12 Ways to Attract More Profitable Clients to Your Business

As a business owner, your goal is to keep things growing and to build as much revenue as possible! And, if you genuinely care about what you do, you’ll get a kick out of helping your clients reach their goals, too.

Regardless, there might come a time when you notice that you could use a little kickstart in the revenue and client base department. 

It’s not always easy to see where your MSP could be losing money, or even where you could make more. Therefore, I’ve put together a guide on a few different strategies you can use to encourage more profitable clients to join your business.

Remember, you need to think carefully about finding clients that are genuinely profitable. Sometimes, having more clients isn’t always better than having a few that are valuable and steadfast.

With that in mind, let’s dive straight in with some tips on how to bring more profitable clients to your MSP.

1. Go all-in on SEO

Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is pretty much the lifeblood of online search, specifically Google, where the vast majority of people who find you via the internet are likely to be coming from.

SEO used to be all about making sure you added the right keywords in the right places. However, that’s no longer as cut and dried. A website with a good SEO strategy needs to be fully optimised if you really want to find the most profitable and most relevant clients for your business.

For example, you’ll need your website’s loading speeds to be super-efficient, you’ll need to have several ‘landing’ pages to attract searchers from specific keywords and terms.

You’ll also need to do some internal website tweaking to make sure Google knows what you have to offer and that you’re legitimate.

That can all be a lot of work. So, I’d seriously recommend working with an SEO specialist and a web design agency that can take care of all your content tweaks and SEO checkboxes for you.

With a solid SEO strategy, you’ll appear more often to people who are looking for your specific types of services, meaning you’re more likely to bring highly valuable customers on board.

2. Set up a Referral Scheme

While cold pitching and calling definitely have their place (and absolutely drive results if you get them down pat), I’m a huge fan of referrals and referral schemes. 

Some MSPs are lucky enough to coast by on word of mouth alone provided their services are strong enough. And while that’s probably not enough to be building revenue on, it’s a great starting point for finding more profitable clients.

With a referral scheme, you’re taking polite advantage of your existing clients’ networks. The people your clients work with elsewhere are likely to have similar work ethics, especially if they come recommended.

So, instead of cold pitching in the dark, try reaching out to new clients through your longstanding customers. You could set up a mutually beneficial scheme, for instance, with a referral programme that offers discounts or extra perks if customers refer a client that generates X amount of value.

This is also a great way to make good on some of your strongest vendor relationships. All vendors and third parties should know that there are mutual benefits to reap across any commercial partnership and you’re only asking for a little bit of feedback and some positive connections in a new direction.

3. Create a High-Ticket Offer System

If you’re struggling to build revenue on the back of your typical service offerings, it’s perhaps time to look at a few online marketing techniques that you might not have tried before.

One of the most effective ways to encourage people to take up services that pay you your worth is to guide them towards high-ticket offers.

High-ticket offers are the best of the best packages and services, which might be sold at a slightly higher price than you’d usually value yourself at.

Too many of us value ourselves far too cheaply for the time, effort, and expertise we have to offer. So why not price yourself reasonably, and encourage customers to pay that rate?

To do this, you could set up three package rates for a specific service, say, and place your high-ticket offer in the middle.

You could label it as the ‘best value’ option (which it legitimately is) and price up an even more expensive package to dwarf it.

This is a marketing technique that’s great at helping people to see your worth and to drive them to invest more in what you have to offer.

Going high-ticket can be tricky at first because it’s not always easy to value yourself and what you do, but just ask your most valued customers for feedback and they will surely boost your confidence!

4. Niche Down Into Areas You’re Genuinely Qualified in

It’s not easy to stand out as an MSP. There are thousands of you out there, and most of the time, you and your competitors are likely pitching yourselves as all-around experts who help people save time and money. That, of course, is the end game for a lot of paying clients.

However, it’s a good idea to try and stand out from the crowd a little if you have a specific strength or niche interest. For example, could you offer specific insight into how AI might help your clients?

Are you ahead of your competition with regard to generative AI, and how to harness it to support customers who are pulling their hair out?

If you have a genuine interest and proven expertise in a specific area that could support highly niche customers, it’s time to lean into it. If you’re not sure what your new USP could be, it’s time again to canvass your clients and customers, and even members of your team. 

If you appeal to a highly specific niche, you’re going to find customers who will have struggled to get those needs met with more generalised MSPs and services.

