The traditional MSP sales model focuses on order-taking — customers pick from a menu of services and you deliver them. However, many MSPs learn (often the hard way) that this approach isn’t effective in driving cybersecurity sales. Let’s find out why the old way of selling MSP services no longer works, how you can augment your MSP lead generation effort, and how to adapt your MSP sales strategy to sell cybersecurity services

A new mindset for MSP sales 

Cybersecurity is the elephant in the room. Many SMEs don’t understand the risks, think they have adequate protection, or avoid the discussion because of the complexity and technicality. The first step in building trust and rapport with your prospects is through education. The more they know about cybersecurity facts and risks, the more likely they understand the need for robust defense. 

Approach the conversations with empathy. Address what your customers care about, such as their pain points and business requirements, instead of the technical aspects of implementing cybersecurity measures. Remember, your prospects aren’t IT experts. You should explain how you can help them address their security challenges in plain English and help them make the right decision.

So, how can you talk to your clients and prospects about cybersecurity risks without getting technical? 

How to sell cybersecurity in plain English 

Objections from prospects often stem from misunderstandings of cybersecurity and an MSP’s inability to connect the dots — demonstrating why their security services are relevant to the prospect’s business success. Here are some top tips to augment your MSP sales strategy: 

Explain the threats 

Cybersecurity is an abstract concept for many, while the fast-evolving threat landscape makes things even harder to grasp. Use customer stories and case studies in your sales conversations and educational materials to explain how cyber attacks work and how devastating the consequences could be.  

Help prospects consider how an attack may impact them by illustrating the impacts of consequences like leaked data, regulatory fines, missed deadlines, and even the inability to process payroll. You may also use concrete numbers and examples to demonstrate the cost of protection against a data breach to highlight the cost of doing nothing. For instance, you may help them calculate an incident’s financial and business impacts.  

Debunk cybersecurity myths that may be misguiding your prospects. Ask probing questions to see if they make mistakes like assuming they don’t need better security measures because they have cyber insurance or their employees are “young and tech-savvy,” so they don’t have to worry about phishing scams.  

Focus on business benefits 

Many businesses shy away from the cybersecurity conversation because they feel overwhelmed by all the complex technical details. After all, the technical features are just a means to an end — keeping their business and customers safe. It may be hard for MSPs to refrain from discussing tech specs in their sales conversations or proposals, but you must focus on what your prospects care about — business outcomes. 

Your sales conversations must answer the question: Why should a prospect do business with you? Highlight business benefits like protecting reputation, avoiding regulatory fines, and lowering cyber insurance premiums and how you solve the prospect’s pain points. Long story short, how do you make their life easier?

Additionally, take the time to understand each prospect’s business initiatives and demonstrate how your security services align with their objectives. Personalize the interactions and position yourself as a partner, not just a vendor, to build trust and foster a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.   

Simplify decision-making 

An honest and open discussion about costs and budget early in the process helps you better propose solutions that work for both parties. Also, a clear and transparent pricing structure is essential for gaining trust, demonstrating value, and helping prospects understand ROI to make informed decisions.  

Offer multiple options to meet different budget and business requirements. Your pricing and packaging strategy should provide choices while helping clients simplify their decision-making process. For example, you may create industry-specific packages for highly regulated sectors like healthcare and finance or help prospects understand the nuances through use cases.

You may also offer a standard package with non-negotiable features like  open XDR, EDR and risk assessment and provide add-ons (e.g. audit support, virtual CISO service, etc) based on each client’s needs. Too many choices without enough guidance lead to analysis paralysis, which may cause your prospects to delay their actions. 

Be Transparent about your processes 

Your customers want to know you’ll respond immediately when an incident happens. Discuss your communication and incident response protocols to reassure prospects that your team will be available around the clock to protect their data and infrastructure. When you partner with enhanced.io, our 24/7/365 SOC facility and expert team will help you cover all the bases. 

Additionally, clients want to know what to expect after signing on. Take a moment to provide a high-level view of the onboarding process to ensure transparency and build confidence. For example, we help our MSP partners conduct a risk assessment for each new customer and harden their environment based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and CIS Critical Security Controls during onboarding to deliver value from the get-go. 

Expert support to sell your cybersecurity services with ease 

A sound MSP lead generation and sales strategy is essential for growing your company. However, hiring an in-house sales and marketing team with an in-depth understanding of the MSP space and cybersecurity landscape is costly and challenging. We’re here to make it easy for you. 

enhanced.io’s  Certified Partner Program guides our partners to scale their MSPs and increase sales. Our team of cybersecurity sales experts and account managers will customize the program based on your offering and target market to grow your sales pipeline.

Learn more and see how we can help you reach high-quality prospects and drive more sales.

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