Profitable Managed Services: Six Ways to Acquire Customers

One of the best presentations on managed services I've ever read reached my inbox on April 10. It was sent by Joe Paquet, VP of vendor alliances and relations at Axis Business Solutions, an MSP in Portsmouth, N.H. Paquet took the time to summarize key learnings from the MSPAlliance's Managed Services Summit, held earlier this month in Atlanta. Slide after slide, he offers value tips to MSPs that want to get started in the business. For instance, here are six ways MSPs can effectively acquire customers, according to Axis Business Solutions:

Joe Panettieri, Former Editorial Director

April 11, 2008

1 Min Read
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One of the best presentations on managed services I’ve ever read reached my inbox on April 10. It was sent by Joe Paquet, VP of vendor alliances and relations at Axis Business Solutions, an MSP in Portsmouth, N.H.

Paquet took the time to summarize key learnings from the MSPAlliance’s Managed Services Summit, held earlier this month in Atlanta. Slide after slide, he offers value tips to MSPs that want to get started in the business.

For instance, here are six ways MSPs can effectively acquire customers, according to Axis Business Solutions:

  1. Expand your offerings to your existing base, since that approach is more profitable than acquiring new clients.

  2. For new customer acquisition:

    • Define prospect profiles and targets

    • Understand each client’s business and strategic initiatives

    • Develop clear business cases for your offerings

    • Strive for long term contracts with clear exit clauses

    • Educate customer continuously on value of your company/services

  3. Charge for Change Management

  4. Become an industry expert

  5. Align your organization with industry best practices

  6. Use client testimonials

That’s a pretty simple — but valuable — list. Kudos for Axis Business Solutions for capturing the information, and thanks to Paquet for sharing it with the broader industry.

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About the Author

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri

Former Editorial Director, Nine Lives Media, a division of Penton Media

See more from Joe Panettieri
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