Getting Clients to Buy Monthly Support Packages

Everyone needs support. But if you’re not meeting your customers’ support needs, they’ll find someone who will. When I think back on my own managed services practice, I remember alienating more than a few potential customers because we were only offering monthly service plans.

But some customers just aren’t ready that. It took a while, but I eventually figured it out and turned back to the break-fix model to help convert legacy customers and new prospects over to my fully managed model.

While there are businesses here and there that will never need managed support, there are countless other businesses that absolutely DO need proactive monitoring to keep their company’s network safe, secure, and operating at maximum efficiency.

The problem? Oftentimes the business owner thinks it’s just fine to pay an hourly rate when something breaks or when a specific need arises.

Your challenge—and responsibility—is to show this client why monthly support services is the most efficient and effective way to maintain their network. The key here is using the break-fix model combined with a freemium offer. If done right, you build a constant cost basis for the client, as well as point out notable issues that would routinely be fixed as part of your proactive managed services plan.

Here’s how I did it in my business.

Establish a Free Monitoring service:

• Install an agent on EVERY PC you service, no exceptions
• Offer free “tech” alerting to every break-fix client and every new prospect
• Use ConnectWise Automate, or your RMM solution of choice, to customize alerts for no contract customers [TIP: Automate Ignite makes this a breeze with 19 built-in monitors pre-configured for No Contract groups]
• Integrate your Autotask or ConnectWise Manage business management solution with your RMM platform to enable automated client alerts, workflows, and auto-remediation to facilitate the entire process
• Charge the clients a quarter of your hourly charge for each fix, even if the fix is automatic and a tech never touches it

After your Free Monitoring service is up and running, getting your break-fix clients to make the switch to a fully managed plan is simple:

• Concentrate your efforts first on the clients that are quickest to respond to your automated alerts
• Calculate their average monthly billing under the Free Monitoring service and compare it to the cost of your monthly managed plan; the difference is pretty small

Nothing is more effective when closing a sale than being able to provide a powerful demonstration. And for literally pennies a day, you can provide your break-fix and prospective customers with an incredibly compelling demonstration of how effectively you can keep their network running at peak efficiency for just a little more than they’re already paying. It’s a win-win!