If your MSP is looking for a vertical that ticks almost every box, then financial services might be the one… here’s why. Also this week, the “trust transfer” trick of borrowing credibility from people prospects already trust, and my guest built an MSP to $143m exit and understands why MSP founders get stuck.

Welcome to Episode 355 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

Deep dive into winning financial services clients

If you’re looking for a vertical that ticks almost every box – recurring revenue, long-term loyalty, genuine willingness to pay for good IT, and a compliance pressure that never goes away – then financial services might be the one.

Right now, I want to do a deep dive into winning wealth managers, independent financial advisors, mortgage brokers, and insurance brokers as clients for your MSP, because this is a sector that is genuinely crying out for MSPs who understand their world. Let me show you how to become one of them.

Let’s break this down into six easy parts…

1. Why is this vertical so attractive?

Well it’s pretty simple really, it’s very stable, very profitable, long-term businesses. These kind of financial services clients don’t tend to disappear overnight, and they also have a very high dependency on technology. You think about it, everything they do involves data, communications and client records. So they are genuinely willing to pay for high quality IT because for them, the cost of getting it wrong is huge, just huge. It isn’t just that the technology is needed by them, it is absolutely mission critical. That ticks a big box for us.

But also, and this is huge as well, compliance pressure. For these people, we have no idea what the compliance pressure must be like for them because they have to operate under an increasingly complex and burdensome set of rules. There’s always new rules coming in. It’s very rare that someone comes in and says, “Let’s have fewer rules for financial services.” That just doesn’t happen. So the norm for them is all this compliance. And of course, a lot of the technology is there to make sure that they stay compliant. I’ve been digging around for some stats and I found that 96% of financial firms now allocate more than 5% of their total spending budget to IT and cyber security, and that’s going up. They take technology really, really seriously. And that means that once you’re in, you’re in. Because as we know, for an ordinary B2B company, switching an IT provider is highly disruptive for them. And for a regulated company, that’s just too much risk. You’ve got to be really bad to lose a financial services client or someone that’s related to that. So retention is very, very high in this sector.

On top of this, and this just keeps getting better and better, these people talk to each other. The IFAs, the mortgage brokers, the insurance brokers, they tend to operate in very tight networks, either because they’re all part of the same actual selling network or buying network or something like that, or just because they tend to hang out with each other. They meet each other at training and compliance sessions and stuff like that. So they are talking about the suppliers that they use. Once you are in with one and you do a good job, the good news is you’re likely to pick up other clients as well.

1. The psychology of the buyer.

For these people that we want to reach, it’s almost always that the decision maker is the owner or the senior partner. And of course, there are influencers as well. In most B2B buying decisions, you’ve got a decision maker and an influencer. So you might have the CEO is the actual decision maker, but the operations manager might be an influencer. The operations manager will pretty much tell them who to p...

For MSP’s, winning back past clients is actually one of the easiest and cheapest opportunities… are you overlooking this? Also this week, the horrendous truth of how MSPs are losing sales opportunities and annoying existing clients on the phone, and the MSP who thinks you should sell Google Workspace, not Microsoft.

Welcome to Episode 354 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

How to win back a client who dared to leave you for another MSP

I want to talk about a type of prospect that almost no MSP ever follows up with.

The prospect is a client who left you in the past.

Let me make the case right now for why winning back these kind of people is actually one of the easiest, cheapest, and maybe even most overlooked opportunities in your entire marketing.

Winning back a client who left you is up to five times more cost-effective than winning a brand new client.

If you think about it, they already know your name, your reputation, they know roughly what working with you is like, even if you’ve changed in the year since they left. And yet research consistently shows that most B2B businesses do not do this. Almost three quarters of companies have no win-back process at all. They lose a client and that’s the end of the story. So why does this happen? And specifically, why does it happen with MSPs?

