Understanding Your MSP Client’s Lifecycle

There’s no sugarcoating this.

Taking cold prospects and transforming them into happy customers takes work.

But if you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and get better at managing your clients, you need to understand what and how they think at every stage of their lifecycle.

Each stage requires specific strategies and actions to move prospects closer to becoming satisfied, long-term clients.

Let’s look at every stage (in detail) and see what you should be doing about it.

Awareness

At this stage: You’re an unknown company fighting to match prospect’s business pains (whether they’re aware of them, or not) with your sweet MSP medicine.

• Focus on Brand Positioning: Clearly define your unique value proposition and communicate it consistently across all channels. You need to stand out amongst a sea of MSPs that may look like you, down to the service offering and tech stack.
• Use Marketing Campaigns: Use digital marketing, social media, SEO, content marketing, and PPC advertising to raise awareness about your MSP services in relevant markets. Tell the world about the problems that other businesses often run into.
• Attend Events and Network: Attend industry events, webinars, and conferences to increase visibility and establish connections. Shake some hands (and bring some sanitizer).
  

   

Consider This: Stand Out Even Further with a Branded Client Portal

Interest

At this stage: The prospects aren’t quite hooked, but their appetite is growing. They know they have some kind of need for help with technology – but they don’t quite know how to get or ask for what they need.

• Build Educational Content: Provide valuable content such as blog posts, whitepapers, guides, and webinars to educate prospects about the benefits of your services. Again, think pain – people don’t search for medicine, they search for symptoms. Base your content around things you’ve heard clients suffer from to ensure your content is not only helpful – but actually findable on the Internet.
• Assemble Case Studies and Testimonials: Share success stories and testimonials from current clients to build credibility and interest. It’s one thing to tout that you can solve a problem, and it’s another to hear from real people that you’ve done it. It’s a huge game changer for prospects sniffing out a new MSP.
• Try Some Engagement on Social Media: Actively engage with prospects on social media platforms by sharing relevant content and responding to their queries. It’s hard to build momentum when you’re just starting out – so try to cross-post your educational content to show people that there are real brains behind the accounts.

Need Some Help? Here’s How to Make Investing in MSP Marketing Easier

Consideration

At this stage: The prospects have seen you. You may be the only MSP – or one of many – that they’re thinking about going with. This is the time to make it obvious to them that you’re the best MSP to choose.

• Nail Some Targeted Outreach: Use email marketing campaigns and targeted ads to nurture leads and keep your MSP top-of-mind to those that have engaged with you. Don’t lay it on too thick – the aim is to remind them that you’re always around.
• Offer Personalized Consultations: Offer free consultations or assessments to understand prospects' specific needs and demonstrate how your services can address them. The better you can speak to their specific pain, the better your odds.
• Provide Demos and Trials: Provide product demos or trial periods to give prospects a hands-on experience of your services. Show them what a fantastic experience it would be to work with you – especially if you have your own white-labeled client portal.
  
  

Evaluation

At this stage: The prospects are down to the wire and are close to a decision. Now is the time to make sure that you’ve got your processes buttoned up and can make them feel good (and smart) for choosing you as their technology business partner.

• Write Detailed Proposals: Prepare your customized proposal (aka your managed service agreement, or MSA) that outlines how your services meet the prospect's needs, including pricing and implementation plans.
• Provide ROI Analysis: To really seal the deal, make sure you speak to the business sense of the partnership. Provide a clear ROI analysis to help your soon-to-be client understand the financial benefits of partnering with your MSP.
• Address Lingering Objections: Proactively address any concerns or objections prospects may have by providing clear and detailed information. Without this step, you could launch into a resentful client partnership off the bat – so don’t skimp out.
  
  

Decision

At this stage: The decision has been made – you nailed it. But now, you need to make sure the official transition from prospect to client goes smoothly to set a good tone for your business relationship.

• Finalize the Contract Negotiation: Engage in transparent and flexible contract negotiations to address any final concerns and finalize terms. People like seeing a solid contract that keeps everyone accountable.
• Go Over the Onboarding Plan: Present a clear and detailed onboarding plan to ensure a smooth transition once the contract is signed. We’ll go over this in the next stage, but make the client feel good about your organization to get them up-to-speed with your MSP partnership.
• Get a Final Review Going: Schedule a final review meeting to go over all details and answer any remaining questions. This gives you a chance to shore up anything that may have slipped through the cracks during any of the previous stages.
  
