Powerpoint Costs You Clients

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd 

If you’ve ever walked into a room, gave a lecture and then walked out and wondered why no one bought your product, this one is for you. 

Here at Humanize IT, our motto is conversations, not presentations. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ve probably heard us talk about that a ton — and, for a good reason! We want you to have the best conversations with clients, and that means it’s time to get rid of PowerPoint. 

First things first, you have to get out of the mindset that presentations have to be information overload. Your meetings should be all about the technology that you’re hoping to implement or the solutions that you find. These conversations have to be about what the client needs and how to get there. Your client most likely doesn’t care what type of technology you’re selling them, they just want to know how it’s going to help them and what the outcome of that tech is going to be. 

So, if you’re going into a meeting and starting with all the talk about tech, you’re going to lose people’s focus. Instead, start by asking a question and engaging with your audience. The best way to have a successful meeting is to ditch PowerPoint and craft a conversation to accomplish your goals. 

Think about a car salesman. When you go to a car lot, you’re not instantly bombarded with presentations and spreadsheets about car performance. The car salesperson generally asks you about what you’re looking for in a vehicle, what you like to do for fun, they ask about your family — ultimately, they get to know you more personally. Then, when all the personal information is grabbed and the relationship is set, they show you the vehicles that they think might work best for you and your needs.

That’s the best way to have a meeting as an MSP, as well. Go in and get to know your clients, find out what they need and why and then, at the very end, go through your solutions that you have come to a conclusion on. Your clients want to feel seen and they want their situation to be understood and these types of meetings will be the best way for them to feel that. 

Now, don’t just go into a meeting completely unprepared. It is best to come with a framework for what you will be talking about as well as some way to collect notes on what your client is saying. This will keep the conversation on point and allow your client to know that you are understanding and taking into consideration what they are saying. 

In order to see success in meetings, you must have conversations with your clients and get rid of the PowerPoint. That way, you leave room for your client to talk and that is what will sell.

How to Hire Great People

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd 

Today, we are tackling the question: how do you hire good engineers and other employees in today’s climate? With remote and hybrid positions vying for most people’s attention, what are some ways that you can entice people to choose your business?

You don’t just want a bunch of people in your office, you want a team. And, how do you build a team? By building relationships! A great way to hire people that will help build the team mentality is by taking referrals from your existing employees. You hired your employees for a reason and you trust them and their judgment. Why not let those trusted people bring your attention to people that they also trust and have existing relationships with. 

You employees might not refer people for free, but offering them a referral bonus would show the value of their opinion and ideas. Overall, bringing in people that your existing employees know is going to put you further doen the road and give you a much greater chance for success. 

Personal touch is also very important when gowing through the hiring process. If you are making your decision on who you want to hire, have the CEO or owner of your MSP company reach out to that person themselves. This will make the person you are hiring feel important, and that’s ultimately going to make them know they are a valuable member of your team. 

Like any job or position, engineers like to be treated well. Make an effort to do and say things that are going to boost their self-esteem and make them aware of their significance. 

It’s also important as a company to find things that set you apart from the competition and boast those aspects during an interview. If you’re a small business owner, talk about being an employee-driven company. Let them know that, by working for your company, they will make a difference, their opinion will be valued, they will get to work on a variety of cool projects and, ultimately, grow with your company. This goes along with engineers wanting to feel special. If you can highlight the special aspects of your business to relate to the interviewee, both your company and the new hire will win. 

If you want people to talk about your business, give interviewees something to talk about. If your company has a really nice espresso machine or a wall full of candy dispensers, let people being interviewed know about those things. Take them to see it on a tour of your office and talk about how much your employees love those things. 

This ties into work culture. People are not just looking for a place to earn money, they are looking for a group of people that they can get along with and feel supported by. Create a culture where people enjoy coming to work and make the workplace more enticing than their home. 

The last aspect that will allow you to find the best people for your business is good branding. We know this is not the first thing that you think about when it comes to your hiring process, but it is super important. It creates awareness and presence without the need to explain what your company is. Being recognizable among your area will bring the right people to you. 

Become an employer of choice by following these tips and you will see your current employees become a lot happier, more people applying for your jobs and a high quality group of people coming in to make your company even better.

How to Fire your client

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd 

Last week, we talked about how to fire an MSP. This week, we are discussing the equally uncomfortable task of firing a client. 

