The existence of a published service catalog, or lack thereof, is a leading indicator of an organization's operational maturity and propensity to succeed. Most MSPs I speak with have a pretty good idea who they're selling to (i.e. "We sell into SMBs, organizations with 10-50 servers"), but when it comes to what they're selling, or how they plan to deliver, there isn't anywhere near the same clarity of thought.
A well-constructed service catalog addresses both what services are offered, and how they will be delivered. Read more and discover why service catalogs are such a vital part of an MSP's maturation.
Business Strategies
There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, especially when you can learn from market veterans who know what it takes to win. The resources below draw from MSP partner veterans who’ve been playing, and winning, in their respective markets for years. Whether you’re looking for guidance on refining your service catalog, selling more effectively, formalizing internal processes, or improving virtually any other area of your business, these resources can help. Follow the links below to peruse a range of useful assets:
Access analyst reports to get industry research and expert insights on the quickly evolving managed services market, so your business can stay ahead of emerging trends—and the competition.
Download white papers that offer a wealth of best-practice pointers, featuring guidance on such topics as hiring, marketing, client confidentiality, service packaging, and process.
- Leveraging Your Service Desk to Scale Your MSP Business (PDF)
- Scaling Your Service Provider Business: Getting the “Three Ps” Right to Realize Breakthrough Growth (PDF)
- Leveraging SLM to Improve Service and ROI (PDF)
- 12 Best Practices for Managed Service Providers (PDF)
View webcasts featuring leading MSP executives who share their lessons and proven strategies on such topics as sales approaches, cloud services, pricing models, and more.
- Building a Service Desk that Builds Business: 5 Tips to Success
- Top Reasons Why Enterprises Outsource IT to MSPs
- Growing Your Managed Services Business: Proven Strategies from Successful Service Providers
- Seize the Cloud! Proven, Near-Term Tactics from Successful Service Providers
- A Top Down Approach to Boosting MSP Sales
- Choosing An RMM Platform: 6 Tips From 3 Managed Services Experts
- Five Managed Services Pricing Tips From Two Top MSPs
MSP Strategy Briefs are quick, entertaining reads that offer guidance on a host of topics, including developing service catalogs, gaining a unified monitoring perspective, executing proven sales strategies, and more.
- Standing Out in the Cloud: Three Strategies for Delivering Differentiated Offerings (PDF)
- How Hosting Providers Can Deliver Value-Added Services with Website Monitoring (PDF)
- 10 Questions Enterprises Ask (PDF)
- Vendor Certification: Another Reason to Leverage ITIL in Your Service Desk (PDF)
- Service Desks that Scale Your Business: Building Process Consistency and Configurability (PDF)
- Establishing Shared Services: Leveraging the Service Desk to be a Profit Multiplier (PDF)
- Service Desks that Scale Your Business: Leveraging Analytics (PDF)
- Delivering Self-Service Access to Your Service Desk: How You and Your Customers Profit (PDF)
- Building Collateral That Builds Business (PDF)
- The RMM Switch: 5 Keys to Success (PDF)
- When it’s Time to Make the RMM Switch—6 Indicators (PDF)
- 2011 MSP Ouija Board (PDF)
- Managed Services Sales: 25 Killer Qualifying Questions (PDF)
- One View, One Brand: Unified Monitoring in a Cloud-Based World (PDF)
- The MSP Service Catalog: Why You Need One
- Instant Replay: What I’d do Differently if Starting an MSP from Scratch (PDF)
- Six Traits to Demand From Your MSP Consultant (PDF)
- Avoiding the “No Decision” Deal: Qualify the Prospect for Cost-Efficient Sales (PDF)
- Five Sales Plays That Separate MSP Leaders from Laggards (PDF)
- Open Source Monitoring: 4 Key Questions You Need to Ask (PDF)
- The MSP and the Whale: Landing Big Accounts That Feed Growth (PDF)
- Creating a Culture of Continual Service Improvement (PDF)
- Cranking Up the Cash Flow—Three Key EBITDA-Generating Moves (PDF)
- A Leak in the MSP Talent Pool? 4 Ways to Find Good People (PDF)
- How Break/Fix Can Break Your Managed Service Business (PDF)
- Easy Does It: How to Implement a Really Simple Sales Plan (PDF)
- Using Your Web Site to Boost Sales: 4 Requirements (PDF)
- Your Sales Team—Stoked or Stalled? (PDF)
