If you cannot answer why a prospect should choose you over every other MSP regardless of price, they will default to price, or badly overweight it. The fastest way to differentiate without changing your fees, services or model is your sales process, because a USP is not stated, it is demonstrated. Answer the phone live, follow up in minutes rather than days, diagnose before you prescribe, never email a proposal, and get proof into their hands before the first meeting. None of that is unique. It is just that almost none of your competition will do it consistently.
One of the most powerful marketing advantages you can give your MSP is a strong USP, or “unique selling proposition,” sometimes called a unique selling point.
Simply, your USP answers this critical question: “Why should a prospective customer choose you over all the other MSPs vying for their business, regardless of price?”
This is not to be diminished or skipped over. Given no other logical reason to buy from you, a prospect will almost always default to price OR overweight its importance in choosing their next MSP. That only works if you truly are the cheapest MSP in your area. If you’re not, and especially if your fees are on the higher end of the spectrum, you’re going to have a tough time beating the “Chuck in a truck who’ll do anything for a buck” MSPs, and definitely those MSPs who are slightly cheaper claiming to do the same things you do.
But when you have a good answer to the above question, you’ll attract more prospects, accelerate the sales process and dampen fee resistance. You won’t win them all, but you WILL be able to defend your price and close more deals.
Unfortunately, most MSPs can’t articulate their USP because they don’t HAVE one.
In my Rapid Implementation Workshops, I taught MSPs 10 ways to differentiate themselves from the competition, but many MSPs still struggled with this. If you’re in the same boat and can’t articulate your USP, here’s one way you CAN truly differentiate yourself from the competition and win more deals that doesn’t require a radical change in your fees, services or model.
The #1 Way To Differentiate Your MSP
If you don’t have anything materially different about your process, pricing or approach, the #1 way you can still differentiate yourself and build more trust is through your sales process. Let me explain something important most MSP owners don’t realize about marketing.
Marketing can only take you so far. Marketing can’t close a managed services contract on its own. I don’t care how great your website is or how many testimonials you have. Marketing can only open the door by getting the phone to ring or the prospect to fill in a form to request more information. Once that’s done, SALES takes over.
How you engage a prospect from that point is the FIRST real, tangible example of what it will be like to work with you. A broken sales process will speak louder about your professionalism, responsiveness and trustworthiness than any brochure or stated USP. A dysfunctional sales process will undo and destroy all the trust and interest built up by your marketing.
That’s because your USP is not merely stated, it’s demonstrated. One of my rules for a good USP is that “it’s defensible BEFORE they buy.” That means you have to be able to prove it, not just say it.
Let me give you a perfect example of this.
The other day I’m on a Zoom call, vetting an application development company for a project I’m involved in. This company came HIGHLY recommended by a trusted colleague who’s worked with them, the kind of referral that made my mind up to work with these guys regardless of price. It truly was their deal to lose. And lose they did. Big time.
I hop on with the sales guy and start explaining what I’m looking for. Mid-sentence, his camera goes dark.
I pause. Did he lose connection? I say, “Hey, where’d you go?”
A voice, faint, from somewhere across the room: “Oh, I’m still here, I’ll be right back.”
I’m sitting there staring at a black rectangle. Not sure if I should keep going or wait. He comes back on camera: “Sorry about that, I had to let my dog out.”
Okay. Fine. Dogs happen and I’m a dog lover for sure, but I’m put off a bit. I start again, and a couple of minutes later it happens a SECOND time. No warning, just gone. Again I hear a faint voice say, “Hold on, gotta let the dog back in.” At this point, I’m pissed. He’s wasting my time and disrespecting me. The only reason I didn’t blast this guy and hang up was because of the person that referred me to this company. So I politely continued on, even though my mind was made up that I do not want to work with these guys. But the dysfunction doesn’t end there.
As I’m talking, he’s interrupting me. Several times. He says, “Sorry, I know I’m cutting you off,” but continues anyway, because what HE has to say is clearly more important to him than hearing what I want to buy. The clock is ticking and I tell him I have to end the meeting. Silence. I have to ASK, “What’s the next step?” He says he needs to talk to the owner and get back with me. I think, then why on earth am I talking to YOU then? And P.S., the call was supposed to be with the owner, who no-showed for the meeting. I think, “Why isn’t your daddy on this call instead of you wasting my time?”
Worse yet? It’s been two weeks and I’ve not heard a peep. No follow-up.
Here’s what kills me: this company probably thinks their differentiator is their technical talent. Their longevity in building apps. Their process. Their “unique approach.” Meanwhile, they just lost a deal to a guy who couldn’t stay off camera long enough because of his dog’s weak bladder.
Here’s what’s critical about this story: I don’t give a RIP what his website says, how many years he’s been in business, what their USP is or even how many good reviews they have. They have just demonstrated that they lack professionalism, and NO tagline, USP or marketing piece is going to make that better.
How To Instantly Build Trust And Confidence With New Prospects
Every prospect who calls you is doing so because their current IT experience feels exactly like that Zoom call. Flaky, unprofessional, full of dropped balls and vague promises and SLOW response. They are actively looking for evidence that YOU will be different. And you hand them that evidence, good or bad, in the first five minutes of contact, long before you’ve delivered a proposal.
Here are my top recommendations for what you can do RIGHT AWAY to stand out from the competition and lower fee resistance, even if you’re not offering anything better or different in your managed services plan.
