EP308 - The 101 Guide to MSP Account Management with Ian Luckett

IAN: In this episode of the IT Experts Podcast, we're going to give you the 101 guide to MSP account management.

INTRO: Welcome to the IT Experts Podcast, the only podcast to help MSPs scale to 1 million, and if already there, get to five and go faster. At the end of the day, isn't it all about building a business that works for you rather than you for it? I hope you enjoy the show

IAN: So good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Welcome to the IT Experts Podcast. And today we're going to revisit a subject that we talk about quite a bit because it's so powerful in the MSP, the managed service IT support business model, all around account management, QBRs, client success. Now, one of the things that a lot of people, like most MSPs either forget or just get distracted in the day-to-day running of their business is they forget about their existing clients. And all of a sudden, the owners are sometimes going out there looking for new business. Why is the sales not working? Why is marketing not working? When in actual fact, if you hold up the mirror, look behind you and look at yourself and realize that in actual fact, when we look at our existing clients, these are the golden goose, and we've got to build a moat around our business, some of the language we use in the Growth Hub.

So account management isn't admin, it is a growth strategy. When you look at the time that it takes you to acquire a new client, can be months, can even be years, depending on the contract that they're on, and, that are currently on with their existing supplier. And making sure that you nurture those relationships, make be- making sure you become that strategic partner is absolutely critical to the success that they're going to have using your technology, and that you're going to have retaining them as a client and driving profit. Because pretty good chance that most MSPs don't have a support problem. They just have a client expectation problem, and we talk about an expectation exchange. So you sign up a new client, all of a sudden they want something, you've sold them another thing, and you start to get a little bit of friction. So making sure that you've got a good onboarding process, making sure that you've got a good system that goes from end to end in the business, not just one person driving account management is absolutely critical because this is where a lot of owners get the bottleneck because they're the ones who want to manage the relationships because if they don't manage the relationships, then they're going to be worried that people are going to leave. But good account management reduces overwhelm because it spreads the burden across the rest of the team, it increases the referrals because the clients love you even more from what you're doing, and it improves that retention. And if you can get that three, four, five, maybe even 10 years retention, the payback, that client value is absolutely critical. We did an exercise recently at one of our events where Mit Patel from Assurix came along, and he was challenging our MSPs, which was very interesting, on how much money would you spend to acquire a new client. And they thought he was bonkers when he was talking about, 10, 20,000 pounds. But when you look at the size of some of the clients and how long they're going to be with you for, and the potential from professional services, the licenses, and all the other works that you could be doing, it made absolutely perfect sense. But it just depends how that's kind of packaged. And also, when you get account management working properly, it means you don't have to do the sales and marketing bit, right? Most of the clients who join the Growth Hub don't do any sales and marketing for 12 months. If you are on video right now, you want to have a look at the screen because this is our latest framework for account management that we deliver. Last time we did this, which was a couple of years ago now, the workbook was about 24 pages long. This time it was just under 50 pages long, and jam-packed full of diagnostics, eight steps to doing the marketing, all different bits and pieces within there, and I'm going to share with you some of that with you today. So within that process that we built, there were, as I say, there was like, kind of five steps. Understanding what, where your clients are, understanding trigger points, understanding the marketing, leveraging, building relationships, and all of this kind of great stuff. But we went into super, super deep. Some of the fears that MSPs have is that the clients will leave if we push back on a bad behavior. So if they're not doing something right or they don't want to enable 2FA or anything like that then they're going to start to, kick back, and you're going to start to degrade that relationship. And then it starts getting a little bit fractious. QBRs just take too much time because you see it as an admin function rather than seeing it as a way to build a relationship. And when you build the relationship, you want to buy more from it. I remember the first time I bought or got given an Apple product, right? It was an iPod. If you remember the iPod back in the days. If you know what I'm talking about, then you are around my age. If you don't know what I'm talking about, Google it. And I got this product. I'd never been able to afford one before. I got it for my birthday, I think, something like that. And it was just beautiful. It was chrome on the outside. It was really high quality, blah, blah, blah. And the funniest thing was it didn't bloody work. It was broken. But got it changed and got it back, and the way that it was changed was really quick and easy, and, "Sorry about that," and, "There you go. There's a new one for you," et cetera, et cetera. But as soon as I got it, it was, just worked. It did what it says on the tin. It was lovely. It was a joy to use. And as soon as I kind of got my head around it, the question I asked was, "What more what other Apple products could I buy?". And that's exactly the scenario we want to get to with yourselves and your clients, you solved a problem, might be around a security issue or an efficiency issue or just getting their system working, and all of a sudden they can now see the value in how technology can help their business, and they want more, and it's your job to give them more. What we've got to make sure is that clients see the value. They absolutely see and demonstrate the value. But sometimes it can be a little bit awkward asking for referrals. And nobody will follow the process because they'll always do what they've always done, right? So that's the most important thing, is that we've got to share with them what we want them to do, okay?