I wonder, is it down to pride and discomfort? Because I don’t know about you, but I know for me, it feels a little bit awkward to go back to someone who chose a competitor over you. It’s one thing if you pitch to someone and they choose a competitor in the first place, but if you’ve worked with someone for a couple of years and then they leave you for a competitor, that’s where it almost feels slightly personal, doesn’t it? And it can feel a lot more awkward. It almost feels like you’re admitting weakness or you’re chasing them and you don’t want to be. I guess if you put it in ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend terms, you don’t want to be the ex that reaches out because that’s uncomfortable.

But they’re not an ex-boyfriend or an ex-girlfriend, they’re an ex-client, and that discomfort is costing you easy revenue that’s sat there to be collected. Let’s be clear about the kind of clients we’re talking about here… We’re not talking about the ones that have been acquired by another business, that business is gone. We’re not talking about the ones that have gone bust, obviously that business is gone as well. We’re talking about if they have switched from you to another MSP. So let’s talk this through and all the aspects of it.

Let’s deal with timing first, this matters more than you would think. If you reach out too soon, you are the needy ex and of course they’re still in the honeymoon period with their new provider. But if you reach out too late, you’ve completely missed the window where they realise that the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. Because that’s why someone switches, isn’t it? They leave you for another MSP thinking that with the other MSP the grass is going to be greener. And there does come a point where they realise that actually, some of the things are going to be different with that other MSP, but some things will be worse, some things will be better because every MSP operates and delivers in quite a different way.

We did a little bit of research on this and the research broadly supports a timing window somewhere between two to six months after they leave. And my gut feel would be towards the back of that. So if they leave you in January, you should be reaching out in June… April, May, June kind of time. And most attempts to win back a client happen far too early. They happen at the point that someone cancels or the point that the client says they’re not going to sign another contract. That’s the wo...

Let’s discuss how MSPs can talk about AI without sounding like everyone else to win more consulting opportunities. Also this week, the pricing page no MSP dares to build, and what are the hot opportunities in the channel right now?

Welcome to Episode 353 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

How to talk about AI without sounding like everyone else

AI is probably the single biggest consulting opportunity sitting in front of your MSP right now. But of course there’s a problem. Almost every MSP talking about AI sounds exactly the same as all of the other MSPs who are also talking about AI. So today I want to show you why that’s happening and how to fix it. Let’s talk about how to talk about AI without sounding like everyone else.

If we’re honest, most MSPs are not true experts in AI. I know that you’re very capable users and you probably use Copilot or Claude or ChatGPT. I mean, you probably use all of them, right? You’ve probably had to play with all of the major tools available. But when I say that most MSPs are not AI experts, typically you are just a few steps ahead of the average person, depending on the kind of clients that you deal with.

These days, being an AI expert does only mean being a few pages ahead of everyone else because of course it’s changing so quickly.

I do think there is a big difference between being a capable user and being a credible advisor. They’re two completely different things. And the trap is, for most MSPs, if you are just a few pages ahead of your clients and your prospects that you’ve read a little bit more, you’ve watched a little bit more on YouTube, then you have to be careful not to turn that into genuine expertise. But what you have as an opportunity is the ability to talk to them about AI and how they can roll it out and protect themselves and protect their business. That’s something that they don’t know. And that’s something that even if you are only a few pages ahead of them in the book you still have the ability to talk to them about that.

For example, they might be looking at “How can we use Claude? How can we use ChatGPT within the business?” But they don’t know the questions to ask themselves. So they don’t know the concept of shadow AI, that their business’s data is being loaded into everyone’s personal Claude accounts right across the business. And of course that could be happening right now and they have no idea that this is happening. They don’t know that Copilot has those guardrails that you don’t necessarily get with Claude and with ChatGPT and with the others.

It’s almost a case of because they don’t know what they don’t know, and they don’t know what questions to ask, that’s why you can consult with them about their AI. So you’re not consulting with them about AI capabilities as much as the best way to roll it out across their business. And actually, isn’t that what you do already? You are already a consultant about the best ways that they can roll out technology and max technology in their business, and AI is just another strand of that. But when you are communicating that, you’ve got to be careful not to use generic AI messaging. And this is the issue with general MSP messaging anyway.

