MSP Business School

Jesse Hill is the President of Tier 3 IT Solutions a MSP located in Edmonton, Alberta.  Jesse chats with us about running a business he grew up in and the lessons he has learned since taking over the business. We start with Jesse's story about an acquisition they made and the challenges they faced during the transition and in their approach to the merging cultures.  He discusses things that they did not evaluate during this acquisition that impacted the bottom line. Jesse then moves to a story of an event that helped shape Tier 3 Solutions.  He attended a conference that helped him see that they truly did not have a defined sales process and how this led to an overhaul of their sales division.  We discuss how you can't shortcut the process and steps they took to get sales in line and improve the close rates. Jesse then shares steps they are focused on for 2021 that will help them grow and develop as an organization in 2021.  Tier 3 is planning improvements to keep the team engaged as they continue to work remotely.  He also talks about how they work to continually improve the relationship with the team and help them feel closer to the decision making process.

Abe Garver and Focus Investment Banking are Merger and Acquisition specialists focusing on the small to mid-market Managed Service Providers with transaction sizes between $5M and $50M.

Show Website: https://mspbusinessschool.com/ Guest Guy Walton. https://www.linkedin.com/in/cybervirture/ CAMO Hosts Brian Doyle. https://www.linkedin.com/in/briandoyl... Robb Rogers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robb-roge... Tim McNeil https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmcneil3/ Sponsors vCIOToolbox https://vciotoolbox.com OSR Manage https://osrmanage.com 

Velta Technologies is a firm that specializes in providing security services for the industrial space.  Based out of St. Charles, Mo. their practice focuses on the security needs of the manufacturing, utility, and maritime verticals. Craig serves as a Cyber Security Engineer for the organization and in this episode he shares with us an area not often travelled by many MSP's, but can be an area of opportunity, Operational Technology Networks or OT. With the growth of IoT devices coupled with aging production machines this area can often be overlooking in its importance and access within each business and become a huge target for the hacking community.  Craig starts the discussion describing what is the first step in security the OT, a Cyber Security Assessment for exposure risks and technology gaps. He then shares with us about how electrical utilities have many compliance regulations for its power generation system and need to be NERC compliant (North American Electrical Reliability Corporation). These regulations map to the areas of critical infrastructure supporting municipal areas. A big area of concern for the plant side of these industrial businesses is the people side of technology.  Craig shares what the biggest threat is to the  industrial plant networks,  rogue assets connecting to the OT network.  When technicians com in to service the plant, they often connect to the network and their asset now becomes a point of vulnerability on the network. At the end of the day it all comes back to common sense, similar to the traditional IT network.  Ensure you have controls to support the network security and limit access and the risk will be reduced.

Show Website: https://mspbusinessschool.com/ Stuart Selbst joins us in today's episode to discuss the customer experience and steps we can take to have long-term success.  We begin the discussion talking about Stuart's path from corporate IT, to MSP, to MSP Coach, to Vendor, and back to MSP. We talk about the customer journey and how important it is to stay in front of your customers to drive long-term success, but that also requires the right individual to lead the customer relationship.  We talk about a solid customer relationship breeding loyalty and financial reward for the MSP as the relationship becomes the gift that keeps on giving. Stuart discusses how he had a client that he built such a strong relationship with that they asked to increase their fee.  They looked at the value given and the long term need, and quickly realized they were not paying enough to ensure that the MSP (their trusted partner) would be there when called upon. Robb shares how right now the hunters are looking for vulnerable relationships as COVID rages on.  These relationships can be ripe for the picking.  Stuart talks about how you can re-enagage with your clients and change perception. Guest Stuart Selbst https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartselbst/ Hosts Brian Doyle. https://www.linkedin.com/in/briandoyl... Robb Rogers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robb-roge... Tim McNeil https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmcneil3/ Sponsors vCIOToolbox https://vciotoolbox.com OSR Manage https://osrmanage.com

