Ok we actually don’t care if, as a MSP, you took the weekend to shop, shop, shop. But today’s post is about your marketing and sales efforts. Though you are surrounded by retail marketing, remember that Business-to-Consumer sales (another fancy term for retail sales) has little to do with your marketing efforts.

Consumer sales is heavily focussed on pushing the sale of a particular item today. Whether it be a sweater, a toaster, or an appliance or TV, the retailer is focused pretty heavily on that one-time sale right now.

That is NOT your marketing playbook. If you buy something at Target, you don’t build a relationship with them about your new toaster. A managed service, on the other hand provides an ongoing service that will support the needs of a business client or a not-for profit organization. Your focus is not on the sale of a “thing” today. Your business is all about relationship building. Your client’s goal is about developing a strong relationship that will ensure their business is using technology to strategically support its operations and drive revenues.

As a result, your marketing focus is all about what you can do to help their firm be more successful, both-short and long term. You are offering to team with them to support and grow their business and that means building long-term trust and understanding. It takes time, attention, and constant contact. So, don’t advertise a Black Friday sale to attract customers. This won’t work because your business isn’t about a single day, it’s about months and years of a cooperative business relationship.