First things first, you want to make sure that firing your client is actually the best solution. It takes about 7 times more resources to obtain new clients than it does to maintain existing clients. You’ve spent a lot of resources and time to obtain this client in the first place. Is it really worth it to cut ties completely? 

The best way to determine if your client needs to go is to list your pain points with them. If there is a solution to one of your problems, then do that instead of firing them and see if the situation improves. If there isn’t a solution, then it is time to fire them. If you found that one of the problems comes from one engineer specifically, try switching their client to another MSP and determine if that solution solves the problem. 

When it comes to actually firing a client, there are two different scenarios that you will fall into. The first is the client is actually a good client, but you cannot service them the way that another MSP could. Say your MSP has developed a niche market for dental offices, but you have one client that does not fall in that category. The best solution is to check what you were supposed to be doing for them, refer a different MSP to take over that has that area of expertise and get everything ready for when that new MSP will take over. This can be a smooth and beneficial transition for both you and your client. 

If you are in a more difficult situation and dealing with a toxic client, the first solution is probably not going to work. If this is where you are at with your difficult client, it is important to be clear but polite. Come up with an exit date, print out everything necessary for them to look at or sign, tell them you are enacting clause 6B and nicely layout the reasons that you are leaving. Again, you want to do this without causing a scene or throwing a fit because that could give them a reason to make you do more work. Make sure you take a deep breath, slow down and be methodical. 

Hanging on to an unhealthy client is not good for your team. If you are needing to fire someone, be intentional and fire them without dragging it out or raising their price in hopes that they will leave on their own. It’s best just to politely rip off the band-aid. 

Before you get to this point, it’s healthy to regularly go through your client list and make sure things are running smoothly. This can be a great way to avoid getting to your breaking point with clients. Along with regularly looking through your client list, it is great to talk to your engineers and account managers and see what they think of each client. Ask them which client they would fire and see what they say. This can give great insight into their experience and give you the information you need to determine if a client needs to go. 

The main thing to keep in mind is to make firing decisions that are in your team’s best interest. Have a transition strategy and plan and be deliberate and straightforward. If you do this, then firing a client will be much easier and your team will thank you. 

How to Fire Your MSP

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd 

Today, we tackle the uncomfortable task of firing an MSP — something that must be done but isn’t fun. Since this is such a daunting task, we’re giving you three tips to make it the smoothest transition possible. 

Tip 1: Have the keys to the kingdom. 

If you are frustrated or unhappy with your current MSP, then it can be scary to think about firing them considering they have so much power over your technology. If you have a good MSP or someone who is easy to work with, it would cause no problem to transition to a new MSP that works better for your business because that MSP would help with the transition. But, if you have an MSP that you are nervous about withholding information or sabotaging your business, then it is time that you get more access to your passwords. Essentially, you need to be the one with the most control. 

If you don’t currently have all your technology’s passwords plus an overarching master password, then you need to get access to those things. 

Let this be a test for your MSP. You may have a great MSP, and that means that you already have access to all passwords and have total control over your accounts and systems. If you don’t, then maybe your MSP is not the best fit for you. 

So, the first thing to do when you are going to fire your MSP is to get all your passwords and confirm that they are accurate. 

Tip 2: Have a transition plan. 

Like anything within your business, you want to have a plan for what the transition to a new MSP will look like. When picking a new MSP, look at all the things that your current MSP is struggling with and make your decision based on some of those aspects. It is best to have a new MSP picked out so you can give them passwords and authentication information so they can start preparing to take over. 

It is also a good idea to have a risk audit done and get that information over to your new MSP as well. 

Do not let your current MSP know what is happening until the day you are letting them go because they may struggle to finish up projects in a timely manner or continue to do their job fully. 

Tip 3: Transition at a convenient time. 

Be aware of what your business is doing and make sure you plan to transition to a new MSP at a time that is most convenient for your business. Don’t choose to switch your MSP provider during a product launch or in the middle of a massive project. It is best to wait until the summer or a non-busy time to make this transition go well. 

The last thing to keep in mind is that it is okay to look at other MSP offers, even if your MSP is amazing. It is not a bad idea to know what all your options are and compare those options to what your current MSP offers. 

Pick a Client

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd 

We’re turning the tables from last week to pay attention to choosing the right clients. We are here to help you know what to look for when searching to build your portfolio and what to steer clear of to have the best possible experience. 

