The Top Five Most Powerful TubbTalk Podcast Episodes for MSPs

For several years, I’ve produced my own Podcast show for Managed Service Providers (MSPs).

Over time, TubbTalk – The Podcast for IT Consultants, has become a great success. It seems that many of you share my passion for listening to the most amazing, succesful and inspiring people in the IT industry!

In fact, one of the greatest compliments I’ve received from many of you is that when you’re listening to the show, you feel that you are (politely!) evesdropping on a conversation between two friends.

I love to hear that!

I know that a lot of people got into podcasts over the last year, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a round-up of some of the top podcast episodes I’ve recorded recently.

Therefore, I present The Top Five Most Powerful TubbTalk Episodes for MSPs. I hope you enjoy!

TubbTalk #70: How to Run a Profitable MSP: Mike Michalowicz

MSPs can sometimes focus more on client work than growing their business. I was joined by Mike Michalowicz, author, speaker, and former IT business owner, for his tips on how you can run a profitable MSP. Listen to our chat here.

Mistakes SMBs Make

Mike says that small businesses in particular go into a mode of either selling or doing. Many business owners get stuck in this trap forever. To get out of it, niching down the services will make a big difference. And, there’s the added advantage of being able to charge premium prices, too.

The Concept of ‘Profit First’

Most people start a business because they’re passionate about what they do, and then because they want to make money. By putting profit last, businesses are not reaching their potential. Mike explains this in more detail in his book, Profit First, but the idea is that when it makes a sale they take a predetermined percentage of that money as profit.

TubbTalk #77: How to Grow an MSP With Partner to Partner Collaboration: Eamon Moore (Hikari Data Solutions)

Partnerships and collaborations in the IT industry can be powerful, as Eamon describes in this Podcast interview for MSPs. He has successfully leveraged relationships with Microsoft and Dell to grow and sell one MSP business and to establish Hikari Data Solutions.

How to Approach Vendor Relationships

Vendor relationships are a great opportunity for all MSPs, but the key, says Eamon, is flexibility. His first business was able to move away from a reliance on hardware, which led to him using cloud services instead, and forming relationships with cloud providers. He also recommends consolidating your vendor relationships to just a few, so your clients know exactly who you work with.

Why Partner Collaboration is the Future for MSPs

Eamon says that no business can be everything to everyone. So MSP owners need to look for partners who can offer the other solutions that their customers want and who have the right skill set to provide them.  Narrow down your focus to one or two specialities. And concentrate on where you can provide most value for your end users.

TubbTalk #78: How To Outsource Your MSPs NOC, SOC, and Helpdesk: Jason Kemsley & Bradley Munday (Uptime Solutions)

So many managed service providers (MSPS) want to grow their business, but the uncertainty about how, why and when to outsource often holds them back. In this podcast episode (find the original post here), I asked Jason and Bradley of Uptime Solutions, who provide back-office outsourcing for MSPs, to share their wisdom.

Overcoming Objections

Many end clients are concerned that by outsourcing helpdesks, they lose the personal element of having their MSP on hand.  To resolve that issue, Uptime offer a 30-day trial, and support the MSP throughout to deliver the best possible service.

At the end of the day, the user’s priority is to get their problem solved quickly, and who does that is less important than they think.

Outsourcing vs Internal Technicians

When you’re desperate for support in your MSP, it’s easy to think the best solution is to recruit another technician, but working with a company like Uptime Solutions can actually save you money.

Uptime is focused on being agile and flexible, and helping their MSP partners to add value to their services. They’ve worked in the industry for a decade, they fully understand the market and have developed processes to meet its needs.

TubbTalk #79: How To Succeed with Excellent MSP Customer Service: Andrew Wallace (SmileBack)

Good customer relationships are essential for MSPs (and all businesses). Here, Andrew shares how SmileBack‘s survey tool improves customer engagement and even the overall business. Click here for the full podcast interview.

Why Feedback is Important

By having a feedback facility in place, MSPs can learn more about what their customer needs, where they’re going wrong and where things are going well. Andrew encourages MSPs not to shy away from engaging with customers who’ve given negative reviews – that’s how you learn what you can do to make things better next time.

How to Leverage NPS

NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a tool that measures a company’s relationship with its customers. It’s particularly valuable to assess how loyal a customer is, and how likely they are to recommend your services. NPS can also be used to highlight areas in need of improvement and relationships that should be nurtured.

TubbTalk #80: Why Are You Building an MSP Business, Really? Erik Thorsell (Success Computer Consulting)

In this very open and honest podcast interview for MSPs, Erik talks about the highs and lows of running a business, tackling challenges as they arise, and how MSP owners can deal with overwhelm, sharing examples from his own experiences running Success Computer Consulting.

How to Deal with Overwhelm

If you feel so overwhelmed by everything in your business that you think you can’t continue, don’t decide you need to sell the business straight away. Explore all your options. Have a lot of conversations with people who have already had to make that kind of decision. Get a clearer picture on how things could look if you made some changes.

Why You Need Self-Awareness

Erik says self-awareness takes practice and you have to decide that it’s worth learning how to do it. Examine your feelings around your business, and understand that you don’t have to push them away. As the business owner, you’ll be taking negative feelings into the workplace with you, and others will pick up on that. You also need to be able to support your staff to do the same.

Enjoyed these podcast episodes for MSPs? Let me know in the comments or get in touch. Do you have a favourite TubbTalk episode from the podcast archive? I’d love to know which it is!

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