You’ve got to be careful not to use generic phrases because when ordinary business owners see the same phrases from all MSPs, it makes all MSPs look the same. And samey kills sales. So it’s exactly the same in AI. Here are some specific phrases that you might inadvertently use which make you sound the same. You might say phrases like “AI is transforming business” or “Unlock the power of AI” or “Stay ahead of the AI curve.” Those by the way, are all phrases which came out of an AI tool. And unfortunately they say nothing because all MSPs could easily put those on their...

We’re finishing our three part marketing audit with a focus on revenue protection. There is a gold mine sitting inside your existing client base, let’s find out if you’re maximising that in your MSP.

Welcome to Episode 352 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

SPECIAL: MSP Marketing Audit (3 of 3) – Focus On Revenue

This is the third and final part of our massive marketing audit that we’ve been doing across three episodes of the podcast. So two episodes ago, that was episode 350, we looked at your foundations: your ideal client profile, your unique selling proposition, your website, and your LinkedIn setup. And then last week in episode 351, we audited your lead generation engine: build audiences, grow relationships, and convert those relationships into meetings and clients. So if you haven’t yet gone through those, it really would be worth you going back through them.

Today’s the same format, a bunch of questions to ask you with yes/no answers. We’re kind of building something up over these three episodes of the podcast, so you can really get to grips with where the opportunities are within your MSP. Don’t think of it as, “I’ve got all this work to do”, think of it as “I now know which areas I need to focus on the most.”

So we’re finishing with an audit on revenue protection. And this is the part that most MSPs actually kind of never really think about systematically, often because they’re so focused on looking after the existing clients and trying to win new clients that they forget that there is actually a gold mine sitting inside your existing client base. In fact, if anything, I would say that there’s more money to be made selling more and improving the retention of your existing clients than there is bringing onboard new clients. And sure, bringing on board new clients is really important, but actually mining the existing client base is equally important, if not faster results and better results.

I’ll tell you something as well, and you may not hear many people say this, but I promise you this is true. If you can get your clients to a stage that they want and they choose to buy more from you, they will be happier and they will stay longer. And that kind of seems highly unlikely. Surely it should be the other way around… the less they spend with us, the lower the bills are, surely the happier they should be. And yes, that’s the case, but the keyword is choice. The more your clients choose to buy from you, the happier they will be.

So we’re going to look at three areas today. We’re going to look at first of all, getting the first purchase over the line, as in getting someone to choose you, to buy from you. We’re then going to look at good account management. And account management isn’t just happiness, it’s about making sure they’re going to stay for years and years and years. So essentially systemising your retention. And then we’re going to look at upselling. And remember, I’m not talking about selling them stuff they don’t need or they don’t want, but I am looking at how can we find the things that will make them happy if they bought those things and then give those things to them. Retention is baked into good upselling.

I’ve got 30 questions for you in total, and it’s the same format as before, just a simple yes or no answer. Grab a bit of paper, grab a pen, grab a laptop if you have to. Unless you’re driving, just keep score as we’re going through this and I’ll tell you what your total means at the end. Let’s do this.

Getting the first purchase over the line.

10 questions here, asking whether or not you’re making it easy enough for a warm prospect to take that very first s...

This is part two of our three-part marketing audit where we’re auditing your lead generation machine using my three-step lead generation system. Build audiences, grow relationships, and convert relationships.

Welcome to Episode 351 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

SPECIAL: MSP Marketing Audit (2 of 3) – Generating Leads

This is part two of our three-part marketing audit. Last week in episode 350, we looked at your foundations, that was your ideal client profile, your unique selling proposition, so basically who you want to work with and why they would choose you, then your website and your LinkedIn setup. So if you haven’t yet listened to that one or watched it on YouTube, please do go back and start there, those foundations are so important.

But today we’re going to go deeper into the engine room because we’re auditing your lead generation machine using my three-step lead generation system. Build audiences, grow relationships, and convert relationships. I’ve got 30 questions for you in total across this episode. It’s the same as last week. You’re scoring yourself with a yes or a no answer for each one, and I’ll tell you what your total means at the end. Let’s go.

