Acquirely blog
How to Get MSP Clients
This guide is for owners of managed service providers and small IT support companies who are good at keeping networks running but struggle to win new monthly contracts. If your growth depends on one or two referrals a year, it is written for you.
You will learn how to choose who to sell to, package an offer that is easy to say yes to, and build a steady flow of first meetings from referrals, partners, and cold email.
Why winning MSP clients is slow
Switching IT providers feels risky to a business owner. Their email, files, backups, and security all sit with the current provider. Even when they are unhappy, moving feels like a lot of work and a chance for something to break.
So a lot of owners stay put until something forces a change. A bad outage. A security scare. An office move. A new hire who cannot get set up for a week. A provider who stops answering the phone.
That tells you how to sell. You are not trying to convince happy clients to leave. You are trying to be the known, trusted name when one of those moments hits. The steps below build that position on purpose instead of waiting for luck.
Step 1: Pick a niche you can actually serve
"We support any business with computers" is not a market you can reach. Pick one type of business. Dental practices, accounting firms, law firms, construction companies, multi site clinics, and engineering firms are common choices.
A niche pays off fast:
- You learn their line of business software, so you sound like you already know their world.
- You learn their compliance needs, such as healthcare privacy rules or client data rules for accountants.
- A happy client refers you to peers in the same industry, because they all know each other.
- Your prospect list is easy to build, since the buyers look alike.
Set a size range too. Decide how many users and locations you can support well with your current team. A clear size range stops you from chasing deals you will struggle to deliver. If you want more help choosing, read how to choose a niche for your agency. The same logic applies to an MSP.
Step 2: Build one clear managed offer
New MSPs often sell whatever the prospect asks for. That leads to hourly break fix work, custom deals, and a support desk that is hard to run.
Decide on one managed offer before you start selling. Write down:
- What is included: help desk, patching, backups, security tools, onboarding and offboarding staff.
- What is not included, and how extra projects are handled.
- Response times you can actually meet.
- A security baseline every client must accept, such as multi factor login and managed backups.
Put it on one page in plain words. If a referral partner cannot explain your offer in one sentence, it is too complicated. Something like "We run IT and security for accounting firms with 10 to 50 staff" is easy to repeat.
Step 3: Give prospects a small first step
Asking a stranger to switch IT providers on the first call is a big ask. Give them something smaller to say yes to.
Good first steps for an MSP:
- A short IT and security review: backups, admin access, old hardware, missing updates.
- An office move or new location checklist, walked through on a call.
- A review of how long it takes to set up a new hire, from laptop to logins.
Keep it clearly scoped. Tell them what you will check, how long it takes, and what they get at the end. The review shows how you work and gives you a real reason for a second conversation.
Step 4: Work your existing network on a schedule
Your first clients usually come from people who already know you. The trick is to treat that network as a pipeline, not a one time announcement.
- List everyone you know who owns or runs a business in your niche, plus former managers, colleagues, and vendors.
- Contact each one personally. Say what you do, who you serve, and offer the short review from Step 3.
- Follow up a few weeks later if they do not reply. People get busy.
- After every good onboarding, ask the new client who else they know in the same industry.
Make each referral request specific. "Do you know an owner who is planning an office move or struggling to keep staff set up as they grow?" gets more names than "let me know if anyone needs IT." For more scripts, see how to ask clients for referrals.
Step 5: Build referral partnerships
Plenty of other firms see IT problems before you do. Accountants, law firms, telecom and cabling companies, office fit out firms, and business software consultants all talk to your buyers.
Pick two or three that serve the same niche without competing with you. Then:
- Ask what makes a referral useful to them, not just what they can send you.
- Agree on one or two clear situations where an introduction helps the client, such as an office move or a software rollout.
- Agree on how the handoff works and who owns which part of the job.
- Reply to every introduction within a day, and tell the partner how it went.
A partner who sees you handle their client well will send you the next one. A partner who does not hear back stops sending.
Step 6: Send short, trigger based cold email
Referrals are great, but you cannot control when they arrive. Cold email lets you choose which businesses you talk to and when.
Generic emails to a bought list rarely work. What works is a short email to the right person at a business in your niche, tied to a real reason to reach out now. Useful triggers include:
- They just opened a new office or location.
- They are hiring several people at once.
- Their job posts mention an in house IT person leaving or a role they cannot fill.
- They recently grew past the size where one person can handle IT on the side.
Keep the email under 100 words. Name the trigger, connect it to one problem it usually causes, and ask a small question. For example:
Hi Dana, saw you are opening a second office in March. New locations often mean a scramble with networks, phones, and getting staff logins working on day one. We run IT for accounting firms your size. Worth a 15 minute call to walk through a move checklist?
Send it from a real person with a real signature, and follow up two or three times over a couple of weeks. For the writing side, read how to write a cold email to get clients.
Step 7: Run a first call that diagnoses, not pitches
When a prospect agrees to talk, resist the urge to walk through your tools. Owners do not buy a tool list. They buy fewer problems.
Ask about their business first:
- How many staff and locations do you have, and are you growing?
- What happens today when something breaks? Who do people call?
- When did you last test a backup restore?
- How long does it take to get a new hire fully working?
- What frustrated you about IT in the last six months?
Listen for the pain behind the answers. Then explain your offer in terms of the problems they just described. Close the call with a clear next step, such as booking the review from Step 3 or a proposal meeting with a date on it.
Step 8: Track the numbers and fix one stage at a time
Keep a simple weekly sheet:
- Businesses researched
- Emails sent
- Replies
- First calls booked
- Reviews done
- Contracts signed
Each number tells you what to fix. Low replies mean your trigger or message is not specific enough. Replies but few calls means your ask is too big. Calls but no contracts means your call or offer needs work. Change one thing at a time so you know what made the difference.
FAQ
- How do I get my first MSP clients with no references?
- Start with people who already know your work, such as former employers, colleagues, and businesses you supported in a past job. Offer a clearly scoped IT and security review so they can see how you work. Your first few happy clients become your references.
- Is cold email a good way to get MSP clients?
- It can be, when each email goes to the right person at a business in your niche and mentions a real trigger like a new office or a hiring push. Generic emails to bought lists tend to get ignored. Keep messages short and follow up a few times.
- What kind of businesses make good MSP clients?
- Businesses that rely on their systems every day, have enough staff to need real support, and do not want to hire a full time IT person. Professional services firms, clinics, and multi location businesses often fit, but pick the type you understand best.
- Should I offer a free IT assessment?
- A short, clearly scoped review works well as a first step, because switching providers is a big decision. Keep it focused on a few high impact checks, like backups and admin access, so it stays useful without turning into weeks of unpaid work.
- How do I win clients away from their current IT provider?
- Do not attack the current provider. Ask what is working and what is not, and stay in touch. When a trigger hits, like an outage, a move, or slow support, you want to be the name they already trust.
- What if I do not have time to prospect for new clients?
- You can hire someone to handle outreach, or work with a firm that runs cold email and books sales calls for you, so your team stays focused on clients. Either way, keep your niche and offer clear so the calls are a good fit.
Want the calls booked for you?
If you would rather spend your time keeping clients running than prospecting, Acquirely runs cold email outreach for service businesses and books qualified sales calls onto your calendar. Message us or book a call and we will talk through whether it fits.