In 2022, Blue Net Inc. – an IT services company founded in 2006 by my husband, Adam Wittke – faced a major financial crisis after a costly acquisition mistake threatened its survival. Adam was forced to fight to keep his 17-year-old company afloat.
That year, I came on board to help Adam with sales. However, with a damaged culture, lost clients, no marketing or sales process and an empty pipeline, we had to take the company down to the studs. We found ourselves working all the time, including nights and weekends. The pressure was immense.
“Big Red” Revelations That Added Over Half A Million Dollars Within 90 Days
Blue Net Inc.
We ended 2023 with $4 million in revenue. In November 2023, I saw a copy of MSPSuccess magazine on Adam’s desk. At the time, I didn’t know who Robin Robins was yet. I devoured the magazine and discovered Robin had already built a marketing process. I was so excited because that meant I didn’t have to build one! I love a good plan, so I signed up for the January 2024 three-day Rapid Implementation Workshop. Within 90 days, we added $29,802 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) – $357,624 total contract value (TCV) – $198,732 in project work and $75,469 in hardware sales (TCV of $625,549).
7 Critical Drivers That Made This A Reality:
1. A Good Plan Consistently Executed Is A Shortcut To Success.
There is no easy button; you must do the work, but there is a shortcut in using a good plan. The TMT predesigned campaigns performed remarkably well right out of the box, needing little to no customization. This launched us even faster because so much had been created that I didn’t have to do it myself. Without this program, it would have taken us years to build a plan – and even then, I wouldn’t have done it right.
2. Marketing And Sales Go Hand In Hand. Years Ago, As A Sales Rep, I Helped A Company Increase Revenues From $3 Million To $250 million.
The marketing director used to say, “You’re taking my ice cream and cake.” I didn’t understand what that meant. Now I do. Marketing drives leads and sales.
3. Make No Excuses. Just Figure It Out And Keep Moving Forward. The Results Of Our First Managed Security Campaign Were Remarkable.
We’ve increased leads from receiving maybe one call a month to once per week and brought in $218,380 TCV. These results were despite my mistakenly uploading the wrong customer list (so embarrassing!), causing hundreds of e-mails to bounce.
Regardless, we continue to get leads from it! Plus, our MSP ended up ranking #1 out of the 90 MSPs in the Rapid Implementation Workshop, proving that perfection isn’t required for success.
4. Do Not Tolerate Transgressions From Uncooperative Employees.
Before, salespeople would answer the phones and tell prospects the price of our managed services plans. I received a lot of flak when I tried to change that process.
I replaced an uncooperative salesperson with a salesperson who had MSP experience. She told me, “I’ve never seen an MSP get this many new leads and close this many deals.” My other salesperson, who initially was not a fan of the changes, majorly turned around. Inspired by the uptick in leads, he told me, “What you are doing is really working! My commission check DOUBLED!!”
5. Develop Rigorous Standards For WHO You Target.
Before, trying to sell to a broad, universal market proved detrimental. However, once we shifted focus to a specific niche – manufacturing – we no longer wasted time with businesses that are not well-suited to our offerings. Backup from Robin’s track record helped crush previous resistance and made Adam comfortable turning down customers because he sees success from the campaigns.
6. Fish In Better Ponds By Networking On Purpose In The Right Places.
I started a networking group that focuses on our target of vertical manufacturing industries. This has built trust and synergy, leading to referrals, including four leads in the last two months that have over $35,000 MRR. Initially, I invited five women who sell to manufacturers to a happy hour. Now there are between 45 and 50 people involved. I created a private LinkedIn group where we share where manufacturing events are happening, what we know and tips to help each other. Now, I’m getting invited to events on a totally different level, with quality decision-makers in my target market.
7. Talk About What Prospects Care About, Not Technology.
Our approach to selling is to listen to people’s problems and focus on solving them. It’s never about selling technology or talking about tools. My reply to an inquiry about what I do was “Have you ever heard of an MSP?” The woman replied, “Yes, we have one for our business.” And I said, “My husband and I own one of those. I hope it’s going well with your MSP.” She replied, “It’s not. Can you come in and help me?” I find this happening more and more frequently.
The ONE Change That Brought In $446,564 From…
Improving our quarterly business reviews brought in one-third of the MRR, half of the project work and $75,469 in hardware sales in the first 90 days and escalated to $446,564 after six months. Although we’d already been doing QBRs, adding the buying template and sharing it with our customers was a game changer. We share a 12-month to three-year plan with customers for replacements, costs, timeline and consequences they may face if they aren’t compliant. Our customers have gone wild over this and absolutely love it because it allows them to budget appropriately.
Promoting Referrals Adds Clients
Six new project clients were added from the referral campaign. Before, we weren’t asking for referrals or promoting a referral program. Now, we offer a $500 gift card in a Blue Net Yeti or offer to donate $500 to their favorite charity. We promote our referral program via a slide during our QBR and postcards – which also ask them to leave a Google review – and while speaking with our clients.
The Healthiest Pipeline That Blue Net Has Ever Had With $106,203 MRR!
Blue Net now has 18 managed services/security services deals totaling $106,203 MRR, plus over $900K in project and hardware opportunities. Deals came from these sources:
- Direct mail postcards drove leads to download free reports, including the IT Buyer’s Guide and The Cyber Security Crisis For Twin Cities Businesses Report. We sent the Aspirin campaign first, followed by the Sitting Duck campaign three months later. We sent 50 postcards every week and got between seven and 15 people hitting the website to download a free report.
- Canvassing added two NEW clients and more in the pipeline! When a company visits our website and downloads a free report, if they are a good fit for us, we put together a themed Blue Net gift basket with marketing information about our company and goodies such as Dot’s Pretzels, popcorn, chocolate, and camera protectors. And we deliver it in person. People are happy to receive treats and share information and business cards, and they offer to let the decision-maker know we stopped in, if that person isn’t available.
- Marketing materials included the Buyer’s Guide, Reasons Why You Should Do Business With Us, an offer of two hours of free support, and a business card. Here’s a sample conversation from this week: “My name is Angie Wittke. My husband and I own an IT company four miles down the road. We noticed someone from your company was on our website.” When asked if I knew who, I replied, “Nope, I sure don’t, but I thought I’d drop off information and treats because who doesn’t like treats?” The woman replied, “I like treats. I bet it was Jeremy. He’s looking for cyber security.”
After we’ve delivered the baskets, recipients revisit our website, spending between three and five minutes on it.
- Our Robinized website was enhanced with free reports, blog posts, video testimonials and a podcast page. We also changed our SEO, which created a significant uptick in traffic. Instead of just having a page for the Twin Cities, Minnesota, we’ve added a page for every city surrounding us.
Strategies Generated $1,017,767 In 6 Months – Watch Out In 2025!
Before, our profitability was a major challenge. We hadn’t raised our prices in five years. Implementing Robin’s guidance on pricing and measuring profitability was a big breakthrough. Now, every single month, we are improving.
Key results in six months include:
- $1,017,267 in new managed services contracts, projects and hardware.
- $36,050 increase in MRR in six months. (That’s 29.49%, despite large client turnover. This is a BIG DEAL! It proved we could replace revenue and let go of ill-fitting clients.)
- $262,638 increase in total revenue.
- 10.37% increase in EBITDA.
But that’s not all. We can take off Fridays in the summer, hang out with the kids, have date nights again and take vacations now.
As systems and processes are implemented, we project profitability to increase significantly in 2025. The key is to continuously implement, make no excuses and keep going. We now have a healthy pipeline and work-life balance and are confident in our ability to attract and sell to the right clients.
