The end of the year is typically a time for reflecting on the past, assessing successes and areas for improvement, and planning for the months ahead. Most importantly for MSPs? Taking time to strategize on ways to increase MRR over the long term while maintaining exceptional customer service and the lowest possible churn is never easy.
Identifying and adopting new revenue streams in an already overcrowded ecosystem can be challenging in even the best of times. However, with the current economic environment with so many uncertainties, those tasks are increasingly more complex. MSPs need to generate revenue growth while clients look for ways to cut costs and reduce overhead.
The good news is those two goals go hand-in-hand. Here are three highly profitable technologies that can trim clients’ budgets while increasing MRR and cash flow for MSPs:
- UCaaS
Universal Communication as a Service (UCaaS) is a growing offering amongst MSPs. The main features of UCaaS include voice, video conferencing, messaging, file sharing, team chat and collaboration, and all one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many communications. While the market is filled with individual and integrated solutions, many are outdated on-premise options with few features that are far more expensive and cumbersome than necessary.
Virtual technologies are no-brainers for SMBs. Cloud-based UCaaS solutions require no additional equipment, have no space requirements, consume less power (lower utility bills), and incur no maintenance headaches for MSPs. Adding new team members on-site or remotely (also carried out by their provider) is quick and easy. Costs are lower for the customer, and MRR is higher for the MSP, so it is truly a win-win situation.
UCaaS also provides additional opportunities to increase revenue, including communications assessments and recommendations, complementary solutions sales and implementation, and employee training. Ongoing support and troubleshooting drive even more MPP. These offerings can be incorporated into the monthly service fees or added a la carte.
- Compliance
There is tremendous fear, uncertainty and doubt surrounding regulations and industry standards. Being out of compliance is terrifying for most small business owners as their customers rely on them to protect their privacy, data, assets and freedom. The stringent penalties and devastating effects if something were to happen to the business and/or data could compromise any and all parties involved. Compliance regulations cover a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, education, supply chain, legal, communications, government, aerospace, consumer packaged goods, food and alcohol and firearms sales and production. That list seemingly grows every year.
Simply put, companies cannot do business without adhering strictly to their specific compliance guidelines to protect themselves and their ecosystems. MSPs can be of important use in those areas, and most providers work within particular industry segments with specific compliance regulations.
IT services firms can also garner the help of channel-friendly vendors to provide education and assist with specific practices, guidelines, and mandated timeframes. Businesses can trust their MSP to look after this crucial and very delicate requirement expertly with a network of skilled professionals. Many providers employ compliance experts or utilize the services of channel-focused specialist partners – with the option of reselling those services under their own brand. The result is incremental MRR and increased wallet share with existing and prospective clients.
- Physical security
Physical security and access control are often-overlooked opportunities for MSPs. Yet, most IT firms service SMBs with a physical location that could benefit from these protection measures. Whether in a retail space, traditional office, commercial building or industrial complex, they can all use that support.
While there are an abundance of security firms and solutions on the market, implementing brandable offerings to clients that offer additional recurring revenue streams is a great way to grow sales. Adding monitoring and response to suspicious or nefarious activity is not an overwhelming shift in an MSP’s business model.
Opportunities for additional revenue include security assessments, equipment and maintenance sales, installation, testing, and monitoring. Access controls such as retina and fingerprint scanning, key fobs, and apps perfectly complement an MSP’s portfolio.
Working with channel-specific vendors is vital when implementing any new solution for existing and new clients. MSPs need real-time support, brand-ability, marketing assistance and documentation, and indirect pricing to ensure success.
ConnectMeVoice by Cloudli provides channel-centric UCaaS solutions with comprehensive integrations and support options. Our team can help with sales and marketing needs with an extensive library of training resources and end-user documentation for partners and their clients. Check out our partner resources page for more information.
