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Managed IT service providers · Referral marketing

Be the IT firm a client's CA names when the auditor asks about backups.

Referral marketing for a managed IT provider is the routine that turns the people who watch companies change, such as chartered accountants, co-working managers, vendor reps and your own clients' founders, into a regular source of introductions. GullySales maps those sources, writes the ask for each, and keeps a record of who sent which agreement.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

An IT technician checks network equipment with an office manager

What referral marketing means

Referral marketing is asking an existing customer to recommend you to someone they know, usually with a reward for both sides. It differs from a loyalty scheme because it brings in a new customer rather than a repeat purchase. GullySales builds the ask and the reward into a point where a customer is already satisfied.

Also for managed IT service providers

Sales and marketing for managed IT service providers, the overview.

Last updated 6 Oct 2026.

For managed IT service providers

Where it usually goes wrong, and what we would do.

  • “Satisfied clients assume you are full”

    A founder who has not had an outage in a year assumes you are busy, so they recommend nobody unless asked.

  • “Professionals cannot simply take a fee”

    A chartered accountant or company secretary works under their own professional rules, and offering a cut puts them in an awkward spot.

  • “The office manager who leaves is your best referrer”

    Admins and IT executives who worked with you move to new companies, and nobody at your firm stays in touch with them.

What we do

What we deliver for managed IT service providers.

Every deliverable, what it covers for you, and the result it is there to produce. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A map of who sees companies change

    CAs, company secretaries, co-working managers, HR consultants, vendor reps and former client staff, each with a named contact and a reason to refer.

    Result: Introductions come from more than the first few clients.

  2. An ask built into the renewal conversation

    A request for one introduction made after a renewal is signed or a takeover has gone well, naming the kind of company you want to meet.

    Result: Clients refer when they are most confident in you.

  3. Thank-you terms that respect professional rules

    Return introductions and acknowledgement for professionals, a disclosed service credit for client companies, and nothing paid to individuals at a prospect.

    Result: No referral turns into an awkward conversation later.

  4. An alumni list of client staff

    Office managers and IT contacts who leave a client company kept in touch with, and their new employer noted.

    Result: A contact's new job becomes a new conversation.

  5. Source recorded on every agreement

    The referrer's name entered at first contact and carried through to the signed agreement and its renewals.

    Result: You know which relationships pay for themselves.

How the result is measured

  • Referrals received
  • Referral conversion rate
  • Cost per referred customer

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

Read the full referral marketing page

How referrals work in this trade

Who refers companies to a managed IT provider, and how to make it easy without crossing a line.

Founders of client companies
Ask after a renewal or a well-handled incident, naming the kind of company you want to meet. Record the referrer on the new prospect and tell them when the introduction leads to a meeting.
Chartered accountants and company secretaries
They see audits, new entities and growth first. Send a short note they can forward and offer introductions in return, never a fee, since their professional bodies set rules on referral payments.
Co-working and business centre managers
Their members outgrow shared Wi-Fi and a freelancer. Offer a members' IT health check, and record which centre each enquiry came from.
Microsoft, security and distributor reps
Reps pass small accounts to partners who reply quickly and report back. Answer each lead the same day and tell the rep what happened, as their programme expects.
Client staff who move to new companies
Stay in touch with office managers and IT executives who leave a client. Note the new employer and ask, once they have settled in, who looks after IT there.
What never to do
Never offer a prospect's IT manager or admin a commission or gift for recommending you. It is a kickback against their employer, it breaks most companies' purchase rules, and it puts your name beside it.

Who it is for

This is written for these managed IT service providers.

  • Per-user support for growing offices without an IT team
  • Resident engineer and IT facility management providers
  • Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace managed service partners
  • Co-managed IT for companies with one in-house IT person
  • MSPs serving CA firms, clinics and other compliance-heavy offices
  • Backup and endpoint management specialists
  • IT support firms for factories and export units
  • Remote-first providers serving offices in several cities

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • You cannot yet show a client who would speak well of you if asked, so a referral request would be premature.
  • You plan to pay a fee to chartered accountants or auditors, which may conflict with their professional rules and should be checked with their own bodies.
  • Your delivery is stretched, and a referred client would arrive into a late onboarding.

How it works

How the referral marketing work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Read the margin and the relationship

    We work out what a new customer is worth and what you can pay to get one, then check whether customers know others like themselves.

  2. 2

    Find the referrals you already get

    Your invoices, call notes and WhatsApp threads show who already sends people to you, and who they are. That sets the starting point and the first people to ask.

  3. 3

    Write the offer and the rules

    The reward, the definition of a valid referral and the payout steps are agreed in writing before anything is shown to customers.

  4. 4

    Build the share path and the record

    The message, the link or code and the referral sheet are built. Your team tests a referral end to end, from forward to reward.

  5. 5

    Start with your best customers, then widen

    The first asks go to people who have already praised you. What they say about the offer decides what changes before it reaches the wider base.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 7, after the sale. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
Should we give a free month to clients who refer us?
A service credit to the client company, written into their agreement, is cleaner than cash. Never pay an individual employee, because their employer may see it as a kickback. Keep the credit the same for everyone so it does not look like a private deal.
Can we ask our clients' CA to recommend us?
Yes, by asking for an introduction where a client has an IT gap, never by offering a fee. Accountants have their own professional rules on referral payments, which differ and change, so leave that judgement to them. Return introductions where you can.
How do we track referrals that come through WhatsApp groups?
Ask every new prospect how they heard of you, and record the person or group named. If a group member forwarded your number, thank them directly. Count the referral once an assessment is booked.
How often can we ask the same client for an introduction?
After a clear success and again at renewal, and no more. A founder asked at every meeting starts avoiding the subject. Name a specific kind of company each time so the request sounds considered.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts, split into our time, your media spend and production.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

From the blog

Further reading for managed IT service providers.

All articles

More for managed IT service providers

Everything else we would do for you.

Or start from the overview: sales and marketing for managed IT service providers.

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