MARKETING FEATURE CONT .
Bottom line : If you are EASY to ignore and cannot tell me a single compelling reason why a prospect should hire you over the dozens of competitors vying for your business , that should scare the crap out of you . It ’ s a recipe for frustration , low margins , slow to nonexistent growth , slow sales and price resistance . Yes , I ’ m a great marketer , but that doesn ’ t mean I can wave my magic wand and pull a USP out of my butt for anyone who shows up on the doorstep . A great USP must be manufactured .
3 . Failure To Build , Maintain And Farm A List Of Qualified , Interested Prospects
Not having a good list of prospects leaves you living in the land of the walking dead , with MASSIVE uncertainty about this month ’ s , this quarter ’ s or this year ’ s sales . You ’ re totally and completely flat-footed should you lose a major account or encounter some other sales disruption in your company , and you ’ re ALWAYS starting over . It ’ s much easier to maintain a relationship than to initiate one , yet I know of many MSPs who ’ ve been in business for 10 , 20 , even 30 + years who don ’ t have a list of qualified prospects simply because they ’ ve let these prospects come and go with no name capture , no follow-up and no drip marketing . They now have to do marketing as a brand-new start-up . Know this : Your list is the single biggest asset in your company — including clients and prospects — and for most , it ’ s overrun with errors , missing and incorrect information and ZERO systems in place to nurture the relationship .
4 . Lack Of Accountability For Anyone Or Anything Important
Roughly half the salespeople I talk to working for MSPs tell me they weren ’ t given a quota . How can this be ? It ’ s because someone dumber than a box of rocks hired them . Even more common is no accountability or coaching . Their managers didn ’ t monitor them in any way . . . just the two-part training of “ Good luck and hang in there .” But it ’ s not just sales . ANY position in your company ought to have some accountability for hitting some metric , quota , number , percentage or goal , INCLUDING YOU .
6 . Not Knowing Whether You Made Money UNTIL Your Accountant Finishes Your Tax Return
The other day , a client asked , “ What is gross profit ?” I almost choked . Do I even need to teach this ? Kevin O ’ Leary said , “ One hundred percent of the successful businesses that come on ‘ Shark Tank ’ know their business and their numbers cold . They know where break-even is . They know their competition and their market size . They know their customer acquisition costs and the lifetime value of a client . Those who don ’ t get funded are easily stumped by those numbers .”
When a business owner doesn ’ t know their numbers , here ’ s what I can tell you about this with absolute certainty : 1 ) They aren ’ t serious about growth or making money , and 2 ) They are leaving a LOT of money on the table , possibly making zero profits , because they aren ’ t paying attention to their business . Money comes in , money goes out . Hopefully , some extra is lying around at the end of the year . This is NOT a way to run a railroad .
Maybe this Halloween I ’ ll hand out copies of Think and Grow Rich for business operators ( techs with helpers ) who come to the door dressed as entrepreneurs . Yes , tracking , managing and monitoring all of this IS a giant pile of “ work ,” but it is the work you should be doing if your goal is to run a business that generates an acceptable profit and delivers exceptional service to its customers .
5 . Lack Of A Numbers-Driven Marketing Plan
I ’ m NOT talking about a marketing schedule of promotions , tweets , posts and newsletters . I ’ m talking about a specific GOAL for new clients , sales , profits or all of the above worked down to the specific number of prospects you need to target to hit said goal . Money is not just sloshing about in the streets for anyone walking about to pick up . DISORGANIZED , random acts for client acquisition and revenue generation should scare you . It IS a weakness that needs to be addressed .
Robin Robins is the IT industry ’ s most in-demand marketing consultant , sales trainer , and direct response marketing consultant who specializes in developing strategic marketing , sales and lead generation systems for MSPs , VARs and IT services companies .
Robin Robins is the CEO and Founder of TMT . TMT is the parent company of MSP Success .
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