1. Answer the damn phone LIVE. Not voicemail. Not “Press 1 for sales.” When a new prospect calls, the phone should be answered by a trained, professional human being who knows how to lightly qualify them, get them into your CRM, build trust and get them on the schedule for a discovery meeting ASAP. If a prospect calls three MSPs and gets two voicemails, you just won by doing the thing that costs you nothing but a little discipline.
2. Give prospects an EASY way to book an appointment on your website, and make sure there’s actually availability. I see this constantly: an MSP with a booking link that shows the next open slot two and a half weeks out. Nobody’s waiting two and a half weeks. They’ll book with whoever can see them tomorrow.
3. Follow up in minutes, not days. Get to a lead inside three minutes and your odds of turning them into a booked appointment go up exponentially. Get there inside sixty seconds and studies show close rates jumping over 300%. Either way, “days” isn’t on the list. If your form-fill sits in an inbox until “someone gets to it,” you have already lost the deal to someone who is doing what I’m teaching.
4. Send a real Shock-And-Awe box before the discovery meeting, not after. A thick, well-written testimonial book, a comparison of you versus “the other guys,” a satisfaction guarantee, anything that establishes you as a credentialed authority before you ever sit down. I’ve watched members lift their close rate 20% or more doing nothing else but getting this into a prospect’s hands ahead of the FTA, or first-time appointment. If you can’t build a whole kit, mail the testimonial book alone. It’s the most powerful and impactful piece in the entire box.
5. Diagnose before you prescribe. Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice, in medicine and in your sales process. If you’re quoting someone before you’ve done a real assessment of their environment and got a full understanding of their needs, goals, buying criteria, expectations and timeline, you’re a vending machine, not a trusted advisor. Nobody pays a premium for their Maytag repair guy.
6. Never, ever email a proposal. The second you do, you’ve demoted yourself to the guy who quotes gutters over the phone. Be in the room, or on the call, walking through it, the way a doctor walks a patient through a treatment plan. That IS the value you’re charging for, and it shows you’re a true professional, commands respect and insists the prospect invests time into the process, all of which will improve your close rate.
7. Lose gracefully. When a deal falls through or the prospect disrespects you, resist the urge to fire off the angry email. Say thank you, ask what you could have done better, and leave the door open. I’ve seen a “final decision” reverse itself within 24 hours more than once. Burn the bridge and you’ll never find out.
Why This Works When Nothing Else Has
None of that requires a patent, a proprietary tool or a clever tagline. It requires you to stop being as sloppy as everyone else and DEMONSTRATE, from the very first meeting, that you’re a responsible, competent, professional organization from the ground up. And that, right there, IS your differentiator. Not because it’s radically unique, but because almost none of your competition will actually commit to doing it consistently.
Erma Bombeck advised to “never see a doctor whose office plants have died.” This is sound advice. If the doc can’t keep a plant alive, how are they going to do with you? Same goes with IT support. If your sales process is a combination of “free range chicken” and Keystone Cops, why should a prospect trust you with the critical data and systems they need to run their business?
Answer: they shouldn’t and won’t.
What To Do This Week
Go audit your own sales process this week like a secret shopper would. Call your own office. Fill out your own contact form. Watch how long it takes someone to call you back. I promise you’ll find at least one leak that’s been quietly handing deals to your competitors, and it won’t be your pricing.
If you want help fixing what that audit turns up, that is exactly what my MSP sales training is built for.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a USP for an MSP?
A unique selling proposition answers one question: why should a prospective customer choose you over every other MSP competing for their business, regardless of price? Without a good answer, prospects default to price or badly overweight it in their decision. A good USP also has to be defensible before they buy, meaning you can prove it rather than simply claim it.
How do I differentiate my MSP if I do not do anything different?
Through your sales process. If nothing about your pricing, services or approach is materially different, how you handle a prospect from first contact is the first tangible evidence of what working with you will be like. Answering live, following up in minutes, diagnosing before quoting and presenting proposals in person are not unique practices. They are differentiating because almost no competitor does them consistently.
Why do prospects choose an MSP based on price?
Because you gave them nothing else to decide on. Given no other logical reason to buy from you, a prospect will default to price or overweight its importance. That is fine if you are genuinely the cheapest provider in your area. If your fees sit at the higher end, you will struggle against cheaper competitors claiming to do exactly what you do until you give buyers a different basis for comparison.
How fast should an MSP follow up with a new lead?
Minutes, not days. Reaching a lead inside three minutes raises your odds of booking an appointment exponentially, and inside sixty seconds studies show close rates jumping over 300%. If a form submission sits in an inbox until someone gets around to it, the deal has already gone to whoever responded first. This is the cheapest competitive advantage available to any MSP.
Should I email a proposal to a prospect?
No. The moment you email it, you have demoted yourself to the guy who quotes gutters over the phone. Present it in person or on a call, walking through it the way a doctor walks a patient through a treatment plan. That presentation is the value you are charging for, it commands respect, and it requires the prospect to invest time in the process, all of which improves your close rate.
What is a Shock-And-Awe box?
A package of credibility material sent to a prospect before the first meeting rather than after. It typically contains a thick testimonial book, a comparison of you versus other providers, a satisfaction guarantee and anything else establishing you as a credentialed authority. MSPs have lifted close rates 20% or more doing nothing else. If you cannot build the full kit, send the testimonial book alone, which is the most powerful piece in it.
Should I quote a prospect before doing an assessment?
Never. Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice, in medicine and in sales. Quoting before you have assessed their environment and understood their needs, goals, buying criteria, expectations and timeline makes you a vending machine rather than a trusted advisor, and nobody pays a premium to a vending machine.
