https://mspoutpost.com Free resources, templates & tools for MSPs en Mon, 19 Oct 2026 20:28:25 GMT https://mspoutpost.com/articles/run-a-qbr-that-renews-the-contract-and-sets-up-the-price-increase https://mspoutpost.com/articles/run-a-qbr-that-renews-the-contract-and-sets-up-the-price-increase Mon, 19 Oct 2026 20:28:25 GMT Connect service performance to the client’s plans, discuss upcoming work and use the QBR to agree decisions before renewal deadlines arrive. Natalie Brandt https://mspoutpost.com/articles/one-record-for-every-vendor-contract-so-a-price-rise-never-surprises-you https://mspoutpost.com/articles/one-record-for-every-vendor-contract-so-a-price-rise-never-surprises-you Mon, 19 Oct 2026 20:28:23 GMT Keep vendor pricing, renewal dates and notice periods in a contract register, with reminders and a named person responsible for each decision. Dana Kowalski https://mspoutpost.com/articles/shared-admin-accounts-are-the-first-thing-to-remove https://mspoutpost.com/articles/shared-admin-accounts-are-the-first-thing-to-remove Mon, 19 Oct 2026 20:17:22 GMT A shared admin login touches every client tenant your MSP manages and shows nobody who used it. Why it belongs first on the list, and why the fix is removal. Dana Kowalski https://mspoutpost.com/articles/building-a-client-onboarding-checklist-90-point-technical-onboarding-sop https://mspoutpost.com/articles/building-a-client-onboarding-checklist-90-point-technical-onboarding-sop Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:29:42 GMT You sign a new client, hand onboarding to your most reliable tech, and a week later you're untangling a mess: users are calling in because they don't know the… Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-one-ticket-really-costs-you-and-how-to-find-out-in-30-minutes https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-one-ticket-really-costs-you-and-how-to-find-out-in-30-minutes Thu, 08 Oct 2026 00:29:42 GMT Picture a client who sends a flood of easy requests. Password resets, printer jams, "my Outlook is slow." Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-one-sentence-that-tells-a-prospect-exactly-what-your-msp-does https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-one-sentence-that-tells-a-prospect-exactly-what-your-msp-does Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:54:11 GMT You're at a chamber mixer and someone asks what your MSP does. You launch into the list: IT, security, cloud, help desk, backup, maybe some cabling. Natalie Brandt https://mspoutpost.com/articles/your-tier-1-tech-has-been-stuck-on-that-ticket-for-30-minutes https://mspoutpost.com/articles/your-tier-1-tech-has-been-stuck-on-that-ticket-for-30-minutes Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:54:10 GMT Picture a reset-password ticket. Should take ten minutes. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/which-growth-path-fits-your-numbers https://mspoutpost.com/articles/which-growth-path-fits-your-numbers Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:54:09 GMT You're at the planning meeting for next year's growth, staring at three options: chase new clients, squeeze more from the ones you have, or sell them something… Owen Gallagher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/pick-a-security-framework-your-clients-insurers-will-actually-accept-2 https://mspoutpost.com/articles/pick-a-security-framework-your-clients-insurers-will-actually-accept-2 Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:54:08 GMT Picture this: a client forwards their insurer's cyber insurance proposal form. Dana Kowalski https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-a-buyer-actually-pays-for-your-recurring-revenue https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-a-buyer-actually-pays-for-your-recurring-revenue Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:54:07 GMT A buyer says "I'll pay you six times." Your first question is six times what? Monthly recurring revenue? Annual? Profit? Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/discovery-questions-that-find-the-real-problem-before-you-write-a-proposal https://mspoutpost.com/articles/discovery-questions-that-find-the-real-problem-before-you-write-a-proposal Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:57 GMT You spend an afternoon writing a proposal. It's thorough. It's priced fairly. You send it over, and the prospect goes quiet. Natalie Brandt https://mspoutpost.com/articles/your-next-tech-starts-in-90-days-here-s-the-plan-you-write-this-week https://mspoutpost.com/articles/your-next-tech-starts-in-90-days-here-s-the-plan-you-write-this-week Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:56 GMT You've hired the tech. The start date is set. And you have no written plan, which means they'll spend their first week following you around while you're… Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/which-tickets-a-script-should-own-and-the-review-before-it-runs