Too many managed service providers are not taking advantage of the revenue that could be generated by selling cloud services to their customers. Though most are at least selling Office 365 to their client-base, there’s so much more to the cloud than that. And most experts believe that within 20 years, almost all businesses will be using the cloud for their day-to-day business operations.
When you think about the numerous benefits that the cloud has to offer, it would seem like a no-brainer. And yet MSP’s and small business owners alike are still a bit reluctant when it comes to jumping into the cloud with both feet.
Advantages of the Cloud
Typically, you’ll have fewer outages, issues, problems and thus less downtime for your employees when you utilize a cloud infrastructure. If your business relies on web-based transactions, then uptime is an important factor. There’s no telling how much revenue you could lose if your website goes down for an hour here and an hour there. It hurts your business reputation and it costs you in sales. Let’s face it! These days online shoppers are spoiled. If they can’t make a purchase quickly at your site, they’ll simply click over to a competitor’s site.
When you factor in both the direct and indirect costs, cloud services don’t seem so expensive anymore. That’s an important point to make if you’re trying to sell cloud services. You can’t simply consider the monthly cost. You must also think about how working in the cloud will decrease your downtime. No business owner likes to see their employees sitting around waiting for the IT department to get the network back up and running again.
That’s a significant factor that can make the switch to cloud services seem like a great investment for any business owner. Overall, those businesses who have most of their technology in the cloud have fewer snags and glitches that cause problems. Everything just runs smoother. This alleviates a big headache for business owners. There’s nothing more frustrating that spending all day waiting on your IT guys to fix a piece of equipment so all your employees can get back to work.
You’re paying people to just sit around. You miss out on orders. You can’t serve your customers correctly. If this happens on a regular basis, you can expect your customers to go someplace else at some point.
Cyber Security
Did you know that over half the small businesses that get hit with a cyber-attack will go under within six months of the attack? Most business owners are just not prepared. They have no idea how far the world of hacking and cyber theft has come in the last couple of years. Hackers are now backed by huge governments. Their only job is to sit around all day creating new phishing emails or searching for vulnerabilities in a company’s network. They specialize in finding your weaknesses and then exploiting them.
The cloud provides much stronger cyber security though. And to tell the truth, managed service providers haven’t done a very good job of telling their customers these things. They’ve been slow to demonstrate to their clients how much safer all data is when it’s stored in the cloud. Too many business owners actually believe the cloud is less safe than physical servers.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. There are lots more issues like this that MSP’s could be explaining to their clients. And this could be considered helpful and educational. Business owners want and need to know these things. In the long run, they will be interested in learning how to protect their data base from hackers, how to decrease their downtime and how to alleviate common technology problems. As a managed service provider, it’s your job to make sure your clients know these facts.
What’s the Bottom Line?
There’s a lot of money being left on the table each year. Managed service companies could do a better job of teaching their customers about the cloud. This is vital information that can help the business owner reach their financial goals. So why not share it?
Though you might earn $500 to $1,000 by selling a physical server, that’s where your revenue stream ends – or at least takes a big downward dive. When you sell the cloud to your customers, you create an ongoing revenue stream. As long as you keep providing good service to your customers, they’ll continue to depend on you for all their technology needs.
There’s a lot more good information available that can make a strong argument for why a business owner should switch to the cloud. It’s just up to you, the managed service provider, to acquire this information and pass it on to your customers.
Need Help?
If you need a helping hand with this, Cloud Services For MSPs is well-versed in this area. We were around during the very beginning of cloud technology and we’ve been part of its evolution. We can help you fine-tune your sales pitch and inform you of all the advantages that your customers can enjoy once they switch.
Want to learn more about selling cloud services to your customers? Let’s chat about this important topic soon. Call (866) 883-8836 or visit cloudservicesformsps.com to learn more.