20% to 80% Recurring Revenue: Paul Lacey’s Journey of Scaling Growth with WP Remote

Challenges

  • Initial trial and error while selecting tools.
  • Needed robust processes.
  • Non-productised maintenance was too resource-intensive.
  • Selling care plans to clients didn’t work.

Results

  • Scaled MRR from 20% to 80% over 2 years.
  • Developed lasting relationships with clients.
  • Flexibility to select and manage projects.
  • Bonus: Enjoyed a better quality of life.

Shift from a project mindset to a recurring revenue one

If your agency isn’t responsible for the maintenance of a website, you can reasonably ask why you should bother with it once it has been delivered.

“Most traditional agencies weren’t really bothered about ongoing maintenance, because they weren’t paid for it. They are more structured around projects, and are operating in a traditional bubble of larger budget sales, accepting high churn of clients. However, I didn’t want the website to implode, so I put a small amount of energy into finding a solution. Something on the lines of: Hey guys! You should probably be aware of these things. But it wasn’t a responsibility.”

However, with the advent of care plans, and their importance for reliable, recurring revenue, things changed.

“Later on, it started to become my responsibility. Therefore, I needed to know that, if something happened, that I had a way forward. If a situation starts to develop on a website, I have a policy and a protocol in place.”

“That’s where solutions like WP Remote come in. It has backups, security scanning, restores, test restores, and an activity log.”

Paul Lacey

The right tool is a complete gamechanger

Real growth occurs when you stop exchanging time for revenue. All business owners know this is the secret to sustainable growth.

“20 years ago, I was working in my final job before I became self-employed. The CEO of that company told me to start an agency, because at some point I would reach a ceiling, where I couldn’t deliver any more hours of work every day.”

The key is to find the right tools, and set up processes.

“The right tool needs to be the Swiss Army penknife, the engine that makes everything possible.”

Paul Lacey

“I was evaluating every single aspect: cost, functionality, reliability, brand, trust in the brand, etc. I would not be comfortable expanding the maintenance side of a business without it. It’s an absolute game changer to have that sort of aspect as a business. You don’t have a ceiling. How you can work can be completely rewritten.”

Instead of selling, build trust

Change the narrative of care plans with your clients. They are not expenses; they are investments in client businesses.

“They see you as somebody who is fantastic to have in their back pocket. They know you’re proactively doing things for their business every day. They’re just happy that the money seemed like a good deal, and what you’re doing has worked for the last few years.”

The hard sell rarely works. Good processes and good products help you put the ‘care’ in care plans.

“Most of my clients will have me for at least a year. I’ll be hosting the website, looking after all the boring technical stuff that they don’t need to worry about.”

“I’ll tell them: There is some stuff that has to be done. Every day. And if you want to do it yourself, I’ll give you a list and you can look after it yourself. It’s super easy; it just takes a bit of time every day. I’m not saying they can’t do this, or it is too hard. I won’t say you should be focused on your business, not messing with this. They can make that obvious assumption themselves.”

Become a superhero in any crisis

With a maintenance plan in place, you can have peace of mind. Handling unexpected situations becomes effortless; and you get to shine in front of your customers.

“I know that when a client comes to me with a situation, I can solve it instantly. A client had installed a page builder on the website, and activated it on the homepage. Everything broke. I was in a car park, and I got an urgent text message: ‘Oh my gosh I’ve destroyed the website.’ I replied telling her not to worry about it.”

It is reassuring to have confidence in being able to solve problems quickly.  

“I had my WP Remote backup set daily. It just so happened that that one had been done at 5 am that morning. Her changes were around 8:30 am. At 9:00 am, I was able to say do you want me to just roll it back, and you can start again. Just don’t install the plugin this time.”

“It went from an urgent problem, with the client in panic, to I’m the hero of the day taking away all her stress.”

Paul Lacey

Enable business continuity for your client

No one wants their site to go down—for any reason. Especially if they have a marketing drive planned out, and their site is central to it. 

“The client is able to have a website that is selling to their customers. They can be sure that their website is there for all their marketing strategies. For a small amount of money, comparatively, I can look after those websites. I wouldn’t be able to do that without a tool like WP Remote.”

Freedom to choose projects

It is the eternal struggle for any business owner. 

Do you spend time doing sales for new projects; work on existing ones; or leverage older projects for more revenue?

“6 years ago, I didn’t really have any recurring income. It was mostly project-based, with a little bit of recurring income.”

“Now, the recurring income is 70 or 80%, and the rest is project income. I wouldn’t need to do the projects, if I didn’t want to.”

Paul Lacey

Bonus: Listen to music while maintaining sites

“That’s the wonderful thing about this kind of product. It is quite easy work. I decided that I want to work while I listen to music or podcasts. If I’m on phone calls all day and then in team meetings, telling them what to do, I can’t listen to music.”

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