Execute your IT Strategy: interview with Gary Harpst
We are continuing the “MSP 2.0 bestseller” series in January, as well. The pick for this month is Gary Harpst - Six Disciplines of Excellence. Gary has been a part of the IT industry since being the founder of the well known ERP solution Solomon Software that was sold to Great Plains then to Microsoft. After the acquisition he shifted his focus to one question: how to help companies to execute their strategies. He has put together a very solid methodology in a program called “Six Disciplines” and written a book about this topic. This book is in my top 10 business books and has changed my way of thinking. I was privileged to meet him in person and have a long talk about these challenges.
Execution is one of the biggest issues of managing any type of company. As a vCIO or trusted advisor you not only need to have great insights and offer solid advice, you need to actually execute their IT strategy as well. If you’ve read “E-Myth” by Michael Gerber you’re familiar with this idea of working on your company. Gary put together the practice behind it - how you actually do it!
Listening to Gary and reading his books not only can teach you to be a better leader of your IT company, but make you a better service provider as well. It shows you practices and processes to reliably create rock-solid strategies, align your people to them and then execute flawlessly.
Read Gary’s books, check his blog, and learn the wisdom of someone who’s been there and done that!
Transform your MSP sales approach
Branden Baker, President of Integration Technologies from Hawaii is a modern Tom Selleck. He shares a story about the transformation of his IT sales approach.
His team had not been able to close any managed services provider deals for more than a year. But he got involved in the virtual CIO conversation and after only a few weeks he landed his first monster six-figure deal.
START GROWING WITH MSP SALES RELATED RESOURCES FOR FREE
5 KEYS TO GENERATE, QUALIFY AND CLOSE MORE SALES
Have you ever wondered why you struggle to communicate your values to your prospect, why prospects stay with their current provider even when they’re not happy, you have a hard time closing deals that weren’t referrals, or you just can’t find a way to consistently close sales? This recorded webinar with our MSP sales expert guide, Mark Woldman, will show exactly where you are going wrong and help you develop a plan to move your sales forward.
CLOSE MORE DEALS WITH A PREDICTABLE AND REPEATABLE MSP SALES PROCESS
Watch this interview with our MSP sales expert guide, Mark Woldman, to win over new prospective clients by finding best practices that will help your MSP become Sales-Ready. Here you’ll learn key concepts and practices that will move your sales forward!
MSP Financial Intelligence with Larry Cobrin
Larry Cobrin, CEO/Founder of MSP CFO, has been working on a project to make financials available for IT managed services provider to make better decisions. In my first call with him I knew we needed him to talk about finances! I was fascinated by his insights about clients’ profitability trends, classifying them and taking actions for better profitability.
He shares a lot of hints and tips about different data you need to look into (which are mostly available already in your PSA) for your organization to make better decisions. If you feel you are leaving money on the table check out this interview!
Larry’s interview is available in a Podcast format here.
START GROWING WITH MARK'S MSP SALES RELATED RESOURCES FOR FREE
5 KEYS TO GENERATE, QUALIFY AND CLOSE MORE SALES
Have you ever wondered why you struggle to communicate your values to your prospect, why prospects stay with their current provider even when they’re not happy, you have a hard time closing deals that weren’t referrals, or you just can’t find a way to consistently close sales? This recorded webinar with our MSP sales expert guide, Mark Woldman, will show exactly where you are going wrong and help you develop a plan to move your sales forward.
CLOSE MORE DEALS WITH A PREDICTABLE AND REPEATABLE MSP SALES PROCESS
Watch this interview with our MSP sales expert guide, Mark Woldman, to win over new prospective clients by finding best practices that will help your MSP become Sales-Ready. Here you’ll learn key concepts and practices that will move your sales forward!
MSP 2.0 Podcast
We have been producing interviews with MSP Thought Leaders and with our clients for more than a year now. We started this as an ad-hoc practice to usher great MSP 2.0 insights into the community. People seem to be enjoying the free interview format without presentation, special offers and other sales tactics.
Now with over 16 interviews we’ve received a ton of feedback and the message we’re getting most often is to make the content available in a podcast format. Many people like listening to these inspiring talks during their commute, or just in the background.
So we have transferred all videos to a Podcast format and it’s available here. What we started as a fun exercise to get people talking had a great impact. We’ve seen that many people:
- started to work on the execution skills after the interview with Chris Day - IT Glue.
