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It Services Managed It Guide
Building Your First 100 Contacts
Master the core concepts of building your first 100 contacts tailored specifically for the It Services Managed It industry.
💡 Core Concepts & Executive Briefing
Introduction
If you run an IT services or managed IT company and you’re still building credibility, “wait for inbound” usually turns into “wait forever.” Prospects don’t know you yet, so they don’t search for you, call you, or trust you with their server room, Microsoft 365 tenant, or backups.
The “100-Contact Scramble” is a simple, proactive way to create real deal flow early. Over a short window, you reach out directly to 100 targeted people—IT managers, office managers, business owners, CFOs/COOs, and procurement contacts—then you start conversations that lead to discovery calls, pilot projects, and referrals.
In managed IT, speed matters. The faster you start conversations, the faster you learn what matters to buyers (security, downtime risk, compliance, predictable costs), and the faster you earn the right to sell.
Concept
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The Importance of Direct Outreach
Managed IT sales is relationship-driven and risk-driven. A prospect won’t hand you access to their environment just because you posted on social media.
Direct outreach makes your pitch testable. It gives you feedback on:
- What triggers urgency (ransomware fears, EOL devices, failed backups, missed patching)
- What language they use (they don’t say “IT governance”—they say “we can’t afford another outage”)
- What proof they need (case studies, response times, documentation, references)
IT Services Example: A new MSP doesn’t buy ads for six months. Instead, the owner messages 30 business owners and 30 IT-adjacent contacts (ops leaders, finance leaders, facilities managers) with: “We help SMBs reduce downtime risk with patching + monitoring + tested backups. Want a free 15-minute risk snapshot of your current setup?” Within days, they book discovery calls.
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Building a Network
In IT services, your best early pipeline often comes from people who already influence buying decisions. You’re not only connecting with “potential customers.” You’re connecting with referral engines that see deal opportunities before the client knows they need you.
Where to find your first 100:
- LinkedIn (IT managers, operations leaders, founders, CFOs)
- Local business groups and chamber events
- Community college/IT alumni groups
- Existing vendors (phone systems, copier IT resellers, payroll providers) that meet business owners regularly
- MSP “adjacent” partners: cybersecurity consultants, compliance firms, cloud migration partners
IT Services Example: An MSP owner joins a local business networking group and builds a list of 50 contacts across different industries. They message each person with a short, specific note tied to their world: “If your IT vendor ever misses an email update or backup test, we step in with monitoring + documented remediation. Want to compare notes on what ‘good’ looks like?”
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Resilience in the Face of Rejection
Rejection is normal in IT services because you’re asking people to talk about a painful problem: outages, slow systems, security gaps, cost overruns, or messy vendor handoffs.
The key isn’t avoiding “no.” The key is treating each response like data. Track what gets replies, what gets ignored, and what makes people ask for more details.
IT Services Example: An MSP owner sends 100 short outreach messages to businesses that have 25–250 employees. Most don’t reply. But a subset responds: “We’re switching off our current IT guy,” or “We had a backup issue last quarter.” The owner uses those exact phrases to refine the next batch and to tailor the offer (for example, “tested backup + restore verification” instead of generic “managed IT”).
Conclusion
The “100-Contact Scramble” is not about spamming. It’s about creating visibility where buyers already are—and earning conversations through relevance.
In managed IT, you’re selling risk reduction and operational peace. Direct outreach gets you in front of decision-makers before they lock into another contract.
Do it consistently, learn from every reply (or lack of one), and you’ll build a pipeline that doesn’t depend on luck or someone else’s referral.
⚠️ The Industry Trap
The trap is hiding behind “polite” inbound. If you post about cybersecurity tips but never message the IT manager at a local 50–150 employee company, you’re invisible right when they’re quietly shopping or about to renew their contract.
In managed IT, silence looks like “nothing is wrong,” but the reality is different: they’ve just delayed the decision. Meanwhile, the safer move feels like waiting for a warmer lead.
