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If you are responsible for IT MSP Support marketing then I hope you will find these 5 top tips valuable, so please read on.

The first step to winning new IT MSP Support clients is to think like a potential client who has an issue with their IT – systems that break, old hardware, old software etc etc. Put yourself in their shoes.

What thought processes will they go through? Which websites do people visit when they are looking to learn about IT Support options? How can you engineer so they “see you” online when they are searching for a solution?

TOP TIP 1

Initially, potential customers will be searching online for information. Maybe they are looking for a DIY IT solution. This is your ideal opportunity to become their trusted IT advisor. Have information on your website to educate them to the problem they are experiencing and looking to solve,  and even give them help on the solution. It may seem counter-intuitive to give free advice but this really does build you as the trusted advisor and even though some people will solve the problem themselves with a DIY solution there will be others who simply want to call in an IT expert when they do not have the time or the job is bigger than a DIY job. So this can be blog posts, PDF guides or videos. I recommend this book to my clients on how to create content that draws clients to you. They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan.  And this becomes even more powerful when it can be linked to a marketing automation system, see point 4 below.

TOP TIP 2

Be visible online. These days the first port of call, when someone is interested to learn about IT MSP Support options will be the internet and primarily using Google. It is imperative that your IT Support business is visible on Google.

So do a check – how do you appear on Google right now in your local area. Because most of the time people will be looking first for a local IT Support company they can call upon.

Step 1 – Go to Google, enter the name of your local area followed by the word  “IT Support”  into the Google search bar.

Example: Manchester IT Support, London MSP

Step 2 – Make a note of the websites that come up on Page 1. Study them and get inspiration for your own ideas. Is your IT Support business on the list? If not…

TOP TIP 3

You need to get your website listed.

Google Adwords are the ads top and bottom of the search results page. Advertising is a quick win, but can be expensive and you need to know what you are doing. I would recommend hiring a Google Adwords Expert as it can be complex to set up Adwords and expensive if you get it wrong. (I would definitely recommend using Google Remarketing, this enables you to display ads to your website visitors AFTER they leave your site – the ads follow them all over the internet. These work great and costs next to nothing).

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This is the process to optimise your website so that Google lists it in the rankings. You need to be on page 1 of Google. The good news is that this is free, the bad news is that it can take months of work to achieve a result. But once you do you will reap the rewards for a long time. SEO is a huge subject so you can either hire an expert or if you have the time and inclination you can teach yourself, check out the book I mention in TOP TIP 1.

TOP TIP 4

Use a CRM system – Have an IT MSP marketing and sales follow up system.

This is what the majority of IT Support businesses do not have or understand. In points 1 to 3 above we are looking at ways to generate interest in our service, which is essential. But what you have to realise is that of those who visit your website only one or two in every 100 are ready to buy today. So if they do not buy today then that means 98% leave your website and the chances are they will never come back. That 98% is where the gold is for your business. So you have to have a system in place that enables you to consistently follow up with EVERYONE who expresses an interest in MSP services. This can be really simple – paper-based or Excel, it is possible but it is a definite chore that requires dedication and time to manage. And that leads me nicely on to what I do. I specialise in helping clients set up a marketing automation system called Keap / Infusionsoft and this is the leading marketing automation system for small/medium size enterprises. Check out my blog post – IT Support sales leads. Do you really need more new IT Support sales leads?

TOP TIP 5

Referrals. Even in this online world, word of mouth advertising is still the best. How can you encourage previous clients to talk about your service? Can you offer them an incentive if one of their friends buys your service? Can you reach out to all your previous IT customers and remind them about your service, this is really easy if you have a marketing system in place, see Top Tip 4.

On this note. Have you listed with the likes of Trusted Trader and/or any other review sites? Social proof these days is so important. How many times have you decided between one or other hotel or restaurant based on the reviews from previous customers. This social proof is key these days and you should be actively asking your customers for a review on each job you do.

If you are interested to learn more about how to build your own IT Support marketing and sales system then please schedule a free 1-hour Discovery call.

You have no doubt arrived at this post because you are looking for new MSP sales leads for your business. But is this really the case?

So do the maths stack up? If you double the number MSP sales leads then you will double your sales and grow your business. That is true, but at the same time, you will probably more than double the cost of your advertising. (It will most likely cost you more than double as you will no doubt already be using the most responsive advertising medium, so you will have to start using less responsive advertising and so use more of it. So your costs will be higher).

And there are other factors at play too. Take a look at these sales rules.

So if you have a sales team then the sales team will first focus on the easy sales (the low hanging fruit) they will not consistently follow up with sales leads that are not going to buy in the short term – after all following up on the lukewarm/ cold leads will not enable them to meet their monthly sales targets. And those leads who are not ready to buy yet will quickly get forgotten about and “fall

between the cracks” and the sales team will be looking for new, hot to buy leads.  As I mentioned above, as you go to “weaker” advertising in order to generate new leads, so you will generate less responsive leads and so you see the issue – you are generating lower value leads that are harder to close, that the sales team do not want and they cost you more money.

So what is the solution? Before you spend any more money on new leads you need to implement an automated sales and marketing system that will work in sync and support your sales team. A system that does all the grunt work in following up with leads and nurturing them to a point where they are “warmed up” and ready to speak with a salesperson. This way the leads that have cost you money do not “fall between the cracks”.

So let’s look at the maths.

Say you are currentl

y getting a 1% conversion rate from your sales leads and leads are costing £1 each. So the Cost per Acquisition (CPA) is £100. OK, lets say you implement a sales and marketing system to automatically follow up leads, to nurture those leads and then pass them over to the sales team when they are ready to buy. So we still get the initial 1% conversion. But then say we consistently follow up with the remaining 99% (who did not buy). Now, say over the next 12 months we follow up automatically and gain another 2 sales from the initial 99 leads. So now then numbers look like this. We have 3X our conversion rate and so we have tripled the size of our business. Because we did not spend any more money on lead acquisition, so our Cost of Acquisition has come down from £100 to only £33. And this is without spending any additional money on advertising and lead generation.

Now at this point, you have an efficient sales and marketing machine that efficiently converts leads. And now you can start to look at using lower value/ higher-cost sources of leads because you have an efficient sales and marketing machine that can profitably convert poorer quality leads. You can now afford to outspend your less-educated competitors on advertising and marketing.

And all this is before we even consider the best AND lowest cost of leads for your business. Referrals from existing customers. Are you actively asking your existing customers to refer friends, family and business contacts? The chances are that you are not proactively harnessing this source of leads. Once you have an efficient sales and marketing system in place then referral marketing can also happen consistently on autopilot.

So – do you really need more new MSP sales leads?  -or do you need a system to convert more effectively the leads you are already generating? If you are interested then this is exactly what I do for my clients. If you would like to book a free Discovery call at a mutually convenient day and time then click here.