- were inspired by the way Greg Tanner restarted his MSP with virtual CIO.
- got started selling vCIO after Rich Anderson explained the model of transition.
- started to think about the cold calling as a strategic lead generation effort after the inspiring talk from Carrie Simpson.
- started implementing high level services after Colin Knox from Passportal told us stories about his managed services provider's vCIO services
- started to work on Process Management initiatives after a talk with Ryan Williams.
I could go on with examples, but these are the people who inspire, educate and share their thoughts and dilemmas.
That is why we are going to take this to the next level: to get ad-hoc interviews as well as more organized talks with more background information. For example next week I have an interview with a bestselling author about sales transformation, and we’ll share more collaterals, and practical information after the interview.
So stay tuned! In 2016 we will have more great content from more smart people who have compelling things to say and will help to push the MSP 2.0 movement forward!
Closing 11 Virtual CIO contracts in 3 weeks
Greg Tanner from Denver is a maverick, no question about it. His “Technology Quarterback™” slogan has become a meme among the MSP 2.0 community. We spoke the other day and I am still speechless. He started crafting this vCIO offering back in June, piece by piece, and started selling it in early October. Since then he’s closed 11 virtual CIO contracts with over 20K MRR! In this video, Greg shares the secrets to these amazing results. Be aware, he has very strong opinions about MSP 2.0. (Even stronger than me - Haha!)
I shared this video with some of our Members a month ago and received great feedback full of inspiration and praise for his efforts. A big THANK YOU to Greg for sharing his thoughts with us!
Greg’s approach is somewhat disruptive, but very effective. Grab your seats and get ready to take some notes. This is going to be an intense ride!
Delivering Business Focused QBRs
ADAM WALTER AT VIRTUAL C
You would like to be a high-value business partner in your client’s eyes rather than a basic technology service provider. Your QBR process is a critical part of influencing their engagement up to a higher level. Watch this recorded webinar with our vCIO expert guide, Adam Walter, who has shared his 5 step process to make any technical QBR into a business-focused one.
6 Best Practices of Top Performing vCIOs
ADAM WALTER AT VIRTUAL C
Watch this interview with our vCIO expert guide, Adam Walter, to learn how to be more engaged with clients by finding best practices for becoming a trusted business advisor in 6 single steps.
5 ways MSPs can leverage Business Model Canvas
Business Model Canvas has been a very hot management tool recently. Personally I have created 100+ Business Models over the last couple years for clients and for our companies. One of our companies is even a "Use Case" in the Hungarian edition of the Business Model Generation Book. We have developed different ways for IT managed services providers to use the tool for different reasons. Let's take a look at 5 practical ways to leverage this tool.
If you do not know the tool, check it out here: for books, apps, online learning and so on. You can watch a 2 minute introduction here:
The idea of a Business Model Canvas is visualizing and simplifying complex things. It’s divided into nine key building blocks of the business, and uses sticky-notes to put elements and content on the Canvas. You can visualize an existing business model, brainstorm around it and also develop new business models.
As MSP leaders, vCIOs should have this tool in our toolbox for different types of workshops. The tool is perfect for leading and facilitating a conversation about the client's business, rather than their technology. It helps us be part of a business discussion and cut the tech talk.
Upsell your clients with strategic QBRs and IT strategy meetings
1. Understanding your client’s business
Many IT companies put too much focus on the infrastructure of their clients and neglect the need to understand their businesses. If you have a Quarterly Business Review, let's bring the Canvas and go through their business. The Canvas has many helpful features that ensure you won’t get lost - the worst that can happen is the client rambles on about their business, and trust that you understand them. You can add this little event to the onboarding process as well, so every client has this experience from the first phase.
One of our clients in Louisiana used this tool to meet the CEO. The Internal IT Manager was the gatekeeper and did not want them to contact the management directly. The IT Manager was not able to answer such business-related questions, so The Business Model Canvas provided the chance to go back to the Board Room again and talk to the CEO personally.
2. IT Strategy Meeting
When we create an IT strategy we need a clear understanding of the business context. The Business Model Canvas is a great tool for us and for the client to brainstorm. If for example "Fast Delivery" is one of the client's value propositions, the canvas helps focus on their need for process automation or collaboration tools. If their priority is to get the clients closer and increase the personal touch, why don’t they use advanced Project Management and CRM tools?
