From Friction to Function: Streamlining Sales and Tech for Better IT Projects
How support teams are cutting costs without sacrificing quality — and the tools making it possible.
MSP Insights Webinar Series
February 8, 2024
Part of the MSP Insights Webinar Series, this session tackles project management for MSPs - specifically how to remove friction between sales and technical teams and deliver IT projects that are profitable and predictable. Hosted by Hannah Logan (Customer Success Team Lead at Simplesat) and Meg de Leon (Content Coordinator at Simplesat), with Todd Kane, President of Evolved Management, and Peter Ryan Guindalos, Product Expert at Simplesat, it offers a practical maturity path that doesn't require a PMP or a third-party tool. The core value: tighten statements of work, resourcing, and communication to cut scope creep and lift project margins.
Key takeaways
- Project management boils down to "who does what by when" - you don't need a PMP, you need disciplined basics applied consistently.
- Well-run projects can carry 40-60% margins, so treat project revenue (not just the MSA) as where the real profit lives.
- Block and isolate project time - schedule a tech for Wednesday afternoon and shield them from service escalations, rather than just setting a Friday due date.
- The statement of work defines what you're doing and what you're not; add a blanket "anything not explicitly in scope is out of scope" clause to control scope creep, then quote changes as a "yes, and it will cost more."
- Techs should approve (and ideally help draft) the SOW before the client signs, so they can be held accountable for on-time, on-budget delivery.
- A project isn't closed until documentation is verified and the work is handed off to the service team in person - no cold handoffs or ghosting.
What they covered
Kane laid out a one-to-five maturity spectrum from chaotic, ad hoc firefighting up to "on the rails" delivery, then walked the lifecycle: resourcing (sharing scarce techs and protecting their focus), a proper kickoff that nails scope, a weekly comms rhythm that builds trust and value perception, and a punctuated project close with a postmortem to refine future scoping.
A recurring theme was reducing sales-and-tech friction. He recommended a defined SOW process and an operating level agreement (OLA) between departments - for example, a 48-hour SOW turnaround - to replace the "everything's an emergency" dynamic with clear expectations. He also pushed a "no stories, be future-focused" rule for project meetings and one-on-one status updates over round-robin group calls. On tooling, his stance was blunt: skip third-party PM tools, use your PSA, minimize ticket complexity, and build templates for repeatable work.
Guindalos and Kane connected delivery to feedback, showing how CSAT on touchpoints and NPS across a project surface disconnects, how instant Slack/Teams alerts let you turn a detractor into a promoter within minutes, and how CSAT-versus-NPS gaps spark healthy, data-backed conversations with clients.
Watch the full recording and grab the slides, plus Todd's "Top 14 SOPs Every MSP Needs," for the complete walkthrough.
Give us a try
Speakers
Hannah Logan is a tech industry pro with 10 years of experience. Her mantra? Good customer service above all. She believes in putting the customer first, understanding their needs, and going the extra mile to help them reach their goals. Every interaction is a chance to build trust and establish a long-lasting partnership.
Todd has spent over a decade developing a management framework to help managed service providers increase their margins and reduce employee turnover. His company, Evolved Management, provides guidance and resources to enable MSPs to reach their full potential.
“In every feedback, lies the key to progress.” Pete is a seasoned professional with a passion for transforming customer experiences through product training, onboarding, and expertise in customer feedback management.
