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MSPs invest more deeply in vendors that prove they will help after the contract is signed: dependable support, honest communication, product changes based on partner feedback, and a clear understanding of the MSP’s clients. A polished sales presentation is only the starting point.
Those priorities emerged when nine MSP leaders answered CRN’s question, “What’s one vendor behavior that makes you more likely to invest in a partnership?” The interviews took place at The Channel Company’s XChange August event in Washington, D.C. The accessible article does not display a publication date, and the responses are qualitative perspectives—not a representative survey or a ranked market study. Read the full source at CRN.
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The common thread: vendors must reduce the MSP’s risk
Each leader described a different behavior, but the underlying test is consistent: will this vendor make it easier to deliver reliable outcomes to end clients, or create another operational burden? MSPs are balancing recurring service commitments, engineer capacity, client expectations and their own growth plans. A vendor earns a larger share of that business by demonstrating useful behavior in those working conditions.
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The interviews point to eight practical dimensions for evaluating a relationship:
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- Relationship continuity: the MSP can reach people who know its history instead of restarting every conversation.
- Account and technical support: issues are owned through resolution, not passed between departments.
- Listening and product feedback: the vendor considers partner input and explains what will change, what will not, and why.
- Client fit: recommendations begin with an actual requirement rather than a quota or a feature list.
- Leadership access: executives show interest in the channel relationship, not only the account team.
- Training and certification: partner programs build demonstrable proficiency and useful differentiation.
- Communication style: the vendor is candid and works in the contact methods the MSP can sustain.
- Mutual growth: plans are built around the MSP’s success, not merely the vendor’s bookings.
These dimensions are an editorial synthesis of the interviews. They are useful questions for due diligence, not a validated scorecard or a claim that every MSP weighs each factor equally.
What each of the nine leaders said they need
The table captures the distinct emphasis in each interview. “Want” describes the behavior attributed to that person; it does not imply that the leader rejected every other vendor quality.
| MSP leader | Organization and role | Vendor behavior valued | What an MSP can verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Bird | Founder and principal consultant, BirdNest IT Services Training & Consulting | After-sale customer service that helps the MSP care for its end users | Escalation ownership, support coverage and customer-outcome processes after deployment |
| Michael Tanenhaus | Principal, Mavenspire | Stable contacts who understand the MSP’s experience, identify needs and deliver on promises | Named account ownership, documented commitments and continuity when personnel change |
| Ross Feldman | Chief technology officer, Better Call IT | Vendor leadership attending events alongside account managers | Access to decision-makers and evidence that executives participate in the channel |
| Melissa Swann | SVP of strategic growth and client success, Covenant Technology Solutions | Working with MSPs and improving products from partner feedback; becoming “true partners” | Feedback channels, release-notes traceability and examples of partner-driven changes |
| Paul Anderson | Founder and CEO, Novacoast | Meaningful certification requirements that prove engineer proficiency and help the MSP stand out | Curriculum depth, practical assessment and how credentials are recognized by clients |
| Shayan Khan | Senior system engineer, Preeminent Technology | Respecting an email-first preference and showing that a tool meets a real client need | Communication preferences recorded in the account plan and a requirement-to-capability demonstration |
| Joe Ussia | CEO, Infinite IT Solutions | Consistent presence and programs designed around mutual success and MSP growth | Joint objectives, enablement resources and a regular business-review cadence |
| Timothy Chenowith | Managing partner, PDS Manage | Listening to MSP owners and working with them to determine a useful path forward | Discovery quality, written next steps and options that reflect the MSP’s constraints |
| Robert Scott | Partner and CEO, NorDutch Technologies Inc. | Honest communication, a consistent account manager and effective support when issues arise | Clear ownership, truthful status updates and an escalation route tested before a crisis |
How to test a vendor before making a larger commitment
A vendor can agree with every principle in a first meeting. The useful evidence comes from small, observable interactions. Run the following process before expanding licenses, standardizing the tool across clients or signing a longer-term commitment.
