Support Contracts – Needed Whether You Are Maintaining 1 Or 100 Computers
Support contracts are a prime way for you to maintain one computer or an entire system. In previous years, the notion of computer maintenance would have been an odd proposition because, in general, computers were simply seen as computers, and they worked until they suddenly fell over and stopped operating. Wrong. These days a growing segment of the population has come to rely upon peak performance from their computers for years on end. In this article, we’ll cover why support contracts are critical for maintaining your computers.
Essential Computer Support When You Need It
Today, computer support contracts have become essential. Computers have a multitude of parts including hardware and software that all mould together as one complex puzzle that needs to be finely tuned in order for the whole system to operate effectively and efficiently.
As a result, professional computer consulting firms that offer support contracts employ both low and high-tech measures and experienced technical staff to help you get the most from your machine or multiple computer network. If you sign support contracts with these firms, they will offer you tune-ups as part of the support contracts that include everything from cleaning and dusting internal fans to diagnosing and fixing registry, memory, or boot up problems.
Save Money In The Long Run
Fortunately, professional computer firms offer support contracts that can provide you with ongoing service. Finding the right technicians who have plenty of experience and who can offer you ongoing support contracts will ensure that your machines are working 24/7 regardless of the stress you put the machines under.
The Bottom Line about Computer Support Contracts
Of course, the major benefit of having support contracts is that the technicians are available to service and repair the machines according to the details in your support contracts which could even be 24/7—so if something does go wrong you can call them day or night. And, if you engage in support contracts you will be saving money in the long run as ad hoc night or weekend servicing can cost plenty of money.
In this article, you’ve learned about computer support contracts. To learn more about computer support contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on computer support contracts.
Computer Service Contracts: Read the Fine Print
If you have ever read the fine print on the computer service contracts so many unprofessional businesses give out, you may have noticed you get very little in the way of a warranty. That’s because when it comes to lasting technical work you can count on, not many places carry the credentials necessary to ensure your future success. You need to only find and only partner with companies who offer reputable computer service contracts.
Don’t Trust Hobbyists with Flaky Computer Service Contracts
Having your computer fixed and maintained under computer service contracts is one of the most important investments you can make in the future of your work. Give the job to hobbyists without substantive training and no computer service contracts to back you up and you could find yourself the proud owner of a fragile machine. Why take this kind of risk with your beloved machine when outstanding service is available through a team of competent professionals who offer credible reputations backed by computer service contracts?
Look for a guarantee of service
When it comes to getting computer service contracts you can trust, look for a guarantee of perfect function that lasts for months or more documented within the computer service contracts. You want a company with a vetted track record of goodwill among repeat customers, businesses and consumer watchdog groups, and, if possible. you want to see this outlined in the computer service contracts or details of how their references can be verified. Go it alone without verifiable computer service contracts and you just might be gambling with the future health of your valuable data.
Get the facts and make sure you are protecting yourself with the right kind of computer service contracts. You want itemized lists, lucid explanations and amenable contract terms to ensure you are getting exactly what you pay for—no more, no less—within the fine print of the computer service contracts. With the right help from a reputable firm, you can have that computer tuned up and humming along again in less than a week.
The Bottom Line about Computer Service Contracts
In this article, you’ve been introduced to computer service contracts. To learn more about computer service contracts, click here now to get access to free tips and an audio training excerpt on computer service contracts.
Small Business Computer Consulting: Additional Qualifications for the Sweet Spot
To find the ideal clientele for your small business computer consulting, you want to target small businesses by their number of PC’s, (10 to 50) as well as their revenue. Generally, companies that have anywhere from 1 million to 10 million in revenue are the sweet spot of small business computer consulting. In this article, you’ll learn why you should target this type of business.