One of our clients in New Jersey has done the Modeling, and the main initiatives of the Business Model Canvas went into the IT strategy directly. Their main focus went to IT, because they felt the virtual CIO was able to manage those initiatives.
3. Discovery Workshop
Of course every MSP is playing the commodity field now. Differentiation is key when we want to land a new client. Starting off with a Business Model Canvas is going to generate confidence in the prospect's mind. No IT company out there is doing such a workshop. They’ll feel they’re making a real business connection while also talking to a tech expert.
One of our clients did that and the client response was: "Geno, you are the first service provider ever who has asked us such questions. Most of them just checked our server room." He landed the deal right there!
4. Business - Technology alignment with the IT Management Canvas
Our consultative sales process has an IT Management Discovery tool called the 7C IT Management Canvas. The shape is the same as the Business Model Canvas, but we have IT management and IT technology related content inside. We use a questionnaire that we complete with the prospect, and score them across several different dimensions. It is 100% compatible with the Business Model Canvas, so we suggest using both for clients of 50 or more people.
The Business Model Canvas feeds the 7C IT Management Canvas, and shows the Business - Technology alignment. It is just a little extra work, but it maps out the company business and technology very clearly. Of course, all the actions we take from here will be both technology and business oriented, and thus every tech-related project will have the business case in mind.
5. Your thinking tool
Most of the time you use the Business Model Canvas to manage your clients' businesses. I strongly suggest playing within your organization as well. Carve out your current model, create alternatives and brainstorm around different models and ideas.
Let's use our previous article as an example as we go through the MSP 1.0 and MSP 2.0 typical business models. Let's use these thoughts as conversation starters with your clients. Get your team together, do a workshop from scratch and ask the questions in the Canvas. You’ll be surprised how much alignment it can achieve.
If you are interested in learning more about how to leverage this tool, check out a demo with one of our Customer Success Managers.
Get out of the MSP commoditization trap
One of the more common problems we see IT managed services providers suffer is increasing difficulty with the commoditization of services and differentiation within the industry. There are three factors involved here that we need to understand and manage to solve these problems.
Differentiate yourself from your competition and become sales ready
Problem 1.: Our prospects are seeing fewer visible IT problems
Even ten years ago not only was Windows XP less reliable but so were servers and the internet in general. These are not generating problems anymore..the average CEO doesn’t have "technology issues" on their agenda.
So our traditional marketing and sales efforts are no longer effective. Even referrals are not coming with the same frequency lately.
Problem 2.: Our Value Proposition is limited
The MSP value proposition is designed around peace of mind - keeping your lights on, managing your technology so you don’t have to. The entire value proposition is reflected in the challenges of managing that technology. We can embellish and enhance, but that is the core value every managed services provider is delivering. All our discussions tend to come back to proactive maintenance, anti-virus and managed devices.
Problem 3.: Communicating MSP value proposition is a dead end
The ability to market the service by appealing to technology awareness is diminished and the industry is saturated. Prospects have fewer IT problems with their IT infrastructure and there’s no room to move sideways to look for new IT infrastructure territories. Too many fish in a smaller pond. Trying harder is not a solution, nor is tweaking your delivery.
A few smart folks in the Business Model Generation group made an interesting observation, of service companies who see these problems we’re facing and start to look inward to develop new services. This, they found, is very ineffective. Instead they thought: what if we first understand the problems of the target market - their pains and wishes, and then try to figure out how we can solve their problems. Once we have these in mind we can start developing IT services.
Check out their cool Canvas tool. On the right-hand side, you see a traditional CEO's job, their pains, and the gains they are after. As it was when a CEO had visible IT problems, as service providers on the left, we have been able to solve their pains and offer services to reach their desired gains. It is a very simple formula to connect our services to their needs, so it’s called the Value Proposition Canvas.
If we really take the time to understand our clients and prospects we can quickly see they actually still do have IT problems - they just aren't as obvious as they used to be.
First and foremost they usually want to grow and to be more efficient. They see their hurdles as lack of productivity among their staff, for example, and as in need of immediate solution. But while every business is looking to grow sales, they don't see these as IT-related opportunities. They see these as general business problems.
Here’s where we can excel! If we try to figure out how we can help their business problems using IT solutions, the whole conversation starts to change. In reality there are many solutions to their business problems. A new CRM or improved reporting and adoption by staff through proper training, or some improved collaboration and internal communication could ease their pains. Sadly all too often some or all of these solutions do not exist in our particular service stack.