  

Onboarding

At this stage: Like any new relationship, you’ll want to make a good impression from the start. The onboarding can make or break the trust in your professionalism, so it’s better to spend more time on the client to ensure they feel smart about picking you as their MSP.

• Build Your Welcome Package: Provide a welcome package with all necessary information and contacts to make the client feel valued and informed. If you’ve got CloudRadial, you can easily put all of your resources in a single, easily-accessible portal to make this step extremely easy.
• Give Them a Dedicated Account Manager: If you’ve got the resources, try to assign your new client a dedicated account manager to act as the primary point of contact during the onboarding process. That makes it easier to contact you and gives them a white-glove experience that builds trust in your brand.
• Offer Training and Setup: Offer training sessions for client staff and set up all required systems and services. You can always set up training within your client portal to make it easy for them to self-service themselves into learning efficiently.
  
  

Service Delivery

At this stage: The client has begun their “regular” service life – support/projects have kicked off and the day-to-day work is underway. Contrary to popular belief, MSPs shouldn’t strive to fly under the radar. Instead, strive to communicate clearly and constantly.

• Provide Regular Updates: Provide regular updates on service performance, including reports and insights. Reporting should be a daily occurrence and not just during one-off reviews. On-demand reporting is what the modern client has come to expect.
• Practice Proactive Monitoring: Implement proactive monitoring and maintenance to prevent issues before they arise. Many MSPs excel at automation in their support practices – just remember that you can only get credit for them if you show that they’re working, and how they’re improving your client’s business operations.
• Capture and Share Customer Feedback: Gather a method to capture and share customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores with your clients. This gives them an outlet to share frustrations and praises alike. That gives you a chance to either fix issues and improve your services or to boost morale and reward your team.

Want to See More? See How to Capitalize on Customer Feedback

Engagement

At this stage: This stage can technically run concurrently with the service stage. Once things are running smoothly, it’s time to review how to be strategic. This type of thinking is more lucrative to your MSP and more valuable to your clients – after all, it’s all about building better businesses.

• Conduct Regular Business Reviews: Conduct regular business reviews to discuss performance, address concerns, and plan for future needs. Keep things strategic and focus on the bigger strategic picture to avoid getting lost in minutia.
• Make Sure It’s a Good Fit: As an MSP, this is the time to review how the client is performing in your eyes. Are they profitable? Do they cause a lot of drama? Knowing when to grow a client – or when to fire one – is critical to ensuring that you’re only working with companies that you want to work for.
• Think of Value-Added Services: Identify opportunities to offer additional value-added services to enhance the client’s experience. If you’ve got other core services to pair with your current offerings, bring them up – discuss their value and see if you can deepen your bond with your client.

Alternatively, Automate: How to Automate QBR Processes

Retention and Growth

At this stage: The stage has been set – you’re now a regular part of your client’s business. Stay on top of the good things (and even the not-so-good things) to build a strong case to keep your relationship going strong.

• Always Think of the Renewal Process: Start the renewal process well in advance of contract expiration, highlighting the successes and benefits experienced. Businesses are strategic and it’s hard to say no to qualitative data that shows you improved their operations, starting from the moment they signed a contract with you.
• Consider Loyalty Programs: Implement loyalty programs or incentives for long-term clients. Referrals remain the number one source for MSP client acquisition. If you’ve done your due diligence in keeping the client happy, why not ask for a bit more business?
• Build Expansion Opportunities: Regularly discuss and propose new services or upgrades that align with the client’s evolving needs. Listen to the client’s needs and examine how they’ve grown. This can show you if you need to add something brand-new to your stack/services that other clients may benefit from.
  
  

CloudRadial Helps You Manage Your MSP Client’s Lifecycle

By meticulously managing each stage of the client lifecycle, your MSP can effectively convert prospects into long-term, satisfied clients who advocate for your services.

And trust us, we get it. There’s a lot to think about here.

The best way to go about taking ownership of this whole process from start to finish is by getting a client engagement and management platform that’s purpose-built for this.

We’re talking about CloudRadial here, of course.

Grab a demo and see for yourself how a client service automation platform can interweave into each step of your client lifecycle management.