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- Map the people and escalation path. Ask who owns the account, who provides technical support, who approves exceptions and who can make a product or commercial decision. Request names, roles, hours, channels and expected response targets. Confirm what happens if the account manager leaves.
- Run a working session, not only a demo. Give the vendor a representative client scenario. Ask the team to explain configuration, deployment effort, monitoring, reporting, data handling and offboarding. A useful partner should be able to say when the product is not a fit.
- Record promises in writing. After each meeting, send a short list of commitments, owners and dates. Look for follow-through before the contract grows. Tanenhaus’s emphasis on delivering what was promised and Scott’s focus on honest communication are tested here.
- Exercise support on a low-risk issue. During a pilot, open a normal support request and observe intake, technical depth, handoffs, status updates and closure. Do not manufacture an emergency; the goal is to see whether the process works for ordinary operations.
- Ask how feedback becomes product work. Request the route for partner requests, the decision criteria, how priorities are communicated and whether release notes identify changes. A vendor does not need to accept every suggestion, but it should explain the outcome.
- Inspect enablement and certification. Review prerequisites, hands-on elements, renewal rules, exam rigor and the practical tasks an engineer can perform afterward. Then decide whether the credential helps your team deliver better service or gives clients a credible reason to choose you.
- Define a joint growth plan. Set a small number of shared outcomes—for example, faster deployment, fewer escalations, a new service package or a target client segment. Assign actions to both parties and schedule a review. Mutual-success language is meaningful only when the MSP’s work and the vendor’s work are both visible.
- Reassess after the first client outcome. Review what happened in implementation, support, user adoption and renewal preparation. Include engineers and service managers, not only the buyer. Increase investment only when the operating evidence matches the sales promise.
Questions that expose partnership quality
After-sale service and support
- Who owns an issue from first report to verified resolution?
- What information must an engineer provide before support will investigate?
- How are severity levels defined, and how are delays communicated?
- Can the vendor join a client-facing call when the MSP needs help, and who prepares that person?
Bird’s emphasis on caring for end users means support should be judged by the client outcome, not merely by whether a ticket receives a reply.
Continuity and accountability
- Will the MSP have a named account manager and a named technical contact?
- What documentation survives a personnel change?
- How are action items tracked after a business review?
- What is the escalation path when the assigned contact cannot resolve the issue?
Ask for a sample account plan or meeting record. A stable relationship is easier to verify when responsibilities and decisions are written down.
Listening and product direction
- Where do partners submit enhancement requests?
- How does the vendor distinguish a one-off request from a roadmap priority?
- How will the MSP learn that a request was declined, scheduled or delivered?
- Can the vendor describe a recent improvement prompted by partner feedback?
Swann’s “true partners” standard is about a working feedback loop, not a promise that every suggestion becomes a feature.
Leadership involvement and events
- Which executives participate in partner events or reviews?
- Can the MSP raise a systemic issue beyond the account team?
- What decisions can leadership make when a service problem affects several clients?
Feldman’s preference for leaders attending events alongside account managers signals accessibility and organizational commitment. Attendance alone is not proof; note whether leaders listen and act.
Training, certification and differentiation
- What practical capabilities does the certification test?
- Is training included, paid, self-paced or instructor-led?
- How often must engineers recertify, and what changes between versions?
- Can the MSP accurately explain the credential to prospective clients?
Anderson’s point is not that every program needs a difficult exam. The requirement should create real proficiency and a defensible distinction for the MSP.
Rank #3
Communication preferences and client fit
- Which contacts prefer email, scheduled calls, chat or a portal, and can those preferences be honored?
- What evidence will the vendor provide that the product addresses the documented requirement?
- What limitations, dependencies or extra services should be disclosed before purchase?
Khan’s email-first preference illustrates a broader rule: a communication channel is part of an operating process. Respecting it reduces friction and creates a written record.