Now, the risks on getting this or not getting this right is that you're going to be constantly interrupted by people asking you, "Should I be doing this? Should I be doing that?" Because you're maintaining that relationship with that client. The clients will be bypassing support process, and they'll be coming straight to you. So if you start to, if you're starting to resonate with some of these things, that's because this is what MSPs kind of like their typical kind of pattern is this is what happens. So every MSP's busy, but when you look at what you're being busy doing, a lot of it comes out in this client care and this account management piece. But when you have these relationships start to bypass the support and bypass the process and you're holding it, you're going to get a missed referral opportunity, because all you're going to be doing is making sure that your client's immediate issue is dealt with, rather than looking at it from a strategic point of view, because everything kind, starts to become reactive, and that's where you just maintain to be that bottleneck. So what are we going to do about it, right? Let's talk about some of the key tips and tricks that we need to do to get this account management structure all in the right place. So first of all, you need to get all of your clients you understand all of your clients and where they're at. Some people call this white space selling. You might have done this properly before, you might have done this before, you might not have done this before, but it's really super simple. It takes quite a while to do it, but spreadsheet, clients in the rows, across the top are the columns. You want to have, first of all, you want to have all the information about the client. Who's holding the relationship? How long have they been with you? Et cetera, et cetera. Are they profitable? Are they an A, a B, or a C client? So are they, an absolute, like, strategic partner, and they're loving technology and they're driving it forwards? Are they bobbing around in the middle and they're not adopting, but they're not using it to their best, but they're getting some value from it? Or are they a C client? Are they one of the noisy clients that in actual fact you're not making any money from them anyway, which is the most important thing. What is their concentration of this client? So what I mean by that is, how much of your turnover does that particular client take? And if it's anything more than 10%, you need to do something about it by building all the others up to reduce the risk down. We have conversations quite a lot in the Growth Hub about clients who have left, and they can be 30, 40, sometimes we even heard it 50% of the turnover. And if one of those clients goes, either administration or buyout or just leaves because they lost, fell out of love with you, then your world will change very quickly.

STUART INTERRUPT : Hey, just a quick one from me for everybody that's listening. Stuart here. If you're serious about growing your MSP, but you're not sure what help's right for you, then just grab our Ultimate MSP Growth Guide. It's a really simple way to check out what's out there for support that could really help you work. There's no fluff, there's no filler, just facts. Or alternatively, if you want to meet us face to face and see how we do things up close, come along to one of our events. They're regularly put on. They're all in the links below. Go check them out. And now it's back to the show.

IAN: Thanks, Stuart.

