client ’ s account but not properly billed for ; a tech offboards an employee of a client but then fails to remove the licenses from the vendor portal ; scope creep on projects or work done that doesn ’ t get properly accounted for .
StoredTech ’ s Mark Shaw said that auditing their contracts was critical to maintaining margins . “ Engineers will deploy an application or software onto someone ’ s machine in the middle of a firefight and won ’ t take it off ,” he said . “ We went through an annual true-up before doing a price increase and cleaned up a lot of what I call ‘ soft revenue .’ It ’ s just money dropped on the floor . It ’ s like if you had a money tree , you don ’ t have to climb it to pick off the dollars . There ’ s plenty sitting on the ground , and a lot of it is simply tightening up your contracts and billing clients for software and services you ’ ve delivered but aren ’ t billing for accurately or at all . We added another $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 a month in MRR [ monthly recurring revenue ] by simply doing this .”
I agree wholeheartedly with this approach . In our membership , we frequently see MSPs adding an additional 10 % or more in new revenue they were not accounting for when they implement a tool like ConnectBooster to automate and track billing . This is not an insignificant change because that goes right to the bottom line and can make a dramatic impact on the money you ’ re taking home and have to reinvest to build your MSP .
SECRET # 2 : They ’ re Constantly Recruiting And Developing “ A ” Players
Imagine for a minute that every member of your team ( employees ) is a complete and total “ A ” player . Someone you can consistently depend on to deliver the results and performance you need without begging or babysitting . Someone who is not only a consummate professional but is a delight to work with and a good culture fit . If that were the case , how many of your current problems would go away ?
If you ’ re like me , the answer would be “ All of them !” That ’ s why all the Titans of our industry put so much focus on employee recruitment and development . I ’ m often asked at conferences how I motivate my team . My answer is always the same : I don ’ t . I hire motivated people and then put them in a position where they can thrive . The Titans agree . All motivation is internal . Sure , you can “ motivate ” someone to improve their performance with the carrot-and-stick approach , offering bonuses and advancement as well as threats of termination if they don ’ t improve , but the simple reality is that external motivation goes only so far and is pointless if someone doesn ’ t have the internal wiring to be a consistent top performer .
That ’ s because all A players have a high internal need to succeed and do a great job . You can put them in any company , in any role , and in any situation and they will perform with excellence consistently .
Technical talent has always been difficult to find , but recently it ’ s been damned difficult . In the tech space , the fight for talent is extremely competitive , with companies willing to make crazy offers to engineers to recruit them . The Titans , like all MSPs , deal with this on a day-to-day basis . They know that the techs are the product they are selling , and without great people , they know they can ’ t have a great MSP . As Tom Glover , CRO of Responsive Technology Partners , said , “ We have more issues with poaching on the labor side than on the customer side .” To combat this , Tom Glover is constantly giving his engineers variety and a challenge . “ You don ’ t get that in a corporate environment . That ’ s a big benefit we can offer that others can ’ t . But it ’ s a tough market for labor , even though you ’ re seeing Microsoft , Twitter , and other tech companies doing layoffs .”
Tom Glover has also rolled out a new profit sharing plan that started this year and tied it to each employee ’ s performance so they can see how much impact they are having . “ We ’ ve already seen an increase in profitability just in the first month of rolling it out ,” he said . “ But what ’ s more exciting is the conversation we hear around the offices , where peers are holding each other accountable to not only tow their own weight but go the extra mile .”
Here Are The Other Common Strategies We Heard From The Titans Interviewed :
Constant Recruiting .
As Mark Shaw of StoredTech told me , “ Bringing on a fulltime recruiter was one of the best decisions I ever made .” He continued , “ Having someone who understands our culture , our people , and who is a good fit for us was a game changer .” While many of us aren ’ t large enough to warrant a full-time recruiter , it certainly is possible to be constantly running ads about hiring and to engage a freelance recruiter or firm to forever be on the lookout for great talent . Smaller MSPs tend to look only when they ’ re in dire straits and desperate for a “ body ” to fill a role . Valeo Networks ’ Travis Mack said , “ We have a very aggressive social media outreach program to look for talent . When we see a headline , we are immediately adjusting our recruiting strategy to see if we can use that to find the kind of talent we ’ re looking for .”
Growth .
Another critical component of attracting and , more importantly , keeping top talent is ensuring the company grows so those people have an upward career path . Rashaad Bajwa , CEO of Integris , said that growing his company and going
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