As a parent of three adult young men one of the biggest strategies we used with the kids as they grew was to find what I call “low risk reps” where my wife and I would give the kids agency to make decisions as they gained more life experience. The older and dare I say, wiser, they got the bigger decisions they made.

For example, my middle son is an avid video gamer and his system of choice is his PC. A few years ago, he wanted to build a new computer he asked for help. We talked about what he wanted to do with the computer, how much he wanted to spend, and I sent him off to figure out what parts he wanted to buy. We then talked about the choices he was going to make with his own money to buy new parts. This was a major purchase for a teenager without a job. He was spending a good chunk of his savings on this gaming PC.

Once the new parts arrived he asked for help with the installation. While I could have just built it for him (I am a nerd after all), I coached him through it. It took longer, but he learned something along the way. He can now do damn near all of his own troubleshooting.

Fast forward a few years: He just bought his first brand new car and did all the research himself. He asked us for help with the transaction pieces because financing and all the paperwork signing was new to him. We went to the dealer with him and he did something like 99% of the work and conversation but we were there just in case he got in the weeds.

He felt empowered to move from a relatively small purchase to a much more major purchase AND he wasn’t asking for our help for all the pieces along the way. He only looked for some help for the parts where the risk was outside his comfort zone.

Using Low Risk Reps in Your Business

If you are an owner or manager at an MSP (or heck, anywhere really), look for low risk reps for your team. Does your Service Manager need some practice interviewing new techs? Give them guidance and agree on the process. Then, let them drive the interview and let them report back to you about the conversation and what their thought process is.

If one of your techs needs to gain experience in something new, set them up for success by assigning work that stretches their capabilities a bit. Just make sure to give them opportunities to ask for help. Don’t let them get too far into the weeds.

The power of the low risk rep is that you build up their confidence, and by extension, your confidence in them. Find areas where your team can stretch their capabilities without breaking them or the company.

One thing that you MUST resist is to pull back the things that get handed off if things go sideways. This is your opportunity to help them learn what went wrong and how to fix it. Just yanking things back is a great way to never be able to hand things off in the future. Mistakes happen, let your team learn in ways that don’t crush their confidence or crush your business.

Recent Content

I’ve been working on videos that stacked on each other in short series’ on topics. I’m working on a new series on Service Managers now which will be released soon. Here are some of my recent videos and blog posts:

• Account Management – Leveling up your business review process: Blog Post | Video 1 | Video 2
• Project Management – Leveling up your project management practice: Video 1 | Video 2
• Want to Sell Your MSP? Things to Work on Before You Receive an Offer: Video

I know it’s been a couple of months since my last newsletter. Sorry about that. At any rate, thanks for sticking with me and inviting me into your inbox.

Adam