Running an MSP today means balancing growth with ever-tightening margins. Rising labor costs, client demands, and shifting technologies can make profitability feel like a moving target. What if there were a proven way to increase profit margins, strengthen decision-making, and build resilience without reinventing your business model? That’s exactly what MSP peer groups do!
At Encore, we’ve seen it firsthand: MSPs that participate in structured peer groups consistently outperform those that go at it alone. The data backs it up…
The Data: Peers and Profit Growth Go Hand in Hand
Peer groups aren’t just about networking, they’re about results. Across industries and within the MSP community, the numbers tell a clear story:
- MSPs in benchmarking programs average 2.5x the profit margins of their counterparts (Service Leadership).
- Peer group members grow revenue 2.2x faster than non-members, even during economic slowdowns.
- In the Service Leadership Index Q4 2024 report, MSP profitability stayed near historic highs, with top performers achieving EBITDA margins exceeding 20%, largely due to disciplined benchmarking and peer accountability.
- 71% of MSPs saw revenue growth in the past year, according to Syncro MSP Benchmark Survey, but the MSPs reporting the highest profit growth were those participating in structured peer or benchmarking groups.
So what’s behind those numbers? Accountability, visibility, and shared learning, the exact cornerstones of Encore’s model.
Why a Peer Group can Boost Profitability
1. MSP Peer Group Benchmarking Creates Clarity
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Each Encore peer group uses confidential benchmarking to compare key metrics like gross margin, revenue per employee, churn, and EBITDA. Members see exactly where they stand and what top performers are doing differently. That visibility turns guesswork into strategy. More importantly, it breaks the isolation that most MSP owners feel. When you discover that your labor efficiency is at 42% and others in your peer group are running at 65%, you will suddenly have both a clear target and proof that it’s achievable. The question then shifts from “Is this even possible?” to “How are they doing it?” And that’s when real learning begins.
2. Accountability Drives Action
It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day of client tickets and service delivery. In our MSP Peer Groups, you set goals and your peers make sure you follow through. That kind of structured accountability can accelerate real change, whether it’s improving your pricing model or tightening operational efficiency.
Here’s why peer accountability works differently than any other kind: your peers don’t let you off the hook with excuses they’ve already used themselves. When you tell your spouse or your team that you didn’t have time to work on that pricing strategy, they might believe you. When you tell five other MSP owners the same thing, they know exactly what you really mean – you prioritized something else. They’ve been there. They’ve made the same choice. And they’re not going to let you waste another quarter doing it.
3. Shared Best Practices Save Time (and Mistakes)
Why struggle alone when someone else has already solved your problem? From optimizing tech stacks to refining sales processes, peers share what works, letting other MSPs borrow tested playbooks cutting the learning curve and improving margins faster.
Think about how much time you’ve burned researching solutions, vetting vendors, or building processes from scratch – only to discover six months later that your approach had a fatal flaw. Now imagine walking into a room where someone says, “We tried that. Here’s why it didn’t work, and here’s what we did instead.” That’s not theory. That’s scar tissue you don’t have to earn yourself. MSP Peer Groups increase velocity!
And here’s what makes an Encore Peer Group trustworthy: nobody’s selling you anything! When a vendor tells you their tool will solve your problems, they have skin in the game. When a peer or a facilitator in one of our peer groups tells you what’s working in their business, their only motivation is helping you succeed!
4. Strategic Insight Keeps You Ahead
The MSP landscape shifts constantly; cybersecurity threats, AI integration, compliance requirements. Within a peer group, you’re not reacting, you’re anticipating. Exposure to how other MSPs are adapting helps you pivot sooner and more profitably.
Here’s the leverage: when a major shift hits the industry, you’re not figuring it out alone with a sample size of one. You’ve got eight to twelve other businesses serving as early warning systems. Maybe one member just lost a client over cyber insurance requirements you haven’t seen yet. Maybe another is already three months into implementing AI-powered service desk automation and can tell you what actually works versus what the vendors promised. That distributed intelligence of your MSP Peer Group means you see around corners before your local competitors even know the corner exists.
5. Peer Groups Stimulate a Culture of Growth
|When you meet regularly with business owners who are pushing for operational excellence, it changes how you lead. Peer groups build a culture where improvement isn’t optional…it’s expected.
There’s something powerful about being the least successful person in the room. Not in a demoralizing way – in an aspirational way. When everyone around you is hitting 25% EBITDA and you’re stuck at 12%, you stop accepting that 12% is “pretty good for an MSP.” Your baseline shifts. What felt like success last year suddenly feels like you’re leaving money on the table. And that discomfort? That’s growth trying to happen.
This elevated standard doesn’t stay in the peer group meetings – it seeps into every corner of your business. You start asking different questions in your leadership team meetings. You stop tolerating mediocre processes because you’ve seen what excellent ones look like. And you hire differently because you’ve heard how top performers build their teams. Even your vocabulary changes. You’re talking about labor efficiency and client acquisition cost and lifetime value, not just “how many tickets did we close this month.”
What We See in Encore Peer Groups
Encore’s peer groups are built for action. We combine structured benchmarking with real conversations that get to the heart of MSP challenges pricing, margins, leadership, and scalability.
In every meeting, members walk away with:
- A clearer picture of their numbers compared to peers
- Two to three concrete action items to improve profitability
- Support from people who understand the MSP grind firsthand
And the results speak for themselves: members regularly report faster revenue growth, improved cash flow, and stronger bottom lines after just a few quarters of participation.
The Bottom Line
Peer groups aren’t another meeting on your calendar, they are a strategic asset. The data shows that MSPs who engage deeply in peer groups:
- Grow faster
- Operate more efficiently
- And deliver stronger profitability year after year
If your goal is to make your MSP more profitable, more scalable, and more resilient…stop trying to figure it out alone. Join a group of leaders who are doing the same work, facing the same challenges, and pushing each other to reach the next level.
Encore’s peer groups are designed to turn insight into action.
Let’s make profitability your next success story.
Ready to get started? Contact us to learn more about joining an Encore Peer Group.