Why top MSPs earn 18x more revenue than their competitors

Part 1 of our 3-part blog series:

Understanding the Revenue Multiplier Gap

Here's a question that keeps many MSP owners up at night: Why do some partners earn 18X more revenue than others selling the exact same technology to similar clients?

The answer isn't what you'd expect. The gap shows up in how MSPs position themselves from the very first conversation. Partners focused on selling products earn roughly $0.37 for every dollar of OpenText solutions their clients buy. Partners who position themselves as business advisors earn $6.73 from that same dollar.[1]

That's not a typo. conducted across OpenText's partner ecosystem reveals exactly where the most successful MSPs pull away from the pack—and what they do differently to capture that opportunity.

The revenue most MSPs never capture

Watch what happens in two competing sales scenarios.

MSP A shows up with a polished deck about endpoint detection rates, deployment timelines, and competitive pricing. The prospect nods politely, says they'll think about it, and never calls back.

MSP B asks a different question: "What would happen to your business if you couldn't access your systems for three days?" Suddenly the conversation shifts. The prospect starts talking about revenue loss, compliance penalties, and the board meeting where they'd have to explain the breach. MSP B doesn't close a security sale. They close a business continuity partnership.

The difference? MSP A led with features. MSP B led with consequences that keep executives awake at night.

This isn’t about better sales technique. It’s about reframing your value. When you connect technology decisions to business impact, you stop competing on price and start commanding influence. Products have margins. Outcomes have multipliers.

Where the real money lives

Here's what makes this counterintuitive. Many MSPs celebrate closing the deal, send the welcome email, and start hunting for the next prospect. It's a natural instinct, sales teams are wired to close and move on. But the data reveals a different path to exponential growth.

Research on OpenText partners reveals something striking: more than three-quarters of total revenue—76.8% to be exact—happens after the initial sale.¹ The implementation. The training. The managed services. The expansion projects that surface six months later when the client now trusts you enough to show you what's really broken.

The opportunity for sustainable growth lives in that 76.8%. And the partners capturing it aren't doing anything magical. Instead of closing deals and moving on, they're establishing relationships that span the entire technology lifecycle. Instead of selling security tools, they're becoming the trusted business advisor who helps clients navigate both operational and technology decisions.

That shift—from vendor to advisor—is what separates a $0.37 multiplier from a $6.73 multiplier. And it starts before you ever talk about your products.

The fundamental shift that changes everything

Think about how most MSP sales conversations start. The prospect has a problem: they need endpoint security, backup, or email protection. You show up with a solution that addresses exactly what they asked for. You're responsive, knowledgeable, and competitively priced.

And you're leaving money on the table.

The MSPs achieving the highest multipliers don't wait for prospects to tell them what they need. They help prospects discover what they actually need—which is usually bigger, more strategic, and more valuable than the initial request.

This requires a different starting point. Instead of responding to technical requirements, you're diagnosing broader business challenges. Instead of proposing solutions, you're uncovering problems the client didn't know they had.

Consider the difference in these opening questions:

Product-focused MSP: "Tell me about your current security infrastructure."

Business-focused MSP: "What are your top three company-wide goals for the next 18 months?"

The first question leads to a commodity conversation about tools and pricing. The second question surfaces strategic initiatives that haven't even made it to the IT wish list yet. Maybe the company is expanding into new markets. Maybe they're launching a new product line. Maybe they're preparing for an acquisition.

Each of those goals creates security, compliance, and infrastructure needs the client hasn't articulated. Needs that your competitors—the ones asking about current security infrastructure—will never discover.

How expert MSPs position themselves differently

The research identifies four distinct partner categories within the OpenText ecosystem: Focused, Multi-category, Progressive, and Expert. These represent measurably different approaches to how partners engage with clients and structure their businesses.¹

Focused partners: $0.37 multiplier

These partners focus on resale and basic integration. They're responsive when clients have requirements, but they're not involved in shaping those requirements.

Multi-category partners: $1.76 multiplier

These partners have started expanding beyond resale into managed services. They're delivering ongoing value through monitoring and support but are still building out their full service capabilities.

Progressive partners: $4.28 multiplier

These partners have developed capabilities across design, implementation, and adoption services. They're involved throughout the project lifecycle and beginning to surface expansion opportunities.

Expert partners: $6.73 multiplier

These partners span the entire customer journey. They engage with clients on business strategy and goals, uncovering opportunities where technology supports those objectives. They influence technology decisions before procurement, guide implementations, drive adoption, and manage ongoing operations.

Notice the pattern. The multiplier increases as partners position themselves as strategic advisors who guide the entire customer journey. Expert partners don't wait for RFPs. They're already in the room when clients are defining their business strategy and figuring out what technology they'll need to execute it.

That early positioning is what creates the foundation for everything that comes after.

The compounding effect of advisory positioning

Here's what makes this approach so powerful: when you help a client figure out what they need, you're naturally positioned to help them get it, implement it, and manage it.

Expert MSPs typically earn just 1.2% of their total multiplier from advisory services.¹ That seems small until you understand what that 1.2% creates. Advisory services position you as a strategic partner before any procurement decisions are made. You're helping the client understand their environment, assess their risks, and map business strategy to technology and, in turn, to business outcomes.

This creates a compounding advantage. Clients who view you as a strategic advisor don't shop your recommendations. They don't send your proposal to three competitors for comparison. They trust your guidance because you've already demonstrated you understand their business, not simply their technology stack.

This trust opens doors to the more substantial revenue opportunities: design services (17.3% of the multiplier), adoption services (15.1%), and managed services (58.6%).¹ But those opportunities only exist because you established yourself as an advisor first.

The MSPs operating at the early maturity stage with a $0.37 multiplier are still trying to win on price and features. The MSPs at $6.73 stopped competing on those terms entirely. They compete on business insight, strategic value, and the depth of client relationships they've built.

What this means for how you approach prospects

Responding to RFPs, proposing technology that matches stated requirements, and competing on price has its place. But it caps your growth potential. There will always be someone willing to go cheaper. There will always be another vendor with a competitive feature.

The MSPs optimizing their multiplier aren't playing that game at all. They're positioning themselves as business advisors who happen to be excellent at technology. They're asking strategic questions that uncover needs other MSPs never see. They're involved in planning cycles, not just procurement cycles.

This shift doesn't happen overnight. Moving from a $0.37 to a $6.73 multiplier requires fundamental changes in how you engage clients, structure your services, and position your value.

In the next part of this 3-part blog series, we’ll get tactical. You’ll see the exact questions expert MSPs use to uncover hidden revenue opportunities — the kind that never show up in RFPs. You’ll learn how to step into your client’s planning process early, shape their strategy, and position yourself where decisions are made.

Because at the end of the day, your prospects don’t need another vendor. They need a partner who understands their goals well enough to help close the gap between where they are and where they want to be. That’s the difference between selling products and building an eighteen-times revenue multiplier.

Read on for Part 2:

10 questions that drive higher MSP revenue multipliers

The ten strategic questions expert MSPs ask to surface hidden needs and position themselves before procurement decisions are made.

[1] OpenText, OpenText Partner Ecosystem Multiplier study, 2025