
The MSP Sales Podcast Episode 36 - The 3 Things Every MSP Needs to Grow (w/Guest: Tim Conkle)
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Mar 16, 2026 Tim Conkle, founder/operator of The 20 and longtime MSP M&A and operations leader, shares how MSPs break past plateaus. Short takes on the three essentials for growth. Talks cover why leadership maturity sets your ceiling. Sales discipline beats flashy tools. Scaling delivery and clear pitches matter more than tech specs.
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Clients Hire To Stop Worrying Not To Be Wowed
- Insight: Prospects hire to remove a problem, not to admire credentials; selling competence is lower priority than reducing customer anxiety.
- Brian Gillette compares MSP auditions to actor auditions where buyers want reliability, not a talent show.
Stop Selling Fear With Audits
- Avoid selling fear via audits; sell trust and low-friction onboarding instead.
- Tim recommends no audits and no onboarding fees so prospects face less friction to say yes to managed services.
Pricing Shapes Behavior More Than Promises
- Insight: Traditional MSP pricing still embeds break-fix incentives, which conflict with clients' business outcomes.
- Tim contrasts break-fix, MSP with out-of-scope charges, and MID flat-fee models that align incentives to uptime.


