Partners Share Their 2021 Goals—and Plans for Achieving Them

2020 was a year for the ages—the dark ages! I’ve heard a lot from the IT industry about the challenges they’ve faced and the impact of COVID-19 via one-on-one partner calls and surveys. Most importantly, we’ve seen The IT Nation community, the world’s largest community of IT professionals, come together. We recognize the importance of moving forward, turning obstacles into opportunities, and focusing on what we can control going into the new year to meet 2021 goals.

I’d like to share the conversations and the particular areas we’ve heard that our partners (many of whom are among the MSP 501) intend to focus on for 2021, along with some tips to achieve these 2021 goals:

Increasing Organizational Efficiency

“There’s not enough time in the day.”

If you hear this from one or two people on your team, it might be time to dig into how you can shift the workload around to be more evenly distributed.

Best-in-class MSPs track employee utilization and achieve up to 80% utilization. Closely measuring your No. 1 expense—human resources—helps you determine how much your employees’ time spent at work is financially beneficial to your company. This is also a great way to identify if someone is being stretched too thin.

“We need to do more with less,” and “we need to get the most out of our existing tools.”

We’ve all probably said this a time or two, especially with a seemingly never-ending global pandemic in full swing. When times get tough, these are common go-to phrases used to encourage teams to be more resourceful when the purse strings need to be tightened. As IT professionals, you’re no stranger to the conversation about improving efficiency. Yet, it’s time to implement the same advice and best practices you often give to your own customers.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are you fully maximizing the features available with your existing products?
2. Have you reached the productivity limit of your current tools and need additional ones?
3. Are there process improvements you need to work on?
4. Do you need to invest in upskilling your talent?

By answering these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of where you stand now, where you need to improve, and what next steps to take in the new year.

How ConnectWise can help

ConnectWise software solutions help you manage your success with the ability to make data-driven decisions to set, track, and reach your goals.

“It’s all about saving engineering time and making the most of the employees that we’ve got. Using the tools that we had before, I don’t think we’d be able to drive the same efficiency that we can with ConnectWise.” Jack Fisher, Service Delivery Manager, Breakwater IT

Tech2-1 owner Martin Diaz made the decision to adopt smart data management and reporting with BrightGauge, which helped him free up valuable time for the things that matter. Check out his journey, from being an overworked and frustrated business owner with no time for anything else to coaching his daughter’s softball team.

Boosting Profitability

“We need to grow the business by X% this year.”

Setting this type of goal is common for business owners when a new year rolls around. However, I want to lead with a word of caution—all growth is not always profitable growth. You shouldn’t be growing just for the sake of growth. Not all customers are profitable, and you need to ensure good client fits when you add them to your roster.

“Now is the time to truly understand your clients’ organizational health” – Peter Melby, CEO, Greystone Technology.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on customer retention. It costs up to five times more to acquire a new customer than retaining an existing one. Among other benefits, retaining just 5% more customers can impact your profitability by