https://mspoutpost.com/articles/which-tickets-a-script-should-own-and-the-review-before-it-runs Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:56 GMT You're staring at another flood of auto-generated tickets and you know half of them are the same task wearing a different client name. Dana Kowalski https://mspoutpost.com/articles/your-first-hundred-days-after-close-a-plan-that-keeps-the-people-who-run-things https://mspoutpost.com/articles/your-first-hundred-days-after-close-a-plan-that-keeps-the-people-who-run-things Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:55 GMT You closed the deal. Now you're staring at a client list, a staff list, and a pile of tools, and the people who know how everything works are the first to feel… Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-documents-a-buyer-will-ask-for-and-the-ones-that-end-deals https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-documents-a-buyer-will-ask-for-and-the-ones-that-end-deals Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:54 GMT You're in the middle of a ticket queue when the phone rings. It's a buyer, or a broker on their behalf, and they want "a few documents" to get things moving. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-one-page-annual-plan-that-survives-october https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-one-page-annual-plan-that-survives-october Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:54 GMT Say it's the week after your busiest season ends. The calls have slowed, the tickets are down, and you finally have room to think. Owen Gallagher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-every-client-needs-documented-and-the-review-that-keeps-it-true https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-every-client-needs-documented-and-the-review-that-keeps-it-true Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:53 GMT It's 11pm, the on-call phone rings, and the ticket says 'printer down' for a client you've never touched. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-52k-request-that-ended-in-a-farewell-and-the-band-that-would-have-kept-it https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-52k-request-that-ended-in-a-farewell-and-the-band-that-would-have-kept-it Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:52 GMT Picture a Thursday. Your best T1, two years in, asks for a bump from 48k to 52k. You say no, or you stall, and by Friday they've updated their resume. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-15-minute-one-to-one-and-desk-standards-that-catch-problems-before-they-cost-you-a-client https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-15-minute-one-to-one-and-desk-standards-that-catch-problems-before-they-cost-you-a-client Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:52 GMT You find out about a missed verification step on a password reset the same way you find out about most things: a client calls, annoyed, and asks why their… Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/pick-your-psa-rmm-backup-security-and-documentation-stack-in-the-right-order https://mspoutpost.com/articles/pick-your-psa-rmm-backup-security-and-documentation-stack-in-the-right-order Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:51 GMT You're paying for a security tool that duplicates something your RMM already does, and you only noticed because the renewal landed. The fix isn't a better tool. Dana Kowalski https://mspoutpost.com/articles/read-the-earn-out-terms-before-you-agree-to-how-the-price-is-paid https://mspoutpost.com/articles/read-the-earn-out-terms-before-you-agree-to-how-the-price-is-paid Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:51 GMT Picture a broker sliding a term sheet across the table: "purchase price, two million dollars." You hear two million. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/price-bundle-and-retire-building-a-service-catalogue-that-earns-its-keep https://mspoutpost.com/articles/price-bundle-and-retire-building-a-service-catalogue-that-earns-its-keep Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:50 GMT Your service list has grown one line at a time. A client asked for patching, so you added patching. Owen Gallagher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/make-critical-mean-something-again https://mspoutpost.com/articles/make-critical-mean-something-again Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:50 GMT Picture a Monday where every client ticket arrives flagged urgent, and the techs spend the morning triaging instead of fixing. