Why MSPs Should NEVER Give Away Free Cybersecurity Services
By Bruce McCully , CEO Of Galactic Advisors
This needs to be repeated multiple times . Maybe even written out on one of those old-fashioned chalk boards over and over until it sinks in . Don ’ t give away services .
One More Time : Do Not Give Away Services .
When you give away service — and I ’ ve done this , too — you ’ re thinking you ’ re adding value to what you ’ re giving your clients . Nope . After growing my own MSP to over $ 8 million and helping hundreds of other MSPs with their security stacks and compliance and rolling out little things like multifactor authentication , it clearly hurts your clients ( even makes them mad ) when you give them free security .
I ’ ve talked to dozens of MSPs that are giving away new tools as they come out . You might think that this is a good way to be sticky , but you are shooting yourself in the foot . When I was running my MSP , we would call these self-inflicted bullet wounds . Here ’ s why .
When you give away security services or solutions for free , or just include them in your managed service offering , you ’ re missing a critical step . You see , you are not helping your client work through their buyer ’ s journey . Ever buy a new car ? Why ? Because you were tired of your old one , right ? Well , there ’ s a journey that you went on between when you got tired of your old car and when you got the keys to your new car . That journey is critical to your satisfaction with your purchasing decision .
To be clear , when you skip over the selling process of your services , it costs you a lot more than just the opportunity to make a few bucks . It could actually cost you the client in the long run . Put yourself in your client ’ s shoes for a minute . Let ’ s say you went to the dentist for a teeth cleaning
( my favorite !). What are you expecting ? If you ’ re like me , lots of scraping and maybe a free toothbrush at the end .
What if the dentist decided that they had some free time and really liked you as a client and decided to just give you a brandnew treatment free of charge ?
They think the treatment would be good for you because it eliminates the chances of you getting oral cancer . There ’ s just one little side effect : You have to press a button on your phone whenever you want to eat . Your dentist decides , “ Yep , this is the right thing for all my clients .”
The next time you take a seat in the dentist ’ s chair , they pull out the new magic cancer-eliminating wand and stick it in your mouth . They grab your phone and register the app , and you are good to go !
You ask what is going on . ( It comes out something like this : “ Uhhh , waht his ohigin on wit ta new wand and appuuu ?”)
The dentist smiles and tells you that they sent all of their clients an email a couple weeks ago about the new cancer
14 | MSPSuccessMagazine . com • VOLUME 2 ISSUE 5