MSP Price Objections
I want to talk about every MSP owner or sales leader’s favorite conversation piece. Let’s set the stage.
You’re meeting with your client. It could be a routine business review or a meeting they requested. You get through the pleasantries, chat about an open item, and then—you get hit with it.
Out of left field, you get smacked with MSP Price Objections.
“You’re too expensive.”
Woof. That wasn’t what we wanted to hear. Your heart rate goes up a bit. You start scrambling in your head to justify costs, thinking about how to counteract this. You might even consider “discount-land”—running math figures on how you can cut costs.
🚨 Stay far away from that amusement park.
I have a different question for you to consider:
What If You’re Assuming?
What Causes MSP Price Objections?
Price becomes an objection in the absence of value. But what’s causing that absence? There are a few potential root causes:
- Your services are not presenting clear value for the dollars invested.
- The customer’s financial position has changed.
- A third party has presented a “cheaper” option.
Regardless of the cause, you need to explore the topic.
“Well, Mr./Ms. Customer – I appreciate you sharing that. Until right now, I didn’t know there was a misalignment on finances. Something must have happened. Can you share what occurred to bring this up?”
Sit and wait. Your customer will have to share something.
If their response is vague—“This has been going on for a while” or “It’s a lot of things”—great! Now you can dig deeper.
“When did it start?”
“What are some of the big things?”
Get them to share specifics. You don’t need to get into the weeds, but you do need them to articulate their concerns.
Handling the Financial Piece
Once you get to the truth, the objection falls into one of two categories:
- Financial Constraints
- Service Delivery Constraints
Financial Constraints
These are straightforward. Pull up the agreement and highlight the key points:
- Service delivery
- Security posture
- Backup & continuity
- Workflow improvements
- Infrastructure reliability
Ask them: What would you like to remove to accommodate the constraint?
If it’s a competitive quote, ask to see the details.
“I can’t compare apples to apples without reading what this third party presented.”
Find the gaps, highlight them, and mention that you can remove services to match, but explain the impact of doing so.
Service Delivery Constraints
These require discovery.
What would ‘good’ look like?
What are their expectations?
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Take these insights back to your team. Develop a plan and set a follow-up meeting for the next week.
Price Objection Handling
Once you have an action plan for your client’s MSP Price Objections, ensure the following:
✅ The new plan is profitable at your company’s normal rates.
✅ The plan is aligned with your client’s wishes.
✅ The plan does not violate your MSP SLA or SLO targets.
Present the plan to your client and align it with their concerns from the first conversation.
You won’t save every client with an MSP Price Objection. But even if they leave, the discovery process provides valuable insights. Use that knowledge to proactively address concerns with other clients who may be in the same position.
Need Help With Pricing Strategy?
If you’re concerned about pricing strategy and differentiation, we can help.
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