It’s a bold strategy, not one you have to go all-in on, but a technique that could help you find more valuable and profitable clients sooner rather than later.

5. Focus on Adding Value to Your Services

This is a big one. Just like hunting down your USP and appealing to niche needs, you need to take stock of what you have to offer and add extra value so that new clients (and maybe some existing ones) can see that you provide fantastic expertise for your pricing.

I’m not saying you should offer absolutely everything you can possibly do at your absolute cheapest rate. What you can do, however, is think about additional help your clients might need on top of the services you already offer.

Yet again, it’s time to talk to your customers. Ask your existing clients for some constructive feedback. Are there any areas where they’d like you to branch out into? Is there anything else you could do for them that would drive up the value of your service?

Take down that feedback and consider offering modular enhancements to your existing packages. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you could offer an add-on service.

That could be something like cloud security in addition to basic malware scanning at an affordable rate. Not everyone will want this add-on, of course, but those that do will see that you cater to their needs for a small extra fee each month.

Again, it’s a neat marketing trick that can help you build more bespoke and more valuable packages for prospective clients.

6. Aim to Work with High-End Vendors

This one’s a bit of a doozy. Not everyone wants to partner with the biggest vendors under the sun, but those that do have a chance of landing some high-paying, regular clients.

Let’s say you’re aiming to work with the likes of McAfee, a giant in malware protection. Don’t worry if this sounds unrealistic as it stands, let’s just follow the train of thought.

This is a brand that’s likely to have partners of its own with clients that could be referred through to you. People who work with the likes of Microsoft, say, are going to court other high-profile firms and clients that could bring even more value to your base.

Beyond that, high-profile vendor relationships are great for drumming up trade with the wider public. Brand recognition is a huge deal. And if anyone is having doubts about getting started with you, seeing a name they recognise as part of your vendor lineup might just tip things in your favour.

That said, this isn’t a strategy that’s always guaranteed to work. It’s also a pretty bold move that’s going to need some careful networking and cold calling on your part. And yet, if you can pull it off, you could oversee some incredible growth in a short space of time.

7. Drill Deep Into Your Data

If you’re really keen to bring in more profitable clients, a good place to start is to simply look at your existing books. Where are your most profitable customers coming from? Are there any needs or wants that you’re missing, and that you could market to?

Breaking down financial data lets you see your bottom line with much more clarity. It also helps you to see if there are any periods of feast and famine that you could effectively eradicate with a more reliable, more sustainable channel of income. 

Think carefully, too, about the packages you have to offer, and your current USP (which I touched on briefly above). Has it been a few years since you last refreshed your offerings?

Can you be sure that they are in step with what your target audience actually needs – and are you competing effectively against your rivals both on pricing and value?

You should also dig deep into negative data. Do you have any critical feedback that correlates to show you where you could be making an extra profit? For example, does extra revenue simply mean retraining your staff in specific areas?

If you can, it’s also worth checking your sales analytics to see if there are any clear points where your prospects are dropping off before getting on board with you.

Some CRM software, for example, let you break down each point in your prospects’ journeys so you can pinpoint what ‘turned away’ valuable customers.

It could be something as simple as making your sign-up process easier to understand, or leaning less into the hard sell. If you can see that there’s a common point in those journeys where potentially high-value prospects are leaving the funnel, that’s where you should refocus your efforts in future.

8. Build Relationships, not Sales

This is something we always come back to at Tubblog. Yes, your aim is to make a profit and to sustain your business for years to come.

However, there’s fantastic value in positioning yourself more as a strategic partner rather than as someone who merely sells a certain type of service to fill a basic need.

The most profitable and longest-lasting client relationships, in my personal experience as a business owner, are those where you carefully foster mutual respect and look for new ways to offer each other value.

We’re human beings, after all. Despite the fact that we all know this is business, business is much more palatable when you’re working with a vendor or a strategic partner that genuinely has your back.

As the old and slightly cheesy saying goes, ‘give 1000%’. That doesn’t mean going above and beyond to the point of exhaustion, but rather, focusing your efforts on really wowing your clients to build stronger relationships. 

Not everyone will be receptive or will even reciprocate your efforts. In which case, you’re going to have to be ruthless sometimes, and also trust your gut. 

