MSP Consulting Services That Help You Lead, Scale, and Win

You built your MSP from the ground up. You’re delivering exceptional services, keeping clients happy, and showing signs of growth. Just then, trouble starts brewing.

You’re overwhelmed with day-to-day operations. Margins suddenly appear razor-thin. Leadership feels reactive and not strategic. You know the business could be better, but you’re not sure what’s missing. Or where to start a diagnosis.

That’s where the right MSP consulting services come in.

Managed service provider consultants help businesses move from surviving to thriving. Whether you're just starting out or preparing to sell, MSP consultants are here to help. They use a proven system, such as The Vision Wheel, to assess your business, build a roadmap, and guide execution every step of the way.

Because sustainable growth doesn’t happen by fluke. It happens by design.

What are MSP Consulting Services?

MSP consulting services are specialized advisory solutions tailored for managed service providers. Unlike general IT service provider consulting, who focus on infrastructure or security, MSP consultants zoom out.

They look at the business as a whole. This includes the financials, operations, leadership, service delivery, and sales. This holistic view helps you run smarter, leaner, and more profitably.

Think of it this way: MSP consulting helps you be a better MSP.

And that's essential, because the MSP model has evolved. Today’s MSPs manage everything from remote monitoring and security to compliance, cloud, and end-user support. It’s a complex ecosystem, and running the business behind that complexity takes experience.

MSP consultants bring that experience.

They help you:

• Set clear financial goals

• Improve operational efficiency

• Build leadership accountability

• Package and price services effectively

• Identify profitability leaks

• Create scalable systems and processes

Who Needs MSP Consulting (And When)?

MSP consulting isn’t just for “broken” businesses. It’s for MSPs who want to build better from any stage.

If you're under $1M in revenue

You're likely doing everything yourself: sales, service, invoicing. There’s no real structure yet, and growth feels slow. An MSP consultant helps you lay the foundation: service definitions, pricing, accountability, and role clarity.

If you're in the $1M–$3M range

You’ve hired a few people. You’ve got clients. But now the cracks show: processes are inconsistent, margins fluctuate, and leadership decisions pile up. Consultants help streamline operations and prepare you to scale with intention, not chaos.

If you’re at $3M–$15M+

You’re more mature. But now you're thinking about exit strategy, valuation, or executive alignment. There’s pressure to optimize every inch of the business. A consultant acts as a strategic partner. They’re here for sharpening financials, optimizing delivery, and prepping you for long-term value creation.

Internal IT departments

Today’s internal IT teams are expected to run like MSPs. You expect them to be proactive, efficient, and deliver measurable results. But they’re often under-resourced and misaligned with business goals. MSP consultants incorporate structure, best practices, and strategic alignment to help IT earn its seat at the table.

Common Pain Points MSPs Face (And How Consulting Solves Them)

The pain points might vary for MSPs of different shapes and sizes, but the patterns don’t. Below are the most common challenges that hold MSPs back, along with how consulting helps solve them:

1. You’re busy, but not profitable

Your team is constantly working, but your profit margins don’t reflect that hustle. More clients mean more chaos, not more money. That’s usually a pricing, packaging, or service delivery issue. A consultant helps you redesign offerings and pricing models that protect margin and deliver consistent value.

2. There’s no clarity on who does what

As you grow, lines blur. Techs take on account management, owners chase overdue invoices, and project work derails your support desk. Consultants help design your org chart, define job roles, and build a system where everyone knows exactly what’s expected.

3. You’re reactive, not strategic

Firefighting is your default mode. Long-term goals take a back seat to urgent tickets, client escalations, or staffing issues. A consulting engagement introduces structure. You use KPIs, follow quarterly plans, and build leadership rhythms to get ahead of the chaos.

4. You don’t know your numbers

Without visibility into service margins, project profitability, or tech utilization, you’re flying blind. A consultant can build dashboards, benchmark your numbers, and teach you which metrics truly matter to meet business objectives.

