The cloud has brought about a new era for selling IT services, and it asks a lot of providers. Say it with me: caveat venditor. Okay, I don’t speak Latin either, but it means “let the seller beware.” Gone are the days of caveat emptor—“let the buyer beware”—when decision makers lacked access to information and feared being swindled by the likes of a used car salesman. Now your customers have every opportunity to learn exactly what to ask: quality in cloud services.
The cloud conversation is too important for customers to be intimidated by, and it’s your job as an expert MSP to provide education to guide them to an informed decision. And they’ll smell your bullsh—I mean, your baloney—if you’re falling short of meeting their needs and expectations during their sales journey.
Disguising hosted services behind a veil of all the cloud promises may appeal to providers in the short term, but it’s detrimental to the customer relationship in long run.
You have to bundle like a boss. You need to wrap a valuable managed service around every license you sell but you must be smart about it. It starts with knowing your audience and your specializations. Play to your expertise when you can, and choose the right technology partner to help you supplement your business with extra value where you need it.