However, if you lean into business with an attitude that you want to build working relationships, rather than quick sales, you’re likely to find highly valuable customers who will want to stick with you for the long haul.

 

9. Let Clients Customise Their Packages

This is yet another bold move that might not work for everyone, but it’s a handy way to give your prospective clients some extra control before they even reach out to you.

One complaint you might have heard over the years is that your packages or offerings are perhaps too rigid, or not scalable enough to move with people’s needs. That’s not a criticism of what you might have to offer, it’s a general observation! 

You will, unfortunately, always find customers who want more ‘give’ than you are physically or reasonably able to support.

However, if you can, think about making your offerings a little more flexible. The model I’m suggesting here is to go fully modular. Instead of giving flat-rate, flat-service packages, give people the option to add and remove certain services to build their own custom coverage.

This might be complex to manage behind the scenes, but again, it’s not a guaranteed fit for all. However, you could find you appeal to customers who would otherwise avoid flat packages because they have highly niche needs.

Beyond this, you could go the fully bespoke route and build packages for customers per case. That means every package you support is different. And your clients feel extra supported and extra valued. Word will spread, and you’ll start finding more profitable clients, too.

10. Show That you Understand the Modern Threat Landscape

As an MSP, it’s your job to assure your clients that their operations are in safe hands. And, with the global threat landscape ever changing thanks to technological evolution, they will also want to know that you have your fingers on the pulse.

So, demonstrate your knowledge of cybersecurity trends, and that you are au fait with AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and even quantum computing if appropriate!

You need to show your prospective customers that they will be partnering with someone who understands modern technological needs and threats, and that you can help them scale up as times change even further.

Showing that you are a flexible, knowledge-hungry resource that’s always willing to adapt and learn new things will also show your prospects that you’re a firm with long-term partnership potential.

The most profitable clients won’t want to waste their time on outfits that know the buzzwords but can’t back up their marketing.

Do your research, embrace new technologies, and create a reassuring, knowledgeable public persona. Be someone that customers will feel safe and reassured about working with, and never worried about having to jump ship from when tech starts to get scary again.

11. Network, Network, Network!

Networking can seem pretty scary even for the most experienced of business people. And, while you might not always make big connections through networking, it’s still good for you to scope out other business owners in your local area.

Ultimately – and you might well have learned this lesson by now – you are never going to land the biggest, most profitable clients by waiting for them to come to you.

That means you’re going to need to put yourself out there, to start building new client relationships, and to find opportunities in the individual conversations you open up.

Networking, as mentioned, isn’t always easy. However, Richard’s book, Business Networking For Geeks, helps to break down some fantastic tips and strategies to help you reach out and start building some profitable relationships.

Here’s a quick first tip – as discussed earlier, don’t push the sale. Look at networking as an exercise in making connections, learning more about people, and finding new opportunities. Sales and referrals are just nice little bonuses.

The opposite way of thinking can put a lot of business owners off from getting into networking events. So, try and keep your expectations in check and your mind open.

You never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll achieve when you network – take the time to really get to know people and, if there are in-roads for you to offer support, take them!

You can find Business Networking For Geeks on Amazon and through other retailers.

12. Host Your own Webinars

Ever attended a webinar before? If not, they can be super informative and offer great opportunities for you to meet people who could offer you referrals and client opportunities.

In fact, a great way to really put your name out there and to start making more business connections is to host your own webinars!

Webinars are like seminars that people host online. Through a webinar, you can explore a topic that’s important to you or your business, or show attendees how to take strides in their own businesses, capitalising on your own experience and expertise.

Webinars are fantastic at building authority and selling your USP. Think of them as digital networking events where you are at the centre –  provided you can put together a strong presentation and make sure to practice your public speaking skills, there are no reasons why you can’t pull an event like this off!

As with networking, however, remember that there’s never any kind of guarantee what sort of interest or connections you might make through webinars. So, keep an open mind, research topics that interest you, and start drumming up interest. Oh, and make sure you keep them free to attend, too!

Conclusion

Finding more profitable clients isn’t an exact science and you might well have tried some of the above before!

However, if any of the above tips are new to you, try them on for size. Some will require you to take bolder steps than you might be used to, but that’s part of the journey when it comes to running an MSP!

Don’t forget to dive into our TubbTalk archives for tips on how to build and maintain sustainable MSP services and drive genuinely valuable clients into your business.

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