MSP Success Magazine Dec/Jan 2023 | Page 18

with complete marketing campaigns designed specifically for MSPs and IT services providers who want to get more leads and sales in less time . While he did hire a salesperson , he says , “ When starting out , it can and should be you ” in the salesperson ’ s role . Today , his marketing is robust and takes center stage . “ The recipe to a successful MSP is time , money , TMT MAP CRM , a list of a vertical market , a telemarketer , and a salesperson ,” Javaheri said .

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Be persuasive and persistent . The No . 1 tactic that will make your offer stand out is repetition . “ Some philosophers call persuasion the biggest , most powerful force in the world ,” Javaheri said . “ So , my advice is pinnacle persuasion . Never stop marketing . Be persistent .”

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Quit your technical job and move to the sales and marketing department . Javaheri delegated 90 % of his technical responsibility and joined his sales department full time . “ I wanted to focus on sales and marketing ,” Javaheri said . “ I had enough of the technical side and subscribe to author Milan Kundera ’ s thoughts on business . He says , ‘ Business has only two functions : marketing and innovation .’ There is no technology in there , which can feel strange to tech people , but tech isn ’ t going to move the needle for you . Marketing opens the door . Sales capture the deal and generate revenue . Tech keeps the client .”

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Make marketing an urgent priority . How many times have you lost a client because a competitor had better marketing , but you could have sworn you had better tech ? The client doesn ’ t know you have better tech , so they are going to go with the MSP with better marketing . The only way to beat these competitors is to beef up your own marketing .
“ If the server went down , how long do you wait ?” Javaheri asked . “ If your sales and marketing department is down , how long do you wait ? Why not give it the same urgency ? Now is the time to take a marketing leap .”

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Don ’ t reinvent the wheel . From early on , Javaheri sought mentors who could help him . In college , he read a lot of stories about successful people and did research . “ I was inspired to seek out
David Javaheri presenting his unique hot lead follow-up process at a recent Producers Club Peer Group Meeting in Nashville the right teachers and mentors , so I didn ’ t have to reinvent the wheel .” He credits TMT for opening him up to a world he knew nothing about . “ I had zero marketing in place in January 2020 ,” he said . “ TMT provided me with campaigns , accountability group meetings , road maps and blueprints , shock and awe packages , community , seminars , boot camps , and so much more .”

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Be an influencer . Stay on top of the news , get involved , and make yourself visible so you become the authority and an influencer . In 2007 , because of his ideas and background in security , Javaheri was one of only two IT companies invited to a meeting with Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Governor Deval Patrick after a big company in Massachusetts was hacked and had 45.6 million credit and debit card numbers stolen . It was the worst compromise ever involving the loss of personal data . Based in part on Javaheri ’ s input , Massachusetts was the first state in the United States to pass security laws in 2010 . Since then , 47 states have followed suit . This was widely considered the most comprehensive data protection and privacy law in the United States . Long before cybercrime was common , this was considered radical but now is the gold standard . “ We helped give feedback , input , and ideas for 201 CMR 17 , the Massachusetts data security and identity theft law ,” Javaheri recalled .
How did Javaheri become one of just two IT companies to take part in creating this law ? He stayed on top of the news , worked at figuring out how this breach could have happened , then relentlessly pursued the governor and attorney general , letting them know he was an authority on the subject and wanted to help . “ I kept thinking about why the MSP didn ’ t have the proper security in place . Why didn ’ t the monitoring catch it ?” he said . “ And then I started calling the governor and attorney general and told them , ‘ We can help . IT companies are the best place for input to this law because we deal with this day in and day out .’ While there were several companies up for consideration , in the end , we were one of the two that were picked .”

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Innovate . With identity theft and fraud , the major concerns at the core of the implementation of 201 CMR 17 , Javaheri simultaneously instructed the Direct iT team to design security and remote monitoring and managing tools ( RMM ) and other security programs . “ A small business has the exact same security need as a big business ,” Javaheri said . “ And while they might not have 45 million credit cards , they will have 200 credit cards . The difference is a small business will go out of business if it gets hacked because it can ’ t afford to have its entire customer base taken away from them , whereas large national businesses with millions of customers won ’ t go out of business because they are too big .”
The new designs helped his clients follow the new rules and regulations while securing their data . Solutions included a patented email encryption package that allowed customers such as attorneys and Realtors to send private information in an email . In 2007 / 2008 , these were groundbreaking innovations and eased clients ’ minds . “ We started
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