
Episode 56 - What One Man Can Do: Rebuilding an MSP After Losing It All (w/ Sergey Poltev)
The MSP Sales PodcastShow Notes
If you look under the hood of an MSP that never grows, you will usually find one owner trying to do it all. That was Sergey Poltev, and it almost cost him everything. He was overworked, stuck in the tickets, and running his life on empty. The burnout cost him his marriage and his house. Then, a bad partnership deal collapsed and cost him half of his clients, leaving him with barely enough to survive. If you are an MSP owner, there is guaranteed to be something you can relate to in Sergey's story. He is a computer science grad who had to learn the hard way that a technical ego is the ultimate bottleneck to business freedom. He rebuilt from absolute scratch by shifting his entire operational philosophy. Instead of micromanaging tasks, he started delegating by outcomes. Today, he runs two multi-million dollar MSPs and a global virtual staffing agency. He breaks down how he let go, why virtual talent is the cheat code for scaling, and how pairing AI with a VA multiplies your leverage. We cover: → Why most owners hand their team tasks instead of outcomes→ Why you must treat offshore talent like full employees→ How to do a proper "time study" to figure out what only you can do→ Rejection proofing: How a stand-up comedy course can fix your sales Whether you are drowning in tickets or trying to make your first hire, Sergey's story shows what is waiting on the other side of letting go. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about Sergey Poltev via his LinkedIn. Learn all about Feel-Good MSP and our end-to-end MSP sales training, growth and development program at: www.FeelGoodMSP.comBrian's book "How To Sell a Sh*tload of Managed Services (without selling your soul)", is now available in both hard-copy and audiobook format!It’s your roadmap to build repeatable growth, higher margins, and stronger client relationships without compromising values.Get it now at Amazon.com https://a.co/d/hJKoFxg
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If you look under the hood of an MSP that has been stuck for ten years, you usually find two things.No spare time and no spare money. Every growth move costs one or the other.So the owner spends the little they have on conferences, certifications, and half measures.Word of mouth becomes the plan. In this solo episode, Brian Gillette draws one chart with money on one axis and time on the other.He walks through the phases of MSP growth, from the first clients to the phase five chasm.Then he turns the chasm into arithmetic.Define the investments, price them, and work backward to the leads, proposals, and clients you need. → Price your next two to three investments, then divide by net margin to find the MRR you need to sell→ Work backward from close rate to proposals to leads→ Profile your best five clients, then go where more of them gather This one is for the owner who pays the bills, has no time to spare, and wants a plan.You will leave with a target number and a first move. 🎧 Episode 64 is live. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn all about Feel-Good MSP and our end-to-end MSP sales training, growth and development program at: www.FeelGoodMSP.comBrian's book "How To Sell a Sh*tload of Managed Services (without selling your soul)", is now available in both hard-copy and audiobook format!It’s your roadmap to build repeatable growth, higher margins, and stronger client relationships without compromising values.Get it now at Amazon.com https://a.co/d/hJKoFxg. .#MSP #MSPSales #ManagedServices #ManagedServiceProvider #TechSales #MSPCommunity #ITServices #ManagedIT #CloudServices #ITConsulting #MSPSalesTraining #SalesProcess #BusinessStrategy #BusinessGrowth #MSPMarketing #SalesTraining #LeadGen
Nick Wolf has heard that from hundreds of them. As employee #15 at Datto, Nick went on to close more than 750 MSP partners. At one point, he went 12 months without losing a single one of 160 active partners. What was behind that kind of performance? It wasn't some magic sales trick. It was how he built relationships, paid attention to details, and made sure people knew why he was calling. In Episode 63 of The MSP Sales Podcast, Nick and I get into: → Why your prospects probably don't see your MSP as different→ How to make outbound calls that have an actual reason behind them→ Why the handoff after the sale can make or break the relationship Nick has worked his way to the top at multiple companies in the MSP channel. There's a lot to learn from how he does it. 🎧 Episode 63 is live. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about Nick Wolf via his LinkedIn.Learn all about Feel-Good MSP and our end-to-end MSP sales training, growth and development program at: www.FeelGoodMSP.comBrian's book "How To Sell a Sh*tload of Managed Services (without selling your soul)", is now available in both hard-copy and audiobook format!It’s your roadmap to build repeatable growth, higher margins, and stronger client relationships without compromising values.Get it now at Amazon.com https://a.co/d/hJKoFxg
