- Company: Glasser Tech
- Founded: 2008 (Acquired in 2021 by Frontline Managed Services, founded in 1985)
- Headquartered: Hicksville, New York/Glasser Tech, St. Louis, MO/Frontline Managed Services (FMS)
- Geographical Markets Served: New York (Glasser Tech), United States (FMS)
- Top Growth Indicator: Revenue
- YoY Percentage Of Revenue Growth: Double-digit growth year over year for the last 17 years
- President: Michael Glasser
What Are The Top 3 Business Indicators You Use To Measure Your Company And Why?
Revenue growth from existing clients, client growth for new clients, and retention levels. Our retention levels are in the mid-90s, which is why we’re growing at double digits. When you’ve got existing clients, you’re adding more revenue to existing clients. You’re also adding new clients, then backing it up with awesome client service. If you’re not backing up with awesome client services, you’re not going to have retention levels in the mid-90s.
You Were Recently Acquired By Frontline Managed Services On July 1, 2021. What Do You Attribute To Making That Happen?
Technology Marketing Toolkit and being around Robin Robins. I joined Technology Marketing Toolkit in June 2016, and within five years, my revenues and profits more than doubled. Robin Robins and Technology Marketing Toolkit are beyond marketing. I learned a heck of a lot about marketing, but I also learned about what it takes to run a business and how to do that. Robin said, “There are lots of people who strive to be a seven-figure company in terms of revenue, but why stop there?” With the help of Technology Marketing Toolkit, I not only became a seven-figure company in terms of revenue, but also a seven-figure company in terms of profit. To do that, you must be a student and continually learn. I was a member of the Technology Marketing Toolkit Producers Club, which taught me to be a better businessperson and a better person in general. The meetings have a lot of marketing, but they also have meaningful speakers who talk about a host of topics regarding personal growth and business growth. You need all of that to be successful in business. In addition, I was exposed to all the Technology Marketing Toolkit members. Even though we’re sort of competitors, we collaborate amongst ourselves tremendously. It’s a huge community of like-minded people who want to grow, and Technology Marketing Toolkit fostered that, which created stellar results.
What Specific Strategy From Technology Marketing Toolkit Did You Use To Help Position Your Company To Make It Attractive To A Buyer?
I wasn’t actually looking to sell my company. They approached me and said, “You’ve got this amazing business, and we’d like to make you an offer.” Robin Robins always says, “Pick a niche market and stick with it. Own that market and become the expert and trusted advisor in that market.” That’s what we did. I reaffirmed my core target market, which is law firms and the legal community. We drove better results because people in that community considered us the expert and trusted advisor, and we backed that up with awesome service, which allowed us to charge a premium. One of the reasons my company was acquired was because 95% of my revenues come from the legal and law firm community.
My profits also made my company attractive. One thing that helped my profits came from what I learned through the Greg Crabtree program within Technology Marketing Toolkit. That’s where I learned that you must pay attention to the revenues per employee and be efficient with your revenues, which is called the labor efficiency ratio (LER). I learned if you’re efficient in your labor and utilize it correctly, your profits will soar.
What Is The Top Lesson You Had To Learn To Kick-Start Your Business Growth?
You have to continually reassess what’s important to the marketplace and be flexible. Go with the flow, keep reassessing, fix where things aren’t working by making adjustments and corrections, and do more of whatever is working.
Your Company Grew During The Pandemic. What Would You Say Is The Single Biggest Secret To Your Success This Past Year?
There isn’t one single thing. As a business owner, you must do many things right. But this past year, we doubled down on our customer service. We singularly focused on always providing an excellent customer experience. Especially with the pandemic, people were on edge, so we were dedicated to making sure we took care of the customers, delivered what we promised, treated them with courtesy and respect, and always went the extra mile. We treated them like they were a king or queen, did things after hours, and just made people feel like they’re important.
6 What Is The Biggest Challenge You Had To Overcome This Past Year Related To Reaching That Growth?
Keeping the team focused. Our staff grew by 30% last year. It was a stressful year because they were concentrating on delivering an awesome customer experience during a trying time. I focused on creating a positive culture and workplace environment, treating everyone with respect, hearing them when they had valid concerns, fostering them, recognizing them with gifts to acknowledge their awesome work, and just being human.
What Partners Or Tools Helped You Along The Way?
Kaseya IT Glue. We use several Kaseya tools, such as RapidFire ID Agent with their dark web monitoring and identity management. But their most important product that is our “couldn’t-live-without-it tool” is their IT Glue. IT Glue is our internal Bible. It helps us organize our client documentation and information around our processes, procedures, different tools and techniques, our client base, and our whole organization.
Who Would You Say Is The Most Impactful Business Leader Whose Techniques Or Leadership Style You Try To Emulate Or Are Influenced By And Why?
It’s not one person. I think you need a learning mentality, and a learning mentality means you must read many different people on many different topics and always continue your education. My model is to improve by 1% each month. If I do that, I’m 12% better at the end of the year.
If You Were Going To Recommend A Book To Other MSPs Or SMBs Trying To Grow Their Business, What Would You Say They Should Read?
If only one book, I’d choose “The Daily Stoic” by Ryan Holiday. It gives you a little nugget every day of one of the stoicism leaders and then distills it down to how that pertains to today. You’ll learn about business relationships, personal relationships, and leadership from a lot of the great leaders of the world who foster and build growth.
What Words Of Wisdom Would You Give To Other MSPs Who Are Either Looking To Grow Their Business Or Build A Successful Exit?
Don’t chase revenue without a focus. Pick a target market and own that market. Learn what that market needs and how it functions. Become the expert people respect and seek out. Build up your recurring revenue so it becomes a predictable revenue stream and drives value.
