Adding Third-party Maintenance Profits Through Network Discovery

This year, more than ever, all MSP companies have been looking for ways to expand long-term relationships, extend service offerings, and make their bottom line that bit more profitable. SMB Nation recently posted a fascinating conversation on the potential of adding third-party maintenance profits to your revenue stream, just by saying yes to leveraging your existing trusted relationship with your clients. Here’s how we see it, at Atera.

Make Network Assessment More than a Freebie

For many companies, network assessment is less of a service offering and more of a kick-off to a relationship with a new client. On your own side, it’s about measuring the risk in the company you’re about to get involved with, and ensuring that the hardware is up to scratch for it to be profitable to onboard this client onto your regular managed offering.

It’s important to remember that the risk assessment is not just beneficial internally for you as an MSP. Measuring and reporting on the risk on the client-side is a value-add! Especially when sales are tight and there is an economic downturn on the way, MSPs can’t afford to have a non-billable staff or tech in their environment. Instead, use your company kick-off as a true risk assessment, showing the customer where they need extended coverage, and importantly, where hardware is not up to scratch or needs replacement.

Third-party Management is in Your Reach

Many MSPs will consider themselves service-only, meaning they don’t get involved when it comes to hardware and the practicalities of updating aging equipment. If this sounds like you, you’re missing a trick. Think about offering Third-party Management like an extended warranty to their OEM agreements. While as a customer, extended warranties can feel like an added cost that they can’t justify at the time of purchase, you as an MSP know differently. TPM is a true investment in your client’s future and your own. You’re also uniquely placed to talk to them about making smart decisions. Here’s how Atera makes it easy.

Our own Rockstar Customer Success Manager, Isaac Elyahou spoke recently to Harry at SMB Nation as part of a fascinating webinar on Network Discovery. He had a chance to describe Atera’s innovative Network Discovery Opportunities, which tells you about all the ‘on the table’ upselling opportunities that can be picked up and monetized. It works as a continuous technician in the background, discovering unmonitored devices, SNMP devices, printers, switches, and routers that have been added and need monitoring, and much more. It can show you when devices are aging and need updating, coming out of warranty, and so much more besides. It’s key to being proactive as an MSP, and becoming that trusted advisor for your customers, that so many of our superstar MSPs have mentioned in the past.

How to Talk to Your Clients About Third-party Management

Once you have this information, all handy in a snazzy report, you’re ready to talk to your clients. Don’t be nervous! Yes, you’re talking to them about a financial opportunity for yourself, but more than that, this is a win for the customer, too. When presented well, this report can show your customer that you’re ahead of the game, you can see what’s coming and you’re protecting them from two steps ahead. Here are 3 top tips for making the conversation work.

1. Fear of the Unknown: If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s shown us that we don’t know what’s around the next corner. TPM means that they can rest assured that all of their hardware is good to go for the length of their coverage.

2. Working on their Behalf: Your customers employ you to take the worry off their own heads, and the work of their own hands. This is exactly that, you’re looking to offload hardware considerations, and let them focus on their own business offerings.

3. Leveraging Existing Trust: One of the reasons that clients don’t buy extended warranties themselves is the fear of being swindled or tricked. Caveat Emptor is a universal feeling. Leveraging your relationship here can be a true win/win. You extend your service offering, and your clients don’t have to worry about loopholes.

Focusing on What Will Add to Your Client Relationships

As Harry said during our webinar, “This is a time to focus on long-term relationships with your customers. After all, there is nothing like challenging times to sharpen the saw!” In Harry’s office at the moment, the phone doesn’t ring twice! He’s ready to go at all times, with whatever his clients need, and in many cases, that’s going to mean picking up the phone yourself to make things happen on their behalf.

If you’re an MSP who has decided against offering third-party management extras, don’t leave the opportunity on the table. It’s getting easier and faster to be able to do this on your own. You might think you don’t have time, so you hand over this opportunity to someone else, but actually, your customers would rather buy from you. You have the relationship – let Atera, and Network Discovery opportunities, help you to take advantage of it.

Get in touch with any questions about making TPM, and Network Discovery, work for you.