Expectations and MSP Cold Calling Campaigns

MSP Cold Calling Campaigns and Expectations

Expectations that aren’t aligned cause friction between MSPs and their marketing partners.

Managed Sales Pros tries to be very clear and transparent – in the sales process and during our MSP cold calling engagements. We share very openly on what we do, how we do it, and what we believe cold calling can do for your MSP.

However, we don’t always communicate as well as we think we do.  I created this post specifically to address the common questions people have about our MSP cold calling services.

Our MSP cold calling programs are mostly used for sales appointment setting.  Some MSPs work with us to invite prospects to live events, conferences they’re sponsoring, or webinars.  Some MSPs work with us to follow up from their direct mail campaigns.  If it can be done using a phone, we can probably help.

Interested in learning more about the metrics you should be managing?  Register for our webinar on March 9, 2021 at 3 PM ET:

Managing the Sales Metrics That Matter

Here are some facts about our MSP cold calling programs:

• We offer fully trained and managed professional outbound MSP cold callers that work as an extension of your sales force.
• We charge between $3000 and $12,000 monthly for our outbound calling programs, depending on the service you purchase.
• We sell process, not outcome.
• Programs are all “best efforts”.
• We only work with I.T. companies.  Our clients are evenly divided between managed services providers and technology manufacturers, distributors and other vendors that sell to and through the I.T. channel.
• We’ve worked for almost 1000 MSPs over the last seven years.
• We offer a 90-day engagement that then converts into a month to month agreement.
• We expect to be cost-neutral by month nine of your outbound program.
• We expect to produce a positive return on investment for clients by month twelve.
• We do not expect you to close any new business from cold calling in the first six months of an engagement.

Here are some numbers for people exploring MSP cold calling programs:

• 300:1 is the ratio of dials to appointments, which translates to about one sales appointment per 20-25 hours of calling time.
• Most MSP cold calling programs generate 4 appointments per 80 hours of calling time (one month).
• Most programs will not generate an appointment in the first few months.

Questions to Ask A Potential MSP Cold Calling Partner:

• “How many hours a week of outbound calling will we receive with your program?”
• “Do you know long my agent has worked for you, and where they will be physically located?”
• “Which key performance indicators are the most important to you?”
• “Share with me how your outbound agents compensated?”
• “Tell me about your MSP Cold Calling training process?”
• “What is your average client tenure?”
• “How long is your average agent tenure?”

These are all things we think are important when evaluating a partner.

MSP Cold Calling Key Performance Indicators

The KPIs we measure include:

• Appointments monthly
• Dials daily
• Time in between dials
• Data points collected per week

We compensate our agents hourly with variable compensation dependent on all of their scorecard metrics, not on meetings scheduled.  Our average client tenure is 24 months.  Our average MSP client tenure is 12.

Our callers are located in Las Vegas, Nevada and Raleigh, North Carolina.

To get better at MSP cold calling in-house, check out “Tele-sales done better” on the Channel Futures blog here.

What Are These Initials on My Cold Calling Report?

We report our calling outcomes using call dispositions – or simply put:  outcomes.  Here are the ones we use the most:

GK Block: 

A gatekeeper block means you weren’t able to speak to a decision maker, but you did speak to someone.

NI: 

Not Interested.  This disposition is only used when we speak to the known decision maker, complete the pitch, go through the objection handling process, and are told they are not interested now, and will not be interested at any time in the future.

FU30/60/90:

Follow Up in 30/60/90 days.  If you check your notes, you’ll see why we’ve scheduled that follow up call.

FOAD:

Well, this one means the person that we spoke to wasn’t very nice.  We won’t call this company again – nobody gets paid enough to be treated disrespectfully, and we won’t chase a lead that is rude to our telemarketers. It takes no effort at all to say “I’m not interested right now, why don’t you check back with me next year.  Thanks for calling, have a great day!”  Then, hang up the phone and move on with your life.  (Exception:  if telemarketers call you on your personal cell phone I’m totally fine with you going off on them the second time that company calls you on your cell phone.)

Learn How To Set Up Your CRM or PSA With Call Dispositions Here!

For easy reference, we’ve created an infographic for anyone interested in what the program and process should look like in the first 90 days.

Looking for an MSP Cold Calling Partner?

We’d love to help.  You can find our proposal online here. 

(Psssst… the password is MSP2020)

If you’d like to schedule some time to talk about it, here’s who we work best with:

• MSPs with at least 1MM in ARR
• Companies with owner-led sales process
• IT firms who want a long-term strategic partner
• MSPs who are offering both managed services and “land and expand” or “mailbox money” products and services

Learn What it’s Like to Work With Us From Our MSP Cold Calling Clients:

You can learn more about who we’ve worked with and what they thought here!

Do You Wish You Could Try Before You Buy?

Now, you can!  You can buy a day of cold calling from Managed Sales Pros.  Then, keep the script we develop for you, and the list that we purchased for you if you don’t proceed with our services.  Iff you do proceed, you’ll get the entire cost of your trial day refunded back to you in your last month of service.

You can fill out the form below for a call back!