Most MSPs say they don't want to compete on price. Then they spend the entire sales conversation talking about technology, comparing stacks, and trying to prove why they're worth more. Juan Fernandez took a very different approach. He built an MSP from zero to $20 million in six years by focusing less on what he was selling and more on whether he could actually solve the client's problem. In Episode 62 of The MSP Sales Podcast, Brian Gillette sits down with Juan, Chief Encouragement Officer at MSP As A Service, to break down how he thinks about discovery, pricing, positioning, and winning the right clients. They dig into: → How to find out if there's actually a fit before you start pitching → Why "fake yeses" happen in discovery → Why most objections and "no's" walk into the meeting with you → How Juan uses a "soft close" built around guaranteed outcomes The bigger lesson? You don't have to win the price fight if you stop putting yourself in one. If you're tired of price objections, stalled deals, and prospects treating your MSP like every other IT provider, this conversation will give you a very different way to think about how you sell. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about Juan Fernandez via his LinkedIn.Learn all about Feel-Good MSP and our end-to-end MSP sales training, growth and development program at: www.FeelGoodMSP.comBrian's book "How To Sell a Sh*tload of Managed Services (without selling your soul)", is now available in both hard-copy and audiobook format!It’s your roadmap to build repeatable growth, higher margins, and stronger client relationships without compromising values.Get it now at Amazon.com https://a.co/d/hJKoFxg
If you look under the hood of a stalled MSP sales call, you will often find a parts list.Backup cadence. Delta files. Portal logins.The client is nodding, but nothing is landing. That is the lowest level of connection.It leads straight to the price objection, and you have nothing left to say. In Episode 61, Brian Gillette closes out the Feel-Good Close Foundations series with pillar three: build connection.This solo lecture centers on the connection chart.The shift is simple.Stop explaining what the service does.Start speaking to who the client wants to become. → Buyers see MSPs at the convenience or need level, so price gets questioned → Empathy in discovery is the antidote to FUD → Put the prospect in the driver's seat and act as the guide This one is for MSP owners and sales leads who keep losing the conversation at price.You will leave knowing where your buyer sits on the chart. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn all about Feel-Good MSP and our end-to-end MSP sales training, growth and development program at: www.FeelGoodMSP.comBrian's book "How To Sell a Sh*tload of Managed Services (without selling your soul)", is now available in both hard-copy and audiobook format!It’s your roadmap to build repeatable growth, higher margins, and stronger client relationships without compromising values.Get it now at Amazon.com https://a.co/d/hJKoFxg. .#MSP #MSPSales #ManagedServices #ManagedServiceProvider #TechSales #MSPCommunity #ITServices #ManagedIT #CloudServices #ITConsulting #MSPSalesTraining #SalesProcess #BusinessStrategy #BusinessGrowth #MSPMarketing #SalesTraining #LeadGen
If you look under the hood of a stalled MSP sales call, you'll find the same habit every time.Too much talking.Not enough asking.Most discovery calls still run product-forward. XDR, RMM, endpoint detection.That's sausage making.Nobody wants to buy sausage by hearing how it's made.They care about what happens after they hire you. Brian Gillette continues the Feel-Good Close lecture series with pillars one and two.Focus on the solution.Fight for authenticity. He reframes discovery from product-forward to need-forward, and shows why curiosity, not charm, builds trust. He also unpacks the gap between forced honesty and real authenticity, and why disqualifying bad fits early is a responsibility, not an inconvenience. → Need-forward discovery leads with curiosity and surfaces it→ Authenticity means aligning intent with words, not just being blunt→ Selective hearing hides the red flags already in front of you This one's for MSP owners and sales leads ready to stop pitching and start building trust.You'll walk away with sharper questions, a check on your own selective hearing, and a way to lead every call with the buyer's problem. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn all about Feel-Good MSP and our end-to-end MSP sales training, growth and development program at: www.FeelGoodMSP.comBrian's book "How To Sell a Sh*tload of Managed Services (without selling your soul)", is now available in both hard-copy and audiobook format!It’s your roadmap to build repeatable growth, higher margins, and stronger client relationships without compromising values.Get it now at Amazon.com https://a.co/d/hJKoFxg. .#MSP #MSPSales #ManagedServices #ManagedServiceProvider #TechSales #MSPCommunity #ITServices #ManagedIT #CloudServices #ITConsulting #MSPSalesTraining #SalesProcess #BusinessStrategy #BusinessGrowth #MSPMarketing #SalesTraining #LeadGen