So yes, there's only so much of an opportunity within your existing client base to dilute that. But looking at that concentration is key. Looking at their profitability is absolutely essential because if they're not making profit, get them profitable or sack them. Because if you're not making any money, then you might as well give it to me. But if you're not making any money, you're better off without them. And so in terms of putting prices up and things like that, then if they leave, then they're going to do you a favor. They're probably the ones who are going to be the noisiest of your clients anyway, taking up all of your team's time with the on the service desk. Also we want to see what services they have. This is the white space selling, and break it down. Is it in security? Is it in efficiency? Is it in, kind of the licenses? Is it and all the other bits and pieces, making sure that you've got all of that. Because that will tell you instantly who you could go and sell the new, the missing products to. And I say sell, what I mean is you go and talk to them, have a conversation with them at a QBR or a meeting or whatever it might be, and you have a relationship with them, and then all of a sudden they want to buy more from you. You demonstrate the value, and then they buy more from you. So first thing is understanding your clients, because you can't nurture a client, if you don't know whether you're making money, how much your turnover they take over, what they're buying from you, and a real scenario around that. Mit gave a really great example in his presentation the other day, and it was about it was just simplest thing, and I'm going to share it with you. When he was running Nexstar, his MSP, he went to a prospect, and he was talking to this prospect, and he was going there obviously to go and pitch the services. But before he went to go and see that prospect, he went and did only a little bit, but a little bit of research, and it was a hotel. And what he did was he went out, and he went and had a look at all the TripAdvisors and all the Google reviews and everything about this, what were people saying about this hotel? And one thing he picked up was that the Wi-Fi wasn't very good. People were moaning about the Wi-Fi. So he went to this meeting, and the first thing he did when he sat down was he started talking to them about their Wi-Fi, instant rapport, instant problem, instant connection because he'd done his... He didn't say, "Hey, by the way, I've just been going through your Google reviews, and everyone's saying your Wi-Fi's crap." But what he's saying is he's found something where he can help them deliver value through his technology that's going to help their business, and it was a simple thing to do. Just a bit of research rather than just going, "Ah, this is who it is," screaming into the sales call by the seat of your pants and not preparing properly. But when you understand what they're doing and we understand how they're working in the communication, then that really starts to drive, the depth of that relationship. Creating a client communication charter is really important because there's lots of different levels within your organization in terms of from yourself down to your engineers, and there's different levels within, their or your client's organization as well. You might be dealing with the owner, who likes technology. You might be dealing with an IT manager who likes technology. But if you're dealing with an IT manager, who's actually buying your services, the answer to that question is the finance manager. So we need to make sure that the finance manager's happy. So the second part of the framework we were talking about was understanding the relationships that you have, what people want from those relationships, why those relationships are important, how to talk to people or those different conversations, so that you can really make sure that drive and add value at the right level on what they're interested in and what's going to make them look good.

Train your clients to use your support channels. So if you onboard them and then you just let them crack on with it and not tell them, where to get support, how to order a new kit, what they need to do when something goes wrong. Onboarding was a massive part of the framework. Even onboarding marketing, emails and educating them was really important because making sure that they know that, they've made the right decision, have they got buyer's remorse? And what we did was we went through, there were seven phases of a client's relationship with you from brand new client to a strategic partner and what they need at each and every single level. Very powerful.

Then we came onto the subject of marketing. Don't you all love marketing? But I'm talking about account management marketing. You've got to keep your clients engaged. You've got to help them to understand what new technology's coming out, what new systems are coming out, how you can overcome certain problems that are going on. Use some case studies. But connecting them. So we had a whole section all around that marketing just for existing clients. It's so important. And again, when we go back to the relationships that we were just talking about, those relationships are the ones where you market at different levels depending on who you're sending the information to. So if you're going to send an information to everybody in the business, it needs to be at one level. IT managers, different level. Finance managers, CEOs, whoever it might be, all different levels, and that's through your marketing as well.