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/per-user-per-device-or-tiered-picking-a-pricing-model-for-your-msp https://mspoutpost.com/articles/per-user-per-device-or-tiered-picking-a-pricing-model-for-your-msp Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:49 GMT Picture the renewal meeting you're dreading. A client you've billed per user for two years just grew from 20 to 30 people, and every one of them brought a… Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/pick-the-sops-worth-writing-first-from-your-most-repeated-tickets https://mspoutpost.com/articles/pick-the-sops-worth-writing-first-from-your-most-repeated-tickets Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:48 GMT It's Monday, the queue looks the same as last week, and you're about to walk a tech through the same password reset you've explained four times since Friday. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/hand-the-desk-to-your-team-in-stages-without-it-falling-apart-2 https://mspoutpost.com/articles/hand-the-desk-to-your-team-in-stages-without-it-falling-apart-2 Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:47 GMT You are the one everyone calls. The ticket comes in, the tech tries one thing, escalates, and there it is in your queue at 4pm: a mailbox permission change… Owen Gallagher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/fix-the-my-computer-is-slow-ticket-with-an-intake-form-and-a-15-minute-diagnostic-bundle https://mspoutpost.com/articles/fix-the-my-computer-is-slow-ticket-with-an-intake-form-and-a-15-minute-diagnostic-bundle Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:47 GMT Stop guessing what 'slow' means. Build an intake form and diagnostic bundle so performance tickets arrive with the details your techs need to act fast. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/a-prospecting-list-and-outreach-sequence-that-reaches-the-owner-not-the-front-desk https://mspoutpost.com/articles/a-prospecting-list-and-outreach-sequence-that-reaches-the-owner-not-the-front-desk Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:46 GMT You've tried the tools and the marketing. You've spent money on things that promised leads and delivered noise. The fix isn't another platform. Natalie Brandt https://mspoutpost.com/articles/build-a-dispatch-board-that-stops-two-techs-driving-to-the-same-site https://mspoutpost.com/articles/build-a-dispatch-board-that-stops-two-techs-driving-to-the-same-site Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:46 GMT Picture Monday morning. Two vans pull into the same client parking lot, and both drivers are your techs. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/stop-letting-techs-guess-at-priority https://mspoutpost.com/articles/stop-letting-techs-guess-at-priority Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:52:45 GMT Picture a Tuesday at 9am. A ticket lands on the board: "Email down for one user." Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/set-up-an-on-call-rotation-that-doesn-t-burn-out-your-techs https://mspoutpost.com/articles/set-up-an-on-call-rotation-that-doesn-t-burn-out-your-techs Tue, 29 Sep 2026 23:44:52 GMT Picture a 2am alert for a non-critical issue, the third one this week. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/test-an-industry-vertical-before-you-bet-the-msp-on-it https://mspoutpost.com/articles/test-an-industry-vertical-before-you-bet-the-msp-on-it Tue, 29 Sep 2026 23:25:29 GMT You've heard the pitch at every vendor event: specialize in one industry and your margins climb, your churn drops, and your techs stop relearning the same… Owen Gallagher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/start-preparing-to-sell-your-msp-years-before-you-list-it https://mspoutpost.com/articles/start-preparing-to-sell-your-msp-years-before-you-list-it Tue, 29 Sep 2026 23:18:37 GMT You think about selling someday. Not this year, maybe not next, but someday. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/three-years-out-the-numbers-a-buyer-will-judge-your-msp-on https://mspoutpost.com/articles/three-years-out-the-numbers-a-buyer-will-judge-your-msp-on Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:48:40 GMT You're not selling. You've got a shop that keeps the lights on, clients who pay, and a vague sense that someday you'll cash out. Fine. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/write-the-scorecard-before-the-job-advert-goes-out https://mspoutpost.com/articles/write-the-scorecard-before-the-job-advert-goes-out Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:41:23 GMT You've hired on gut feel before. So has every owner who tells you they have a system now. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/marketing-an-msp-owner-will-actually-read https://mspoutpost.com/articles/marketing-an-msp-owner-will-actually-read Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:41:23 GMT You have no time to read anything, and the moment you engage, you expect to be sold to. Fair. Natalie Brandt https://mspoutpost.com/articles/an-internal-knowledge-base-your-techs-will-actually-use https://mspoutpost.com/articles/an-internal-knowledge-base-your-techs-will-actually-use Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:31:12 GMT If your techs don't read the knowledge base and don't write in it, the fix isn't more content. