As a managed services provider (MSP) or value-added reseller (VAR), you understand the value of remote monitoring and management (RMM), from time and cost savings to proactively maintaining IT systems rather than only reacting when things go wrong.
However, just because you know remote monitoring and management is good for your business, it doesn’t mean that prospects will automatically see the value RMM can provide to them. Here are four advantages that RMM delivers to end users that are worth including in your marketing and sales pitches:
1. Less Downtime
If a storefront isn’t open or production lines aren’t operating, businesses don’t make money. Your clients are well aware of the losses they incur when they can’t communicate with customers, close deals, or fill orders. Furthermore, they’re paying overhead costs and salaries for nonproductive employees when IT systems do down. One of the most recent studies on the cost of downtime is from the Ponemon Institute, which says on average, businesses lose $5,000 to $9,000 per hour. (You can demonstrate the impact on a specific client’s business using a downtime calculator, like this one from Zerto.)
Make sure it’s clear to your prospects that MSP or VAR clients on remote monitoring and management experience less IT downtime. Show your clients how RMM enables you to monitor for signs of impending failures or outages and what you can do to prevent an issue from snowballing into work stoppage.
2. Faster Service
Addressing an issue remotely is quicker than having to drive to the client’s facility, troubleshoot, and then find the parts or people with the right skills to fix the problem. Even if an on-site visit is necessary, your technician will know in advance what they’re dealing with.
From your client’s perspective, addressing issues remotely means fewer disruptions to workflows and faster resolutions to problems.
3. Secure Systems
When IT networks, appliances and endpoints are maintained and up to date, they’re more secure. You may, however, need to convince a prospect that your team’s ability to access their IT network won’t create a new security vulnerability. Be willing to sign nondisclosure agreements, protect account access with multifactor authentication, and stress how RMM can work with security solutions to protect their business and its data.
4. Cost Savings
By resolving issues before they become catastrophes, your clients will see overall cost savings for IT when you oversee their systems with RMM.
It’s also worth mentioning that MSPs can experience significant cost savings once they implement RMM – often more than $50,000 per year, according to a LogMeIn Central study. The choice is yours whether to pass any of those savings on to your customers.
Get Your Clients on RMM, and Then Keep Them on RMM
A network audit can be a valuable tool as a part of the RMM sales process. This assessment will provide an inventory of all the devices and systems on your prospect’s network – and flag issues such as expired warranties, missed backups or licensing issues. This data can illustrate in no uncertain terms what is slipping through the cracks at your prospect’s business and how you can prevent those problems in the future.
Once you are using remote monitoring and management solution with a client, you may begin to realize there’s a disadvantage: It works too well. The problems your RMM system detects and allows you to correct often happen behind the scenes, and your clients could begin to wonder what they’re paying for when nothing ever seems to go wrong.
It’s vital to keep your customers informed of how you are using RMM to keep their businesses running. Make remote monitoring and management reports a part of quarterly business reviews (QBRs) or other meetings you schedule with your clients. Explain what the consequences – and additional costs – could have been without the work you completed proactively and remotely. Also, provide statistics that show how RMM helped you met your service level agreement (SLA) for uptime and response times.
Demonstrating that value and reminding them of the ongoing benefits will help you build strong, lasting relationships with your customers. 