Next up, we had identifying some triggers. Now, I'm sure that you've all had that phone conversation where someone's phoned up, the client's phoned up, "Sorry, we're leaving. We'll give you 30 days notice," or whatever. Luckily, hopefully you've got a contract for every single person. If you haven't, you need to get off this podcast and get that fixed to start with, because that's a, a crime in itself. But what are the triggers when someone phones up and says, "Something's not working. This is not right. I don't like this. I'm leaving," whatever it might be. So understanding the different triggers from the different people, from the different types of technology, so that you can start the conversation and hear what they're saying. So whether you're in a QBR, TBR, listen to what they're saying, because what they might be saying, "This technology doesn't work anymore," but they don't understand how to use it, so you might not have trained them properly to do that. But it's around having that right conversation before it becomes urgent and it starts escalating. Running the quarterly, QBRs, TBRs, whatever you want to call them, with a consistent agenda. Send them an email before so you can tell them what's going on and some information about the meeting. Then at the meeting, stick to the agenda. Then make sure you're following up, and then make sure you're following up again, and make sure that you've then got, if you've got any projects coming through, you understand what that looks like. And then you make sure that you've got a clear, accountable owner for each one of those projects. Put it in your ticketing system. Create a ticket for every single thing that you do. But you got to make the account management process everybody's process within the business, and it's everybody's responsibility to build the relationships, increase the revenue with your existing clients, because everybody has got an impact and a touch point on it. And then when you're in that successful QBR, ask them for a referral. Just say, "Who do you know who needs what we do? Who needs how we've helped you with your business?" And it's as simple as that. Don't ask them, "Do you know?" Ask them, "Who do you know?" It's a very different question.

So look, this was a short, sharp blast on, 101 account management. It's so basic, it's so simple, and it is so powerful. If you follow these steps, there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be putting £100,000 worth of profit back into your business within the next 12 months. Seriously, I'm not lying. That's exactly what's happening. £100,000 worth of profit. Well, I lie actually, because our last client who did it was £94,000, so I sent him back to go and try and find the other £6,000, and he thinks he's done that since. But getting this right will mean that you will have fewer interruptions. You will have a better client relationship. You're going to get more referrals coming through. You're going to have a stronger kind of partnership relationship with them, so they're going to want you to win, you're going to want there to win, and it all becomes, a much more cohesive and tighter relationship that's going to last for much longer. You're also going to get more time to work on the business and not in it. And the last bit is you're going to be delivering more profit. So be the MD, not the technician. Train your clients how to work with you, and build that process that removes you from being the bottleneck with your existing clients. It's probably one of the most powerful things that you are ever going to do. Because this all helps you build that business that works for you rather than you for it. So final thoughts is that account management is not a cost, it's a growth engine. Go and start it up. Go and get cracking. Go and start delivering some great profit, and building those relationships, and extracting that revenue from your existing clients.

I hope you enjoyed this show. I look forward to catching up with you on the next one. See you soon. All the best. Have a great day.

NEXT WEEK TEASER: And in next week's show, we tackle one of the biggest, most inconvenient and could be business destroying things that ever happens to an MSP. You're losing your biggest client. What do you do? Stuart's back in the podcast lounge and we run through some key steps to help you work out how to survive, how to build confidence, how to rebuild the business, how to engage your team, if and when your biggest client says, it's time for us to move on.

Tune in next week. Look forward to seeing you there. Take care.

OUTRO: Oh, but one last thing just before you shoot off. And if you're curious about how this episode links with the ability to scale your MSP to a million or, or if you're already there, accelerate to five, then we want to invite you to come and take the MSP Mastery Quiz. And in just three minutes, you're going to get a 360 degree scan of your business where you can identify the one or two tactics that can help you find more time, engage and align your people, and help generate more leads in your MSP. It's really simple. Just click on the link in the show notes. And if you have enjoyed this episode, we'd love to get some feedback from you by means of a rating, review on Spotify or iTunes or your podcast platform of choice. We really appreciate every single one of them. Now you can go and enjoy the rest of your day, and we look forward to catching up and connecting with you soon. All the best now.