6 Red Flags to Look for when Choosing an MSP
Choosing an MSP can be tough. Your provider holds the keys to the kingdom, and they become your safety net when things go wrong. So, how do you make the choice? What things are important to look for? For this article, we’re going to talk about the “Red Flags” that’ll tip you off as to whether or not an MSP is a good fit for you.
Pushy Sales
As my business partner, Chad, says, “How you sell is how you serve.” You can tell a lot about a company by how they sell. And nobody likes a pushy salesperson – especially for something as important as your IT.
If the company approaches the sale as a transaction, you can trust that they’ll treat you like a transaction. What you’re looking for is an IT provider – and a salesperson – that listens to your needs and has your best interests in mind, not theirs. The ideal sales approach is a consultative approach, one where it’s clear the service provider is trying to understand whether they are the best fit for your needs, rather than trying to close a deal that ultimately might end up under-serving you and your company.
Vague Services
We’ve all seen it – a sales proposal with a lot of fluff, and a vague description of what you’re getting without any clear information. Or, how about when the answer always seems to be “yes” when you ask the salesperson whether something is covered?
The truth is that running an MSP is hard, and we can’t be all things to all people. Providing top-notch, consistent service delivery means knowing what you can and can’t do. That means some potential clients just won’t be a fit. It’s better to draw clear lines up front, than to underserve the client and let them down because you made promises you couldn’t keep.
Lack of Live Data
Every MSP promises the best response time, resolution time, or overall quality of service. But how many of them will let you see live data that supports their claims?
This is a critical question every business should ask a potential MSP. Most likely, they will simply tell you that they don’t share their data due to confidentiality/competitive concerns. While this is certainly a concern, there are ways to maintain confidentiality while still showing you their data.
What underlies this resistance typically takes a couple of forms. The first, and most egregious, is that they don’t track their statistics at all. This means that the company judges their performance based on how loud their customers complain. While listening to customers is, of course, very important, the mark of a good MSP is one who is in touch with their service delivery well enough to prevent the complaint from happening in the first place. If you don’t measure and quantify your performance, you can’t predictively deliver consistent, high-quality services at scale, time and time again.
The second common reason an MSP won’t share their data is because their data doesn’t match their claims. It’s very easy to claim that they have great service delivery; it’s an entirely different story to back it up with live data and actual demonstrated history. It’s probably one of the biggest fears companies have when engaging with a new MSP: committing to a three-year contract and finding out that their service delivery is horrible.
Lack of Production Values
Just like with “How you sell is how you serve,” there’s a relationship between the quality of the sales collateral you’re given (if any at all), the structure of the sales engagement, the quality of their website, and every other touch point you may have with them. Some MSPs may argue that their focus is on how technical they are, and that they don’t spend their resources on silly things like proposals and sales material, but I would argue that excellence is excellence. The relationship is more than just how technical their team is; it’s the sum total of how they run the business that adds up to a great experience. Having strong technical folks is just the table stakes. If you’ve run a business, you know just how much goes into making it great, and it doesn’t stop at just one part of the organization.
Poor Reputation
Ask around. Seriously! Ask your friends or business associates whether they’ve heard anything good or bad about the company. An established MSP should have some sort of reputation, and that reputation matters. Has the MSP been around long enough to establish a reputation? Is the MSP involved in and giving back to the community? How about social proof – do they have testimonials or video interviews they can show you? If you haven’t heard about the company at all, ask to speak with one or more of their customers. A good MSP will have no problem giving you references and even setting up a meeting or conversation with their customers. When you meet with them, ask them questions like, “What could the MSP do better,” or “What are your biggest frustrations with them?”
Poor Culture Fit
Finally, and just as important, is the culture fit. Again, you can tell a lot from the salesperson. Is the salesperson interested in fit, or just closing the sale at all costs? Ask the salesperson to describe the culture at the company. Does he or she have a ready answer? Can they provide the company’s Core Purpose and a list of Core Values? While there’s so much subjectivity to culture fit, it’s vital to determine whether the company has a culture at all, and values and nurtures it. This speaks directly to how the MSP functions. If there’s no intentional culture, there’s a good chance they don’t value their employees, and would consider its relationship with you, the customer, to be transactional at best.
Choosing an MSP is hard. There are a lot of us out there and many do a great job, are truly intentional, and care deeply about the quality of service they deliver, and how well they are able to meet your needs. At Verve, we believe that our customers are one of the four stakeholders in our business – which also includes our Employees and our Community, and Verve exists to serve all of our stakeholders, not just the owners.
If you’re interested in learning more about Verve and what we think makes us special, please give us a call, email, or reach out via our Contact Us form. We look forward to chatting with you to see if we’re a good fit for you!