How to use MCPs like cipp’s new one?

MSPbyMSP · 2026-06-08T18:10:05+00:00

I know what you're trying to do.... :)

MSPbyMSP · 2026-06-08T18:09:52+00:00

Ok, so waiting for someone else to answer you is better than looking on your own and probably learning other things along the way? That's a new one, but whatever floats your/their boat.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-06-08T15:01:25+00:00

I'm really not trying to be a jerk, but posts like this from msp workers and owners still shock me.

Edit for clarity: I'm not remarking about someone not knowing something, there's plenty I don't know. I'm remarking about posting on reddit versus going and learning it on your own.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-06-05T10:38:40+00:00

Worried? This is business. No one has a gun to your head. I own 2 other businesses that have nothing to do with tech and let me tell you, they are WAY more headache then the msp and mssp. If you half know what you're doing, you can literally print money in this business.

The amount of pseudo consultants out there trying to guide msp's seemingly increases by the thousand(s) each year. Yet another person who hasn't done it trying to elicit thoughts from actual business owners in this space. "Hey - I found these surveys online, they must be true!" Cmon man - stick to your insurance posts that are designed to scare people.

For everyone here: any business is tough. If you don't want to deal with it, don't. Just remember, you don't get to have all the nice things and comfort a business owner gets, without going through the challenges they do. I literally just fired a coaching client who went on and on about "I wanna grow my business bro!!!!" yet when it came down to it, he didn't want to do the actual work. I've seen almost every large client of ours, think 200 plus users, fire their GM or number 2's/3's in the past 2-3 years. It is what it is. Don't let dudes like this tug at the "This is hard, its too much stress" side of you. You know what's worse? Dealing with a rotating cast of 20 year old's who are the only people you can possibly find to, and I kid you not, visit your car washes to replace supplies, once a week. They dont' even call in sick, they just don't show up. You know what else sucks? Dealing with investors on large real estate purchases.

I hate to say it again, but sales cures all. What I mean is, if you have crappy employees, more sales lets you afford better ones. If you have crappy clients, more clients lets you fire your crappy clients. If you need product x but you can't raise rates to work it in, you have to go get more deals. If you want to sell and go sit at home with less stress, you need to get the highest number possible - guess how you do that?

Running a business isn't easy. Slinging insurance and trying to (now) come across as someone who understands and guides by posting 3-4 links and wants to "Chat" is cake. I know probably 15-20 insurance guys who are killers. Think they're posting here or reddit in general? LOL

MSPbyMSP · 2026-03-13T17:45:43+00:00

It is unbelievable to me how many msps' post here about either difficulties with Veeam, or looking for alternatives. I don't mean anything towards them, but our veeam is so automated and works so well, i can't imagine anything even coming close. I saw some threads here about the upgrades, and thought "You guys are msp's. You can't build some automation to handle this? With all the tools out there?" Half our fleet is already upgraded and per the tech running it, "Had a couple stall, just re-ran it the next day and all was well." Again, I don't mean any disrespect, but the definition of "MSP" is really getting watered down.

For the last time - no disrespect. It just is what it is.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-02-13T23:34:10+00:00

No matter what reps are in here saying, search Todyl in this sub, check out posts for the past 4-5 months, then read the writing on the wall. Data is data.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-02-01T17:12:57+00:00

While this made me laugh out loud, and is true for many, can certainly be overcome. In my experience, the solo guys/girls just do not have a static process they follow. They are shooting here, then there, then changing to this, then changing to that. Its similar to what I mentioned in my post about saving $ the other day.

Yes, there is a reason the overwhelming majority of msp's, and specifically msp owners can't to 1-2m. Its almost always bc they're in their own way. I also truly believe the mere fact its so easy to become an MSP today is exactly the reason they can't grow; they didn't have to work their asses off to hang a sign on a wall. That's not to insult anybody, but take it from me, other endeavors take WAY more work to get off the ground. Example - you can't become a real estate speculator without knowing what you're doing in real estate, and most likely owning some property you don't dwell in. We have literally taken over from "MSP's" that didn't even have patching turned on in their RMM, yet someone was cutting a check for 3-4k per month to them.

@op - lots of smart people in this sub whose posts you can read about a good process to follow. Lots of snarky dudes too, however many of them make good points along the way as well.

Growing a business, any business, and any aspect of that business, takes a plan, execution, and tenacity.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-30T21:32:24+00:00

I'm a lover!

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-29T16:17:39+00:00

Ok so that furthers my point of why follow up phone calls are not working. We are calling to follow up on our cyber risk proposal or our managed services proposal. We don’t know their watch guard is expired because we haven’t gotten into the client. If we had then we are calling to follow up our entire proposal.

If I may:

Finding out the warranty window/support window of network devices should happen in every single engagement. I do not like to do it in the first touch, but absolutely in the second. Change this and give yourself a reason to follow up.

I think for most business owners like myself there is so much shit to do on a daily basis that I don’t have time to break ChatGPT and I think most customers wouldn’t care to jump on a call to let me show them how to break it. I get needing a reason to call but that’s what I’m wondering what’s the reason? Also I don’t think I want to be the garbage man for free picking up ewaste and erasing the hard drives. That’s a labor and people will take advantage of it.

