Marketing cannot close a managed services sale. It can only open the door. Once a prospect is in front of you, someone has to qualify them, build value, develop the need, sell them on why you, and then actually ask for the order. Most MSPs present the plan and then go quiet, because prospects do not know how to buy and nobody directs them. Ask for the paperwork, not the signature. The benchmark: you should be closing 60% to 70% of the proposals you generate, and if you are not, either the prospects are not qualified or your process never convinced them why you.
Let me start by clarifying a couple of things regarding success in CLIENT-GETTING.
This first point is one I’m a little surprised I need to make, but I’ve found it has not occurred to most MSPs. That is, marketing alone cannot close a managed services sale for you.
It can only open the door and help facilitate a sales “event.” Meaning, it can get the phone to ring, drive a prospect to a page to get an appointment, get someone to walk up to you at the trade show booth, get someone to opt in, click on a link, give you a referral.
But ultimately, for revenue to come in, a salesperson needs to talk to that prospective customer, qualify them, build the value, develop the need, sell them on why YOU and ultimately to CLOSE them.
A lot of what we hear from the “your marketing doesn’t work” crowd is not a failure of marketing at all, but a SALES failure. The phone rang, the visitor opted in, the prospect clicked, but there was a grossly insufficient effort to respond appropriately, aggressively and completely. And if the lead that came in wasn’t a buyer in heat, presold like a referral, marketing is blamed.
Marketing’s job is NOT to replace selling, but to assist it. A brilliant marketing campaign will utterly fail without a great sales process, and person, tied to it.
What A Salesperson’s Job Actually Is
Second, most salespeople are confused about what their job is.
To be clear, it’s to CLOSE SALES. Not to develop relationships, not to create proposals and not to deliver brochures and information so that a prospect can make a decision on their own.
All of that may be PART of the job, but it’s NOT THE GOAL, and it’s definitely NOT how you would measure success from a salesperson. If a salesperson is on your payroll, you don’t want them to come back at the end of the week and report that they didn’t close any sales, but they “successfully” built relationships with a bunch of people and created proposals.
Too many weeks of that and you’ll be firing their butt, as you should.
If you cannot truly help someone or deliver what they need, you disqualify them, of course. But IF that prospect IS someone you can help and they NEED your services, or can benefit from them, your job is to do everything within your power to close that sale, elegantly, professionally and aggressively.
I know this makes many MSPs’ buttholes tighten up, making them angry and indignant. Those are always the same people who don’t know how to sell and who despise salespeople. They don’t understand the nature of selling, its core principles, the structure, the psychology. They’re also NOT rich or running big MSPs.
Point is, everything you do in the sales process, including disqualification, is designed so you can successfully close a new customer on a service they truly need at a price point that allows you to secure the desired profit margins you want.
That’s it. Anything else is a distraction.
What “Always Be Closing” Actually Means
The act of closing is not just done at the end.
The saying “always be closing” does have validity, but most think it means you’re strong-arming a customer into giving up their credit card from the moment you start engaging.
Nonsense.
What it DOES mean is that you choreograph the sales process so that you overcome all the obstacles and objections, building the need and the value, educating the prospect and HELPING THEM GET RID OF THE STUPID B.S. THEY HAVE IN THEIR HEAD SO THAT THEY MAKE A BUYING DECISION THAT IS GOOD FOR THEM.
That’s what everything up to this point has been working toward: getting the prospect to say YES to your proposal.
But You Still Have To Ask
In the meeting, you still MUST ASK FOR THE ORDER.
Prospects don’t know how to buy, and a huge mistake many make is to present the information, then shut up. They don’t direct the client how to buy.
My suggestion is to get the prospect, or client if you’re selling to a client, to “okay the paperwork.” Not “sign the contract,” since that sounds scary. The paperwork being either the proposal you’ve put in front of them, or the SOW, statement of work, if you already have an MSA, master services agreement, in place.
In other words, you want a decision. NOT a “let me think it over” or “let me run it past so-and-so,” which is what most prospects will say even if they are inclined to buy.
If it’s a no, then it’s a no. Fine. I’d much rather have a solid NO than a maybe.
The Scripts
Here are some examples of how to ask for the order.
If you get a sense they are HIGH on the certainty scale of buying:
“Okay, so all we need to do is get you to okay the paperwork and pick out your onboarding date, and we can get started right away providing you with the help you need. Just initial right here.”
If you get a sense they are NOT high on the certainty scale:
“Tell me what you think about all of this. Is there anything that doesn’t work for you? Do you like the plan I outlined? Do you feel confident it will deliver what you need? Does it make sense? What about us as a company? Do you feel good about working with us? What about switching providers, are there any concerns there?”
And if you can hear the hesitation:
“I am hearing some hesitation in your voice. May I ask what it is?”
Or:
“There must be a reason causing you to hesitate. May I ask what it is?”
What Your Close Rate Should Be
In some cases, you will still have some people who insist on thinking it over, talking to someone else or even waiting to get a quote from another MSP, even if you’ve handled all the objections well.
I don’t know of anyone with a 100% close rate. But you should be north of 60% at this point.
If you are not closing 60% to 70% of the proposals you’re generating, then you are either not talking to truly qualified prospects, OR, more likely, your sales process is lacking in convincing the prospect why they should buy from you over anyone else.
That number is worth writing down and checking yourself against, because it tells you which problem you actually have. A low close rate on qualified prospects is a process problem. A low close rate on unqualified prospects is a targeting problem. They have completely different fixes.
If your close rate is sitting below that, that is exactly what my MSP sales training is built to fix.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you ask for the order in an MSP sales meeting?
Directly, and with specific language. Ask the prospect to “okay the paperwork” rather than “sign the contract,” because the second sounds scary. Pair it with a next step: “All we need to do is get you to okay the paperwork and pick out your onboarding date.” The most common mistake is presenting the plan and then going quiet, because prospects do not know how to buy and will not direct themselves.
What close rate should an MSP have on proposals?
North of 60%, and ideally 60% to 70% of the proposals you generate. Nobody closes 100%. If you are consistently below that range, you are either not talking to truly qualified prospects, or more likely your sales process is failing to convince them why they should buy from you rather than anyone else.
Should I say “sign the contract”?
No. Ask them to okay the paperwork instead. “Sign the contract” sounds scary and introduces friction at the exact moment you want the decision to feel small and obvious. The paperwork is either the proposal in front of them or the statement of work, if you already have a master services agreement in place.
What does “always be closing” really mean?
Not strong-arming someone into handing over a credit card from the moment you engage. It means choreographing the sales process so that obstacles and objections are overcome along the way, value and need are built, and the prospect is educated, so that by the time you ask, the decision is already made. The close is the last step of a process, not a tactic applied at the end.
Isn’t it pushy to aggressively ask for the sale?
If you cannot genuinely help the prospect, disqualify them. But if you can help them and they need what you sell, your job is to do everything in your power to close that sale, elegantly, professionally and aggressively. The people most offended by this are usually the ones who do not know how to sell, and they are also usually not running the largest or most profitable MSPs.
Why do my prospects say “let me think it over”?
Because most prospects say it even when they are inclined to buy. It is a reflex, not a verdict. That is why you ask directly for a decision rather than accepting the deferral. And if the answer genuinely is no, take it. A solid no is more useful than a maybe, because it frees you to spend the time on someone who will decide.
Is a low close rate a marketing problem or a sales problem?
Almost always sales. When the phone rings, the visitor opts in and the prospect clicks, and nothing closes, that is not a marketing failure. Marketing’s job is to open the door and facilitate the sales event, not to replace selling. A brilliant campaign will still fail without a strong sales process and a capable person running it.
