Are You A Commodity or a Critical Component?

Power Up by Empath Cyber

(Wes’ note: today is historic! It marks the VERY FIRST TIME I’ve had a guest author write for me while I’m out! A huge thank you to the illustrious and encouraging Erik Boles from Vosa.co. Don’t know Erik? First read this amazing article then go read up on Erik at the end. Endless thank-you’s to you Erik. You’re incredible.)

In today's rundown:

• State of the Channel

• You And Your Competition Are Miles Apart… Literally

• WTF (What’s The Future) of Business

Read time: 7 minutes 👇

State of the Channel

As I read through CompTIA’s State of the Channel report, a report that represents MSPs, ITSPs, SIs, Consultants, and ISVs, a few things stood out:

• When asked how they describe what they do, 42% said they sold “things” while 58% said they sold Services & Expertise.

• Customer Experience (CX) ranked as the #1 differentiator between them and their competitors.

• Only 52% of MSPs customers are asking for CyberSecurity services and expertise.

However, in talking to hundreds of MSPs and ISVs, their definition of Services & Expertise and the definition of that term by their customers is often different.

Our definition is often years of knowledge, training, certifications, and aptitude to fix things that are broken or defend against threats that our customer doesn’t yet know exist. Spoiler Alert: they also don’t care about the threats because it’s either never impacted their business or they feel they’re too small to be a target. Our job is to make them care, but we talk to them about it in ways that are jargony, fear mongering, or salesy. Our approach has to change.

Their definition of Service & Expertise is making them a better business through the lens of technology, not just telling them what expensive technology they need to adopt next.

If you hired an accounting firm to handle that side of your business and they only gave you tools to track revenue, told you what to be afraid of, and offered you more tools that cost money you would ask yourself what you’re paying them for. A good accounting firm will tell you how to run your business more efficiently to become more profitable because they understand finance in a way you don’t, much like you understand how technology can benefit their business in a way your customer doesn’t.

So if our definitions and that of our customers are not aligned, but they still need technology, are we really at risk of losing them? 

You and your competition are miles apart… literally

There are 40,000 MSPs in the United States with new MSPs emerging at a rate of 11.36%/year (4,544). What does this mean for the competitive landscape? I dug into US Federal Census data to find out.

• 83% of all businesses are located in Urban/Metro areas.

• Of the 17% located in rural areas, 73% of them have 5 employees or less, meaning they’re less likely to need IT Services and are certainly less profitable for you given the lift required to onboard them.

• All Urban/Metro areas in the U.S. take up a combined 160,000 square miles.

Simple back-of-the-napkin math tells us that as an MSP you have a competing MSP only 2.5 miles away in any, if not every, direction, and this doesn’t include the mega MSPs that are emerging with a global reach.

Looking back at the mismatched definitions of Service & Expertise, and assuming newer MSPs are being started by younger people that are digital natives and better understand this new way of engaging, all your competitor has to do is more closely align with your customers definition to win their business. Sure, they may not be as technically qualified as you, but, another spoiler alert: your customer doesn’t know that, they just want to be a more profitable business with less friction. And your competition can throw out big words and acronyms just like you.

So how do we create customer loyalty in this new revolution? 

WTF (What’s The Future) of Business

We are entering the third revolution, but unlike the industrial and technology revolutions, this one will be human-centric. Covid-induced online shopping, post-covid retraction and realignment, AI, Web3, and Social Media have retrained consumers in how they shop for everything, business or personal.

Disruptive cold calls and spammy drip emails are no longer acceptable, egocentric and overused cookie-cutter marketing gets ignored, and product and services are now a commodity - I can find another MSP that does what you do, or another software vendor that solves what you solve. Trust is now the asset, and as customers we want you to show us, again and again, that we can trust you. Trust builds loyalty and not only is loyalty hard for your competitors to disrupt, you’ll be able to sell them products and services they were previously resistant to.

So how do we create this trust and loyalty in this new, strange world? First, we need their attention, and we gain their attention by adding value, and I mean real value that makes them a better business not just a better customer. Value that doesn’t begin or end in a Pitch Slap. Value that comes from you as a human, not a marketing template, case study, or customer testimonial.

The opportunities and approaches here are vast, but a few tips to get you started.

For existing customers:

• Become a BSP (Business Success Partner) instead of an MSP. Take a seat at the table and work in their business, not just on it.

• Ask them where they want to be in 6, 12, 24, and 36 months.

• Ask them what their hurdles and roadblocks are.

• Ask them what has been most successful so far and what their number one fear is that keeps them awake at night.

• Put yourself in their shoes and think about what makes them a better business. Now create content around that and put it on social channels where you’re connected, this allows them to see you adding value even when you’re not in their office. Do this on your personal profile, not your company’s - people connect with people, not logos. (Video over-indexes here (and is far easier than you think), but you can write as well.)

Now take that information and filter it through the lens of technology - how can technology help them exceed their wildest dreams? Forgive that they are not as technically savvy as you are and pretend you are Mark Zuckerberg trying to explain to Congress how the internet works (with maybe just a wee bit less condescension 😆).

For businesses you want as customers but don’t know how to reach:

• Find the people in those businesses you want to get in front of, follow them on social media, engage with their content and add value in the comments - real value, not “great point”. The key here is follow, don’t connect, at least not yet. When you connect it says “I want to message you” when you follow it says “I’m interested in what you have to say”. LinkedIn is a great place to start.

• Create content of your own. Think about what your potential customer may be thinking about and doesn’t know how to solve, now create content around that. Again, do it on your personal profile, not your company’s - remember people connect with people, not logos.

• When you find topics that are being discussed that may be of value to your customers, create content around it. It doesn’t matter that everyone is doing it as well, your potential customer may not be following them, and your spin on the topic may be a refreshing perspective.

• Start a podcast or blog and invite existing customers on as a guest or to write a guest blog post.

• Start a “Business Breakfast” at a local eatery once a month and invite the leaders in those businesses. No pitching, just a way for everyone to get together, discuss business, and learn from each other. You’ll learn, too, and that will inform how you add value to their world.

Do this consistently and these business leaders will start to wonder who you are and come knocking, which starts the evolution towards trust.

This is a marathon, not a sprint nor a marketing campaign with an end date. Remember that these are humans buying from other humans (you), this means that people are now the brand. Not Marketing. Not the logo. Leaders and innovators that understand and embrace this evolution will thrive in, if not completely dominate, the future of business.

Oh, and if you’re still of the mind that paid ads work - we see between 4,000 and 10,000 ads every single day, how many of them do you remember?

That's all for now!

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