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Winning an industry award or earning a place on a major ranking can create a burst of attention. The bigger opportunity comes after the announcement.
For leading MSSPs, recognition can become a sales asset, a trust signal and a way to create momentum across marketing, proposals, RFPs and customer conversations. The key is knowing how to use it.
“The real value comes from using the recognition to reinforce trust, refine your story, and continue raising the bar for customers,” said Will Lassalle, CIO at JLS Technology USA, a managed security provider that made the MSSP Alert Top 250 list in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
That creates a practical question: How exactly do the top MSSPs turn industry recognition into revenue?
Recognition starts before the award
MSSPs do not suddenly become visible when their name appears on a ranking. The providers that get the most value from recognition often spend years building the story that makes the recognition meaningful. That means documenting outcomes, sharing lessons, contributing to industry conversations and creating a public record of the work the company is doing.
“The market cannot recognize what it never sees,” Lassalle said.
For MSSPs doing exceptional work but receiving little attention, that may be the most important lesson. Strong performance creates the substance. Visibility comes from leveraging traditional and social media, pursuing awards and rankings, contributing expert commentary and consistently showing the market what the company does well.
Conferences are a big part of that visibility strategy. Attending events like MSSP Alert Live gives providers opportunities to contribute to industry conversations, build relationships with other leaders and become known for their expertise before an award ever arrives.
Use recognition as proof, not the pitch
The strongest sales teams do not lead with the badge. They use it to reinforce a larger story about credibility, customer outcomes and why a buyer should feel comfortable trusting the provider.
“Use it as third-party validation, not as the core sales message,” Lassalle said. “Recognition should support conversations about credibility, customer outcomes and why a prospect can feel confident placing their trust in your organization.”
That distinction matters because buyers are not choosing an MSSP because it won an award. They are choosing a provider they believe can reduce risk and deliver results. Recognition works best when it gives those claims more weight.
Highlight industry recognition where buyers are comparing providers. The obvious move after earning recognition is to promote it on social media or add a badge to the website. That helps visibility, but Lassalle sees greater commercial value deeper in the sales process.
He said recognition can have the greatest impact in proposals and RFP responses, where prospects are actively comparing providers and weighing perceived risk. That is where third-party validation can become particularly useful.
When several MSSPs make similar claims about expertise, technology and service quality, independent recognition can help reinforce credibility at the exact moment a buyer is deciding whom to trust.
Measure how recognition is moving the funnel
Visibility alone does not prove that an award or ranking is creating value. Lassalle recommends looking at what happens inside the sales funnel after the recognition arrives. That means tracking qualified inbound opportunities, proposal conversion rates, sales-cycle velocity and overall win rates.
“If the recognition is creating value, it should generate measurable trust and commercial momentum—not just visibility,” he said.
That changes the ROI question. Instead of asking how many people saw the announcement, MSSPs can ask whether more qualified buyers entered the pipeline, moved faster or converted at a higher rate.
Turn one announcement into a campaign
Will Lassalle
One of the easiest ways to waste recognition is to treat it as a one-day marketing event. Leading providers can extend its value across digital campaigns, sales enablement materials, customer communications and thought leadership.
“Build a focused campaign around the recognition, but connect it directly to customer outcomes and proof points,” he said. “Leverage it across digital channels, sales enablement materials, customer communications and thought leadership initiatives so it becomes a long-term credibility multiplier rather than a one-day announcement.”
The goal is not to repeat “we won” everywhere. It is to use the recognition as another reason for prospects to believe the MSSP can deliver what it promises.
Peer recognition can create another kind of return
Industry recognition also creates opportunities that are harder to measure on a dashboard. When leading MSSPs gather at events, they gain access to peers facing many of the same operational, security and growth challenges.
Lassalle said those conversations can produce some of the most valuable takeaways.
“The most valuable insights often come from candid conversations about what is working, what is changing, and what others would do differently,” he said. That kind of learning can influence strategy, service development and operations long after the event itself ends.
It is also one reason events such as MSSP Alert Live can matter even for providers that already rank among the industry’s leaders. The value is not simply being recognized in front of peers; it is gaining direct access to operators who can share how they are handling staffing, automation, AI, service delivery, margins and other challenges that rarely fit neatly into a public case study.
The award is the beginning, not the payoff
The biggest mistake an MSSP can make is treating recognition as the finish line. The top providers use it as leverage. They put it in front of buyers when trust matters most, connect it to customer outcomes, measure whether it improves the funnel and keep using it long after the original announcement fades.
Lasalle recommends that you:
- Learn how to articulate your story by listening to peers at industry events.
- Tell that story proudly and reinforce it by applying for awards and other forms of recognition.
- Make that recognition part of a coordinated marketing campaign.
- Keep building connections and helping lead the conversation about what is working across the industry.
Awards and rankings may create the introduction, but events, marketing and ongoing industry participation help keep an MSSP relevant long after the announcement cycle ends.
Jonathan Browning is executive director of content and engagement for ChannelPro Network. He has been a leader in the IT channel for close to a decade. He’s an avid fan and early adopter of technology. He believes that the managed services industry is the most important driver of economic growth and human innovation in today’s world.
Images: Will Lassalle, Dalle-E
