efolder general_6 steps to prepare your msp for your first hunter

MSP Sales Strategies, Part 1: 6 Steps to Prepare Your MSP for Your First Hunter

MSP Sales Strategies, Part 1

Introduction MSP business owners face many challenges every single day. Between managing daily operations, providing tech support, and keeping their business on track with accounting, billing and invoicing, sales can sometimes fall by the wayside. There just aren’t enough hours in a day or week for a business owner to effectively focus on prospecting and recruiting new clients. MSPs that are unable to invest time into growing their client base find it difficult to increase their monthly recurring revenue and profits.

However, those MSPs who decide to move ahead and hire a dedicated hunter, a role where someone traditionally can prospect

and generate leads, to contribute to sales efforts may enjoy a host of benefits. For example, you will have more time to focus on your core business operations and needs without feeling the continual pressure to find new sources of revenue. While your hunter focuses on finding the “right” clients for your company, you can focus on ensuring your MSP business grows and prospers.

Sales is a key component to any business and here are the steps to get started in hiring your first hunter and gear your sales department up for success.


1 When bringing a full-time sales person on board, it’s important to establish a sales cycle appropriate for your business and target market(s). This will also help with establishing a realistic quota. Monitor metrics such as number of touch points and time between touch points to determine your cycle. While every sales cycle is different, a common cycle might look something like 60 to 90 days with 5 to 7 touch points.

CLOSE

NEGOTIATE

PROPOSAL

ANALYZE

QUALIFY

PROSPECT

Establish a sales process

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2 Implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is crucial to keeping your sales process running smoothly. CRM tools such as HubSpot, Capsule, or even ConnectWise make it easy to manage all aspects of your prospects and gain insight into your sales cycle. With a CRM tool, you can keep track of all contact details for a prospect, monitor the number of touches for a prospect, and keep track of average sales size and dollar amounts. CRM tools are also great for managing your pipeline so that you can accurately forecast your future sales.

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Standardize on a CRM tool


3 Quotas are the primary measure of sales success. Without carefully thought-out quotas, your sales team could easily lose sight of their personal incentives and the overall goals of your company. When designing your sales team’s quota, consider realistic expectations and the metrics of your sales cycle. What is your average sales dollar amount and how many average sales a month do you close? It’s also important to consider what you would like “more” of. Is it more profits? More signed agreements? Is your MSP capable of taking on more business? Design your quota metrics around your near and long-term goals.

Design a quota

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4 Whichever metric you choose to base your quota on is the one you should design your compensation plan around, since that information can be used to create a realistic and motivating commission plan. Most MSP sales teams are compensated with a base salary plus commission, but you could also consider a 100% commission-only plan. Consider a ramp-up period with the plan for new hires as it will take several months for a sales professional to build up their pipeline to their full potential.

Create a compensation plan

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5 Before hiring a salesperson for your team, identify the specific criteria that you should be searching for and create a job description that fits the needs of your ideal candidate. Some questions to ask yourself should include: Does this candidate have sales experience? Do they come from a technology background? If so, what kind of background – were they involved in hardware sales or cloud services? Are they familiar with the monthly recurring revenue business model? Can they network effectively? Will they be a good fit for your company culture? Ensuring all salespeople fit the mold of what you are looking for will help make your sales program successful from the get-go.

Hiring criteria

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6 It is a best practice to thoroughly document internal processes and procedures to ensure a salesperson can fit into your company and be productive right away. Do you have an internal training program to bring all employees up to speed on your services? Will your new hire have a ramp-up program when they first start? Is there training available for learning how to use the systems and software you use internally, such as your PSA tool or CRM system? These are all important considerations you need to think about and take action on prior to making your first hire.

Create a sales culture

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ConclusionSome MSP business owners do it all, but when you do hire a full-time hunter for your sales department, you no longer will have to. You will have a dedicated person looking to bring in new business that will be a good fit for your managed service offerings. In the long run, these clients will be beneficial and will appreciate the value that you can add to their work environments.

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