MSP Marketing · Step 5

How to Run a Lunch and Learn as an MSP

By Andrew Moon · Orange Nomad · Updated March 2026

An MSP ran their first virtual Lunch and Learn to 11 people. $25 GrubHub card per attendee. A 45-minute session on cyber liability insurance requirements for law firms. Two signed proposals within 30 days. Total event cost: $275.

The Lunch and Learn is the highest-converting event format available to an MSP. Not a webinar. Not a trade show booth. A small, focused, in-person or virtual session for your exact ICP, on a topic they care about, with no hard pitch. The pitch is the expertise. The close happens naturally afterward.

The Numbers

Event cost
$25
Per attendee. GrubHub or Uber Eats card for virtual, lunch catering for in-person.
Target size
10–15
Attendees. Invite 30. Expect 10–15 to show. Smaller is more conversational and more effective.
Cadence
1/quarter
Quarterly. One Lunch and Learn per quarter is a sustainable cadence that keeps you in front of your ICP consistently.

Topic Selection

The topic must address a business risk, not a technology feature. The question to ask: what keeps a decision-maker in my vertical awake at night that IT is directly connected to?

Topic Examples by Vertical
Law Firms"What Your Cyber Liability Insurance Policy Actually Requires — And What Most Firms Are Missing"
Healthcare"HIPAA Compliance During an EHR Migration: The 3 Mistakes That Trigger Audits"
Financial"What Investor IT Due Diligence Really Looks Like — And How to Pass It in 30 Days"
CPA Firms"IRS Data Security Requirements for Tax Professionals: What Changed in 2025"
General"The $25 Event That Closes $3K/Month Clients: The Lunch & Learn Formula"

The Five-Step Playbook

1

Pick a date 6 weeks out and block it today

Six weeks is enough runway to build the list and send three invites. Most MSPs never run a Lunch and Learn because they never commit to a date. Block it before you do anything else.

2

Build a 30-person invite list

Pull from your LinkedIn connections, your SDR prospect list, and your existing clients. Include a mix of warm prospects, cold ICP contacts, and current clients who might refer colleagues. Target 30 invites for 10–15 attendees.

3

Send the three-email invite sequence

Email 1 at 4 weeks: save the date, topic, one-line description. Email 2 at 2 weeks: reminder with agenda. Email 3 at 3 days: final confirmation. For virtual, include the GrubHub link and delivery instructions in Email 3.

4

Run 45 minutes — 30 content, 15 Q&A

Open with the business problem, not a technology feature. Stay in their language throughout. The Q&A is where conversations start. Every question is a buying signal. Take notes.

5

Close with one ask — a 20-minute call

"If you'd like us to run this same assessment against your specific setup, I have a few 20-minute slots next week." That's the only pitch. No proposal. No pricing. A low-friction next step that moves interested attendees into the sales sequence.

What Not to Do

Common mistakes
✗Pitching your services during the content portion. The expertise is the pitch. Hard selling in a Lunch and Learn destroys the trust the event is designed to build.
✗Running it for a mixed audience. A Lunch and Learn for "any business" dilutes everything — the topic, the content, the follow-up. One vertical per event.
✗Presenting a technology demo. No screenshots of your RMM tool. No product walkthroughs. The session is about their business problem, not your platform.
✗Following up with a generic "great to meet you" email. The follow-up is a specific reference to something they said in the Q&A. Personalisation closes. Automation annoys.
Get the Lunch and Learn Template Built Into the Plan

Step 5 of the 3Cs Framework includes the invite sequence, topic selection, and session outline for your ICP — built into your custom 90-day plan.

Get the Plan — $297
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