MSPs: What’s Your New Year’s Resolution?
Can you believe it’s December already? While planning for 2016 is in full swing, it’s a great time to reflect on your goals and set the table for success in the new year.
A lot of you may be thinking about the following New Year’s Eve resolution: to grow your business. That goal may seem broad, but there are some specific steps you can take to achieve it. Let’s walk through these steps by comparing it to a common personal goal: climbing a mountain.
Planning for Ascent
If reaching a mountaintop is your goal, you can’t show up on Jan. 1 and start running up the side of a mountain. Well, you technically could do that, but we doubt you would make it very far without a map or some background on what Mother Nature has in store.
The same goes for an MSP looking to grow its business. You can’t go after your goal ill-prepared with little direction. Instead, plan ahead by defining and documenting repeatable processes at your company. One example could be compiling monthly metrics where you review the number of closed support cases and average response times, and set goals around areas you would like to improve in. Establishing habitual processes will help with the overall flow of production throughout your organization. Employees will know where the organization is headed and how to get there.
Define Your Mountain Motivator
Preparing for a climb takes a lot of self-motivation. You need to prepare physically, but also mentally–the latter often being more difficult than the former. While climbing, it’s important to remind yourself why you started, reflect on your progress, and then refuse to throw that progress away!
As an MSP, having a mission gives your company a reason to be motivated day in and day out. Not only does it elevate your brand, but it also energizes your culture and drives direction. By communicating your mission regularly, employees are reminded what makes them passionate in their roles.
Your First Mountain Shouldn’t Be Everest
Climbing Mt. Everest sounds grand, but should this really be the goal of your first climbing experience? Absolutely not. It is, after all, among the most difficult mountains to climb. Instead, work your way up to an Everest-level climb by practicing on smaller peaks.
MSPs can apply the same philosophy to relationships with new customers: Start small for a better long-term relationship. Few customers are inclined to jump into a large, all-inclusive contract with a new IT partner. Instead, seek a small piece of business early on, which will help establish trust and limit early mistakes. This will also serve in helping you map out future account plans to drive growth. There’s a lot of learning that can take place between the MSP and customer at this vulnerable stage. Take advantage of it!
See You at the Top!
With just a couple weeks until the new year, it’s not too late revamp your road map or define your mission. Leveraging better selling tactics with new customers is something you could start doing today. To learn more MSP tips for a successful 2016, join us for our upcoming webinar: 7 Essential Habits of Successful MSPs. Learn from industry-leading MSPs the foolproof strategies for optimizing and growing your business in a market of constant change.
Christine Gassman is Manager of Partner Development at Datto. Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly and are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship.