Steve Dickerson MSP Sales Consulting Review | Fox & Crow Group
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Steve Dickerson Fox & Crow Group Sales Consulting Review: Honest Enough to Tell You What You're Not Ready For
Thank you to Steve Dickerson for this review of his MSP consulting experience with Carrie Richardson, Co-Founder of Fox & Crow Group.
First Published: October 1, 2025
Last Updated: May 1, 2026
There is a particular kind of professional integrity that is rare in sales and consulting: the willingness to tell a prospective client that they are not yet ready for what they are asking for — and to recommend something different, even when the original request would have been easier to fulfill and more immediately profitable to accept.
Most consultants, when a client shows up asking to buy a service, find a way to sell it. The pressure of economic incentive pushes toward yes, not toward "not yet."
This Steve Dickerson Fox & Crow Group consulting review describes an experience of the opposite.
"I would not hesitate to refer anyone in the MSP world to Carrie. I reached out to Carrie inquiring about Appointment Setting and Sales Consulting. Although she could have very easily guided us into an engagement we are not yet ready for, she gave very honest feedback and recommended we start with Business Strategy, then potentially circle back when Appointment Setting and Consulting will be much more beneficial to our business."
The Appointment Setting Trap in MSP Sales
Dickerson reached out specifically about Appointment Setting — one of the most sought-after services among MSPs looking to accelerate their pipeline.
Appointment setting is effective when the underlying business is ready for it. When it is not, the results are predictable and frustrating: appointments get booked, meetings happen, and nothing converts — because the problem was not a lack of meetings, it was something upstream.
The most common reasons appointment setting underperforms for MSPs that are not ready:
Undefined ideal client profile. Without a clear picture of who you are targeting and why they are a good fit, appointment setting generates conversations with people who were never going to become clients. The activity looks like progress; the pipeline doesn't convert.
Weak value proposition. If the MSP cannot clearly articulate what makes them the right choice for a specific type of client, early-stage sales conversations fail regardless of how they were initiated.
Inadequate discovery process. Appointments that lead to discovery conversations that fail to uncover real need produce proposals that miss the mark — and proposals that miss the mark do not close.
No clear sales process. Appointment setting feeds a pipeline. If the pipeline has no clear structure from first meeting through close, the appointments are wasted opportunity.
Starting with Business Strategy addresses all of these. The sales infrastructure needs to be in place before you invest in filling it.
The Value of "Not Yet"
Carrie Richardson's recommendation to start with Business Strategy before Appointment Setting was, from a revenue optimization standpoint, counter to her immediate interest. Business Strategy engagements are typically smaller than ongoing Appointment Setting retainers.
The fact that she made the recommendation anyway — and was specific about why — reflects the kind of advisory integrity that produces long-term trust and referrals.
Dickerson says he "would not hesitate to refer anyone in the MSP world to Carrie." That level of confidence comes from watching someone put the client's actual interests ahead of the immediate opportunity.
An advisor who does that once has demonstrated something about how they operate that is worth recommending — even if the engagement itself was not yet a major one.
Business Strategy as the Right Foundation
Fox & Crow Group's approach to MSP business strategy examines the foundation that sales and marketing activity needs to be built on:
- Who is the right client for this MSP, and why would they choose this provider over others?
- What is the unique value proposition, and is it compelling to the specific buyers being targeted?
- What does the sales process look like from first contact through close, and where is it creating friction?
- What metrics would indicate the business is ready to scale its outbound activity?
When that foundation is solid, MSP lead generation and appointment setting deliver strong returns. When it is not, they generate activity without results.
Carrie Richardson's counsel to Dickerson — get the strategy right first — is the honest, experienced advice that produces better long-term outcomes, even if it is not what the client initially asked to buy.
Explore MSP business strategy consulting with Fox & Crow Group.
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FAQ: MSP Business Strategy and Appointment Setting Readiness with Fox & Crow Group
How do I know if my MSP is ready for appointment setting?
MSPs are ready for appointment setting when they have a clear ideal client profile, a compelling value proposition, a structured discovery process, and a defined sales motion from first meeting to close. Without those, appointments rarely convert.
What does Fox & Crow Group's MSP business strategy engagement cover?
Business strategy engagements help MSPs define their ideal client, sharpen their value proposition, structure their sales process, and build the strategic foundation that makes sales and marketing investment effective.
Is it better to start with strategy or with sales and marketing services?
For most MSPs that are not already generating consistent pipeline, starting with strategy produces better long-term results. Building the right foundation first ensures that lead generation and appointment setting investment compounds rather than gets wasted.
What makes Carrie Richardson's feedback trustworthy?
Carrie Richardson is known in the MSP channel for delivering honest assessments over comfortable ones — including recommending against engagements that would not produce the right outcomes for a specific client's situation. That reputation for integrity is the basis of her referral network.
The business strategy foundation Dickerson describes as necessary before outbound investment is the same thing Bob Coppedge's review addresses — Coppedge covers what changes when an MSP is genuinely ready to examine its comfortable patterns. Jonathan Bullock's account adds the diagnostic perspective on how underlying sales issues get identified before solutions are applied. Fox & Crow Group's MSP lead generation approach is exactly what becomes effective once that foundation is in place.
Read more about the Brightworks MSP sales success story and how MSPs are building predictable sales growth with Fox & Crow Group.