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Thread: what do you expect from your technical support?

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    Default what do you expect from your technical support?

    I own a small startup computer service in the Pittsburgh area. We currently cater yo residential customers, but Wed like to shift our focus to small and medium businesses. We charge rather low rates, work efficiently, and do quality work consistently.

    I ask, however, what do you expect, as a business, from a technology solution provider such as my company? What do you need to make you business better? What do you expect to pay? What can I do to make your job easier?

    Any comments are appreciated.

    Thank you for your time

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    im not in the market but have heard from a lot of businesses on this.... big problems about not getting what they thought they were getting..... so i would try and be super clear, and show what you can offer and maybe show different levels of service....
    imho there is abig need for a helpful computer person.....its really hard for lots of places that could benefit and afford you....
    hoiw about??
    set up a website, simple billboard one with no selling for a start ...
    set up a facebook....and help work the page..camera to pc to facebook,
    tutor on qr codes, google analytics,
    be on call x times a month
    an hour a month inhouse...
    tutor constant contact, facebook, bing,gowalla,linkedin,
    and get someone at low tekk level to check what you are saying.... we might have no idea what you are talking about ....... qr code means or seo...
    mainly if you do what you say you will do you would be off to a great start..... and not overpromise
    i get a computer sperson once a week for a few hours and love it...i keep a list..
    we do ours inhouse...dil and dh.... our geek squad!!!
    Last edited by greenoak; 07-19-2011 at 09:37 AM.
    ann at greenoak www.greenoakantiques.com

  3. #3

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    Very helpful! Thank you Is there anything else extraordinarily out of the box that my company could offer other companies? Just something that nobody else even dreams of offering.

    I know that I was considering a program that the employees of any business that entered a monthly maintenance contract with us got 20% off their personal computer needs. Thoughts?

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    What kind of services are you thinking of offering small and medium businesses? Ann mentioned that people she knows want it to be very clear what these services are. I think choosing a set of specific services is a good first start. If you can find a way to communicate what you do in a way that small business owners can clearly understand, I think that could be the exceptional thing you're looking for. IT people have a reputation for not being all that clear when talking to non IT people.

    The 20% discount can work however I'd ask 2 questions. Could you afford to do the same work for 20% less? Will the owners or decision makers of these businesses find the 20% off attractive? Remember that it won't be the employees deciding to hire you.
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    i dont care about discounts...i want the best price.... it would make me leery of your other prices.... also i dont like intro offers if im an old time customer...as in what about me!! old faithful.... discounts and sales are tricky...maybe a little but not a lot...also its hard to raise the price next month... etc...
    ann at greenoak www.greenoakantiques.com

  6. #6

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    With our monthly maintenance contracts, we'd offer full remote and onsite maintenance and scheduled service of any machines you use to keep them operating within profitable parameters. We'd also take care of antivirus and security measures, Data backups on and off site to keep data loss at a bare minimum, network resource management to keep your network infrastructure running as smoothly as possible, and even ink and toner auto replenishment to keep a printer constantly usable.

    On top of doing remote maintenance (work from our location over the internet during non business hours to keep your business as interference free from us as possible), you'd also receive 4 hours of onsite work that you can use for us to do anything you need. Clients on contract that go beyond those four hours will receive a significant discount from "Break-Fix" hourly rates.

    To top it all off, clients receive a guaranteed 1 hour or less response time. This doesn't mean your problem is fixed in an hour. Instead, i means you will hear from us and we'll be on our way within an hour.

    Depending upon the size of the client, the cost would be around $500 a month, wih the number of computers, servers, and printers affecting the bottom line. That is an extremely good price for around here, where the competition charges that for the remote support and a 1 week response time. We offer quality work consistently and efficiently.

    The fine details are still in the works, but there's most of it. Thoughts?

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    sounds great but too much for most independant downtown businesses...imho..we wouldnt have that many machines to start with...
    .good for a bigger place tho...a big office etc...but then they might have their own guy....
    ann at greenoak www.greenoakantiques.com

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    Well, what are your needs in that environment? What would you expect to pay for such a service?

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    what i mentioned before.... most stores just have one computer....so not sure if it would be a good fit..
    .. i deal with the creative pr marketing side...not the hardware.... i wouldnt know how big of a job it is....ours doesnt break a lot...and we know how to deal with toner and antivirus...etc..but my dh knows a lot about the hardware..

    im in indiana in the rust belt and a depressed area....
    ann at greenoak www.greenoakantiques.com

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    I was thinking the same thing as Ann. I suspect most smaller small businesses won't have a lot of IT needs. The larger the business the more needs, but also the more likely there will be some internal staff. I think there's still a sweet spot where a business isn't large enough to call for a dedicated staff, but the needs are still greater than the existing employees being able to do it themselves.

    I wish I knew exactly where that sweet spot was, but I don't. I do think it exists though.

    The majority of us here are closer to micro businesses so our responses may not be the best for what you want to know. Don't let it discourage you if those of us here say we wouldn't need your services. I suspect we're not your ideal market. I'm thinking a small office with 20 or so people would likely be a good fit. Most of us here are probably better candidates for your residential services even at work.

    One thing I've noticed in my business (web design) is my clients often need help managing their hosting accounts. It's not my favorite thing to do and I don't think it's a favorite thing for many in my situation. Perhaps there's a way to hook up with a group of web designers and figure out a way to handle these kind of things.

    Maybe a way to reach us micro businesses is to be an available resource for support. That could mean a retainer set up or it could be setting up a website people could go to where their questions are guaranteed to get a custom answer, probably through real time chat or a phone call.

    For pricing I would look at businesses similar to your, particularly in your local area and see what they charge. Asking potential clients will likely result in lower price answers than they'd realistically pay. If other IT businesses don't list prices you can call them and pretend your a customer looking for a price.

    Everything you've mentioned seems reasonable. The hard part is finding the sweet spot in the market. Many small businesses won't have the needs to justify hiring you monthly I'm afraid. How about a one time service to go into a business and set up several automated systems. That might lead to being rehired and down the line turn into a monthly set. Many of your monthly services sound like they could be reworked to a one time fix. Setting up a backup system, securing computers. True both of those things really require maintenance, but the one time sale might be easier to make.
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