Answers to Questions and Answers #2

Earlier this week I posted an article called Questions and Answers #2 requested members to ask me a question about the computer business that has been on their mind. We got some great questions and here are the answers.

IT Support Melbourne:
Hi,

Well just wondering whether its a good idea to display prices for repairs on the website ? As I’ve seen according to the site stats, one of the top exit pages appears to be the price list page.

Does it defer potential customers from calling, as they got something to compare with ?

Also, if you could comment on the price list page / graphics on http://www.techitez.com.au/computer-repairs-price-list.html

Kind Regards.

Really good question. If it was my site I would test both approaches and see which one results in the most calls. However, I personally believe that a page without prices would do better.

The big question for you is are you competing on price or some other benefit?
What benefits do I get by calling you for the job? Are you insured? have 10 years of experience under your belt? will you be on time? will you have a friendly smile?

If you are a little more expensive than someone else but display all these benefits that the other sites are not displaying, you will probably get the call. I know *I* would pay a little bit extra for someone who has years of experience and will be on time.

I would put a “from $XX” on the website and have the phone number below it. Once you have them on the phone it allows you to sell yourself better and use a closing technique “Sure, I have fixed many computers with that problem. Would you like to book a time? I am available tomorrow if you like”. This also takes advantage of human laziness since they have you on the phone already, they might as well use you instead of spending more time calling around.

Steve Stone:
The people living in my immediate area are not willing to pay the going rate for tech support.
Most don’t want to pay anything for computer repair.
People in adjoining counties to the south and east on average make more money and are willing to pay the going rate. The problem is 100 mile round trips for me and the price of gas. My solution has been cut a little off my charges if the equipment is dropped off at my site for repair. Any thoughts or comments ?

It sounds like you are marketing to the wrong people. There will always be people who wont pay you because they have a cousin who “knows computers”. I had a similar problem in my early years when I was still living with my parents.

I was brought up in a typical middle class suburb and my advertising was covering all suburbs within a 30 minute driving radius.
If I drove 30 minutes in one direction I would hit homes with some of the lowest income in my city. If I drove 30 minutes in the other direction, I would hit some of the highest income homes in my city.

The attitudes towards my prices were totally different in each area. In the low income areas they would often try to negotiate my already inexpensive prices. They had a certain negative attitude towards me because I believed that I earned mid $XX per hour and they only earned in the low teens. They didn’t understand that there is lots of unbillable time I have to do and much of my earnings goes back into advertising, stock etc.. To them, I was essentially the guy taking a chunk of money out of their pockets for something they didn’t really want to spend money on.

In the high income areas, working for the residential market there was a much higher chance that the client owns a business and they need the computer for business purposes. They understand that it takes money to make money and they treat you as they would want to be treated, as a professional. These people “thanked me for saving them” which is very different to what I was getting in low income areas.

If you don’t have such a wide range of income in the residential market near you, I would try just focusing on business in your area. Businesses understand that it takes money to make money and fixing computer is a small cost to get get things going again.

Also, when price is an issue, focus on the benefits of choosing you over someone else with lower prices like I said to “IT Support Melbourne” above.

Chris:
How do you recommend to make the transition from being that guy that’s really good with computers to that company that fixes computers?

That is what this website was created for so the best thing to do is to read though Technibbles articles, especially the Starting Out and Selling Your Services sections.

Read through the articles, research what you are going to do and what your prices are going to be, visit an accountant to make it all official and then just make a start.

izzy d:
Do you think offering a service where the client pays a flat fee and can call me whenever there is a problem..is this a good model

I think this is too open-ended. Once they know they have you on their leash by paying a flat fee, you may find they will be calling you onsite for a lot of small things they wouldn’t have called about before. You may find yourself doing a lot of work for not much money.

A better way to do this is to get them to prepay hours at a discounted rate with a maintenance contract.

jersey joe:
A new Dell Vostro 1000 15.4″ laptop is $400.
Almost any significant repair is at least half that amount.
Why would anybody pay for a normal repair when you can just buy a new laptop for $400?
Joe

This is a good point and there has been a lot of discussion about the home computer repair technician going the way of the VCR/TV technician; where its just cheaper to buy a new one.

However, the computer technicians have a advantage. Most people don’t know how to migrate all their data over from their old computer to the new one. Some don’t even know how to setup a computer.

Printers, modems, digital cameras, antiviruses and other software all need to be setup on a new computer whereas all you had to do in the VCR days was to set the time and hook up the RCA cables.

You may not get the job to repair the old computer, but you can still sell the service of recovering/transferring their old data and setting their new computer up.

Tim:
What has everybody else found to be their most effective form of advertising. I could have burned the thousands of dollars I’ve spent on advertising and been just as happy.

I think just about everyone is going to say that “word of mouth” is their best form of advertising. However, word of mouth requires that you have a handful of clients first. When I was first starting out the free local weekly newspaper and letterbox drops were the best for me.

Some of the members on the forums are saying that corriboard signs posted on telephone poles at busy intersections worked very well for them. Some other members have also had great success with Craigslist.

I wish I could give you the magic bullet and tell you what works well for you, but unfortunately its different for every area. While the corriboard signs worked great for one member, it didn’t work well for another member. The person that it didn’t work well for suspected that he doesn’t get the traffic in his town that the other member gets. It all depends on your location and you need to find what works for you.

Steve:
Hi,
I am in search of the good online backup company that can be an excellent tool for my customers and at the same time make me some profit. What would be your recommendation?
Thanks

I don’t use any 3rd party online backup services so I cannot recommend one (my backups go to a remote location that I own). Perhaps the Technibble readers can leave a recommendation in a comment?

Thanks for submitting your questions guys. I enjoyed answering them.