Replacing Another Managed Service Provider

Sometimes, customers are unhappy with their current MSP partners and start looking around for another partner. They might have received a recommendation from somebody they trust or just got fed up with issues and poor SLAs with the current MSP, or they don’t believe they get the value for the money anymore. Whatever the reason they started the conversation with a new potential partner, it does not mean they will be ready to switch right away. There is a cost associated with it, and the customer should be confident in the new partner to go through the hassle of switching. Even if the customer had a major disaster and doesn’t want to avoid staying with the existing partner, winning the account is not easy — as they will be shopping around and talking to other MSPs in the area.

In this article, I offer helpful tips on how to pitch to customers in a competitive situation.

Start with the improvements

Instead of discussing all the excellent services you can offer, investigate the prospect’s infrastructure, understand their frustrations, and discuss the improvements you would implement.

It may sound counterintuitive; however, instead of telling customers how good you are, tell them what poor quality of service they are getting now. Be specific when discussing the issues customers are experiencing to make the conversation about them. The generic pitch of everything you can do or how you are better than other MSPs rarely works — everybody tells the customer the same thing.

Gain credibility by being specific

Based on the information about the customer issues and your knowledge of the competitor serving the customer, explain to the customer the weaknesses of the competitor (for example, lack of cybersecurity knowledge, using only basic antivirus and not an EDR solution) and your strengths (for example, number of security experts on your team, their experience, certificates, customer references). Again, be specific; discuss the weaknesses and strengths of the customer’s situation. They may be excited to know you have experience putting network cables in the deep sea. Still, if it is irrelevant to the customer’s environment, it rarely gives you additional points for consideration.

Praise the competitor a bit

A neat trick is to highlight the strength of the customer’s current partner while focusing on their experience that is irrelevant to the customer’s environment. The customer did not choose a bad MSP; they chose a good MSP, but not the one with the relevant experience for the particular customer infrastructure.

In summary, the winning pitch requires understanding the customer’s needs and being very specific about the customer. They always hear generic pitches and want to trust that your expertise is relevant to them.