Today we discuss the marketplace as the pandemic rages on.  May MSP's are fighting to stay afloat as we head into what looks like it can be a long winter.  Robb starts the discussion sharing that in the peer groups he operates sales pro's are indicating that the race to the bottom is on. We then dive into the difference between building strategic relationships for the long-term vs. solution selling.  The goal of a strategic approach is getting closer to the customer and by leveraging a more aligned approach to client management, margins can be preserved. Brian talks about the fact that the solutions starts through understanding.  We are seeing a trend to solution first selling where solutions are't being fully fleshed out and quotes are hitting the streets. We then discussed how both companies strategies need to be aligned to have a successful relationship and to box out commoditized competitors. Tim and Brin discuss how sales reps can struggle with the strategic discussion as it is a conversation that many reps are not accustomed to holding and as a result their only sales tool is the discount. We then discuss that training and a culture of empowerment can help sales teams to elevate and preserve margin when taking on a small shop delivering only a lower price. Robb then shares practical tactics for how sales people can approach their meetings.

Peter Strahan is the Managing Director for Lantech located Dublin, Ireland.  Peter shares with us a story of a disaster in the form of a fire that hit his customer's building and how in that moment Lantech's unseen value came front and center.

Robert Cioffi is COO & Co-Founder of Progressive Computing located in Yonkers, NY.  Launching in 1993 very early in his and his partner’s careers they learned a lot through the school of hard knocks.  One of the primary drivers of his company’s long-term success was engaging a coach and being part of a peer group. Robert starts the conversation is it takes a certain mindset and ego to start a company, but that can also be one of the biggest blockers to growth.  Coaching helped him learn the things he didn’t know and start changing the business model, launching managed services in the early 00’s. He speaks about his business model and how it differs from the average MSP.  Many speak of the “All you can eat (AYCE)” model, but Progressive has taken that to a very literal stance.  They include all projects within their plans.  They view the relationship as a true partnership with their clients and truly have adopted and internal IT department mindset of we do what the client needs done, no questions asked. A true win-win proposition, eliminating project cost resistance and reduces the overall support cost to Progressive. An EOS practitioner, Robert talks about how it has been a game changer for his company. This structure helped accelerate the growth of the company providing clarity to what it would take to get to the next step.  Robert talks about the future of the cloud and cybersecurity within their business.  He expands on how Microsoft Teams has accelerated cloud use for clients and how the conversations around fully cloud solutions have increased. We also speak about the M&A climate in the space and the ultimate plan for his organization in the long-term. We have a deep discussion on how to be humble and embrace the guidance of those that have been there to support our journey.  Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open can lead you to some of the best experience and lead you to some of the critical external input that you can leverage to grow.

Carrie Simpson launched Managed Sales Pros in 2013 as a call center serving the MSP market. Starting with a contract in her native country, Canada, the operations quickly grew. A contract opportunity was presented to her and almost overnight she launched operations in the U.S.  Managed Sales Pros hit a market need that is large in the MSP community, customer acquisition through cold calling.  With many of the MSP's being Technologist led  organizations, sales can often be a foreign process. Sometime acquisition comes quickly and without the intention to sell.  Carrie speaks of how she reached out to a company to help her with her strong pipeline and staffing needs.  With more business than people she could hire in the Las Vegas market, she approached EB Quckstart for assistance with overflow.  Their response was how about we just buy your operation, and before you knew it the deal was done. Post-acquisition Carrie still operates Managed Sales Pros in Canada, but has her eye on the next chapter as she shares her plans for the future (hint...a one-stop shop for webinars).

Jeff Grande and Mike Paone launched TBNG Consulting started their company as many MSP's have, bootstrapping the business while working full-time jobs, in their caae from different states.  They accelerated the growth through grit and determination knocking on neighborhood doors and working evenings to kick off the company. One growth hack that they learned was truly engaging the channel and making investments to become the local leader in newer channel entrants and building long term relationships.  Mike shares how he grew those relationships, but does add you "have to sleep with one eye open". n It is also about having clear boundaries with the vendor on what they are willing to sell. In sharing how they grew TBNG Jeff shares that no growth comes without peril.  IT was a constant reinvestment into the business and hiring quality people that they trusted then helping them learn their role. They also talked about understanding where your deficiencies personally are.  In 2012 they reflected on their business growth and while growth has been steady they needed to accelerate growth to make the business what they wanted it to be. They looked into the family and brought Jeff's brother Michael into the team so they could focus on growing the business while Michael who runs the administrative side of the business so Mike and Jeff can continue to build the sales team. It was a big transition and came with swallowing some ego along the way, but it has extremely accelerated growth.