Right now nobody is there to connect the dots - find the problems, look for opportunities and manage the implementations. Their internal resources cannot do this and most consultants and IT companies aren’t either. There may be no shortage of skilled experts, but nobody there to manage the solutions.
If the solution for them is to be more IT savvy and do better implementations, and to better use their existing environment and become more productive, we have to find out how we can deliver this value to them, and this is what a virtual CIO is doing. This is the Value Proposition of MSP 2.0.
The idea here is that unlike the MSP 1.0 model, where the Value Proposition is limited in scope to IT infrastructure problems, here we can solve any business problem. This value proposition is thus UNLIMITED. We can now differentiate our vCIO services by vertical structure, size, business problem, or any other metric.
Free yourself: why fight the same limited dead-end MSP 1.0 battle. We can elevate our conversations and solve the problems that really matter to clients.
The 5 Levels of vCIO Operational Maturity
The Operational Maturity segmentation makes a lot of sense when trying to understand where to go with vCIO services and which next possible steps to take.
It demonstrates the current maturity of services in a descriptive way, explains the differences, and provides hints and tips toward the next step.This article demonstrates how to proceed as a virtual CIO with respect to levels of operational maturity.
STRUCTURE, MANAGE AND AUTOMATE YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT AND VCIO PROCESESS
vCIO Operational Maturity Level 1
The virtual CIO in its most fundamental version is an ad-hoc advisor for IT infrastructure needs. If the general MSP service does not contain this particular service, the service provider needs to have a high-level managerial discussion about the IT infrastructure.
In order to be able to sell higher level projects and services, the delivery could be free advice, or it could be based on a very limited charge. It could be initiated by the vendor (as a solution opportunity), or it could be proposed by someone on the client side (via problems).
This service does not contain any level of regularity nor a disciplined approach, however, year ends and quarter ends could be excellent opportunities for these types of reviews and conversations.
- Goal: readily available advice on IT infrastructure
- Regularity: ad-hoc
- IT/management focus: 80% - 20%
- Time investment per year: 1-5 hours
- Challenge: how to charge for the service
- Value proposition: a better understanding of the infrastructure
vCIO Operational Maturity Level 2
For more mature IT managed services providers, getting only ad-hoc and free advice prevents a business from being profitable. A more structured method is needed to add service to the fixed MSP package.
Remote monitoring and centralized services are a huge step toward efficiency, but limit natural meetings and face time with clients. The motivator for these companies is seeing their trusted advisors more in person.
The structured approach means annual IT roadmap planning and quarterly business reviews. These meetings aim to bring the MSP services to the table and discuss opportunities and problems with company leaders.
The limitation of these services lies in the IT infrastructure focus. The MSP does not concentrate on other aspects of the business — IT solutions, services — but on the IT infrastructure.
- Goal: create a structured layer of IT infrastructure management
- Regularity: annual, quarterly
- IT/management focus: 65% - 35%
- Time investment per year: 5-10 hours
- Challenge: to engage the clients in the IT infrastructure conversation
- Value proposition: to help the client to get more from their infrastructure
vCIO Operational Maturity Level 3
The limitation of the IT infrastructure focus is preventing the MSPs from becoming trusted advisors in both IT and the business. The Quarterly Business Reviews lack client engagement, real business value, and push toward the MSP for an IT infrastructure specialist role when the IT infrastructure becomes a commodity.
MSPs realize that customers need IT management in general because their IT complexity has increased. It has created a void in leadership roles in mid-sized organizations.
To fulfill this role in this maturity level the IT companies detach the vCIO services from the MSP contract and focus. The vCIO service becomes a separate service focusing on the whole IT instead of just on the infrastructure. It is a general management role in the IT discipline rather than a high-level role for the IT infrastructure.
It is a very structured approach to annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly cycles and processes. The cycles define the roles and services of the vCIO with responsibilities and documentation..
The primary focus of the vCIO is to raise the IT management maturity with policies, regulations, education, and productivity of the system, finding general solutions to the different problems and implementing those accordingly.
