Environment
| Question | Answer | Impact on scope or price |
|---|---|---|
| Number of users, and how many are remote or hybrid? | Drives licence count and remote support load | |
| Number and average age of endpoints? | Devices over 4 years old generate materially more tickets |
MSP Client Discovery Questionnaire
Pricing an MSP contract from user count alone is how accounts become unprofitable. The questions that predict support load are about the estate's condition and the business's tolerance for downtime, not its headcount.
What you get
- Environment questions that predict ticket volume
- Business context covering hours, criticality, and growth
- Compliance requirements that change the service scope
- Red-flag questions worth asking before you quote
How to use this template
- 1
Ask about condition, not count alone. Device age, patch backlog, OS versions, and whether anyone currently manages the estate predict support load far better than user count. Two 100-user clients can differ by a factor of three in tickets.
- 2
Establish the real support hours expectation. A client expecting a response at 22:00 on a Sunday needs a different price from one that genuinely works nine to five. Ask directly, and ask what happened last time something broke out of hours.
- 3
Ask the red-flag questions early. Why are you leaving your current provider? What has gone wrong in the past year? How many providers have you had in five years? The answers predict the relationship far better than the technical picture.
What's inside
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Frequently asked questions
What should an MSP ask before quoting?
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Estate condition (device age, OS versions, patch backlog, backup test history, MFA state) alongside real support hours expectations, downtime cost, compliance obligations, and why the client is leaving their current provider.
Why does estate condition matter more than user count?
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Because ticket volume tracks condition far more closely than headcount. Two 100-user clients can differ several-fold in support load depending on device age, patch status, and whether anyone has been managing the environment.
What is the most useful discovery question?
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Why are you leaving your current provider, and what went wrong in the last year. The answers reveal expectations, communication preferences, and whether the previous relationship failed on technical delivery or on account management.