5. Your leadership team isn’t aligned

Founders disagree. Managers make independent decisions. Teams follow different playbooks. A good consultant serves as a neutral third party, facilitating vision alignment and helping leaders work together toward measurable goals.

6. Projects derail your helpdesk

It’s a classic MSP problem: projects take your best engineers away from day-to-day support, frustrating clients, and overloading junior techs. Consultants help you balance project staffing, define service levels, and avoid the hidden cost of “internal robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

7. Your PSA and RMM tools aren’t optimized

You’ve invested in top-tier tools, but they’re not configured right, or your team doesn’t use them consistently. Consultants bring tool expertise, streamline processes, and help drive adoption so your tech stack improves efficiency.

8. Your sales don’t match your delivery capacity

You win new clients. However, onboarding them stresses your team and leads to churn down the road. Consultants help you align sales with operations, build a scalable onboarding process, and forecast delivery needs.

9. There’s no defined growth plan

You’re adding clients, maybe staff, but you’re not sure where the business is going. Should you expand into security? Focus on fewer verticals? Prep for acquisition? A consultant helps you think like a CEO, with structured roadmaps and informed decisions.

10. You’re stuck in the owner-operator trap

You are the business. Without you, nothing moves. That’s risky and exhausting. MSP consulting is often the first step toward building a self-sustaining business with a leadership team, repeatable systems, and real enterprise value.

What to Expect from an MSP Consulting Engagement?

Working with a consultant should never feel vague or abstract. At Bering McKinley, we follow a proven, structured approach designed specifically for MSPs and internal IT departments.

Here’s what our consulting engagement, what we call The Vision Wheel, typically looks like:

1. Vision plan: Establishing your baseline

We start with a business performance assessment. This isn’t just a financial review. It’s a thorough diagnosis of your business. We evaluate leadership, service profitability, team roles, tools, and more to determine your current standing.

2. Master project plan: Your custom roadmap

We create a personalized Master Project Plan tailored to your goals and assessment. This roadmap outlines where to focus, what to prioritize, and the key outcomes to measure.

3. Quarterly reviews: Keeping you accountable

We conduct progress reviews every quarter. This involves assessing current status, benchmarking progress, re-evaluating the plan, and realigning on next steps. Don't confuse these for passive check-ins. They’re forward-facing strategic conversations that keep you (and your leadership team) focused and accountable.

4. Direct access to expert consultants

You’ll have access to a team of consultants, each with deep experience in MSP operations, finance, sales, and service delivery. You’re never left guessing. Whether it’s hiring a new service manager or reworking your ticket queues, we guide every step.

5. Measurable outcomes

Our consulting isn’t just talk. We track impact. From improved margins and better tech utilization to reduced ticket backlog and increased leadership clarity, you’ll see results you can measure.

Key Areas Where MSP Consultants Can Help

MSP consulting isn’t one-size-fits-all. The best consultants adapt to your business and help you excel in areas you didn’t even know were holding you back.

At Bering McKinley, we’ve partnered with MSPs and internal IT teams across different maturity levels. The issues are common, but the impact of fixing them is always unique.

In our observation, here’s where MSP consultants make the biggest difference.

1. Financial benchmarking and profitability modeling

You’re working 12-hour days. Tickets are pouring in. But your bank balance doesn’t reflect your effort.

That’s because activity doesn’t equal profitability. Most MSPs aren’t tracking their true gross margin, their cost per ticket, or whether their flat-fee clients are actually profitable.

MSP consultants may help you build a financial dashboard that shows:

• Your real-time profitability

• Service margins by type

• Where money is leaking and how to plug it

With that clarity, you can adjust pricing, shift your client mix, or restructure packages—with numbers to back you up.

2. Service delivery optimization

Your helpdesk is flooded. Technicians are burned out. Clients complain about slow response times.

Sound familiar?

Consulting isn’t just about theory; it’s borrowed expertise. The consultant will get into the nitty-gritty:

• Analyzing ticket trends and root causes

• Creating escalation paths that work

• Building a dispatch system that reduces idle time

When your service delivery is intentional and efficient, everything improves. Think, team morale, client satisfaction, and profitability.

