Want to Earn a New Customer in 24 Hours?

Earning new customers can be a challenge, everyone knows that. The pressure to win clients and keep them is really heating up, and the market is absolutely saturated with MSPs all competing to win valuable clientage.

The problem is that there really isn’t a secret formula for streamlining the process. If there was, this could easily be one of those “quick tips to succeed at all the things” guides or a “get results fast by following these easy steps” tutorial.

But it’s not.

The concept of  winning a new customer in 24 hours is, unfortunately, a bit far-fetched. The simple fact is, it’s just not that simple. Few things in life are, and earning customers is no exception.

So no, this is not an article about how to fast-track the process — sorry guys. But it does shine a light on the fact that this is all too often the sort of thing you hear… a simple solution to sidestep a particular MSP hurdle. We’re here to tell you, when it comes to snagging a new client, there is no Easy Street.

Carrie Simpson, founder and CEO of Managed Sales Pros, says that the focus shouldn’t be on how you “close a deal” in a short time frame, but on the setup.

Managed Sales Pros’ Carrie Simpson

“No decision or deal is made within 24 hours,” says Simpson. “Even if you had the best brand, the perfect sales rep and an enviable client roster, you’re still going to have to wait until the timing is exactly right for the potential customer to make that move. Responsible business owners don’t change providers unless there’s a reason to, and it has to be done at a time that’s minimally disruptive to their business practices.”

Ok, so closing a deal/winning a customer in a 24-hour time frame may not be realistic, but that doesn’t mean speed doesn’t play an important role.

Michael Schmidtmann, peer group facilitator and business coach at Trans4mers, says that one of the strongest motivators for companies is to stop a loss.

Trans4mers’ Mike Schmidtmann

“Picture things from the customer perspective,” encourages Schmidtmann. “If you’re an MSP and you want to get folks to act on you quickly, your number one tactic should be to get them to understand that they’re losing money. The fear of loss and the business being put at risk is twice as motivating as an expectation of gain, so you have to get the customer to look at it as a stopping of a loss and not an expectation of a gain.”

Schmidtmann goes on to say that there is a risk of not taking quick action, which is why speed and knowing when and how to strike are key.

A word of caution, though. It is possible to be…