“What would you do differently
if you were starting from scratch?”

It’s a question most MSPs rarely ask. You launch the business, build a client base, and keep pushing forward – but at some point, it becomes easy to lose track of whether your strategy still fits the MSP you’ve become.

Going back to basics isn’t about starting over. It’s about slowing down long enough to ask the tough questions:

• Who are we really best suited to serve?
• Are we still saying the right things to the right people
• Is our sales and marketing still built on solid ground?

We’ve outlined five areas below worth revisiting, if you’re open to taking a fresh look at your growth.

 

Has your ideal client changed?

Most MSPs begin with a general idea of who they want to work with – often small businesses in a certain region, or anyone who needs “IT Support.” But over time, your real strengths start to show. Maybe you’re especially good at supporting multi-site retailers or you’ve built a niche working with financial firms that have complex compliance needs? These kinds of patterns emerge, but they’re often missed.

If you haven’t redefined your ideal client profile (ICP) in a while, it’s worth taking some time out to consider it. Think about who your best clients are today – not just the biggest, but the ones who are a great fit in terms of needs, mindset, and values. What industries are they in? What makes the relationship work? Having clarity on that can help you create more targeted marketing, more relevant messaging and stronger long-term relationships.

Does your messaging reflect the problems your audience actually cares about?

Many MSPs still default to listing services: 24/7 support, proactive monitoring, backups, cloud migration. But that kind of messaging doesn’t speak to the issues clients are actually wrestling with day to day.

What they really want is peace of mind. They want fewer disruptions, better security, and confidence that their IT won’t hold them back. And they want to hear that in a language that makes sense to them – not in technical jargon or generic promises.

If your messaging hasn’t evolved in a while, it might be time to step into your client’s shoes. Ask yourself: what’s keeping them up at night? What do they want from a provider beyond technical support? When you start there, the way you talk about your services naturally becomes more relevant and engaging.

We often interview our clients’ clients for video and written testimonials. We often ask about how they FEEL about their IT provider – whether they can sleep soundly at night, knowing they’re being protected and looked after. It’s fascinating to hear their responses.

 

Is your sales process something you’ve built – or something you’ve fallen into?

It’s easy to fall into a reactive sales mode – waiting on referrals, chasing warm leads, and dealing with each conversation as it comes. But the most sustainable growth comes from having a clear, repeatable process that reflects how your clients actually buy.

That doesn’t mean over-complicating things. It means having a defined path from first contact to signed agreement … knowing how long your average deal takes … understanding where prospects typically lose momentum and having simple resources that support each stage of the journey, so your sales team isn’t reinventing the wheel every time.

Even small improvements here can lead to more consistency, shorter sales cycles, and better forecasting.

Are your lead sources aligned
with the clients you actually want?

Not all leads are equal. And when you’re too focused on quantity – filling the top of the funnel with whoever bites – you can end up spending a lot of time and energy chasing deals that were never a good fit to begin with.

Instead, think about where your best clients have come from in the last 12–18 months. Did they find you through an industry event? A referral partner? A piece of content that spoke directly to their challenge? When you understand the patterns behind your strongest relationships, it becomes easier to invest in the right channels and reduce the noise elsewhere.

 

Are you helping your audience think differently –
or just selling to them?

Marketing that educates, builds credibility. Marketing that only promotes, gets ignored.

If your content is mostly service-focused – product sheets, offer emails, company updates – it may not be doing much to move buyers forward. On the other hand, content that helps your prospects understand their risks, ask better questions, or think more strategically about IT will often stick with them long after they’ve left your website.

You don’t need to produce massive amounts of content. A short blog post answering a common client question, a case study that tells a real story, or a downloadable checklist for preparing for a security audit can go a long way. The key is creating content that helps your prospects feel more confident and informed – before they’re even ready to buy.

Final thought: Strategy isn’t static

The market shifts. Your business evolves. What worked five years ago might be slowing you down now.

That’s why asking the question – “What would we do differently if we were starting today?” – is so powerful. It helps you see what’s no longer serving you and where the real opportunities lie.

Start there, and you’ll already be ahead of most.