Churn is one of the four biggest challenges MSP leaders face – employ these strategies, and keep “churn” where it belongs: on the ice cream cone.
4 Key MSP Revenue Challenges – And How Tech Leaders Can Solve Them
At @BuildIT LIVE back in August, I sat down with several respected MSP CEOs and asked a straightforward question:
👉 “What is actually holding revenue growth back?”
Their answers were consistent. And if you lead an MSP – or any B2B relationship-driven revenue organization – you’ll likely see yourself in at least one of these.
These are the four constraints I heard most often – and the strategies that actually move the needle.
1. Not Enough Lead Generation
“There isn’t enough going into our funnel, so there isn’t enough coming out.”
The default reaction is to “hire a Marketing Manager” – or outsource to a lead-gen agency.
But lack of leads is rarely a headcount problem – it’s a focus problem.
MSPs don’t need to do everything – they need to execute a few motions with discipline and excellence:
- Targeted Content: Identify your highest-value segments and build educational content from SMEs that speaks directly to their specific needs and pain points.
- Partnerships: Identify the 3 to 5 partners with the highest reach and credibility in the priority segments. Activate them through co-hosted events or formalized lead sharing to accelerate warm introductions
- Industry Events: Don’t just attend – pre-book meetings. Success is locked in the weeks before the event – not in the event venue.
- Multi-Channel Outbound: Use coordinated sequences across LinkedIn, email, and phone – and yes, phone still works.
Principle: More volume doesn’t fix a weak system. More focus does.
2. High Churn
“Churn is well above goal – the model is unsustainable model given our acquisition cost.”
When churn rises, morale drops, and sales effort becomes replacement – not growth.
What works:
- Team-Based Delivery: 3–4 people owning a client relationship reduces single point of failure and improves consistency.
- Strategic Business Reviews: Run SBRs as outcome conversations – not ticket recaps. Tie investment to the client’s specific business goals.
- Early Risk Flagging: Give anyone the authority to flag a client “at risk.” Don’t wait. Act immediately – executive sponsor, targeted review, or open and honest retention call.
Principle: Retention is earned through engagement and impact.
3. Lack of Sales Accountability
“Our sales team isn’t producing consistently, and wins feel sporadic.”
If the pipeline is unpredictable, revenue will be unpredictable.
Top-performing MSPs enforce three disciplines:
- CRM Discipline: Track leading indicators (FTAs, outbound calls, MQL touchpoints) – not just closed revenue.
- Weekly Pipeline Hygiene: Three weeks per month focusing on how to move bigger deals forward. The final week dedicated to overall hygiene and accuracy.
- Ranked Sales Leaderboard: A ranked sales leaderboard. Visible to the team. Every week. No one wants to sit at the bottom.
Principle: Accountability isn’t pressure – it’s clarity.
4. Product Commercialization Struggles
“Our latest product launch isn’t selling.”
Most failed launches aren’t product problems – they’re go-to-market problems. Most failed launches trace back to one of three gaps:
- Purpose Clarity: Define ICP and value proposition well before launch.
- Enablement: Go beyond the one-pager – battle cards, FAQs, talk tracks, objection handling, SME Q&A.
- Operational Readiness: Don’t sell what you cannot deliver reliably.
The principle: Launch it. Land it. Then scale.
Final Thoughts
A huge thank-you to the CEOs who generously shared their insights during BuildIT LIVE.
These aren’t just MSP challenges — they’re B2B growth challenges.
And solving them isn’t about doing more.
It’s about focusing on the handful of systems that actually create revenue:
- Intentional lead generation
- Retention discipline
- Sales accountability
- Commercialization readiness
Which of these four constraints is costing you the most this quarter?
