Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share #18 – From the Trenches - MSP Sales Engine & Direct Mail (Alek Pirkhalo)
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
#18 – From the Trenches - MSP Sales Engine & Direct Mail (Alek Pirkhalo)
Alek Perhalo, Co-Founder at SafePoint IT, joins Josh Peterson to unpack the unglamorous truth of MSP sales: persistence beats one-off sprints. Alek shares how starting as a break/fix shop, learning business fundamentals on the fly, and clearly dividing partner roles (service vs. go-to-market) set the stage for steady growth. The conversation moves from early missteps to practical systems—budgeting, tooling, and touch patterns—that make results predictable.
✅ Enjoyed this episode?
Like, subscribe, and share your biggest takeaway below.
https://beringmckinley.com/bering-mckinley-podcast-blog
👉 Why persistence wins: treating sales/marketing as an ongoing system, not a 90-day experiment
👉 The 10% rule: setting aside ~10% of revenue for sales/marketing—and how to bank it ahead of initiatives or M&A
👉 Tooling lessons: outgrowing SharpSpring and standardizing on HubSpot to centralize email, calling, and integrations
👉 Multi-channel prospecting: pairing cold call, email, LinkedIn, live events, and automated direct mail for more “at-bats”
👉 Thought leadership that converts: using education-first events (AI, automation, data) to spark projects with existing clients
You’ll leave with a simple, durable playbook: commit the budget, pick the stack, design the touch mix, and keep showing up. Visit https://beringmckinley.com
for more MSP resources.
🔗 Resources & Links
• Alek Perhalo - Safe Point IT: https://safepointit.com
• Bering McKinley MSP Consulting: https://beringmckinley.com
⏱️ Chapters
00:01 – Intro & show setup
00:46 – Guest name & SafePoint IT
01:03 – Alek’s trip to Russia (personal backstory)
03:28 – Immigrating at 16 & language learning
04:59 – From engineering to entrepreneurship
08:30 – Partner roles: service vs. sales/finance/ops
11:09 – Product development mindset applied to business
12:45 – Break/fix to MSP (meeting BMK, packaging services)
14:49 – Sales attempts, setbacks, and persistence
17:09 – Budgeting ~10% of revenue for sales/marketing
19:10 – Tooling changes: SharpSpring → HubSpot
21:17 – Fixing DIY mistakes with expert implementation
23:02 – Building a multi-channel plan (outbound + events)
24:36 – Live events for credibility & client expansion
28:01 – Why direct mail still works (automated, cost-effective)
29:23 – Where to find SafePoint IT
29:34 – Wrap-up
🔍 Primary Keywords
msp sales strategy, msp marketing, direct mail for msps, hubspot for msps, outbound prospecting msp, msp live events, msp growth playbook, partner roles msp
🔍 Secondary Keywords
referral to outbound shift, sales budget 10 percent, appointment setting lessons, sharpspring vs hubspot, pipeline building, thought leadership events, ai automation talks, multi channel outreach
#️⃣ Hashtags
#beringmckinley, #bmkvisionpodcast, #msp, #managedservices, #mspsales, #mspmarketing, #hubspot, #directmail, #outbound, #leadgeneration, #thoughtleadership, #liveevents, #connectwise, #serviceleadership, #aiinautomation, #smbit
View all episodes
By Josh PetersonAlek Perhalo, Co-Founder at SafePoint IT, joins Josh Peterson to unpack the unglamorous truth of MSP sales: persistence beats one-off sprints. Alek shares how starting as a break/fix shop, learning business fundamentals on the fly, and clearly dividing partner roles (service vs. go-to-market) set the stage for steady growth. The conversation moves from early missteps to practical systems—budgeting, tooling, and touch patterns—that make results predictable.
✅ Enjoyed this episode?
Like, subscribe, and share your biggest takeaway below.
https://beringmckinley.com/bering-mckinley-podcast-blog
👉 Why persistence wins: treating sales/marketing as an ongoing system, not a 90-day experiment
👉 The 10% rule: setting aside ~10% of revenue for sales/marketing—and how to bank it ahead of initiatives or M&A
👉 Tooling lessons: outgrowing SharpSpring and standardizing on HubSpot to centralize email, calling, and integrations
👉 Multi-channel prospecting: pairing cold call, email, LinkedIn, live events, and automated direct mail for more “at-bats”
👉 Thought leadership that converts: using education-first events (AI, automation, data) to spark projects with existing clients
You’ll leave with a simple, durable playbook: commit the budget, pick the stack, design the touch mix, and keep showing up. Visit https://beringmckinley.com
for more MSP resources.
🔗 Resources & Links
• Alek Perhalo - Safe Point IT: https://safepointit.com
• Bering McKinley MSP Consulting: https://beringmckinley.com
⏱️ Chapters
00:01 – Intro & show setup
00:46 – Guest name & SafePoint IT
01:03 – Alek’s trip to Russia (personal backstory)
03:28 – Immigrating at 16 & language learning
04:59 – From engineering to entrepreneurship
08:30 – Partner roles: service vs. sales/finance/ops
11:09 – Product development mindset applied to business
12:45 – Break/fix to MSP (meeting BMK, packaging services)
14:49 – Sales attempts, setbacks, and persistence
17:09 – Budgeting ~10% of revenue for sales/marketing
19:10 – Tooling changes: SharpSpring → HubSpot
21:17 – Fixing DIY mistakes with expert implementation
23:02 – Building a multi-channel plan (outbound + events)
24:36 – Live events for credibility & client expansion
28:01 – Why direct mail still works (automated, cost-effective)
29:23 – Where to find SafePoint IT
29:34 – Wrap-up
🔍 Primary Keywords
msp sales strategy, msp marketing, direct mail for msps, hubspot for msps, outbound prospecting msp, msp live events, msp growth playbook, partner roles msp
🔍 Secondary Keywords
referral to outbound shift, sales budget 10 percent, appointment setting lessons, sharpspring vs hubspot, pipeline building, thought leadership events, ai automation talks, multi channel outreach
#️⃣ Hashtags
#beringmckinley, #bmkvisionpodcast, #msp, #managedservices, #mspsales, #mspmarketing, #hubspot, #directmail, #outbound, #leadgeneration, #thoughtleadership, #liveevents, #connectwise, #serviceleadership, #aiinautomation, #smbit