Top Managed Services Provider, masterIT, Taking Staff to Jamaica

At the start of 2011, masterIT CEO Michael Drake challenged his team with a monthly recurring revenue (MRR) target. Hit or exceed the target, Drake said, and masterIT would take its employees and their spouses/significant others on an expenses-paid trip to Jamaica. So what was the outcome?

Fast forward to the present and masterIT’s managed services business (MRR) has grown roughly 45 percent in 2011. The company hit its MRR goal in November 2011. And the team is now packing for a January 2012 trip to Jamaica. But the trip to Jamaica also took some creative thinking from Drake and the masterIT management team. Here’s why.

As an MSP, master IT can’t afford to have all of its employees offline at the same time. Drake found two solutions to the problem.

• First, all employees hired July 1, 2011 and later would not be eligible for this current trip. Those recent hires would remain at work to make sure masterIT’s customers were properly supported during the staff trip.
• Second, masterIT has an outsourced NOC (network operations center) relationship with NetEnrich, to further ensure customer monitoring remains proactive during the master IT staff trip.

I asked Drake if he was worried about recent masterIT hires resenting that they could not qualify for the Jamaica trip. He noted that masterIT was fully transparent with all recent hires, describing why they couldn’t qualify for the potential trip but assuring them that the hires would certainly qualify for future team rewards.

The Long-term View

Drake also noted that the January 2012 Jamaica trip was more than a reward for masterIT’s 2011 performance.  “A lot of this year’s success was built atop our work from the previous five years,” said Drake.

Among the company’s business milestones:

• 2011 top-line revenue was up about 55 percent
• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) was up about 45 percent
• And the company’s bottom-line has tripled

Roughly 15 masterIT employees and their spouses/significant others are set for the Jamaica trip, which runs Jan. 13-16. Those employees push far beyond sales and represent all departments at masterIT, since all departments influence sales, customer acquisition, customer retention and profit margins. Said Drake, “My experience is once people [take a trip like this] they mention it to everyone. Our clients think it’s really cool. It’s an outward expression of success. It’s an incredible recruiting tool.”

I’ve asked Drake for another recap when he and his team return to work in mid-January. Stay tuned, and safe travels Michael.