4 Small Tasks To Help You Go The Extra Mile

Many Computer Technicians will do just enough to get the job done. This is fine if the work has been done well but in order to make your computer business stand out from the many other businesses in your area, you need to go the extra mile. Of course, you don’t want to “pad out” your visits as this might upset your customer. However, you can use the time it takes to install a program or scan a computer to go the extra mile.

Here are 4 small tasks you can do:

Create a License/Keys Folder

You may want to consider creating a folder containing installation CDs and license keys that the client uses on a regular basis. I know that many Computer Technicians use the motherboard box to store driver CDs for a specific machine, buts its a good idea to create a seperate software and license key folder. The motherboard box method works well for a single residential computer but if there are mutiple computers like at a business, it can be hard to find which motherboard box the software is in so having a separate file is a good idea.

A few weeks ago I setup three new computers at a clients business and it took me a good half hour just to find where all of the CDs were physically located and find the license keys as many of them were sent via email. The client had no idea where any of it was.
I didnt want to have to go through all of that again next time I bring in a new computer so I started a folder.

I find that plasic zip bags like the ones in the picture work best for this because they are cheap, usually transparent (so you can see what is in them) and many of them have a slot where you can place a business card or a label like “Front PC – License Keys”.

Password Database

If your client makes use of online services that require a username and password or has different login information for each staff member, you will want to have all of these documented somewhere but you will not want to keep the logins and passwords around in plain sight.

You may want to introduce your client to something like KeePass which is an open source, easy to use password manager. KeePass allows your client to have all of their passwords in one encrypted database that is locked with a master password or key file. Basically, they only need to remember one strong password.

So your client doesn’t get confused about which login belongs to what service, KeePass allows them to categorize the password based on the category it belongs to such as network passwords, email passwords, banking passwords etc..

Wireless Information

It is not uncommon for your client to forget their wireless access point password so you might want to write it down somewhere for them. Some Computer Technicians use a small sticker and stick it underneath the Wireless router itself. I personally use a “Wireless Internet Settings” form that I created instead of a sticker because it contains some basic troubleshooting information which saves me support time on the phone.

Look After Your Clients By Making Recommendations

You will surprised how much work you can generate by making recommendations that will benefit your clients. While waiting for programs to install or scan, look at their computer setup and see if there is anything that you could recommend that would benefit them. For example, you may have noticed that they have no offsite backups (or even onsite backups for that matter) and can recommend an offsite backup service. Some of the two best-known offsite backup services are Mozy and Carbonite and both of them have affiliate programs (Mozy / Carbonite) where you get a percentage of the sale.

There is a good chance that your client hadn’t even considered what would happen to their data if their business burned down or was robbed and they will appreciate the suggestion.