The relationship between MSPs and vendors seems strained. Vendors seem to consistently behave in a manner that annoys MSPs. Now this may be a strange blog post from a vendor like Byte25, but here are the things that we hear from MSPs about vendors (like Byte25) … and these are the things that Byte25 are trying ‘not’ to do.
( We fully appreciate that this opens us up to criticism if we fall short, but hey, we got to at least make a start and open up the discussion)!
1. We Don’t Love Your Dashboard
We appreciate that you have spent whole lot or time and money crafting a ‘user friendly’, ‘intuitive’, ‘context sensitive’, ‘interactive’ (insert appropriate hyperbole buzzwords here) dashboard. I understand that this allows me to access information and resolve issues with just a ‘few clicks’. And yes, I agree that the graphical eye-candy of cyber-attacks being launched in real-time overlayed on a 3D rendered global map looks great.
And please don’t take this the wrong way, but I really don’t care.
We are an MSP, our bread and butter is our PSA and RMM systems. These are the systems that we are in front of each and every day. We don’t have time to switch between multiple different products dashboards. Sure, we may use your dashboard for diagnosing specific issues, but you need to integrate with the tools we already use.
Byte25 understand integrations are critical – we are continually working on how we can integrate to make MSP workflows better. We would welcome the opportunity to see how we can add functionality to help save time for your business.
2. Your 3 Year Lock-In Contract Doesn’t Fit Our Business Model
Did I mention that we are an MSP? Just in case you didn’t catch it, let me make it perfectly clear, our business model is based on billing our customers per device on a monthly basis. There is also churn with respect to customers and users – sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less.
We need you to structure your pricing that makes sense to our business. That means, no 3 year lock contracts, up front payment, no minimum commitment or outrageous price breaks and certainly flexibility to alter the contract when we need.
Byte25 want to ensure that our pricing and engagement model to fit your business model. Talk to us about your specific requirements to see how we can fit into your business and help you drive revenue.
3. No, We Will Not Resell Your Product
Our business is selling services to meet our customers needs. We use products, like yours, to deliver these services. Our customers neither know nor care what products we use, they only care about the service we deliver. If your product helps us deliver quality services and build revenue streams then we will continue to use it, but we will not actively ‘sell’ your product. If you want someone to sell your product talk to resellers not MSPs.
Byte25 understands that MSPs are not resellers, talk to us about rebadging reporting and other features that allow you to expand your services base.
4. I am Going to Need You To Stop Calling Me
Now I understand that you are just trying to grab some sales, and I totally get that your sales people are under pressure to make quota so that they can continue the lease payments on their BMWs. But it’s not 1998 anymore, you got to stop wasting my time cold calling me.
Please don’t tie up my help desk staff pretending that you know me, or are returning my call or some other random excuse to get an introduction, this only makes me less likely to even consider what you have to sell.
I understand how the Internet works, I am totally capable of doing my own research in identifying products that may help me deliver services. And if we do speak and I politely decline your offer of a free trial, please understand that this means that I am not interested – there is no need to follow up every couple of weeks to see if anything has changed.
Byte25 adopts a low-pressure approach to lead generation. Sure we might occasionally cold call, but we will not constantly pursue you, nor waste your employee’s time trying to get your attention. We appreciate that no means no.
5. But Be There When I Need You
It’s a funny old world! Before we committed to your product you would call every week, nothing seemed too much trouble. There were demos and meetings, promises of flexibility, true acts of devotion for which we were very appreciative.
And now after we have signed? Well now I can hardly find you, you never write, you never call, and worse, when I try and contact you, you’re nowhere to be seen.
Quite frankly it should be the other way around, you should be attending to the MSPs that are giving you money, the ones that will spread the word and talk to our peers about how great you are.
At Byte25, post-sales support is more important than pre-sales promises. In fact, in our experience, looking after MSPs that are customers provides much better business value than focusing on those that aren’t.
6. Don’t Contact Our Customers Directly
<sigh/> I really feel this shouldn’t have to be said, but I will say it anyway for the slow learners. Don’t contact our customers directly and try and upsell.
I appreciate that you probably know the customer contacts from your shiny SaaS platform as we onboard them, but this does not make them your customers. We are your customer, and we use your product to deliver a service. Our customers don’t care about your product, they care about our service.
If you have a new feature or ideas that will improve our service or drive new revenue streams then talk to us, but never go direct.
This should be obvious to all – Byte25 will never contact your customers directly without consulting you first.