The Secret MSP Tool Isn't Another Dashboard
Trying to stand out in the IT services space usually means adding more shiny software to the stack. But looking at what actually separates the good providers from the bad, the answer is surprisingly low-tech.
4 min. read
Running an MSP means I spend a lot of time analyzing what keeps our business moving forward. We are constantly evaluating our tech stack and figuring out how to provide the best value. It feels like every single week there is some new vendor pitching a product that will supposedly revolutionize the industry.
I ended up reading a fascinating thread online recently where someone asked what specific services actually separate a provider from the rest of the pack. The original poster was leaning heavily into the technical side. They brought up things like dark web monitoring and preventing session cookie theft. I completely agree that those are critical conversations to have. Most clients just assume basic MFA solves all their security problems. Very few providers are actually sitting down and walking clients through a session revocation playbook.
However, the real answer is almost painfully simple.
Just answer the phone.
I am completely serious. Local competitors fail simply because they stopped having real technicians pick up calls. So many clients have the very exact same complaint. They are tired of navigating phone trees and dealing with automated portals. They just want an actual human being to pick up the line and start fixing the issue immediately.
If I honestly take a step back and reflect on our own daily operations. We can get so deeply invested in perfecting conditional access policies in Microsoft 365 that we forget the human element. The client experience is ultimately what keeps the lights on.
Another concept that really caught my attention lately was the idea of knowing exactly how your clients generate revenue. Someone on Reddit brought it up and gave a brilliant example using a dog food factory. It is easy to say they just make dog food. But a good IT partner knows the exact financial cost per hour if the pallet machine goes down or the conveyor belt stops. When you understand their critical systems at that granular level, you stop being a disposable vendor. Now, I wouldn't take this example too literal but I like the overarching idea of just knowing a lot more about your Client so if he even thinks about shopping for other MSPs just to see what's out there, he always thinks about all the little things other Providers have to learn first to be on your company's level.
It is very tempting to treat every client interaction as a potential sales pitch. The best piece of advice I took away from that whole discussion was to stop selling and start listening.
What is the most common frustration you hear when onboarding a new client from a previous IT company? Are they sick of automated help desks yet?
