Want More MSP Clients? Stop Trying to Sell Them

Have you ever walked into a furniture store and before you could even look around, a salesperson walked up and asked if you needed help? Most of us give the same answer: no thanks, just looking! But here’s what’s interesting. You wander around, maybe sit on a few couches, leave, come back a week later, and eventually you buy one.

And when you do, you don’t walk out thinking that salesperson sold you a couch. You think you found the right couch! That’s a huge difference, and it’s one of the most important lessons I ever learned about selling.

The Meeting That “Went Well” and Then Went Nowhere

Have you ever walked out of a prospect meeting thinking that went really well? The prospect asked good questions, thanked you for your time, and then: nothing. No email, no phone call, no decision. If you’ve run an MSP for any length of time, you know exactly what I’m talking about!

Most of us assume the problem was the proposal, or the price, or that another MSP beat us out. But sometimes the real problem is much simpler. The prospect felt like they were being sold.

Why I Used to Lose Deals I Thought I’d Won

Early on, I treated every sales meeting like my chance to prove how great we were. I’d walk through our response times, our monitoring, our cloud, our security: everything we did, because I wanted prospects to leave thinking wow, they really know their stuff!

Looking back, I spent a lot more time talking than listening. Then I started noticing something. The meetings that turned into clients weren’t the ones where I gave the best presentation. They were the ones where the prospect did most of the talking.

The One Sentence That Changed My Sales Meetings

I’m a big fan of The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer, and if you haven’t read it, go grab a copy! One sentence from that book has stuck with me for years: people love buying, but they hate being sold.

That single sentence changed how I thought about sales. My job was never to convince someone to buy from me. My job was to help them make the best decision for their business. Those two goals sound similar, but they aren’t the same at all!

When your goal is to convince someone, you talk more, you explain more, and you slide into defense mode, justifying your price and overcoming objections. When your goal is to help someone make a good decision, everything shifts. You get curious instead of persuasive. You listen instead of presenting. You ask instead of assuming. And the pressure disappears, not just for the prospect, but for you too, because you’re no longer trying to close someone. You’re just trying to figure out whether you can genuinely help them. Prospects can feel that difference!

The Question I Ask Before Every Meeting

So before every sales meeting, ask yourself this: am I trying to make a sale, or am I trying to help someone make a good decision?

If you’re trying to make a sale, you’ll spend the meeting thinking about what to say next. If you’re trying to help someone decide, you’ll spend the meeting trying to understand what’s really going on. The first approach builds pressure. The second builds trust, and trust is what actually wins business.

Not Every Prospect Should Become a Client

Here’s something else I learned over the years. Sometimes the best advice you can give a prospect is I don’t think you’re ready for this yet, or honestly, I don’t think we’re the right fit. I know that sounds backwards when you’re out there trying to fill your pipeline, but those are often the conversations people remember most, because they realize you’re looking out for them and not just chasing your number.

Ironically, those honest conversations are the ones that come back around: a referral, a phone call six months later, someone saying I really want to talk to you now. That’s exactly what Gitomer meant. People don’t mind making a good decision. They mind feeling like someone else is trying to make it for them.

Your Challenge This Week

It’s a simple sentence, but let it change how you walk into your next prospect meeting. Stop trying to sell the couch, and start helping people figure out which one is right for them! You might be surprised how differently those conversations go.

“People love buying. They hate being sold.” : Jeffrey Gitomer

Have a great week and weekend!