A practical qualitative scorecard
Use the following worksheet for each finalist. It is a decision aid you create internally, not a ranking derived from the nine interviews. Rate each dimension from 0 to 2: 0 means no credible evidence, 1 means a partial or untested commitment, and 2 means the vendor demonstrated the behavior in a pilot or documented process. Add notes and the person who supplied each piece of evidence.
| Dimension | Evidence to collect | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship continuity | Named contacts, backup coverage and a transition plan | All knowledge resides with one salesperson |
| Support ownership | Severity definitions, escalation route and a closed pilot ticket | Repeated handoffs or unclear responsibility |
| Client requirement fit | Written requirement-to-capability mapping and stated limitations | Demo avoids the MSP’s scenario |
| Listening and roadmap | Feedback process and examples of decisions or changes | “Send ideas” with no tracking or response |
| Leadership access | Executive participation and a route for systemic issues | Leadership appears only at contract signature |
| Certification value | Hands-on assessment, learning outcomes and client-facing relevance | Badge requires little demonstrated skill |
| Communication fit | Agreed channels, cadence and written status updates | Pressure to use a channel the MSP cannot support |
| Mutual growth | Joint objectives, owners and review dates | Plan lists only the vendor’s sales targets |
Set a minimum threshold before committing and identify non-negotiables. For an MSP serving regulated clients, support evidence or requirement fit may outweigh event access. For an MSP expanding into a new service line, training and joint go-to-market work may matter more. The weighting should follow your delivery risk and growth plan.
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The interviews also provide a practical operating model for vendors:
Rank #4
- Keep one accountable owner through onboarding, deployment and renewal, with a backup who has the necessary context.
- Train account managers to understand MSP economics, engineer workflows and end-client obligations—not just product positioning.
- Publish a support escalation map and communicate status honestly when a fix is delayed.
- Close the feedback loop by acknowledging requests, explaining decisions and identifying shipped improvements.
- Make certification rigorous enough to improve delivery, while supplying labs, documentation and a clear renewal path.
- Give MSPs a way to reach leadership when an issue is systemic, and have leaders participate meaningfully in channel events.
- Build joint plans around measurable MSP outcomes such as deployment quality, service expansion or client retention rather than vendor activity alone.
These actions convert the behaviors described by Bird, Tanenhaus, Feldman, Swann, Anderson, Khan, Ussia, Chenowith and Scott into repeatable operating practices.
Failure modes and recovery steps
The contact changes immediately after signing
Request a documented handover, introduce the replacement to the MSP’s technical and commercial stakeholders, and restate open commitments with dates. If the vendor cannot provide continuity, pause expansion until ownership is clear.
Support answers arrive, but the client problem remains
Escalate with the original requirement, business impact, troubleshooting history and a definition of resolution. Ask for a named incident owner and a client-safe communication plan. This tests whether after-sale service is oriented toward outcomes rather than ticket closure.
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Separate committed work, planned work, evaluated requests and declined requests. Record the category and review date. Do not represent an uncommitted idea to your client as an available capability.
Certification consumes time without improving delivery
Compare the curriculum with real tasks your engineers perform, then measure whether onboarding, troubleshooting or quality improves. If the credential offers no operational or client-facing value, treat it as optional rather than a reason to standardize.
The vendor pushes a tool that does not fit the client
Return to the written requirement and ask the vendor to document gaps, workarounds, dependencies and costs. A partner willing to recommend a different path—even when that reduces its immediate sale—provides stronger evidence of long-term alignment.
How to interpret the evidence responsibly
Nine interviews can reveal useful patterns, but they cannot establish how common a preference is across the MSP market. The CRN feature contains no named statistic or quantitative ranking, and the accessible page does not show a publication date. Treat the comments as experienced practitioners’ perspectives and test them against your own clients, engineers, contracts and support history.
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