- Goal: help the client take advantage of their current opportunities
- Regularity: annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly
- IT/management focus: 50% - 50%
- Time investment per year: 25-40 hours
- Challenge: separate the service from the Managed Service contract and mindset
- Value proposition: help the client utilize IT for business
vCIO Operational Maturity Level 4
This level of maturity of mid-size clients requires a proactive way to leverage IT in order to promote operational efficiency, continuous improvement, and lean operations. These clients need a more IT-savvy, agile workforce. It requires a more mature vCIO service, where the vCIO is focused on process, management, and business. They use IT as a resource in order to build a better company. They take a proactive view of internal and external collaboration, communication, the analysis of process bottlenecks, and the reporting needs of managers. A big part of the job is finding bottlenecks and developing a viable, integrated solution, getting confirmation of the proposal, and implementing the solution.
The vCIO focuses on operational excellence with ongoing and project-based services. This requires more time and business application focus. Though many jobs will be done locally many others are sourced on a global scale, and creating and managing the solutions marketplace is significant.
- Goal: help the client take advantage of their current opportunities
- Regularity: annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly
- IT/management focus: 35% to 65%
- Time investment per year: 35 to 60 hours
- Challenges: scale the vCIO service, adjust to the business model
- Value proposition: to build a better, more efficient company using IT
vCIO Operational Maturity Level 5
In level 5, the objective is to influence the general strategy of the company and gain a competitive edge with technology. A new product line, different sales distribution channel, or game-changing technology are new ways of monetizing company value. It requires extensive industry knowledge, a vertically-related solution stack, and a high level of consultation skills. It focuses on technology and IT-related strategies and therefore has a limited scope and room to play. Usually, knowing what is hot in the world of technology and the implementations of those solutions could leverage opportunities for clients.
The execution is the second issue. Finding opportunities is one thing, however, often these initiatives are hard to manage, involve multiple disciplines, and need substantial project management. That is why at this level the vCIO needs to have greater capacity to deliver value. Most of the time customizations, custom software, and application development are necessary for success as these nascent solutions and products are not yet proven or mature.
On the other hand, to implement and make successful projects, a higher level of IT maturity is needed for the client as well. The vCIO has to educate the company and make sure the general knowledge set is present, so that the team is able to adopt new technologies successfully.
It is the highest possible added value for the business.
- Goal: give the client a competitive edge with technology
- Regularity: annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly
- IT/Management focus: 20% - 80%
- Time investment per year: 60-120 hours
- Challenge: focus on technology-related solutions instead of general management
- Value proposition: competitive edge with technology
Remarks
Managed services providers have to move sequentially from lower maturity to the highest maturity. It is not possible to start at level 4 without having the practice and experience from the preceding levels. This rule applies to the clients as well. The customer has to be mature enough to be able to adopt projects and initiatives at the higher levels. The higher the maturity, the more vCIO work is needed, not just for the projects, but to manage the documentation, policies, and more complex environment.
The MSP contract has to be separate from the vCIO contract from OML3. If the two services are one, it means the vCIO is MSP-focused, and it is OML2, regardless of the skill set and richness of the service. The biggest hurdle is to move from the OML2 to the OML3. On one hand, it is a separate package, pricing, and service. On the other hand, the business and consultative skills are as important or more than before. This could require new skill sets for the company or extensive education in consultative skills.
STRUCTURE, MANAGE AND AUTOMATE YOUR ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT AND VCIO PROCESESS
Build your MSP with the help of virtual CIO services
Colin Knox is a true entrepreneur in the managed services provider industry. He’s been operating a very mature and well-polished boutique managed services provider in Calgary, Canada.
He’s also been recognized by Penton Technology Group in the ‘MSP Mentor 250’ which lists the best of the best managed service provider executives, entrepreneurs, experts, coaches and community leaders.
Colin’s service philosophy involves helping people grow and to that end giving them a chance to learn and develop into virtual CIOs. His business growth focuses on high level services.
In the interview I tried to learn how he was able to put this together.
I was interested to learn Colin has just exited from the day-to-day operation a couple of months ago and is dedicating his full attention to a very interesting project. I honestly did not realize the full impact of this before our talk.ortance of this before the talk.
If you’re interested in learning the stories and real-life examples from somebody who’s made it, watch the video and grow your business! Then use the 9 decisions worksheet in our MSP 2.0 Virtual CIO Service Delivery Quickstarter Kit to begin your transformation to a modern MSP.
