MSP 501 Profile: Parried Focuses on Helping People, Not Selling Products

Company Name: Parried
Company MSP 501 Rank: 16
Founder and President: Eric Sanchez
Headquartered: Austin, Texas

Primary Services:

Twitter Handle: @parriedmsp

For more than 12 years, Parried has been helping companies of all sizes keep their IT running. But while their focus is on technology, their main goal is keeping maintenance is just a facet of their main goal: to help businesses get their work done. And their name says it all. As they explain on their website, “To parry is a countermove, and the best defense against IT challenges is having a great offense. We provide the peace of mind and confidence you need to pursue your business goals.”

Parried’s Eric Sanchez

Parried Founder and CEO Eric Sanchez’s deep-rooted dedication to service is evident throughout his company. And this dedication proved invaluable during the pandemic, as Sanchez and his team scrambled to help keep their clients operational. Mutual listening and learning were vital to the process, Sanchez reports.

Sanchez shared some of his thoughts on how he has successfully combined his customer-centric approach to business with his love of technology — and why he wouldn’t want to have himself as an employee!

Channel Futures: What is one thing you wish vendors would do that they don’t?

Eric Sanchez: Take the time to listen more and pitch less. Most vendors want to sell me their product rather than sell me a solution to my problem. Ask more discovery questions, understand my needs, listen more and align your goals with mine. Create a win-win scenario with a partnership designed by mutual benefit.

CF: What new opportunities and challenges came with the global COVID-19 pandemic?

ES: The biggest challenge came from the shutdowns. We didn’t know what to expect, especially from our clients. We lost a handful of customers overnight. However, we did what we do best, we reached out to our customers to talk.

I’m very big into maintaining positive relationships with our customers and with the economy and sudden changes, I knew we needed to be there for our customers more than ever! We set up meetings with our customers to discuss plans for working remotely efficiently and effectively. I brought up recommendations that had been turned down in the past, and suggested we revisit our solutions of leveraging technology for our customers to continue to do business as normal.

Most customers were in a different state of mind and were eager to learn more. Within weeks, we set up about 80% of our customers with remote work solutions and implemented solutions that kept them operational. Months later, this quick action on our part gained us even more trust from our customers and has strengthened our relationship with them even more!

CF: How does your experience as the member of a minority change your approach to doing business?

ES: Being a Latino American and growing up five miles from Mexico, all I know is hard work. Nothing came free and everything was earned. I developed an attitude of servitude working in what I call character-building jobs. With a passion to serve others and my interpersonal skills gained from a variety of work environments, I leveraged my experience to start and grow my own company. We’ve carried on this attitude of servitude with every new person that has come to join our team and always train customer service over anything else!

CF: Why are you a business owner instead of working for someone else? What is the allure of entrepreneurship to you?

ES:  Admittedly, I would be a terrible employee anywhere else! I enjoy working with like-minded professionals, with a thirst for knowledge and passion for technology.

Being a business owner gives me the freedom to work as much or as little as I want. It challenges and motivates me to work even harder than I would anywhere else. What helps me is reminding myself this quote from my mentor, “How can I increase my value, without increasing my burden?”

Every day is about improvement, efficiency, and a chance to learn something new. I love what I do, and I would do it for free… but for now, I think we’ll continue to charge for our services.