3. Leadership and accountability systems

In many MSPs, leadership happens by accident. Owners make all the decisions, managers feel stuck, and there’s no clear plan.

The MSP consultant helps you:

• Define leadership roles (who owns what and why)

• Build scorecards for each key position

• Introduce weekly meeting rhythms that keep teams aligned

We’ve seen businesses transform when the owner finally lets go of tickets and steps into the CEO seat with the right team behind them.

4. Sales and marketing alignment

Your sales team lands a new client with high expectations, only for your service team to panic. Or worse, no new clients are coming in at all.

With the help of an MSP consultant, you can:

• Align sales promises with service capacity

• Create packages that are easy to sell and easy to deliver

• Implement sales forecasting so ops can prepare

This ensures your growth is smooth, not chaotic. You gain new clients without dropping the ball on existing ones.

5. Hiring and team development

Hiring is expensive and risky. A bad hire can cost months of progress. Most MSPs either hire too late or hire without clarity. A bad hire can also cost you $240,000 to $850,000 per employee!

An MSP consulting firm may help:

• Identify the right time to hire (based on data)

• Create onboarding plans that reduce ramp-up time

• Build career paths so your techs don’t jump ship

We also help restructure teams when needed, so you’re not overpaying for underperforming roles.

6. Tool stack optimization (PSA, RMM, documentation)

You’ve invested in tools, including ConnectWise, Autotask, IT Glue, and NinjaOne. But you’re not getting the full value.

MSP business consulting helps you:

• Configure tools the right way from day one

• Train staff on best practices

• Eliminate redundancy and manual work

It’s not about more tools. It’s about better use of the ones you already have. That’s where the real ROI lies.

7. Client experience and retention

You want happy clients, but without a consistent experience, client satisfaction becomes a gamble.

Managed service provider consultants help you:

• Build proactive communication rhythms

• Measure client sentiment (NPS, CSAT)

• Set up QBRs that actually add value

Clients who feel seen and heard don’t just stay longer, they become your loudest advocates.

8. Exit readiness and valuation growth

Even if you’re not ready to sell today, the way you build your MSP should increase its enterprise value.

An experienced MSP consulting firm helps you:

• Get your financials clean and credible

• Build SOPs and leadership systems that make you less “essential”

• Align your services and client base for acquirer's interest

A well-run MSP isn’t just easier to sell, it’s easier to operate. And that benefits you whether you exit in five years or never.

Why Choose Bering McKinley as Your MSP Consulting Firm?

Let’s be honest, there are a lot of “consultants” out there. So why partner with Bering McKinley?

Because we’ve walked in your shoes. Our team comprises former MSP owners, service leaders, and operational experts who possess in-depth knowledge of the business.

What makes us different?

• We use a proven system (the Vision Wheel): It’s not guesswork. It’s a repeatable, tested framework that drives results

• We tailor our approach to your stage of growth: Whether you’re just getting traction or looking to exit, we build strategies that fit

• We bring depth, not fluff: We don’t just tell you what’s broken, we help fix it. From high-level planning to ticket queue management, we stay hands-on

• We’re focused on enterprise value: We’re not here to help you survive. We’re here to help you grow profitably, sustainably, and strategically

Our goal is simple: help you run the business you meant to build.

Curious how your MSP stacks up? Let’s start with a conversation. Schedule a Vision Plan session and we’ll show you where you are and, more importantly, where you could be.

Get in touch with our team today!

Key takeaways

• MSP consulting services help you fix what’s broken and build what’s missing
• The right consultant brings structure, clarity, and accountability to your business
• Whether you’re a startup, scaling, or prepping to sell, consulting meets you where you are
• Common issues like poor margins, team misalignment, and burnout are all solvable
• At Bering McKinley, we guide you with the Vision Wheel, a proven framework to scale sustainably
• You don’t have to figure it all out alone. We’ll help you lead with purpose, scale with confidence, and win on your terms

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