The title of this article may be a bit misleading as it assumes managed services can be commoditized. You may have your own views on that topic but I'd like to discuss how managed services like cloud backup solutions, not exactly a new concept, can be sold not just effectively, but sold in the exact opposite manner in which you would typically sell a commodity.
First, let's state for the record that cloud backup is not a commodity, although cloud backup may appear to have some of the characteristics of a commoditized service. Competitive pricing pressures (especially from public cloud vendors), large numbers of providers offering the seemingly same service, and a large number of software products and technologies supporting these service providers, might all lead one to believe that this is a highly commoditized area of practice for managed service providers. Wrong!
Cloud backup can be sold in a commodity manner, but that entirely is up to the service provider. The cloud backup market can be segmented into near infinite ways, each one as subtle and different as the next. This distinction is part of why I don't view backup as a commodity because if the services can be distinguished as different then they can be sold as unique and valuable offerings.
Second, by explaining the service as unique you can begin to market and sell your offering in a highly valuable manner. Avoiding price discussions where the customer can engage in a battle where the service provider is forced to justify their value is a losing proposition. This is often one of the primary reasons where MSPs begin to crack and give in to pricing pressures, which almost always leads to the customer believing the MSP was over priced or over valued. Once you lower your price, it is very difficult to defend your value.
Third, by learning from other professions who refuse to sell as a commodity, MSPs may be able to avoid this downward pricing discussion and actually learn how to assess "commodity customers" and engage them in a constructive manner. Professions like legal, medical, and accounting, all have engagement models that purposefully avoid commodity discussions. This is part of their "sales" process, and I believe MSPs can learn from this model of sales engagement.
If you are interested in attending a webcast on how MSPs are selling commodity services like cloud backup in a manner that is not at all like a commodity, you should attend our webcast "Tips on Selling Cloud Backup The Right Way"
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