While technical expertise is integral to the Managed Service Provider (MSP) business, a deep understanding of customers’ industries truly sets top MSPs apart.
MSPs can benefit in several ways from comprehensive awareness of the top news and emerging trends impacting their customers. By talking to key industry figures and professionals, they can better recognize customer challenges or overarching industry-specific changes shaping their business decisions.
By immersing yourself in your customers’ industries, you can gain a competitive edge and boost the value of your brand as a trusted partner. Here are three ways to dominate a new vertical market.
1. Immerse Your Business in the Network
The best way to fully understand your customers’ sector-specific concerns and priorities is through learning from businesses and professionals across the industry.
One way to get an intimate sense of your customers’ needs is by joining top industry associations. These associations provide a platform where organizations can network, share best practices, discuss operational pain points, and ask questions. For example, a financial services-specific association might give you a better sense of the compliance challenges that customers must deal with.
Industry-specific conferences provide another avenue for better understanding top-of-mind areas for businesses in a vertical market. It’s important to remember that you will get the most value out of these shows if you attend as a participant rather than as a vendor solely focused on promoting your business. Take the time to walk around the show floor, make new connections, and listen to what business opportunities or concerns customers are talking about.
2. Build Relationships With Thought Leaders
While vertical markets vary widely in how they approach compliance, technology, and business operations, most industries have “best of breed” subject matter experts. These so-called thought leaders are not only the top experts in their industries but also drive high-level discussions about top trends.
Identify the thought leaders that are most prominent in your customers’ specific industry and engage them in order to ask questions about current market trends. Again, it’s important to approach this type of relationship as a business looking to learn more about the industry rather than using the connection to pitch your business. Building and maintaining relationships with thought leaders will also help you stay informed in the long run as trends in the industry continually change.
Further reading 5 Ways MSPs Can Stand Out in a Competitive Market
3. Stay Up-To-Date With Industry-Specific Content
Seek out top industry-specific news websites, podcasts, and newsletters in order to best acquaint yourself with the newest information about what’s happening. Many of your customers themselves will be reading these types of websites, so staying up to date can help you be on the same page with them during engagements.
Industry-specific content can also help you proactively approach your continual relationship with your customer base. For instance, if a time-sensitive supply chain shortage impacts the retail industry, it would be helpful to know about it as your customers factor that into their budgets and strategies.
Positioning Your Company as a Trusted Expert
Customers are not just looking for technological support in their business partnership with MSPs. They want someone who knows how to listen, understands their concerns and cares, and has a solid foundation of existing knowledge about the overarching trends and news happening within their industries. By acting on these three points today, you can position your MSP business to become a trusted expert for your customers, leading to stronger and more profitable partnerships.
Immerse yourself in your customers’ industries to gain a competitive edge and boost the value of your brand as a trusted partner.
Identify the thought leaders most prominent in your customers’ specific industry and engage them to ask questions about current market trends.
Industry-specific conferences provide another avenue for better understanding top-of-mind areas for businesses in a vertical market. It’s important to remember that you will get the most value out of these shows if you attend as a participant rather than as a vendor solely focused on promoting your business.
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