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As an MSP, you’re always thinking about ways to grow and improve. Here are the latest trends and metrics you need to focus on to keep those growth numbers healthy.

Key Takeaways

• Create a tailored client profile so you always know who you’re talking to
• You should have two businesses within the business: One for new acquisition and one for existing customers
• Complete your cloud migration by adopting Microsoft Azure
• Marry sales and marketing with better communication
• Implement employee recognition and gamification to boost productivity

Growth: It’s something that every business wants. Unfortunately, many MSPs get caught up with the wrong areas of focus and miss out on major opportunities for better customer relationships and long-term growth. 

It all starts with the right metrics, including customer satisfaction and call metrics. Then, you have to know exactly where to focus in your business based on what’s going on with your customer base and other MSPs. 

Let’s walk through some of the key metrics and considerations for MSPs that will lead to continued growth in our current landscape.

1. Create a tailored client profile

You first need to understand how important it is to know your customers. Create a tailored client profile: What does your perfect account look like? Who do you deal with the most? Your ideal client should have a solid growth plan in place, because when your customers are growing, you’re growing.

When creating these profiles and thinking about ideal characteristics, remember that your perfect client may not look the same as they did last year. COVID-19 has changed a lot for MSPs. Also, take these concerns into account when creating your marketing messages and analyzing client feedback.

2. New acquisition versus existing customers

Your business should really have two businesses within it: One focusing on new acquisitions and one focusing on existing clients. You need both to be a high-growth business. 

When MSPs forget about their current customers and only focus on new acquisitions, they start to take them for granted. Remember to be grateful to existing customers who are giving you monthly revenue on a continued basis and provide you with valuable feedback on how to improve products, services, and communication. 

Here are some examples of key metrics that will help you put these considerations into perspective:

• The customer satisfaction score (CSAT): Your CSAT is transaction-based, so it is connected to a specific ticket. When you get a lower number, you can then help the employee involved to ensure continuous improvement. 
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): This metric focuses on your overall relationship with your client base and reflects what they think of you as a company. Your NPS should have nothing to do with a specific ticket, but the overall value you’re driving.
• Conversion rate: Your conversion rate is actually connected to your CSAT. When your CSAT goes down, you need to look at the customer conversion rate. Track these numbers by employee and you’ll start to manage better relationships and keep your customers.

Remember: even if you’re keeping your customers, you may not be growing. This is why you need to focus on acquisition, too. And, if you’re not selling something new to your customers — for example, an enhanced security solution for the new remote workforce — someone else probably is. By offering an add-on to existing customers, you foster growth.

In the new work environment, you no longer have a tap-my-back culture. Tracking and focusing on metrics around your tickets will help you improve communication and productivity. Emphasize why these KPIs are important to employees so they understand the bigger picture.

3. Complete your cloud migration

MSP growth can also be achieved by riding the wave of cloud adoption. Most businesses have now moved to the cloud via Microsoft 365. But, how many have moved customers to the cloud with Microsoft Azure? Not as many MSPs have taken this step.

Many businesses had started to move to the cloud before the pandemic, but when it hit, they realized just how much they needed to be in the cloud for better business continuity. This means using tools like Microsoft Azure to round out your cloud strategy. 

In their last earnings report, Microsoft said they grew Azure by 50%. This presents a big opportunity to ride this wave with Azure as an MSP and grow your business, too. It is the number-one investment Microsoft is making. Why sit on the sidelines?

Common reasons MSPs aren’t investing in Azure include:

1. They don’t have anyone in the business who knows about Azure, so they think they’d have to hire someone new. 
2. They say, “It’s just too complicated. I’ve checked it out and I don’t understand it.” 
3. They don’t understand the financial model around it or don’t think they can make as much money in the cloud.

However, using a tool like Nerdio helps MSPs successfully build a cloud practice in Azure. Address these pain points and stop sitting on the sidelines during this major transformation.

4. Marry sales and marketing

Many MSPs don’t always ensure that marketing and sales teams are in lock-step with each other. They need to have a common goal, and they need to understand what they are each trying to achieve separately, not just shared goals. 

These teams also need to know what the goals are for the overall business, so that information needs to be shared company-wide. For example, marketing needs to know how many leads they have to generate for the sales team.

This is why growth starts with a great lead generation strategy. Understand where you’re trying to grow and analyze what your average deal size is for your average client. What is a client’s value to you? Where do those leads come in? What is the close ratio on an average lead? With this information, you can clearly see what you’re marketing team needs to do in lead generation to help the sales team hit their closing goals.

This requires laying out the goals of your business. Then, reverse engineer how you can achieve them.

Many MSPs also think people aren’t buying anything right now, as we’re still in a pandemic. But the truth is, people are buying. They just may not be buying from you.

Focus on building deeper relationships with your current clients and how you approach your marketing messages. There is always a way to gain mind share, you just have to understand the right ways to use your resources. Implement tactics like greater social media engagements to connect with communities and network with local organizations. You need to be smart about how you market.

You may also need to invest in the right automation or CRM tools in-house to help you gain mind share. You always need to be moving and acting strategically. Invest in your organization to improve processes.

5. Implementing employee recognition and gamification

Crewhu recognizes that business growth only happens when workers are motivated and productive. Implementing gamification and employee recognition and rewards systems will allow you to better track KPIs and assign them to the right people.

Crewhu helps you get it done with our recognition and gamification platform that boosts engagement and satisfaction, helping you connect metrics like your CSAT to employee productivity. Contact our team or book a demo to learn more.