As an MSP, you have to be selective. You might be in the mindset that all business is good business, but that is not the case. There is more than just the paycheck going into your account. 

The first thing that most MSPs are looking for is their client’s ability to pay them. Basically, a fat paycheck. This is great and you should always look for potential clients that will be able to pay their bills. But, there are a few reasons why a fat paycheck is not the only thing that you should look for. 

First, if you have a client that is able to pay a ton of money, then they have the ability to ask for most of your time. One single client should not be taking up 90% or more of your time because that gives them way too much control over your schedule. Getting a big paycheck is great, but what if that client goes away? What do you do then? You should never worry about the majority of your money coming from one client — that’s too much dependence on something that could change very quickly. It’s better to have a variety of clients that take up smaller chunks of time as well as build up your portfolio so it isn’t detrimental if one of the clients decides to not use your services anymore. 

Second, you need a client that is consistent. If they are willing and open to pay a large sum at the very beginning but aren’t stable enough to maintain that pay for the long-term, then that client isn’t the best option. You want a steady flow of revenue to maintain the well-being and health of your company and your team. The key is to have a great account mangement team that can figure out if a client will be a great long-term investment. If a client has no budget and no plan for the future, then it is probably an account that you should steer clear of.

So, you won’t just be basing your client decisions off of the amount of money they are willing to pay; what should you base your decision on?

The best way to have outstanding clients and the best work experience is to pick your clients based on culture. Basically, you should pick a lane or a few lanes you wish to work with and become really familiar with those clients. This could look different for every single MSP, but choose an area that you can get really good at and stick with it! Let’s go over an example. Say you’re an MSP and you decide to only work with dental and doctor offices. This keeps your market open, but not so wide that you’ll take any and every type of work. Now that you have a niche market, you can really dig in and get creative with solutions instead of getting stretched thin by having to constantly learn a new area of business. 

In order to have a lane, you have to know who you are as an MSP. If you takeaway only one thing from this blog, it should be this: You have to know who you are in order to know what you’re looking for in a client. The most important thing you can do is establish and understand your culture and niche market. If you know your lane and your customers and clients, then you will be able to say no when a client doesn’t fit that culture. Your clients will love your services even more if you know exactly what you offer and let them know from the get-go. 

Lastly, when a potential client ends up not fitting your culture, have a set of tried-and-true MSPs outside of your business that you can recommend. This way, everyone wins. You get to stick with the clients that work best for your culture, and other MSPs get clients sent their way that fit theirs. 

Set up your business so that you get to choose the clients you want to work with to make sure you have the best experience possible. It’s as easy as understanding yourself! 

Pick an MSP

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd

Making the right choice on an MSP could be a make-or-break decision for your company or organization. We’re here to help you find the perfect MSP that will help accelerate your business’s growth. 

There is a right choice and a definite wrong choice as far as MSPs go, but it might not always be easy to decipher between the two. People don’t set out to be bad MSPs, but bad habits can develop bad traits and cause a lot of problems for someone looking for real solutions. 

A good MSP should be a great resource and help you understand how technology can benefit your company. That’s the first big bracket to look at: education. Your potential MSP should have a good grasp of technical things. They also have to work with a company to educate on solutions and tactics they offer. 

With that being said, education in technical solutions can not be the only thing an MSP has going for them. Some MSPs are striving to be the best technical support possible, but that isn’t going to fully help your business. As a business owner, if you’re only looking for an MSP that knows your area of work, you might be missing out on the full range of possibilities in the technology industry. 

Knowledge is important, but it is not everything. Some MSPs offer the world, but can’t deliver on their promises. These MSPs are ultimately salespeople trying to sell the services that they wished they offered. 

You are the expert in your field, so you shouldn’t need someone else to tell you how to run your business. You need an MSP that is going to look at your company and its goals and come up with the best solution for you based on that technical knowledge. It shouldn’t even matter what type of technology you have; your MSP should be able to dive into that technology and come back with results-driven specifically for you, not just for their own personal product offering. 

But, how do they get to the point where they can implement their technology skills? Asking you, the business owner, questions!

The second bracket to look at when deciding what MSP to go with is their ability to talk, ask questions and understand your business. You want to find someone that cares about your business, understands your needs and then displays their abilities. It is good to have someone that understands your technology, but it’s even better to have someone that aligns with your growth. 