SECTION ONE: Build audiences.

So in this first section I’ve got 10 questions for you asking whether or not you’re reaching enough of the right people to market to.

Question 1: Do you have a LinkedIn audience of at least 500 people who are decision makers at the kinds of businesses that you want to work with?

Marketing is very much a numbers game, and especially for MSPs because the sales cycle is so long, and therefore you need to have as many irons in the fire as you can. You need to have at least 500 connections on LinkedIn, but better… 1000, 2000, 3000.

Question 2: Are you adding new ideal prospect connections on LinkedIn every single day?

I do think this is something you should be doing every day. In fact, not you, but maybe someone on your behalf, perhaps a virtual assistant or someone on your team. But every day you should be attempting 10 connections. You find those people you really want to do business with and you go and connection request them. And there’s lots of different ways to do this. You could use an automated tool. You’ve got Dux-Soup, for example, or Meet Alfred, I think those two are both still going. I say I think because I haven’t personally used them for a few years and they do come with huge caveats of be very careful… LinkedIn hates automated tools.

You could also just use Claude, open LinkedIn in your Chrome browser and you’ve got the Claude plugin that can use LinkedIn for you. It’s slow, but it will get it done. Or as I say, just use a human. That’s the approach I prefer. And even I attempt 10 connection requests every single day. We’re up to about 8,500 to 9,000 connections on LinkedIn now, and we’ve done it the slow, long, hard way. And they’re good solid connections because I have a VA, Christelle, who every day is connecting only to MSPs and to vendors within the channel, it’s a very targeted list. You can do exactly the same thing. Now, even if you only get one or two people accepting your connection request, you’re still building your list every day, which is great.

Question 3: Do you have an email list of prospects separate from your client list that you are actively growing?

Most MSPs have their client list and they will email them, often from within the PSA. I believe you need a CRM separate and that’s where your prospect data sits. And you should be sending out regular emails to those prospects at least once a week, which is not overkill. Once a day is overkill, once a week is absolutely s...

To mark our 350th episode I’m giving you a complete audit of your MSP’s marketing. By the end of this you’ll know exactly where to focus your marketing efforts to create a stronger foundation.

Welcome to Episode 350 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

SPECIAL: MSP Marketing Audit (1 of 3) – Do you have these fundamentals?

It’s episode 350 and I can’t quite believe that we’ve actually made it here. We’ve been doing this every single Tuesday since the 5th of November 2019 and we’ve not missed a single week yet. So to mark this big anniversary, I’m going to do something a little bit different.

Not just today, but over the next three episodes, I’m giving you a complete audit of your MSP’s marketing. We’re not just talking about theory here. I’m actually going to go through a practical numbered checklist that you can work through right now, so that you can assess where you stand with your marketing.

Before we start, grab a pen and paper because you’re going to be scoring yourself as we go along. Actually, the score is simply yes or no. Yes, we’re doing this or no, we don’t. I’ve got 40 items to go through today and there’s going to be more next week and more the week after.

So today we are going to look at the foundations of your marketing. We’re covering things like your ICP, I’ll explain what that is in a second, your USP, we’re going to look at your website and we’re going to look at your LinkedIn setup. And as I say, there are 40 questions in total across this episode. So count your yes answers as we go and I’ll tell you what your score means at the end. Let’s get started.

SECTION ONE: ICP – Your Ideal Client Profile

We’ve got six questions in this first section and your ideal client profile means that you have a very strong grip on exactly the kind of client that you would like to work with. So I often ask brand new members to our MSP marketing edge, tell me about your ideal client profile and they’re like, “yep, yep, we’ve got all of that sorted out, we know exactly what we want.” And actually their idea of an ideal client profile is, businesses round here that’ll spend at least $400 or $500 a month or whatever the case is.

