
From VAR to MSP - Better Client Relationships in Managed Services can Benefit your Entire Business
Marketing SuganoShare
While any successful business knows how to manage dissatisfied or adversarial clients, that doesn’t mean that dealing with these people is fun. When you transition from providing break-fix services to offering managed services (VAR to MSP), you may be surprised by how much better your relationship with clients becomes. Break-fix clients tend to be in the "unhappy" category. That's more motivation to sign them up now!
MSP clients feel a lot more like partners or even friends. They are business partners and not an unpleasant necessity of doing business.
It makes sense when you think about it. A break-fix client only calls you when they’re in crisis mode. Things are going wrong and they’re not sure how to fix them. They need some solutions ASAP! Because they often have very little tech knowledge, they want to see someone in person, on-site, sorting it out. Your presence soothes them.
They usually have not have set aside extra cash in their budget for this emergency. Yet they will probably seem willing to pay whatever it takes to get back to business as usual when you first talk to them.
Later, when everything is up and running, they often dispute these charges. Once they’ve had time to cool down and the panic has passed, they suddenly think you are too expensive. Like a car mechanic, they might start to think of you as someone taking advantage of their misfortune and question whether your price was fair. And once the hurry to get the problem fixed goes away, it's amazing how quickly the need to pay you also vanishes into thin air.
You’re probably all too familiar with this story. But the relationship with clients as an MSP owner is a whole different ballgame.