The Overlooked Hole In Your Sales Bucket
That ’ s Costing Your MSP Millions In Lost Opportunities
After conducting over 1,200 secret-shopper calls to MSPs , here ’ s what I know :
11 % of MSPs have “ bad ” phone numbers on their website , which means when you call , you get a fast busy signal , you hear an “ out of order ” message , it ’ s a wrong number , or it just rings and rings with no one picking up .
56 % of the calls go straight to voicemail .
Less than 2 % answer properly , know how to ask good diagnostic questions , and do a proper lead intake and qualification .
All of this is horribly unproductive , anti-sales , and anti-success . How you answer the phone and interact with a new prospect calling for the first time is one of the MOST important aspects of having successful marketing and generating new sales .
It is the FIRST impression a prospect has of your organization and sets the tone for your responsiveness , staff professionalism , training , and preparation ( or lack thereof ) and is the FIRST example of what it will be like to work with your organization . You SAY you ’ re responsive , but when I call , I get voicemail . You SAY you have a well-trained , professional staff , but when I talk to someone about my issue , I ’ m told , “ We don ’ t do break-fix , bubba ” ( more on this in a minute ).
$ Try This Yourself !
Get a local friend or colleague to call your office and play prospect when you aren ’ t there . Tell them to pretend they are the operations manager of an organization in your area with 80 employees that has a down server and cannot get ahold of their current IT company ( that sucks ). Here ’ s the script : “ Hi , we have a server down and need help . Is that something you can do , and what do you guys charge ?” I can practically guarantee that one of these things will happen IF they can get ahold of someone :
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They might be told , “ I don ’ t know if we can help you . The guy who handles that isn ’ t here ,” and then they are put into voicemail .
They will be asked ZERO diagnostic questions such as , “ Do you have an IT person on staff or do you outsource ? May I ask why you ’ re calling us instead of them ?”
They will be asked technical specs on the server or other techie questions that most prospects ( CEOs ) wouldn ’ t know . Yes , this is bad when you couple it with ZERO diagnostic questions . No one likes to feel stupid , and a prospect in that situation will already be frustrated .
They will NOT be asked for name , company , phone , and email . ( Example of the proper response : “ Well , Mr . Prospect , before we discuss your server issue , let me ask you a few questions and take down your contact information …”)
The person who answers will tell them , “ We don ’ t do break-fix . We only do managed contracts ,” and hang up . What ’ s wrong with this ? Well , how in the heck are they supposed to get on a contract in the first place ? You mean you wouldn ’ t make an effort to meet with this company and attempt to open the discussion about hiring you to manage their network ? You call an attorney ’ s office and say , “ I have a case I need help with .” They say , “ Sorry , we only work with clients under contract ,” click . Huh ? Well , how does one get under contract ? If you don ’ t see how that is a total failed opportunity , there ’ s no hope . Get a job .
Worse : The person who answers will say , “ We don ’ t do break-fix . We only do managed contracts ,” and THEN proceed to give the name of a competitor .
They will VERY likely let that prospect off the phone WITHOUT closing a sale and WITHOUT booking an appointment ( minimum ).
So , What SHOULD Happen ?
For starters , the phone should be answered LIVE and within three rings by a professional , trained individual who is either an employee or outsourced answering service and says something similar to “ Thank you for calling ABC Computing . This is Mary , how may I help you ?”
They should be told , “ Yes , we can help you with that . May I ask your name ? Hi , Bob . I ’ m sorry you ’ re having trouble . Before we talk about your server issue , let me take down your contact