{Tip: Of course if you’re located in Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, or any of the other more than 21 nations around the globe where our training has been adapted, be sure to convert this to your local currency. (See http://www.cnnfn.com)}
Beware of the high end of this range
Once small businesses get to the high end of that revenue range, where they start having substantially more than 50 PCs, or substantially more than $10 million in annual sales, often the small business owners lean towards putting a real, salaried IT person on payroll instead of using a small business computer consulting professional. That’s when you start running into some tough competition. At this point, your client will add up your services invoices and try to figure out if they can do it cheaper or more efficiently in-house.
Look for clients that need a “real server”
Another important aspect is to find small business clients that are big enough to need a “real” dedicated server. Once small businesses need a real server, they need a ton of other professional services to go along with it. And it’s very unlikely they can handle it on their own, with just an internal guru. Bingo—you become their outsourced IT department!Multiple locations are a bonus
Sometimes a sweet spot client has one location. A lot of times there’s a main office and some branch offices. The branch offices present a big opportunity for your small business computer consulting because there’s usually a HUGE need for sharing data in real time among employees in different locations.The Bottom Line about Small Business Computer Consulting
In this article, you’ve been learned more about how to find the sweet spot in your small business computer consulting business. To learn more about small business computer consulting, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.Small Business Computer Consulting: the Sweet Spot
If you’ve previously delivered your service B2C (Business to Consumer) and now want to switch to B2B (Business to Business), you may think that you’re ready to run out there and just get some small business clients. It’s not that simple. In this article, you’ll learn how to define the “small” in small business computer consulting.
If you focus too much on home-based businesses and micro small businesses, you’ll have a tough time selling a lot of services. While “micro” small businesses (under 5-10 employees) are technically small businesses, micro small businesses may not be a good fit for your small business computer consulting company. Why not?
The Five Reasons to Avoid Targeting Micro and Home Businesses
1. Lots of consumer grade PC’s
2. Pirated software
3. Reluctance for paying for services. A lot of micro small businesses want to look for volunteers to help them with their computer problems like someone’s niece, brother or friend. You can’t compete against free! You’ll also have a tough time competing against moonlighters; these people are on someone else’s payroll during the day and don’t have to fund their own certifications and benefits. They can undercut your price tremendously.
4. IT isn’t that important to their company, so they don’t need a great response time.
5. Too small to afford a “real” dedicated server and “real” network.
These five reasons are why most computer consulting firms doing really well with services are looking at prospect companies that have at least eight or ten PCs. At that point, it becomes really difficult for these companies to continue running a peer-to-peer setup, or wait for the sometimes glacier-like response time of volunteers and moonlighters.
When a small business is “big” enough
Usually small businesses with more than 8-10 PC’s start to get serious about putting in a real client server network, putting in a real tight back up solution, putting in a real UPS, and a real firewall. In order to do these things correctly, small business decision makers typically understand that the systems need to be designed by a more sophisticated IT services or network integrator firm.
In other words, as a small business goes through growth spurts, the stakes go up. And these businesses generally recognize the need to use IT more strategically. Also, typically the small businesses have made the decision that IT is actually important to the company, and that they can’t afford a lot of downtime. So they need someone to coordinate everything computer-related. These small businesses want someone to take ownership of the whole problem, and that’s where your small business computer consulting comes in.
The Bottom Line about Small Business Computer Consulting
In this article, you’ve learned which size business you should target for small business computer consulting. To learn more about small business computer consulting, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.
Virtual IT: How It Can Benefit Your Business
Most successful small business computer consultants position their companies as virtual IT departments? Why? Because providing virtual IT to your customers gives you steady business. In this article, you’ll learn why providing virtual IT to your clients can benefit both you and your customers.
What is Virtual IT?
Virtual IT is really all about becoming your clients’ outsourced IT department. So instead of just selling your customers and clients PCs, servers, routers, Wi-Fi, cabling, and other physical products, you instead spend your time selecting and designing their networks, looking at business problems, figuring out how to apply the technology to business problems, and bringing all the resources together. With virtual IT, your firm acts as your clients’ part-time IT managers or virtual CIO’s.
