B2B prospecting for cybersecurity firms and MSPs
How an MSP, managed IT provider or cybersecurity firm can sign more recurring contracts: targets, buying signals, messages and legal rules.
Lead Matrix for MSPs, managed IT providers and cybersecurity firms: AI identifies the companies that match your ideal customer profile and writes them personalised emails, experts run the campaigns, and interested prospects arrive in a real-time dashboard. Every managed services contract you sign means years of recurring revenue. We bring you the conversations that lead to them.
The challenges of prospecting
Engineers, not salespeople
Your team is excellent at infrastructure, but nobody has time to go out and find new clients.
A market that is approached from every direction
SMEs receive plenty of cybersecurity pitches. A generic message goes straight to the bin.
Recurring revenue builds slowly
Each new managed contract counts for years, so every month without a new signature is a lasting loss.
Who to target
| Companies | Decision-makers |
|---|---|
| Companies with 20 to 250 employees | Managing Director / CEO of SMEs |
| Sectors you know well (healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, construction...) | Head of IT or IT Manager |
| Region: the area you cover | Finance Director (often decides on IT in SMEs) |
| Excluding current customers and partners | Operations Director |
Your final targeting is built with you during the workshop: sectors, company sizes, regions, roles and exclusions (customers, competitors, partners).
Buying signals to watch for
- Headcount growth (more devices to equip and secure)
- A new site, an office move, hybrid working
- A sector with security requirements (NIS 2 in the EU, healthcare, finance, UK public sector contracts)
- Hiring for an IT role: a sign they need outside support
These signals make the first email relevant: you write when the need appears, with a specific reason to get in touch.
Example first email
A fictional example, to adapt to your offer:
Subject: IT at Pemberton & Rowe
Dear Mr Fletcher,
Pemberton & Rowe opened a second office this year. That is often when IT starts being managed "on the side", without proper monitoring or tested backups.
We look after the devices, security and support of businesses with 20 to 100 users, for a clear monthly fee.
Would a quick 30-minute review be of interest?
Sophie Kendall
Your company · Managed IT & cybersecurity
Short, built around a real fact about the company, with a single question: that is the format that gets replies. Our full method: B2B cold email: the complete guide.
What it could bring in
| Three-year managed contract (margin) | €18,000 |
| Starter plan (12-month commitment) | €710 excl. VAT a month, or €8,520 a year |
| Months of subscription covered by a single client | 25 months |
Assumption: €500 in monthly margin over 36 months. Replace it with your own figures. This is an indicative calculation, not a guaranteed result.
The legal framework
The rules depend on the recipient's country. In the United Kingdom, PECR lets you email corporate subscribers (limited companies, LLPs, public bodies) without prior consent, as long as you identify yourself and offer a simple way to opt out; sole traders and most partnerships are treated like individuals and need to have consented (ICO). Because you are writing to named people, the UK GDPR also applies: you need a lawful basis, usually legitimate interests, and you must tell people where you got their details. In France, B2B email without prior consent is allowed if the message relates to the recipient's role, with an unsubscribe link and information on their rights (CNIL). Germany (§ 7 UWG), Spain (article 21 of the LSSI) and Italy (article 130 of the Codice privacy) require prior consent in principle, even in B2B. Target countries are agreed with you and each campaign follows the local rules. Full details: Is B2B cold email legal under GDPR?
How Lead Matrix helps
- A 45-minute targeting workshop to define your target companies, decision-makers and key arguments.
- Launch within 48 hours from dedicated sending domains, with messages written by AI and approved by our experts.
- Qualified replies delivered to your dashboard, with a pipeline to track every opportunity. You can answer straight from the lead card.
- Ongoing optimisation of targeting and messages.
Plans range from €710 to €2,510 excl. VAT a month with a 12-month commitment. Find out more: What is Lead Matrix?
Frequently asked questions
How many meetings can we expect?
It depends on your market, your offer and the number of companies contacted. We do not promise a figure in advance: results are visible in real time in your dashboard, and targeting is adjusted every week.
Do we need to provide a contact list?
No. Companies and decision-makers are identified for you, based on the targeting defined together. You can provide a list of customers and competitors to exclude, which goes on your "do not contact" list.
How long does it take to get started?
Campaigns go live 48 hours after the targeting is approved, following a 45-minute workshop.
Will our emails look like the phishing we warn clients about?
No. Emails come from dedicated sending domains with a clearly identified sender, contain no attachments and a single question, and every message is approved by our experts before sending.
Sources
- Direct marketing and privacy and electronic communications, ICO
- La prospection commerciale par courrier électronique, CNIL (in French)
- § 7 Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb (UWG), gesetze-im-internet.de (in German)
- Ley 34/2002 de servicios de la sociedad de la información (LSSI), BOE (in Spanish)
- Codice in materia di protezione dei dati personali, Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (in Italian)
- How much does outsourced B2B lead generation cost in 2026?, Lead Matrix