Field Transcript
Ring! Ring!
Me: GreyFalcon MSP. This is Daniel. How can I help you, today?
Caller: Hey, Dan! Congratulations on your birthday! How many is it now? 65?
Me: Hello, Terry. Thanks for the well wishes. How can I help you, today?
Terry: I’m not calling you for help, man. I’m calling to wish you a happy birthday! That’s all. You sound like you have something really critical you are working on.
Me: I am, Terry. I’m working on my marketing. I need to do SOMETHING to bring in more clients.
Terry: I get it, Dan. Every business owner I know is either doing well or terrible. And you … your business is so … I don’t know … Imaginary? I mean, people just don’t ‘get it’ you know? I know I did not until you saved my ass those years ago.
Me: Those years ago, you were not blind. You understood what I did. You just felt then, that it was too expensive. I know a few weeks ago, I was thinking the same thing about my car insurance. “It’s so damned expensive.” But unlike car insurance, there is no police force ticketing small businesses for not having an MSP.
Terry: Hahah! Could you imagine? I mean, how many frauds would be out there, saying they do what you do, but just to collect big checks?
Me: There already are, Terry. Being an MSP is one of those business models, where there is a really low, as in almost non-existent, barrier to entry. I know when I started this, back in oh-nine, all I did was buy a domain, put up a basic website, give myself an e-mail. Within a week, I had a my first real prospect. I met them through a job board, so I could not approach them. Then they waited the mandatory 90 days before calling me. I showed up with a contract and plans. That law firm is still a client, today. They are not as large as they once were, but they are still there.
Terry: Really? I did not think there could be a lot of fakes in your industry. How do they do it?
Me: Do what? Be a fraud?
Terry: Yeah. I mean … Say I was looking to hire an MSP. What would I look for to know they are real?
Me: Well … Before Covid, I would have said they had a real office they ran their business out of. And maybe had a staff. But to say that, today, would put me out. A lot has changed with and since Covid. My strongest avenue of growth was word of mouth. I mean I met people through introductions at networking events. That was one of the strongest ways prospects knew I was legit. That warm introduction. That unspoken ‘I know this guy and I trust him’ undercurrent that comes with such a handshake and introduction.
Terry: Someone else vouching for you. That makes sense. But say I just call an MSP, how do I know, and I mean KNOW they can take care of my business? I mean, Dan, honestly half the stuff you say to me, I just don’t understand. But I will say, sometimes when you are talking about a solution … your eyes shine. You just light up, sometimes. That is how **I** know you are real. You love doing this stuff.
Me: Thanks. I do. Though I will admit the business side of things is wearing me down. But the actual tech work … Yeah. I DO love that. Fixing things that are broken, or preventing them from breaking, or reconfiguring a network so it is smoother, more secure, better … Yeah, that is my thing. That can go a long way, too, in helping identify a quote real msp end-quote. Another way is are they actually insured? As in Business insurance. When I signed my first client, I was not. I did not have the income to pay for it and a mentor I had at the time told me not to worry about it. Then I saw another MSP get hit with a lawsuit for a mistake. And they HAD insurance. But still ended up going out of business. Filed for bankruptcy. Insurance is not enough. But it certainly helps.
Terry: OK. So passion and insurance. What else?
Me: Are they able to leave the jargon behind and explain a situation or a need in real world verbiage you can understand and without you being left to feel like you are an idiot?
Terry: So … good communications skills. Passion for what they do. Business insurance. Someone I can feel comfortable recommending. There has to be more than that.
Me: Well … think on it this way, Terry … When you move to a new city and you need a dentist, what do you do? You ask someone else. Maybe get a few names and look them up online. Check reviews and such, right? Then, when you go in … even with your entire face in pain … it’s time for a gut check. At least that’s what we called in the Army. You ask your self, before you sit down in the chair, before you let them drive that needle into your gums to stop the pain and the feeling … Can I trust this person?
Terry: That is what is all comes down to? Your gut?
Me: No, I don’t think it comes down to your gut. I think it comes down to trust. When I’m working on your server or I’m fixing an issue with your e-mail … I can see everything within your environment. Those deals that every business has where things went wrong or the product just did not come together quite right? That e-mail where you discuss with a staffer the prospect of terminating another staff member. Imagine in larger organizations being able to read HR’s hard drive? To a dentist, that might be like that string of your wife’s pot roast from last night stuck between two teeth. He sees it, he deals with it, and he says nothing about it. Maybe advises you to floss a bit better. But the dentist does not break your trust with what he sees you have not been doing well or right. He helps you do better. But without judgement. Just corrective steps.
In my opinion THAT is what being an MSP is most about. Fixing what needs fixing. Preventing damage and loss through good maintenance. And when exposed to something ignore everything about it, but it’s impact on that client business and the steps I can take to help.
Terry: Damn, Dan! That is some heavy crap! You must know a lot of secrets about your clients.
Me: A few. But not like the secrets you are thinking of. I know a few passwords. I might know a bit of their ‘secret sauce’ as a business, because I get to see their work flow. The melding of personalities, the things that make that unique business work and work well. And I get to see with other businesses where the toxicity internally might be.
Terry: OK. Prove it. What are my secrets?
Me: Nope. Not going there, Terry.
Terry: Sure you are. Come on. Tell me one of my secrets.
Me: Terry, I don’t want to play this game.
Terry: Hehaha. Come on, man. Okay, why not?
Me: OK, Terry, imagine this. Imagine I do know a secret about you. Something smallish. Let’s say for arguments sake you have a bottle in your desk. And on particular occasions you will pour a finger or three of it into your coffee cup. Now, imagine that I shared that secret with you, now. That would be breaking your trust. Even with you. Can you still trust me the same way?
Terry: I had not thought about it that way. But I see your point. What do you do with all those things you have seen?
Me: I just let them go. Something else I was taught in the Army. I had a top secret clearance, back then. I had a higher clearance than some of the officers in my units. Because it was a part of my job handling communications. I had to have that clearance. And today, I have that same type of clearance, when I am hired by a client. I just let go of what I see that is not directly relevant to my responsibilities.
Terry: Wow … I did not know that about your Army experience, Dan.
Me: Well, it’s not like I still have that clearance. It really does not do much good in this, my chosen market. Not many tax prep businesses are dealing with tax returns that support national security concerns.
Terry: I see your point. Dan, It’s your birthday, today. And I’m going to do something for you, today. I want to do something for you, today. And now I know what it is. I was thinking that I should get you a bottle of your favorite bourbon or similar. But I have a better idea. I’m going to help you fulfill your dream.
Me: huh? I mean, uh … What are you going to do, Terry?
Terry: I’m going to e-mail every single business owning client I have. I’m going to tell them in that e-mail who you are. What you do, what you have done for me and how I trust you. I’m going to help you earn the success you deserve.
Me: Thank you, Terry. Sincerely, thank you.
Terry: Well, Happy birthday, my friend! I hope I can help you grow your business, a bit.
Me: Have a great day, Terry.
Terry: By the way … are you going to make this into one of your phonecall posts?
Me: Why not?
Terry: Because everyone who calls you is ‘Terry’. And ‘Terry’ does not subscribe to your managed services.
Me: Terry, I do not have a client named Terry. I call every client Terry when I write about them so no one will know you use my services. My client list is not so much a secret as much as … well, one client recently told me that the work I do for them is a part of their ‘secret sauce’.
Terry: Ah… more of keeping those secrets, secret.
Me: Yeah, something like that.
Terry: OK. I’m getting off of here and am going to see what I can do to make your day better!
Me: Thanks, Terry.
Daniel Curry added a new photo.