10 Tips for Generating Revenue through Managed Security

During the past couple of years, a vexing trend has persisted for MSPs: The industry has been marked by shrinking net profits, even while net revenue for managed services continues to rise.

Why?

Though MSPs are required to offer more services than in the past—and their clients are penalized more for security lapses—some still try to win customers in the short term with a “competitive” pricing model rather than planning for long-term profitability. Some MSPs have never met a contract they’d turn down. While low prices might help you catch customers and convert them quickly, it’s no guarantee of future success.

But you have bills to pay today. These high-level recommendations are designed to help MSPs find the balance between sustainable profitability now and sustainable growth for tomorrow.

The cyber threat landscape is rapidly shifting. Stay current on the most pressing issues in the field by devouring the literature and listening closely to the full-time experts. For example, if you serve customers in the European Union, be their go-to resource for GDPR compliance. If financial institutions are your target vertical, understand the finer points of PCI compliance. When it comes to security, differentiate yourself through specialization.

For immediate income while building your business and reputation, consider gradually increasing your prices to align with your experience. You are the expert helping your customers navigate their unique business needs, after all. And remember: Never give away your services for free.

A recurring-revenue services model can prove helpful to your bottom line over time. On average, top performing MSPs generate 45% to 55% gross margins from managed services versus gross margins from product revenue.

Regularly evaluating the profitability of each of your customers is critical for growth. Determining which clients maintain the highest support ticket volume, or rack up the most billable hours, is a good way of doing this. This may reveal opportunities for additional offerings like bundled services, advanced managed security services, and more. Your clients’ business continuity will benefit in the end.

A menu approach to your offering is OK, but it shouldn’t be so packed with services that you couldn’t possibly excel in all of them. To return to our first point, try to specialize where possible. If a customer can’t appreciate this, it probably isn’t a good fit. Your reputation could suffer from claiming to know what you don’t. And, over time, chasing a poor fit often costs more time and money, which leads to the next point …

When a relationship is no longer mutually beneficial, it’s probably time to cut ties. Make sure your sales pipeline is promising first, as this will help mitigate any immediate losses while you close new deals.

Don’t wait for new business to come to you through referrals. To stimulate growth, invest real money into marketing. Look at the facts: Inbound marketing generates three times more leads per dollar than traditional methods, and MSPs that nurture leads make 50% more sales at a 33% lower cost.

SMBs are being targeted by cybercriminals now more than ever before, and many feel unprepared to defend themselves. Explain to SMB customers how infection rates reduce profitability and how layered cybersecurity solutions can save them time and money.

Take advantage of tools like remote monitoring and management (RMM) and professional service automation (PSA) platforms to streamline your business and hone in on growth opportunities. Customers with a high volume of support tickets, for instance, could benefit from additional security awareness training. Here is a perfect opportunity to both increase revenue and reduce costs. And, once again, it’s a win-win for the client.

Just as customer relationships are important, your relationships with employees matter, too. By focusing employees’ energy on big fixes rather than one-off tasks, you increase long-term ROI. In one case study, a company was able to save 40 to 50 employee hours per week––$80,000 per year––just by implementing Webroot solutions to remediate viruses.

What’s Next?

Want to get started decreasing costs and increasing margins with layered security? Webroot Business Endpoint Protection is a great place to start. It’s free to trial and runs alongside other endpoint agents, so there’s no lapse in coverage.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.