Virtual IT is a convenient, flexible, and comprehensive technical services program that gives small businesses access to what they need, when they need it—without the overhead burden of full-time, salaried IT staff.How can you provide virtual IT to your clients?
For you to deliver virtual IT successfully and profitably, you need to know what the opportunities and the typical solutions look like. For example:- What are the traditional types of services that you can sell to your existing clients and your future clients?
- What other opportunities exist?
Virtual IT grows your relationships.
Continue adding value to both your existing customers and clients, and new customers and clients. That’s what it’s really all about. It’s not about just selling the initial network installation, getting it installed, walking out of there, and keeping your fingers crossed that everything works.
Don’t sit around waiting for your customers to call you. Be proactive: provide virtual IT on an ongoing basis and you and your clients will avoid most major emergencies. By providing virtual IT, your business will be more profitable and both you and your customers will experience fewer headaches.
The Bottom Line
In this article, you’ve been introduced to virtual IT. To learn more about virtual IT, click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.
PC Support Contracts: Why Your Business Needs Them
As few as seven or eight years ago, Internet connectivity in the marketplace was a possibility but not a sure thing and essentially the only important thing was to ensure that your computer was maintained through arrangements like PC support contracts. Today, however, trying to do business without the Internet is difficult so some PC support contracts have evolved to include internet based support as well.
Time To Manage All Facets Of The Business
Technology has galloped past those first connection speeds based on 28.8 and 56K modems that carried connections for around 10 years. After that came ISDN and corporate T1 lines. Today, network service providers are offering broadband. With that as a benchmark, it’s fair to say that corporate Internet is a given. And now we’re looking at wireless network connectivity fast becoming the norm. As a result of the changes current PC support contracts often maintain Internet, PC, virus and software requirements.
Delivering a Reliable Service
Among the wide range of Internet service options that we take for granted are online billing and payment, general information flow, intranet and internet marketing and publicity and communication via email. As a result, businesses everywhere now rely on functioning PCs and PC support contracts to ensure that the systems continue function in the long term.
With these possibilities, of course, services such as email security, data backup and recovery, and network management become even more critical. So the importance of PC support contracts is elevated and indeed a key selling point for computer consultants who can offer PC support contracts to customers. Just five years ago the notion of PC support contracts for Internet or email services might have seemed very odd but these days it is common for PC support contracts to include Internet support as well.
To continue learning more about PC support contracts, sign-up for the free audio training seminar, 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business (a $49.00 value), while it’s still available for free.
Still Marketing Your Computer Consultant Business Like It’s 1999? Get a Clue!
Don’t market your computer consultant business the 90’s way… as if it were still the 1990’s.
The 90’s was a time of certification mania. Everyone touted what formal partnerships they had with what major corporations. “Hire us because we’re a Novell certified shop” or “Hire us because we’re an IBM Business Partner.”
Most computer consultants aren’t leading with that kind of sales/marketing pitch anymore because they don’t want to be perceived as an extension of that company’s sales force. New era computer consultants want to be perceived as their own brand.
In the old days, you used to get big market deveopment funds (MDF’s) and co-op advertising when you were in a partner program. Those days are rapidly going away, so there’s really not even a financial reason for sticking their logo all over the place anymore. I would look to spend more time branding yourself, your own computer consultant company, as opposed to just focusing on the solutions that you represent.
Naturally when you get new prospects and you’re taking them through the qualification stages and sales calls, you’re going to tend to recommend the solutions that you’re most comfortable with. And if you’re authorized or belong to a channel program, you’re probably going to recommend that particular solution. That’s fine, but I wouldn’t make your marketing message focus on just that particular product or that particular platform.
If you’re leading with that, you open yourself up to commodity priced competition. Your prospects will ask why they should buy their NetWare license from you if they can get it cheaper on the Web or through mail order. Don’t open yourself to a bidding war.
That way of marketing is dated. It’s passé. You are much better off if you market your computer consultant business for it you can do for your clients!
