What’s a Simple Yet Effective Business Strategy For Your MSP?

They Ask You Answer

Want an eye-opening way of winning new business in 2019? The light bulb has finally gone off. And it’s simple–So simple that I was actually taught this lesson when I was young:

First – Shut my mouth and open my ears.

And second – When I open my mouth, ask great questions.

How do we know exactly what small-to-midsize businesses and our partners want when they team up with a cloud services company?

Simple … We listen, and then we answer their questions.

Check Out This Helpful Book

A friend of mine recently shared a great book written by a gentleman named Marcus Sheridan. Marcus’ book entitled, “They Ask You Answer,” talks about how companies today can win new business as well as better business from the clients they really want.

How does this tie into the Cloud? Simple… Many business owners and IT managers have questions about the Cloud, and according to the lessons that Marcus shares in “They Ask You Answer,” it’s our job to answer those questions and share the answers with everyone we come in contact with.

Educate Your Market & Be Transparent

The foundation of “They Ask You Answer” is to educate your marketplace by answering the questions you receive during your sales cycle. And when we answer these questions, we must be 100% transparent.

Marcus even recommends putting all of your pricing on your website and sales materials. Why?… Because price is a top issue everyone has – so why hide behind it? After all, hiding behind price is something many MSPs do. They don’t want their competitors to find out how much they charge.

Answer Your Clients’ Questions About The Cloud

Here are some of the most common questions businesses have:

1. What Cloud Computing Services Do You Provide?

This should be easy for you to answer. But when you do, consider the unique needs of your client. Do your cloud services align with their goals? How will you ensure that they do? What benefits will they provide? Do your research ahead of time about your client so you’ll know how to answer these questions in a way that will work for them.

2. Will Our Data Be Secure In The Cloud?

Security is a primary concern for businesses when it comes to the Cloud. Make sure that your client understands your security practices and policies, that you have an experienced IT security team, and be truthful about any cloud security issues you’ve dealt with in the past and how you dealt with them.

3. Where Will Our Data Be Stored?

You client will want to know that their data is in a secure data center that provides the reliability and performance they need. And be sure to let them know that even if there’s a disaster like a flood, hurricane or tornado that their cloud services will fail over to a secondary data center.

4. Will There Be Interruptions In Cloud Service & If So, How Long Will They Last?

Again, be truthful and transparent. Educate your clients about this, and that outages do happen, but that a good cloud service provider has very few outages and that they don’t last long. Explain that they may experience planned outages for maintenance when upgrading hardware and software. But that they’ll have plenty of warning, and that you’ll try to perform the maintenance off hours when possible. The bottom line is to ease their fears that there will be no major interruptions in the cloud services you provide.

5. Can I Change My Cloud Services If I Need To?

Explain that one of the advantages of using cloud computing is that they can add or delete them as needed. Also, explain how this saves them money rather than purchasing software or hardware that may go unused. Show them how cloud usage provides the flexibility they need.

6. How Difficult Is It To Migrate To The Cloud?

Be honest here but let them know that it depends on the software that they are currently using. Also let them know that you have the ability to do this for them and that they should rely on you for this because if mistakes are made during the migration, it could cost them in time, money and the ability for them to provide the services and products they offer.

7. Can You Put All My Cloud Service Charges In One Monthly Bill?

Explain that you can, and that by consolidating their cloud services bill into one, they will get an overall view of what they’re buying and using. Also be upfront about any service charge increases and when these might occur.

8. Do You Provide A Service Level Agreement For Your Cloud Services?

Your client will be happy to hear that you do. However, explain that you offer more than one tier of SLAs and how this works. And tell them what you promise to do if you don’t meet the guarantees in your SLA.

After you’ve gathered all of your clients’ questions about the Cloud, remember to answer them in your sales and marketing materials as Marcus Sheridan advises in “They Ask You Answer.”

In Summary

Marcus has opened my eyes to the importance of not hiding behind the way we do things. I recommend picking up a copy of “They Ask You Answer” by Marcus Sheridan from Amazon or your favorite book store.

Then let’s connect to share our experience. Reach out to us on Facebook, LinkedIn or on your favorite social media network. We can discuss the advantages that a strategic relationship with a cloud services company focused on you provide. Make 2019 your year to soar to success!