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/choose-vendor-partners-that-actually-pay-off https://mspoutpost.com/articles/choose-vendor-partners-that-actually-pay-off Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:26 GMT Every vendor site you land on is selling you something. Owen Gallagher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/find-out-why-techs-actually-leave-before-the-resignation-letter https://mspoutpost.com/articles/find-out-why-techs-actually-leave-before-the-resignation-letter Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:25 GMT Picture the moment: a tech you trained walks into your office on a Tuesday and hands you a resignation letter. You had no idea it was coming. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-to-check-before-you-bid-on-a-book-of-clients https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-to-check-before-you-bid-on-a-book-of-clients Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:24 GMT You've seen the listing: a retiring owner, forty clients, steady MRR, and a price that looks like a steal. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/stop-chasing-invoices-a-billing-routine-that-gets-you-paid https://mspoutpost.com/articles/stop-chasing-invoices-a-billing-routine-that-gets-you-paid Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:22 GMT It's Monday morning. You open your inbox and there are three reminders, two excuses, and an office manager who spent an hour reconciling a spreadsheet that… Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/a-proposal-that-gets-read-and-a-price-that-holds https://mspoutpost.com/articles/a-proposal-that-gets-read-and-a-price-that-holds Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:17 GMT You send the proposal on Thursday. By Tuesday there's silence, so you follow up. The reply is either "we went with someone cheaper" or "can you do 20% off?" Natalie Brandt https://mspoutpost.com/articles/prove-your-backups-work-before-the-day-a-client-needs-them https://mspoutpost.com/articles/prove-your-backups-work-before-the-day-a-client-needs-them Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:14 GMT An auditor asks a simple question: "Show me that a restore actually works." You open the backup console and point at green checkmarks. That isn't proof. Dana Kowalski https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-actually-changes-between-tier-one-tier-two-and-team-lead https://mspoutpost.com/articles/what-actually-changes-between-tier-one-tier-two-and-team-lead Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:13 GMT You promote your best tier-two tech to lead, and within two weeks the desk is slower than it was before the promotion. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/write-a-handover-note-so-the-client-never-repeats-themselves https://mspoutpost.com/articles/write-a-handover-note-so-the-client-never-repeats-themselves Mon, 28 Sep 2026 23:05:13 GMT The ticket lands in tier two with no context. The tech calls the client, asks what's already been tried, and the client starts the story from the beginning… Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-five-numbers-on-your-monday-dashboard https://mspoutpost.com/articles/the-five-numbers-on-your-monday-dashboard Mon, 28 Sep 2026 21:27:45 GMT Monday morning. Your PSA has 47 reports queued, and you know three of them are lying to you. The ticket backlog chart says everything is fine. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/run-dispatch-without-a-dispatcher https://mspoutpost.com/articles/run-dispatch-without-a-dispatcher Mon, 21 Sep 2026 21:43:43 GMT It's 4pm. A ticket has been sitting in your board for two days, nobody has touched it, and the client just emailed asking for a status. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/onboarding-a-client-in-30-days https://mspoutpost.com/articles/onboarding-a-client-in-30-days Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT A four-week MSP client onboarding plan: discovery and access in week one, the stack in week two, cleanup in week three, handover in week four. Megan Friesen https://mspoutpost.com/articles/raising-prices-without-losing-clients https://mspoutpost.com/articles/raising-prices-without-losing-clients Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT How an MSP raises prices without losing the clients worth keeping: pick the number first, send the letter before the call, and answer the three objections. Graham Whitfield https://mspoutpost.com/articles/renegotiating-a-renewal-when-seat-prices-rise https://mspoutpost.com/articles/renegotiating-a-renewal-when-seat-prices-rise Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT What an MSP does when a vendor raises per-seat prices mid-contract: know the cost, decide pass-through or absorb, and hold the renewal conversation. Graham Whitfield