Have you ever hired someone with huge potential, only to watch them fall short? Maybe they had the skills, the experience, the drive—on paper, they were perfect. But once they got started, they never quite made the leap.
You kept them around, hoping they’d step up. But deep down, you knew they could have done more. You knew you were missing out on what they could have been.
Chances are, you’re doing the exact same thing with your MSP right now.
MSPs have the experience of running IT and security for hundreds of businesses. They’ve seen what works, what fails, and what gets companies hacked into oblivion. But instead of tapping into that expertise, most business leaders reduce their MSP to the IT janitor—resetting passwords, fixing printers, and making sure Susan in accounting can get back into QuickBooks.
I ran an MSP for 20 years. And if there’s one thing I learned, it’s this: The businesses that got the most out of us were the ones that actually used us. The ones that didn’t? They wasted millions of dollars in missed opportunities, security failures, and preventable disasters.
So, if you want your MSP to be more than just a glorified help desk, here’s how to do it:
1) Tell Them Where You’re Going—Or Watch Them Hold You Back
Your MSP is supposed to support your business, but they can’t do that if they have no idea where your business is headed.
I had a client once—an absolute trainwreck of a business owner. Miserable to work with. She refused to share any details about her goals, her plans, or even her basic operations. Every quarter, I’d sit down with our clients and ask, What’s coming next? What are your goals for the next three months?
Her response? “That’s none of your business.”
Except… it was my business. Because she was paying me to manage her IT. And IT doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If you’re expanding, if you’re opening new locations, if you’re shifting business models—your MSP needs to know. Otherwise, they’re stuck reacting to everything at the last second, scrambling to keep up, and costing you way more in the long run.
(Bonus: That client went out of business. Probably because of how she treated people. But hey, that’s another story.)
2) Be Nice—Or Expect the Bare Minimum
IT people are people. Shocking, I know.
I had two clients that were night and day different.
The first? A dream client. Every time we pulled off a major migration or a huge project, they’d send us treats. Not because they had to, but because they actually appreciated the work we did. Their employees were respectful, polite, and easy to work with.
The second? A nightmare. Their office was three minutes from ours, but nobody wanted to go. If your turn came up to visit, you’d start looking for excuses. Didn’t I just go last month? Maybe Bob can take this one…
It wasn’t that they were demanding. It wasn’t that they needed a lot. They were just rude.
So, I fired them.
And one of my engineers—who hated working with them—brought in a cake. On top of the cake? Their company logo and the words “Good Riddance.”
The moral of the story? Treat your MSP like garbage, and they’ll still do their job—but that’s all they’ll do. Treat them like a valued partner, and they’ll go to war for you.
3) Something Will Go Wrong—Let Them Handle It
At some point, something is going to break.
A server will go down. A phishing email will slip through. Microsoft will roll out a catastrophic update that bricks half your devices (again). It’s going to happen.
Your MSP already has a plan for when things go south. But you know what screws up that plan? Panic.
Here’s how it usually plays out:
- There’s an outage. Your MSP starts working on it.
- You get antsy. You haven’t heard anything in a while. You call in.
- The MSP’s team drops what they’re doing to get you an update.
- Now they’re scrambling. The planned cadence for updates is thrown off. The resolution takes longer.
- You get even more frustrated. They get more distracted. Everything spirals.
Want a better way? Ask your MSP how they handle incident communication before something breaks. Do they send hourly updates? Do they post to a status page? Do they call you directly? Figure it out now so that when something does go wrong, you know what to expect—and they can focus on fixing the problem instead of fielding panicked phone calls.
Your MSP Could Be a Star—If You Let Them Be One
You didn’t hire your MSP to fix printers. You hired them to protect your business. To give you a competitive edge. To help you win.
But if you don’t use them like a strategic partner, you’ll never get real value from them.
So, start now.
- Tell them where you’re going.
- Treat them like a partner.
- Let them do their job.
Because if you’re not using your MSP’s full potential, you’re wasting your time. And worse? You’re setting yourself up for disaster.