Look at the difference between a good and bad MSP like the difference between jiffy lube and a mechanic. Jiffy Lube is all about process and quick fixes and getting people in and out as quickly as possible. A mechanic will assess your whole car and see what has gone wrong in the past and what has to be fixed versus what could be a potential fix for the future. 

Ultimately, if a prospective MSP is not trying to hear you out and learn about your company, they probably won’t be a great fit for you. Find the solution that has your company’s best interests and you won’t go wrong!

The Future MSP

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd

This year, we are diving into all things MSP: what is in store for MSPs in the future and how you can level up your organization through proper MSP practices.

Historically, MSPs have just kept the lights on. They would come in, fix the problem or make it go away and that was that. But, when was the last time an MSP sat down and asked an organization how they could help with your profit margins or increase the return on your technological investment? That’s what we’re going to be talking about this whole year! How MSPs can truly make a positive impact in their client’s companies.

It used to be that an IT guy could do everything from desktop support, to the switch, to the route. As technology did its thing and expanded, it really became too much for one individual to master. The growth of technology allowed MSPs a chance to develop specialties and become skilled in certain areas, which ultimately makes them a much better resource. 

Basically, MSPs are evolving and changing. If you’re an MSP, you can branch out and bring in different resources unlike ever before. It’s not too much of a change to think of yourself as a management company that manages a lot of different resources. 

If you were to start an MSP today, it would be best to have no engineers. Hire consultants that are able to ask important questions like, “what kind of company are you and what do you need?” Then, your job would simply be to manage those concerns and goals for them. Have your clients pay one monthly fee and you take care of all the other resources that might be needed. 

The most important thing to keep in mind if you’re an MSP is that you should always sell your client the best solution for their company and not the other way around. If you are only ever offering cut-and-dried solutions, then you aren’t being a good resource. This will give your clients the things they need rather than trying to fit their needs into your offered in-house skills. 

In order to move forward as an MSP with absolute success, create custom solutions to meet specific needs. Since the industry has become a hybrid model split between technical and business consulting, MSPs need to be solutions experts. You don’t have to be business experts — your clients are already filling that role. You just have to listen to their difficulties and their goals, then you can give them the best solutions based on your technological knowledge. 

Ultimately, embrace the changes that are happening in the MSP industry in order to have the most success. Change is going to happen very rapidly. You can either ride that wave or get sucked underwater. The MSP world is moving toward a more consultative practice than an operational one. Part of that change is measuring the success of that business and seeing where they are going in order to offer solutions that are going to make them ride the wave successfully.

What you are doing wrong.

This is the big fear of many leaders. This is why clickbait posts titles in the negative we are all afraid we are doing things wrong or missing out on something. 

The dirty secret every leader needs to know is that we are all doing things wrong...all the time. So is everyone else.  It is how we learn. The difference between success and failure is not whether you get back up but how you deal with failure. How do you deal with making a wrong decision or a poor one?

Some people deflect: A bad decision is made and an excuse is given then we move forward. Sure you don't give up, but did you learn?  Maybe you thought "Oh I just won't do that again".

Some people adapt: A bad decision is made and they steer it in a new direction. Call it a pivot, call it an adjustment, whatever you want. 

My favorite is the do-over. A bad decision is made, parameters are changed and we try again.

Which method is wrong?  Personally I have always seen deflection as the worst decision you can make as a leader. It is the laziest and easiest to get away with.  You feel like you learned something and you have a takeaway "Dont do that". However, is this really the best way to grow? A series of negatives in life.  You burn yourself on a stove so you just stop using a stove. 

This is over simplistic, but is it any different than trying to release a new service or product that doesn't show a profit? We try, it doesn't work and we say "Well lets not do that thing again".  However, the real problem isnt how you deal with bad decisions, it is how you deal with ALL decisions.

We talk about this pretty consistently here with the Humanize IT process.  Other IT departments talk through the "Iterative Process".  This is the process of taking what you are doing and consistently improving things. An easy way to think about the iterative process is to make what you are doing to day look like crap tomorrow.  

This is what most business leaders do wrong. Bad decision or not your goal is to improve what you are doing.  This is where most business leaders fail, they do something that works, and they never improve it.  They do something bad and they make adjustments all the time via one of the methods mentioned above.  However they are not improving everything else. This will always result in mediocraty, because you are only tossing out the worst parts of your business. Leaving mostly average items and a few high performing assets.