Use the 9 decisions worksheet in our MSP 2.0 vCIO Service Delivery Quickstarter Kit to begin your transformation to a modern MSP.
12 mistakes most MSPs make with their vCIO services
The virtual CIO phenomenon is not new, yet the promises of the role have not been realized across the industry. Some mature IT managed services providers who believe they have a functioning vCIO practice, on closer inspection, still show challenges with delivery, scalability and profitability.
While we could go in depth to identify the root of these problems, instead here we'll highlight the twelve most common mistakes MSPs make with their vCIO. At the end of this article there is a questionnaire where you can measure yourself against other IT companies.
vCIO Strategy, Transformation Planning:
Mistake #1. Packaing the MSP and vCIO contracts together
Selling the vCIO built into the MSP contract makes you Virtual CIO of the IT Infrastructure. In this there are two pitfalls.
First, the vCIO capacity of the contract does not scale with the size of the organization like the other MSP related services do. It scales up with the complexity, changes and developments of the clients. That means ball-parking a user based price for a virtual CIO is unlikely to be appropriate. This results in either the price being too much for the market (they don’t want to buy it), or the contract being more work than revenue supports (you don’t want to sell it).
Second, creating a solid offer on virtual CIO involves capacity time with a very expensive resource. That makes the MSP offering more expensive compared to the competition. For the client, the results and benefits of the "vCIO of the infrastructure" do not make much sense. Customers are apt to compare prices ‘apples-to-apples’ between competing managed services providers but rarely are the service offerings that comparable.
Virtual CIO can deliver a major competitive advantage. It needs a separate service offering with a distinct pricing strategy.
Mistake #2. Not creating the necessary budget to get results
Let's say we have a 50 seat "sweet spot" client set up with the needed virtual CIO core services like: yearly, quarterly, monthly and weekly cycles. This could eat up 70 - 170 hours easily with automation. (We refer to the virtual CIO here as a general one taking care of every IT-related business aspect: reporting, management systems, applications, budget, vendor management and so on.) If you use a base $150 hourly rate it could reach $2.000 service price per month or $40/user. Your MSP contract simply does not have the space for that.
Further you do not have the necessary processes or approach for that, and you can’t afford that much time, so you under-deliver on your promise of virtual CIO. This damages the concept and the possible future of the service.
Again, if you are not able to create the viable budget for the monthly recurring service fee and communicate the value, either you do not profit or don’t sell the service.
Mistake #3. Not using a framework to develop the system
The vast majority of the managed services providers we’ve been able to talk to do not use any framework for their virtual-CIO-related activities, so they don't have a system in place to successfully deliver them. Instead they operate as "consultants" or arm’s length managerial resources for infrastructure-like projects.
This means they are not able to implement a standardized IT management structure with proper plans, documents or databases that align services across the IT ecosystem. Nor are they able to streamline communication of the duties, tasks, deliverables and responsibilities of the virtual CIO correctly. This makes it hard to achieve the expectations of the client for the role.
Demand Generation
Mistake #4. Not attracting the right audience
Demand generation needs to target the right audience. The virtual CIO job is best suited for companies with 50-150 office workers. If the MSP wants to target a 20-30 or even a ten-seat client, there will likely come a painful realization of the lack of interest and of financial background. Those in higher tiers are left to figure out some system for managing IT. We can go there, but with coaching and support, as a complement the CIO or the IT manager.
Mistake #5. The wrong content
The partner of the virtual CIO is not an office manager, not the CFO or COO. The partner of the virtual CIO is the president/director/CEO - the top-level manager of the company. We know that placing this role that high is a challenge for the average technology-oriented service provider, like most MSPs, but it needs to be there.
Most CEOs are not interested in backups, new MS Office versions or the cloud in general. They spend their time on increasing cash flow, boosting sales, organizing their companies, servicing their clients, and developing their management team. The MSP’s marketing content has to reflect those perspectives and turn those opportunities into solutions supported by IT.
This content has to be consistent across the website, emails, blogs, calls-to-action, in lead-nurturing drip email campaigns, in LinkedIn and other social media communications and in marketing collaterals: ebooks, guides and whitepapers.
Mistake #6. No clearly defined buyer’s journey
The buyer's journey covers the process that a prospect follows, from the first access of content to becoming and remaining a client. While a lot of MSPs have a decent website with a blog most of these blogs lack a call to action - no next-steps for the prospective customer, such as a downloadable e-book on the relevant topic.
