not integrate well with the MSP’s existing technologies, it will be a major obstacle to adoption.

A published API can provide several benefits when working with MSPs:

• Efficiency: APIs allow MSPs to connect your solution with their existing tools and systems to create a seamless workflow. This will save time and effort by reducing the need to switch between multiple systems when managing their operations (which they HATE to do).
• Customization: APIs allow MSPs to tailor your solution to their specific needs. This can provide a competitive advantage to the MSP, as they can offer unique services to their clients.
• Scalability: APIs enable MSPs to scale their operations easily. As their business grows, they can integrate more tools and systems with your service. The more integrations they create, the harder you are to replace.
• Innovation: By enabling third-party developers to build on top of your service, APIs encourage innovation. This can foster the creation of new applications and services that can benefit both you and the MSP.
• Strategic alliances: APIs enable integrations with complimentary vendors that allow you to offer a combined UVP and focus on co-marketing efforts. This is one of the most cost-effective ways to expand your brand through a captive audience.  

APIs are not optional for MSPs but rather a critical component of any solution they consider. Publishing APIs will give you a significant advantage in the market.

Support Will Make or Break You!
For MSPs, vendor support is crucial.  This ties back to the trust issue I discussed earlier. MSPs take technology risks from clients and transfer them to vendors. If vendors fail to provide support that meets the MSPs’ SLAs, clients blame the MSPs. On social media sites, the most common complaint about vendors is their poor support, not the quality of their technology or pricing.   

To provide the best support possible, consider the following:

1. Set clear expectations: You should communicate clearly with your partners about the level of support you can provide, including response times and issue resolution timelines.

2. Provide training: Offer various types of training on using your products and troubleshooting common issues. This will help MSPs resolve issues quickly and reduce the number of support requests to you.

3. Have a dedicated MSP support team: If you sell into other channels (like VARs or OEM), you should have a dedicated support team that is available 24/7 to respond to MSPs’ support requests. The team should be knowledgeable, friendly, and responsive – and the price should be baked into your subscription, not an upsell!

4. Use ticketing systems: I know this one sounds obvious, but I’ve seen vendors working out of shared email folders. Use a ticketing system to track support requests and ensure that all requests are resolved in a timely manner. This will also help you identify recurring issues and provide justifications for product improvements.

5. Utilize a net promoter score (NPS) to collect feedback on your MSP partners’ support experience with you and use it to improve your support processes. You will gain valuable insights into partner satisfaction levels and can make necessary adjustments to enhance your support services and foster stronger relationships with your partners.

6. Communication is key: So many times, I’ve read an email from support or accounting to an MSP where I think, “Why won’t they just pick up the phone and call them?” As a channel manager, that is exactly what I would usually do. Batting emails back and forth can take hours or even days and accomplish very little. MSPs will NOT tolerate poor communication from their vendors.

7. Close the loop:  Along the lines of using a ticketing system and good communication practices, it is important always to close the loop on any open issues. If an MSP keeps having to call you for an update (yes, even if the fix is in product development), they won’t be your partner for long.

8. Leverage AI:  More on this coming soon…

MSPs are in the services business. They understand that things go wrong, but nothing, and I mean nothing, will have a greater influence on your ability to build trust and keep MSP partners loyal than providing amazing support.