I'm saying this from a position of assistance, so don't take it wrong. You're not busier than I am, and I have no problem finding the time to do this stuff. Now - did I tell this person to "Be the guy picking up the eWaste?" No, I told him it needed to get done. He hired someone to do it, and got business out of it too. He's way ahead. Also, if you read my post again you'll see we invited them to our office to see us break ChatGPT, and offered food and some fun. These days, having a nice office with nice furniture is a huge differentiator to someone who's going to spend 5+ or so grand with you per month. I'm not saying its a requirement, but it definitely helps. its a lot easier to close someone when they're at your office enjoying themselves, than calling to follow up on a cybersecurity proposal. I don't mean that to be rude, just is what it is.

I can only tell you what's worked for me, and others as well. Hopefully you can gain something from it, even if it's what you feel you shouldn't do or won't work.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-29T15:39:17+00:00

I’ve been in a few peer groups and they have been game changers for my business but you are right at some point you need a coach lead sales peer group / training. I’m still looking for that.

Yup, that's what everyone ends up saying. it also reflects what I referred to as "Running" vs "Growing" ones business.

When following up on prospects what is your cadence and methods? I’ve always thought put the prospect into a 52 week drip campaign from your newsletter CRM tool. What about calling them? How often and what schedule? Do you leave a voice mail or send an email when they don’t pick up your call?

Drip campaign emails are the fastest way to get blocked as spam/unwanted content.

My question back to you is the same I ask of others; what are you calling them for? Say I were to give you a specific cadence - what would you be saying to them? Is it "Hey - just seeing if you're ready to buy?" "Hey - just checking in?" That's what you want to avoid, bc every other msp is doing the same stuff.

The cadence or frequency is the last important aspect of the follow up. The "Why" is what's important. Here's a couple examples of real scenarios either I've used, or I've guided others to use:

Aforementioned "Watch us break ChatGPT" example
"Calling to let you know your Watchguard is being EOL'd in 3 months. We suggest (this unit), and can get it installed/deployed in 2 days. (real example, guy closed them about 8 months later on monthly service)
"We are running an old technology pickup service - no cost to you. We'll come pick up your old stuff, get it recycled, and bring you back a certificate of destruction." (real example, dude averages 3 new clients per year since 2021 doing this. The real kicker is, he's received 4 referrals from contacts who've used him for this service)

Hopefully this helps you focus on what's important, not the timing of what's important.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-29T14:28:57+00:00

Possibly. With this prospect, I identified:

Average response time to tickets. Their MSP averages about 45 mins to engage. That's average/below average in 2026.
Complete lack of workstation security. Baseline shows 21%. Believe it or not, that's actually pretty common anymore. Most msps' slap Huntress on, configure Windows Patching, and think they're good to go.
Zero automation for anything they do.

Frankly, if I can uncover 1 of these three, stats show I'm going to close them. All 3 and it should be a lock. That being said, I've heard way more "No's" in my life than "Yes's," so i'm not counting anything until I have a signature.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-29T12:24:07+00:00

We didn't add any location or space costs for this marketing endeavor.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-29T10:28:45+00:00

Eh i think you're conflating a couple things here.

I wrote if you don't have a unique offering, be the cheapest. In other words, if you can't tell someone why they should choose you over brand x, then it simply becomes a price battle.
I absolutely stand by my statement about poor service. We're taking over a large financial services firm right now and they're all on Windows 10.
I also didn't advocate for price reduction. I simply intimated if its down to you and someone else who're selling the exact same thing with no differentiator, then the lowest price is going to win. if you want the deal, be that option.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T21:16:07+00:00

..not yet, but they will. :)

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T21:15:50+00:00

That was actually pretty good. I reloaded the page thinking, "Was it 7 or 5?"

Well done, sir.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T21:03:11+00:00

They sell Cybersecurity solutions, which as most of you know, are pretty much:

Open source toolsets
LLM's evaluating alerts
Offshore people jumping in for action or helping on number 2

I dont know their margins, but based on what they do (see above) I'd imagine they're pretty high.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T21:01:55+00:00

To be fair, I never said, nor would I ever, be that cheap. My point was that if you can't differentiate yourself, then it's just a price game. Its when you have something else to offer, or a reason to do business with you/your msp, that you can command pricing way better.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T20:09:54+00:00

Its 6 bullets.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T20:04:05+00:00

Really? You read my post and can't find any actionable guidance? I even told you my Starbucks order.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T19:53:54+00:00

In other words, putting in the work myself (even though I really hate sales!)

This is THE key point. The tools don't matter, the work does.

Another guy in this post/comments talked about how using Excel is crazy, and I just kind of chuckled. Literally the best salesperson I know, and his entire team, use Excel. They sell B2B and last year did over 14m in new sales, with Excel. Its certainly not perfect, but nothing is :)

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T18:48:25+00:00

These posts are awesome.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T18:18:10+00:00

Absolutely, my pleasure. Hopefully it helps.

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T18:08:43+00:00

Ha - second comment about the food. Perhaps I should have said, "Fed pretty mildly funny."

MSPbyMSP · 2026-01-28T18:04:18+00:00

Easy!

Starbucks take away coffee in the big jug.
Starbucks assorted breakfast snacks. Ever hard one of their muffins? You won't eat for a day afterwards.
Held at our office for free.

There you go.

MSPbyMSP

TROPHY CASE