These websites talk about available services instead of highlighting vision, possibilities and opportunities. The sales meetings are wired not to serve the clients and create instant value, but to "qualify" the techs - a focus on our opportunities instead of theirs.
The lack of a well designed buyer's journey will fail to attract the right prospect (the CEOs) to the website and assure them they will find the kind of service that will focus on their opportunities. The content needs to attract, engage and interest the right prospect with the wide scope on the business - make them eager to initiate contact and get a demo or have a meeting with the MSP.
Sales
Mistake #7. Not using consultative sales
Consultative sales is all about selling solutions. In solution selling our approach is not geared toward what to sell to the client. Instead we have a process to ask the thought-provoking questions that reveal overlooked opportunities and potential benefits. It is a process of discovery, of business opportunities where the MSP's solutions can help achieve their vision.
Virtual CIO is not a boxed product so it doesn’t have a standard price. Deep understanding of a customer's business is required before the solutions can be presented. Selling without context and understanding will put the virtual CIO in a very ineffective position, making it difficult to manage expectations.
This method is slower and takes more time, but necessary for engaging the client and crafting the offering within their business context. However exploiting business opportunities, and supporting them with technology solutions will mean more and higher value sales.
Mistake #8. Not selling the vision with stories
The virtual CIO's purpose is to make the client’s business more competitive in its marketplace, with the use of technology, to drive more revenue, cut costs and maximize the business continuity.
These general terms have to be in the context of the client and industry; we cannot really engage the client without selling the vision of competitiveness: being a better company, producing more revenue, and surpassing their competitors.
To sell the vision we have to craft compelling stories that grab the imagination of the CEOs.
Mistake #9. Not confronting reality with numbers
The reality of the situation - the hard data on the current state of business maturity, people, systems and numbers - sets the tension of the proposition. This tension helps make the buying decision.
The “score” needs to be readily attained and easy to understand in order to be compelling. That is why a business IT questionnaire that measures a company’s competitiveness with IT is a must. Without this, even if the vision is clearly defined, there are no quantifiable parameters to achieving it.
Imagine having a vision to run a marathon: a good start would be a full physical assessment. Make clear how hard you have to train, the time frame and the resources you’ll need to accomplish your goal.
Delivery
Mistake #10. Not using vCIO tools like automation or collaboration
Most MSPs are trying to use their existing PSA solutions like Connectwise or Autotask to manage their virtual CIO activities. It just doesn’t work, period. Again, the MSP 2.0 virtual CIO does not just focus on infrastructure. The virtual CIO has to manage people, processes and systems while communicating with the team, vendors and customers.
Most virtual CIOs do not have an integrated approach to managing all their activities in one place, or a system in which they can store all the IT management-related documents, memos, projects, databases, plans, budgets, and so on. Missing an integrated platform wastes a lot of valuable time for the virtual CIO.
Mistake #11. No clear differentiation between onging and project activities
Just as maintenance teams are separate from project teams because of different utilizations, focus, experience, etc., so should be the virtual CIO team.
One virtual CIO needs to manage the core virtual CIO cycles, like yearly planning, quarterly activities, monthly follow-ups, reports, weekly meetings, and so on. An average virtual CIO could manage 10-18 clients, depending on the complexity of that focus.
Another virtual CIO has to manage the individual projects separately. It needs a different personality, different skills, tools and different daily and weekly routines.
Mistake #12. IT-related service instead of business-related service
In a quarterly session, discussion should include questions about the client's cash flow, marketing initiatives, sales performance, internal projects, and competitor's moves first.
Then it can become a session with reports on the execution of the IT strategy, the quarterly plan, and the plans for the next quarter. It should not be focused on the technology roadmap or IT-related issues, problems, and challenges. It has to be focused on the business, processes, numbers, and business terms.
This can be difficult - there are so many cool IT projects an MSP can propose to a customer - however the conversation needs to remain about the business benefits and business accomplishments.
A successful CRM project is a great example. It highlights the improvements on sales collaboration, alignment, processes and results, instead of talking about the features of the technology solution.
Summary
Please check for these possible flaws in your practices. To improve on those, we strongly suggest signing up for the MSP 2.0 Quickstarter Tool. It has the tools to market and deliver the virtual CIO role right. If you would like to know more about the modern vCIO approach, let’s check this page.