MSP Owner's: Go Sell Something
The Owner’s responsibility is to leave Service Delivery Issues to the Service Manager to handle, but they don’t because of a lack of Trust.
Having worked with 100’s of MSPs from around the world over the last 5 years, we know that the Techs want to do a good job, meet expectations. We also know they are struggling due to the lack of tools, and inefficient processes.
The catch 22 is that for an Owner to Trust the Service Delivery Team, they need to invest in the Service Delivery Operation by providing Pro-Active Dynamic Dashboards, and an Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) library of the best MSP Service Delivery practices.I would love to say that is all it takes, but the truth of the matter it also takes holding them accountable, and the tools for that are Advanced Autotask Live Reports
A summary of the two years of articles is captured in our comprehensive eBook, ‘“Unshackled” Access it right here:
If an MSP follows our advice (and many do) to build a high level of Trust in the Service Delivery Operations, this will:
· Free up the Company to grow.
· Allow the Owner to go out and sell something.
Now, what does that leave for the Owner’s Role and Responsibilities? After all, his role is not to be a Service Delivery watchdog, and no one wants him in that role anyway!!
What is left for an Owner to do once Service Delivery is covered?
According to the Visionary Academy, an Owner still wears many hats.
· Visionary for the Company
o Sets overall trajectory
o Plays with ideas
o Solves big problems
o Manages External Relationships
· Leadership within the Company
o Defines the Business Plan
o Sets Budgets & Policies
o Outlines Business Priorities
o Hires and Leads Managers
But the most important responsibility to focus on is…growing the Business and guiding it through the growth phasesThis sometimes means sales; other times it means growing the Leadership Team so they can focus on Sales, Administration, and Operations.
All too often, the Owner is the Visionary and the Leadership Team in all areas of the business, and this is fine. But under no circumstances (once the MSP Business has matured beyond 3 Techs) should the Owner be saddled with Service Delivery Issues. This then becomes the bottleneck and reason so many in the Industry say that Service Delivery Issues are the #1 barrier to growth.
While we are not an MSP (we are The Autotask Service Delivery Authority), we have grown through similar phases as an MSP does, growing from a 3-Tech shop to a 6-Tech shop. By the end of 2021, we will mirror a 10-Tech shop in all areas but Revenue.
In 2017-2018, not only was I responsible for all Sales, but I was also developing 90% of the Content and delivering 100% of our services. With Carol H joining us in 2019 we started moving the delivery of services to the Content Delivery Team and now they are delivering 75% of our services, while I focus on other areas.
By 2020, we matured to a place where Managers are also running the Marketing and Administrative functions. In 2021, with the addition of Duncan B, I will start migrating out of Sales and more into the Visionary and Leadership role, leaving the management - including Service Delivery - to the well-equipped managers we have either hired or grown within the business.
Where does that leave me? To do what I do best of course, and that is to develop more (and better) content to help the Autotask MSP Community Resolve Service Delivery Issues so they can Grow their Businesses.
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How do we know how to help MSPs grow their business? Because we have 22+ years of MSP Service Delivery Coordinator/Manager experience on staff, and 17+ years Autotask System Administration experience. Which is another way of saying we have been there and done that, and we know how to leverage the Autotask software to Resolve Service Delivery Issues.