Gmail needs no introduction; we are all familiar with this extremely popular email platform. While Google makes many of its applications, including Gmail, free for individuals, there are many reasons why small and medium-sized businesses should upgrade to a Google Workspace subscription.
Chief among these reasons: upgrading to a paid Google Workspace subscription gives your client more Gmail features.
But that’s not the only benefit! Encouraging clients to take advantage of Google Workspace presents additional opportunities for both their users and your managed service provider (MSP) business. Let’s explore.
Free Gmail vs. Google Workspace: Major differences
While some of the basic features offered by both Google Workspace and a free Gmail account may look the same, even these overlapping elements have some notable differences.
More storage
A free Gmail account gives you limited storage capacity. If you’ve ever received those pesky notifications alerting you that you’ve used up 90% of your inbox storage and will need to clear files or move to a paid plan, then you already have a notion of the benefits of upgrading to Google Workspace.
The limited storage applies both to your email inbox and your associated Google Workspace functions, such as Google Drive. With a paid account, you can choose as much space as you need to work with, with options starting at 30 GB, 2 TB, or all the way up to unlimited storage.
Custom email address
Free Gmail accounts will always end with @gmail.com. For a more professional account, you probably want the ability to customize your email address. When clients receive an email from “bob2345@gmail.com”, they may not take it seriously. However, receiving an email from “BobJohnson@JohnsonManufacturing.com” makes a much more immediate impression of professionalism. You’ll need Google Workspace for this feature.
Guaranteed uptime on business email
Google offers ultra-reliable servers that guarantee 99.9% uptime on your business email. They offer cutting-edge advanced-level security protocols and industry-leading protection from spam and spyware. Google Workspace also automatically backs up your information, digital documents and emails, guaranteeing that your business data remains secure.
Advanced security
Google Workspace comes with built-in controls for sophisticated data encryption, multi-factor authentication, security control protocols and zero-trust cybersecurity infrastructure. These advanced security protocols protect employees and customers, reducing the need for additional security software like VPNs. Google Workspace also provides secure endpoints that require no patching and stronger protections against account takeovers.
More admin for additional users
Designed with companies in mind, Google Workspace is geared towards secure collaborative working processes, making it an ideal choice for hybrid and remote companies. The upgraded version of Google Drive allows multiple users to create secure documents and provide real-time edits and updates.
Companies can use Google Calendar to create multiple individual calendars for distinct teams or projects, and invite clients and colleagues to join and view those schedules. Businesses can also use Google Workspace tools to collaborate more easily with suppliers, customers and colleagues alike.
Additional benefits of Google Workspace
Beyond the differences of free Gmail vs. Google Workspace listed above, the paid version of the productivity suite offers additional benefits for professional users, including multiple applications for various business needs. These include classic options, such as:
- Google Docs
- Google Drive
- Gmail
- Google Calendar
- Google Meet
- Chats
- Google Sheets
- Slides
- Forms
But Workspace also offers extended business versions of all of these apps, plus additional apps with advanced features, such as:
- Cloud Search
- Google Jamboard
- Apps Script
- Sites
- Keep
- Work Insights
- Vault
- Endpoint
- Admin
These digital tools are designed to lend themselves to easy collaborations and seamless integration across locations and devices. Team members can work across their different devices, logging in from different networks located virtually anywhere around the globe.
Google Workspace offers third-party add-ons to enhance your professional online workspace experience as well, including:
- LucidChart to share diagrams, charts, and collaborative data sets
- SignEasy allows customers, clients, and employees to sign documents online through a secure portal
- Workfront aids in project management, providing advanced-level Gmail and calendar organizational capabilities
Ultimately, Google Workspace offers easy IT management for SMBs who may not have the resources to hire a full-time IT team. It also provides essential marketing and sales tools to help SMBs get ahead, even if they’re just starting. Customer insights, targeted demographics information, website and social media analytics and lead generation and conversion statistics are all useful tools for boosting customer engagement that companies of all sizes can benefit from.
The Google Workspace suite of tools also provides helpful resources for crafting marketing campaign materials for social media, email blasts, newsletters, flyers and more. Professional templates and customizable design profiles can help companies maintain a professional and consistent look throughout campaign materials and their website.
Leveraging free Gmail vs. Google Workspace: Opportunities for MSPs
For MSPs, introducing Google Workspace into your offering presents a business-savvy, lucrative opportunity for increasing revenue and appealing to a broad client base. You can capitalize on the nearly ubiquitous popularity of Google by offering your customers productivity tools that already feel familiar to them.
Working with Google Workspace will allow you to increase your customer stickiness. As your customers come to rely on you to work with more productivity tools, you will become a more invaluable part of their ongoing business maintenance.
Listening and responding to your customers’ needs is a great way to offer personalized customer service, boosting customer retention rates and loyalty. And introducing Google Workspace is an easy sell. If customers are already getting one kind of service from you, why not add email and productivity tools to the list?
Additionally, partnering with Google Workspace gives you all the benefits of support that Google offers. Google’s customer service team will be there to answer any questions, so when your customers come to you for technical support or maintenance queries, you have a broad foundation of support behind you.
Adding Google products to your MSP’s portfolio will open up doors for your business to access training and sales enablement resources that can help your business to thrive in the long run.
Ready to convince clients of the benefits of Google Workspace?
Google Workspace offers SMBs more customization options and useful resources to help run their businesses, presenting a strong revenue opportunity for MSPs.
Do you want to learn more about offering Google Workspace? Navigating the ins and outs of becoming a Google Partner can be complex. Fortunately, Sherweb is familiar with the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and can help make adding Google Workspace to your offerings a breeze.