Actually for a good ideal client profile, you need to go more into detail with that. The more you have a real grip on exactly who you want to do business with, the more relevant you can make your marketing. Because one of the biggest tricks and secrets to marketing is making it seem really relevant to the person that you most want to reach. So I’m going to go through six questions and as a reminder, you’re answering yes or no. So just write these down. You can just do like one, two, three, four, five. And at the end we’ll go through what it means depending on how many yeses and nos you’ve got.

Question 1: Have you actually written down a specific description of your ideal clients?

And if you have, have you included these kind of things? The size of your ideal clients, the kind of sector that they’re in. I mean, it could be that you’ll work with literally any business or you might just prefer professional services, for example you might like manufacturers. Have you written down the location of where the ideal client is? Now, you and I know that you can look after clients all around the world, but you may choose to have clients that you can physically visit at least once a year just so you can show your face because we all know there are benefits still of meeting people in real life. And do you know what the job title of the decision maker is? For example, if it’s smaller businesses, which is typically up to 50 staff, is it the operations manager, the CEO, something like that? So that’s the first question is have you written down, literally in writing stuck on the wall of your...

Here are six psychological weapons of influence that you can apply to your MSP’s marketing to win more clients. Also this week, three hot marketing ideas around Copilot, and the surprising secret for talking to clients about cyber security.

Welcome to Episode 348 of the MSP Marketing Podcast with me, Paul Green, powered by the MSP Marketing Edge.

A deep dive into the psychology that drives prospects

One of my all-time favourite books is called Influence by Dr. Robert Cialdini. And today I want to walk you through his six psychological weapons of persuasion and show you exactly how they apply to winning clients for your MSP.

Now, this book which I’ve owned for about 20 years, in fact, if you’re watching on YouTube, the copy I’ve literally got in my hands now, I’ve had for a round of 20 years or so, it was actually first published in 1984. Of course, it’s been updated since, but it is still, in my opinion, the definitive work on why people say yes.

Dr. Robert Cialdini is a psychology professor, but he specialises in marketing. He’s still active now, I don’t know if he teaches still, I think he’s in his 70s, but he’s in New York, I believe.

He’s identified six psychological weapons of influence, and we can apply every single one of them to your MSP.

So let me take you through them and give you an example of how each one can help make your marketing so much easier and more effective.

The first is something called reciprocity. People feel compelled to give something back when they’ve received something completely free or something of high value at very, very low cost. So for example, I give away a free MSP marketing wall planner, and I do that partly because I want to educate thousands of MSPs around the world how to have better marketing. But also I know that in giving someone a physical free wall planner that I’ve had printed at my cost, that I’ve mailed out to them at my cost, there’s a certain level of reciprocity in that. And many, not all, but many of the people who get one of those wall planners will come back and buy something from me at some point in the future.

And by the way, if you don’t have one of those wall planners yet, I’ll tell you in just a few minutes how you can get one completely free. And there is no obligation to buy anything if there’s a psychological obligation that’s set up in your brain and that’s just good marketing from Dr. Robert Cialdini. But you can do this as well so you can give away free guides, you can give away other kind of lead magnets, scorecards are working really well right now as a lead magnet, and there’s still some reciprocity from that. You could do a really in-depth LinkedIn post, you could do a major in-depth guide on cyber security or something else on your websites. All of this is reciprocity in action.

What you’ve just got to remember is that when you give genuine value first, then the prospects feel a pull towards you before you’ve ever asked them for anything, ever asked them to buy anything from you. So practical question on this, what are you giving away that’s actually useful? So things like a buyer’s guide or a sales brochure, those kind of things are okay, but the more value you can give in your freebie, in the things you give away, the better.

And just a reminder, by the way, if you’re a member of the MSP Marketing Edge, we have a book called Email Hijack. That’s available to our B2B members. You can get it in the portal right now. It’s in the tool section and it’s kind of like a book, a fictional book about an email compromise attack. So you can very quickly update that with all of your details, put that on your website for free. People just enter their email address and you email them or physically post them, mail them, ship them a copy of email hijack. But th...