Michelle Ragusa-McBain joined me on the Conquer Local podcast to share how resellers and agencies can elevate their business by partnering with managed service providers.
Managed service providers are some of the best technicians and most strategic business operators I know. They are also, almost universally, underpowered when it comes to marketing themselves. Michelle Ragusa-McBain joined the Conquer Local Podcast to talk about how the channel is evolving, and what MSPs need to elevate their businesses in a world where buyers research everything online first.
Michelle is a highly visible thought leader in the global technology channel. She returned to Cisco as what she calls a boomerang, after 13 years there starting in 2005 as an engineer, then moving through sales, global distribution, commercial, enterprise, public sector, and telco. She has seen the channel from almost every angle.
MSPs Are Great at Technology, Not at Marketing Technology
Michelle opened with a truth that anyone who works with MSPs will recognize instantly:
“They are really good technicians, they are really good sales leaders, they are really good strategists. But when it comes to marketing their business, which in a digital normal is very important, it really is contingent on how can they leverage marketing dollars and strategies, demand generation campaigns, to help enable and empower their success.”
The gap is not capability. The gap is playbooks, enablement, and a steady source of campaign assets that are relevant to what MSPs actually sell.
Co-Op Dollars Are Still Undervalued
I took Michelle back to something I learned in radio three decades ago. Becoming a co-op dollar expert was the fastest way to hit quota. Vendors had money set aside to help their partners market, and most sellers had no idea how to pull those dollars in. Nothing has changed. Co-op programs, partner marketing development funds, and vendor enablement budgets are still sitting there waiting for partners who know how to access them.
If you sell to MSPs or resellers:
- Learn the vendor’s co-op structure inside out
- Build campaigns that meet the vendor’s eligibility rules
- Document everything so reimbursement is clean
- Help your partners understand how the dollars can flow through to them
Mentorship Matters
Michelle is passionate about mentorship, and particularly about enabling diverse leadership growth in the channel. Her point was clear. Most leadership, venture capital, and angel investment is still dominated by men. Without deliberate mentorship, the bench never diversifies, and the industry loses perspective.
Her line on how men and women often approach roles differently stuck with me:
“Women tend not to apply for a role because they want to have 10 out of 10 of the criteria where men will have 5 of 10 and throw their hat in the ring. If you are a mentor, let’s have those hard-hitting conversations and enable the success so that we can all rise together.”
This applies inside sales teams too. The hiring manager and the mentor have a role to play in closing that gap. For more on how great teams build diverse, accountable talent pipelines, see my post on what makes a great sales team.
What MSPs Should Do Next
If you are running an MSP and looking at what 2026 demands:
- Invest in a real content engine, not just a LinkedIn page
- Use vendor co-op dollars aggressively
- Build a mentorship practice internally, both up and down
- Help your team show up as personal brands alongside the company brand
What I Took Away From Michelle
- Marketing is the weakest muscle in most MSPs and the biggest lever
- Co-op dollars are the most underused resource in the channel
- Mentorship is not optional for leaders who want a diverse bench
- Vendor partnerships only work if both sides enable each other
Michelle Ragusa-McBain has a rare ability to translate between the engineering mindset and the marketing mindset. If your business sits anywhere in the MSP ecosystem, her point of view is worth the deep dive.
How much of your vendor co-op budget did you leave on the table last year?