Laura Johns
Hey friends! Thank you for joining the Know, Grow, and Scale podcast. I’m thrilled to have Jennifer Bleem, founder and CEO of MSP Sales Revolution, with us today. Are you in for a treat! I’m so excited—we have so much in common, so many synergies. If you’re here to learn about growing your MSP through sales and marketing, you’re in the right place.
Jennifer, thank you for joining us! I’ve seen you around the industry for a while, and we even have some mutual clients. I’m really excited for you to share your insights today.
Jennifer Bleem
Thank you for having me, Laura! I’m excited to be here.
Laura Johns
Of course! For those who may not know you, could you share your background and how you got to where you are today? There aren’t a lot of women in this industry, and I love hearing the stories of those who are.
Jennifer Bleem
Definitely. I’ll give you the condensed version. My first job out of college was straight-commission sales—health, life, and disability insurance. That experience made me a student of sales and marketing. I was part of Dan Kennedy’s inner circle for several years, where I really fell in love with direct-response marketing. This was around 1995.
After that, I took a break to homeschool my kids and help my husband with his IT company. Eventually, I got more involved in his business, especially when our franchise dissolved, and we suddenly had to handle our own marketing. I jumped in to help with sales and marketing, and later worked with a cybersecurity vendor, helping them achieve rapid growth. We were acquired within a year and a half.
After that acquisition, I stayed on for a bit to ensure the MSP partners were taken care of. Then, I started my own coaching and consulting company. So that’s my journey in a nutshell.
Laura Johns
I love that! I think everyone in this space has had a season of bootstrapping. It’s something we can all relate to. Your story really speaks to how you got here.
So, let’s dive into some specifics. If you’re an MSP owner listening to this, and you’re struggling with growth, maybe you built your business on referrals, then this episode is for you. What would you say is the biggest challenge MSPs face with sales?
Jennifer Bleem
I’d say there are two main challenges. First, relying only on organic growth and referrals can typically get an MSP to around half a million dollars in revenue. After that, growth stalls because referrals slow down, and revenue starts to flatten.
The second challenge is that MSP owners and technicians are used to a binary way of thinking—troubleshooting is straightforward and systematic. Sales and marketing, on the other hand, rely on trial and error, like in high school science class. You make a hypothesis, test it, gather data, and refine your approach. This lack of clear-cut answers can be uncomfortable for people with a technical background.
Laura Johns
Yes, exactly. I’ve noticed the same. Many MSP owners will say, “I’ve tried marketing, but it doesn’t work.” But when we dig deeper, often they’ve only done a one-off effort, like a single webinar. I usually respond with something cheeky, like, “Imagine if you’d only ever done one Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 migration and based your entire opinion on that!”
Jennifer Bleem
Exactly! I might start using that analogy—it’s so spot-on. MSP owners are used to referrals, which have worked well for lead generation, but referrals aren’t predictable. Marketing can create a steady lead flow through data and metrics, which you can refine and improve over time.
So, you have to make a choice: invest in a long-term growth plan or stay in a constant hustle.
Laura Johns
Absolutely. So, if you were sitting face-to-face with an MSP owner who has been stalled in revenue for a while, what would be your single best piece of advice?
Jennifer Bleem
I’d tell them to start tracking their activity. It’s like beginning a fitness or diet journey where the first step is tracking your food intake. By simply monitoring your activity, you get insights. Most business owners realize they’re busy, but they aren’t actively doing enough marketing to move the needle.
Laura Johns
Yes, and I think that’s so true across industries. There’s a lot of noise out there—emails from marketers, “quick fixes,” etc. It’s easy to get distracted by all of that.
Jennifer Bleem
Exactly. If you’re not sure what to do when it’s time to market, that’s where having a structured plan comes in. And it’s helpful to work with someone who’s focused on more than quick fixes, who understands your long-term vision and growth goals.
Laura Johns
That’s such a great point. And I think it’s also crucial for MSPs to educate themselves about marketing. I often ask business owners, “How much time have you spent trying to get better at marketing?” And the answer is often close to zero. When you’re uninformed, you can be vulnerable to false promises from salespeople offering those “quick fixes.”
Jennifer Bleem
Yes! If you don’t understand what you’re buying, you’re at risk of being misled. Educate yourself enough to become a savvy buyer who can distinguish between top-of-funnel, bottom-of-funnel strategies, guarantees, and non-guarantees.
Laura Johns
Absolutely. And in this saturated market, many MSPs are worried about competitors. How can they differentiate themselves in such a crowded space?
Jennifer Bleem
One way is to create a unique “company way” or “proven process” that represents your approach. It’s a tactic that EOS has done masterfully. EOS isn’t doing anything particularly unique, but they’ve packaged their methods into an easy-to-understand, branded framework that makes their approach tangible and memorable.
Laura Johns
I love that. It’s a tip MSPs can start working on right away. Now, as we wrap up, let’s talk about sales and marketing alignment. Many of our MSP clients don’t have full sales teams. They might have just a salesperson and a marketing coordinator or an agency. What advice would you give owners for getting sales and marketing aligned?
Jennifer Bleem
Start with your sales process. Identify the common objections or challenges you face during the sales conversation. Then, use marketing to address those objections in advance. For example, if budget is a common concern, create a resource that explains what percentage of revenue should ideally go to IT or cybersecurity. That way, when prospects come to the sales conversation, they’re already informed.
Laura Johns
Great advice! Jennifer, thank you so much for sharing your insights with us. If someone wants to learn more about what you do, where can they find you?
Jennifer Bleem
They can visit my website at mspsalesrevolution.com. There’s information on my coaching programs, my bestselling book, and more.
Laura Johns
Fantastic! And of course, you can find us at thebusinessgrowers.com. Jennifer, thank you again for joining us on the Know, Grow, and Scale podcast. It’s been a pleasure!
