One Mistake That Makes You Hate Selling Managed Services

By The Business Solutions Network

This morning I spoke with Sean Vojtasko, executive VP at BlueWave Computing, LLC, one of the largest MSPs (managed services providers) in the country. I was getting his input on a tech trend article I'm working on, and he mentioned something to me -- almost as an aside -- that I thought was so valuable that I wanted to share it with you right away. 

Before I share this timely piece of wisdom, check out a few of BlueWave's credentials: 150 employees, $20 million in revenue, 18,000 devices under management, and 400 active customers. Also, this MSP has averaged 50% year-over-year revenue growth over the past five years.

"You can't put a customer on a fixed-fee managed services contract without first getting their network infrastructure up to par," he says. "We see this all too often from competitors trying to sell managed services. They market a monthly flat fee service for anyone and everyone without first assessing the customer's IT environment, and they end up losing their shirts in the end."

For BlueWave Computing, a network assessment is a non-negotiable. And, if a new prospect doesn't want to take this MSP's advice and upgrade its legacy Windows XP Server, that's fine -- it's just not going to be able to have the peace of mind that comes from being on a managed services contract. How's that for turning the tables? ♦