How do we avoid this? We apply the same methodology to ALL areas of your business as we do failures. In this way, everything improves,  your bad decisions become mediocre assets and your mediocre assets become high performers. This continues for as long as you are leading the company. 

You know you are succeeding at this when you start saying things like "remember when we thought that was successful?" or "Our high point last year is our bottom of today"  Maybe landing one $1500MRR contract today is considered major success.  Then next year you are considering raising your minimum contract to $1750MRR because you have so much business. This is the iterative process and we want to keep this up for as long as possible.  This leads to successful companies.  

If you are not following an iterative process across all areas of your company you are failing.  This is more than process improvement, it is growth across the board. So go forth,  make the best you do today look like crap tomorrow!

Here we go 2022!

2021 was a RIDE!  We started off very apprehensive, then we saw the economy start to pick up in 2nd quarter. THEN everything threatened to go south again...and the economy picked up steam again to a crazy level where we are hurting for employees! Once thing is for certain, 2022 wont be just another normal year. We are seeing issues with supply chain still and companies are looking for ways to grow in spite of this.

What do we know?

We are kicking off a year where businesses are feeling much more confident and are more likely to commit to bigger purchases that were skipped over the last few years. Thigs like employee traning, travel, and new product launches to hit the shifting buyers market. Things that are still iffy....supply chains...we cannot predict when those will stabilize.

With MSPs revving up to deliver on 2022 they should keep all of this in mind, we can push as hard as we want on hardware purchases but with the supply chain still unstable we need to push on things we can deliver now rather than rely on Just in Time inventory.

What can we do?

It is also time to think about investing in our employees: can we get them more training, or coaching, or even send them on a vacation?  All these see a rise in productivity and employee satisfaction. Empowering employees is always a good choice and should be at the top of your list for strengthing your company's forcast.

Another thing to look at is training your clients. CyberSecurity threats have been crazy during the lockdown and people are wanting confidence that they are doing everything they can.  There are also great opportunities to train staff on using the cloud better or even a fun VR workshop where you bring in an Oculus Quest and show staff how to use the business functions of VR!

Even better if you have schools as clients, run them through educational resources in VR such as "Wander", Ocean Rift" or "The body VR" there are a ton more and this is definately a hook you can use to get schools interested in your services!

Final Thoughts

As an MSP you have so much more to deliver than hardware. Sure it is easy to sell hardware then the services to support it. Many of you have fallen into that rut.  Now is your chance to implement change, it wont be the same for all of us, but we all must adapt if we want to move forward with confidence.

Whichever way you go to bolster your 2022 roadmap, just give it thought. Don't treat this like just another operational year. Think it through and watch your MSP bloom!

New Year, New Topics

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2NHRRDl
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3AyHCUd

The new year is coming and we are starting it off with new content! In the new year, we really want to focus our attention on MSPs because some people don’t even know what MSPs do and how they can help a business grow. We’re going to provide tons of MSP-related content — here’s a sneak peek into what 2022 will bring!

Who MSPs are and what they do

We will dive into who came up with the term Managed Service Provider and how the position has developed into what it is today. Managed Service Providers developed due to a need for businesses to see how critical technology is for their business and needing a better way to manage it all and provide stability. We will also discuss how MSPs can help businesses, no matter what type of products or services you offer. 

How to choose a good MSP

This ones for you, business owners! If you’ve been wondering how to actually go about finding the right MSP for your business, we will help you figure out the necessary steps to finding the perfect solution for technology management. 

How does an MSP find good clients

Not all business is good business. With that in mind, we’ll show you how to have the best experience with your clients. You definitely don’t want to work with difficult clients, so we’ll point out red flags to stay away from and how to attract the people and companies that you really want to work with. 

How to match up what is actually important to a business

Every business is a snowflake — completely unique from the next. As an MSP, you have to be aware of that fact and run your services accordingly. We’ll give you tips and tricks to gage what your client needs in order to best align with them and provide as much value as possible. 

These are just a few of our topics that we will be diving into in 2022 — get excited about everything that is to come! Our main goal is to be a resource for you, whether you’re an MSP or a business professional. The businesses that have ended up on top have learned to use technology in new and exciting ways so they are able to outperform their competitors and provide an amazing product — we’ll help businesses get there!

We’ve got something for everyone! If you’re a business professional, we’ll help you align with your MSP. If you’re an MSP, we’ll help you learn to align with your clients to get them to stick around and have the best possible relationship with them. We’re excited for 2022!