As MSPs continue to evolve and mature, a stronger emphasis is placed on revenue and creating a system for a consistent, reliable flow of cash. Recurring revenue is the foundation for scalability, stability, and long-term profitability.
Today’s MSPs are feeling pressure from uncertain economic conditions, tight client budgets, rising operational costs, and a saturated market. Protecting and growing your recurring revenue must be a priority.
Mature MSPs focus their revenue-related efforts on two main areas
By locking in a repeatable strategy for generating revenue, you’ll build a resilient revenue engine that can thrive in any condition, without overloading your team or overburdening your budget.
Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is truly the bread and butter of any MSP business - it gives you predictability and the stability to make investments in your people and processes. Unfortunately, MRR is not a guarantee.
As MSPs analyze their churn rates, the state of their new business, and the number of projects in their pipeline, they will begin wondering how they can achieve growth without sacrificing quality, burning out their team members, or blowing through their margins.
The best MSPs are protecting their recurring revenue by doing 4 things:
Smart MSPs are not just fulfilling contracts, they are constantly reinforcing their value to their clients and positioning themselves as trusted partners.
Clear communication, transparent pricing, and outcomes that speak for themselves help MSPs assert that their services drive value and result in better business performance.
When clients feel that MSPs are an extension of their team, they are more willing to sign long-term contracts and invest in the MSP’s services again and again.
Smart MSPs secure their MRR by:
Consistent value
MRR retention
Recession-proofing services
Resource potential
As part of your strategy to evolve your offering to meet the moment, you need to think about ways that you can add-on revenue opportunities to your existing book of business. According to Forbes, existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend 31% more than new customers. There is plenty to be made from people who have already invested in your business.
Creating add-on revenue doesn’t necessarily mean you need to add headcount. You can grow and scale without adding more techs by adapting to modern times, consistently placing an emphasis on service quality, and having more outcome-focused conversations.
Depending on how long your client's been with you, they've come to expect that you have their interests in mind when protecting their environments. That means they'll turn to you for guidance on adapting to new technologies or emerging threats. What they don't want? To be bogged down by more tools.
Upselling to existing clients is about positioning your services from a value standpoint, versus treating it as a sales pitch. In other words, you'll need to steer the conversation towards the outcomes your client’s desire: easy-to-adhere-to compliance, tighter security (yes, cybersecurity and compliance are equally important!), increased productivity, and decreased downtime.
Highly mature and profitable MSPs are driving revenue growth by helping their clients see the value of three high-demand areas:
Security
Hardening endpoints at scale
The transition to AI
Building trust and credibility isn’t just important—it’s essential. One of the best ways to establish this is to be transparent and consistent with your outcomes, whether good or bad. Data matters and being a reliable source of it is invaluable.
While client reports are great, there's one tool that MSPs often overlook: Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs).
Done right, QBRs are more than just meetings—they’re game-changers. They:
QBRs are incredible opportunities to showcase your value and let the data do the talking. Clients presented with clear, measurable results are far more likely to see your worth—and invest further.
If you’re not leveraging QBRs, you might be missing one of the smartest ways to grow your relationships and your revenue.
Which question is more likely to lead to a sale?
“How would you like to try the newest RMM to hit the market?”
Or “How would you like to increase your uptime by 15%?”
Many MSPs focus on selling services in isolation - a firewall, an antivirus, a reliable backup. Mature and profitable MSPs flip the script. They lead with outcomes - increased uptime (aka, big savings), compliance, and peace of mind.
Shift your positioning by highlighting how you deliver outcomes and tailor packages to address your client’s needs. You may consider bundling services into outcome-focused packages, such as a ‘Business Continuity Toolkit’. You may promote business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) as operational safeguards that could literally save your client’s business. When positioning mobile device management tools, lead with how it’ll solve for growing BYOD demands versus just highlighting the tool’s features.
When it comes to these additional services and the outcomes they facilitate, a land and expand strategy can help you sell the right solutions at the right time. To reduce friction in the sales process and continue to build trust, start with a core service that solves an urgent pain point (i.e., results in a desirable outcome). Then, introduce additional services through usage trends, security audits, or QBRs. Let your client’s needs be your guide for timing and packaging of upsells.
As we’ve highlighted, recurring revenue is an essential aspect of reaching operational maturity, and client retention is key to increasing revenue. The longer a client stays with your MSP, the higher their CLTV, and the more chances you’ll have to nurture and grow that relationship.
Retention tactics are plentiful, but we have a few small, high-impact moves that every MSP should adopt:
Strong retention tactics can lead to more referrals and renewals. Nurturing client relationships and creating revenue opportunities within your existing world can have a compounding effect on your growth potential.