You should be careful: if you only pitch when you’re confident and only follow leads who already found you, you’ll miss the exact buyers who are already nervous about backups, patching gaps, or an upcoming Microsoft renewal—and are one good conversation away from switching.
In managed IT, silence looks like “nothing is wrong,” but the reality is different: they’ve just delayed the decision. Meanwhile, the safer move feels like waiting for a warmer lead.
You should be careful: if you only pitch when you’re confident and only follow leads who already found you, you’ll miss the exact buyers who are already nervous about backups, patching gaps, or an upcoming Microsoft renewal—and are one good conversation away from switching.
📊 The Core KPI
Daily New IT Outreach Replies: Track the number of replies you receive each day from newly messaged contacts (count only replies that indicate interest or ask a follow-up question, not likes or views). Target: 2+ qualified replies per day once you’ve sent 30–50 new messages in the last 7 days.
🛑 The Bottleneck
The “invisibility comfort zone” is common in IT services because direct outreach feels like you’re interrupting someone’s day. So owners default to posting tech tips, sending generic email newsletters, or waiting for referrals.
But managed IT buyers aren’t waiting. They’re dealing with outages, “why is it slow today?” tickets, end-of-life gear, and backup restore failures that only show up after something goes wrong.
If you never start direct conversations, you never learn what your market actually fears and pays for. After a few months, the business starts to feel busy (meetings, admin work), but pipeline stays thin because nobody knows they can trust you yet.
But managed IT buyers aren’t waiting. They’re dealing with outages, “why is it slow today?” tickets, end-of-life gear, and backup restore failures that only show up after something goes wrong.
If you never start direct conversations, you never learn what your market actually fears and pays for. After a few months, the business starts to feel busy (meetings, admin work), but pipeline stays thin because nobody knows they can trust you yet.
✅ Action Items
1) Build your first 100 list with IT buyer relevance
- Make a spreadsheet with 100 names and roles: IT Manager, Operations Manager, CFO/COO, office manager, and “technically involved” executives. Add company size and industry.
- Pull leads from LinkedIn filters (company size range) and local business groups.
2) Send outreach that matches managed IT outcomes
- Write 2 short templates: one for “risk & downtime” (monitoring, patching, response) and one for “backup & ransomware readiness” (tested restores, documentation, escalation).
- Each message must include one specific offer: “15-minute risk snapshot” or “backup/patching readiness checklist.”
3) Set daily contact targets and enforce them
- Choose a daily goal: e.g., 20 new contacts messaged/day for 5 days.
- Track it in your CRM: Sent date, channel (email/LinkedIn), and status.
4) Follow up like an MSP, not a marketer
- Follow up 3–5 business days later with a short question: “Is backup testing on your radar this quarter?”
- Add a second follow-up 7–10 days later with a resource: a one-page “Managed IT Starter Checklist” PDF and a clear call to book 15 minutes.
- Make a spreadsheet with 100 names and roles: IT Manager, Operations Manager, CFO/COO, office manager, and “technically involved” executives. Add company size and industry.
- Pull leads from LinkedIn filters (company size range) and local business groups.
2) Send outreach that matches managed IT outcomes
- Write 2 short templates: one for “risk & downtime” (monitoring, patching, response) and one for “backup & ransomware readiness” (tested restores, documentation, escalation).
- Each message must include one specific offer: “15-minute risk snapshot” or “backup/patching readiness checklist.”
3) Set daily contact targets and enforce them
- Choose a daily goal: e.g., 20 new contacts messaged/day for 5 days.
- Track it in your CRM: Sent date, channel (email/LinkedIn), and status.
4) Follow up like an MSP, not a marketer
- Follow up 3–5 business days later with a short question: “Is backup testing on your radar this quarter?”
- Add a second follow-up 7–10 days later with a resource: a one-page “Managed IT Starter Checklist” PDF and a clear call to book 15 minutes.
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