Customer Success Planning for MSPs:
Getting Started Guide
The Forgotten Piece of MSP Growth:
Your Current Customers
If your MSP is finding it hard to grow or hang onto profits, it might be because:
You might want to offer new services, increase prices, or invest more in sales and marketing to spur growth. Our annual report found that about half of MSPs plan to get new clients or pitch new services to drive revenue. And a third are investing more in sales and marketing. But these tactics are expensive (and risky) when margins are thin and markets are bearish.
The most efficient way to grow is through existing customers. They’re more likely to buy again (and buy more) than a new client. Plus, our annual survey found that top-earning MSPs have higher customer retention and recurring revenue rates — which shows how healthy, long-term client relationships impact profits.
But upselling existing customers is easier said than done.
Why Client Expansion is Hard: No Clear Definition of ‘Success’
You and your clients likely lack a shared, clear vision of ‘success.’ This happens because:
If you want to show your value to existing clients, you have to stop being pigeonholed as ‘tech support’ and be seen as a strategic business partner instead.
And the best way to change this perception is through ‘Customer Success’ planning.
How Customer Success Planning Turns You Into a Strategic Partner
So, what do we mean by ‘Customer Success’?
| Customer Success vs. Customer Service | |
|---|---|
| Proactive relationship-building | Reactive to client responses |
| Focus on supporting larger business goals | Focus on technical capabilities and functions |
| Owned by account managers, vCIOs, or executives | Owned by Helpdesk team |
| Interacts via calls, QBRs, and other important happenings | Interacts only via specific email or phone/video calls |
| Creates Roadmaps, budgets, and other strategic reports for clients | Creates solutions for or answers to specific technical queries |
| Reports on project milestones, cost savings, business outcomes, etc. | Reports on tickets, uptime, lifecycle data, etc. |
The 4-Step
Customer Success Framework
Tying your work to bigger business goals isn’t easy. (If it were, more MSPs would be doing it.) But with the right mindset, tools, and approach, you can build stronger, more profitable client relationships.
This guide breaks down the steps of Customer Success planning for MSPs: Segmentation, Discovery, Alignment, and Show Impact. Each section includes copy-and-paste lists and templates you can use with clients right away. You’ll also learn how to scale these steps across different client types, so success becomes a repeatable process — not just luck.
Ready to turn your MSP into a growth machine? Let’s make your first Customer Success plan!
