Becoming a Premium Service Dealer

Sometimes you just have to WOW people, and doing the job they’re paying you for just isn’t enough. The sad fact of the matter is that clients don’t always understand the knowledge and effort needed for you to fix a problem – And that’s OK, I probably don’t appreciate the knowledge my mechanic has – and yet I still consider him to be one of the best I’ve ever used. It’s not just because he fixed my car in a quick and affordable fashion – that’s what all businesses should be doing! it’s the little things which I can understand and appreciate which I remember.


The same applies to our IT clients, nobody is going to tell their friend that you spent 5 hours repairing their registry; They won’t understand it when you tell them, and they’re certainly not going to tell their friend about it either! The trick is to do things for the client that they can understand, appreciate and share.

Below is a not particularly ground-breaking list of things you can do to set your business apart, ideally they should be free (perhaps to reward your loyal and best customers?) or an optional extra if you are looking to raise some additional revenue.

Make Them A Backup- Free*

Every new client we serve get’s a free DVD backup of their machine. This backup covers the system files and settings as well as any small (smaller than 5MB) files in the My Documents and desktop directories. We will avoid large files such as music and videos as these waste DVDs and take up far too much time. If the customer really wants these items backed up we will sell them a portable Hard Drive instead, but still make them a system backup on the DVD.

In my experience this makes the customers feel valued, (hey everyone likes something for nothing!) but not only that it shows that you genuinely care about their data. In the office we have a CD printer so we go as far as to label the DVD’s with the clients name, date and (sometimes) a personal photograph. The whole backup and printing process usually takes around three hours, but for the most part you don’t actually have to be there watching it. The more personalized you make your services the more appreciated your customers feel

Clean Their Computer – Free

No I don’t mean scan for viruses and do a defrag, I mean physically clean the outside , (and maybe the inside if it’s full of dust) First of all there’s nothing worse than working on a machine with is caked in “god only knows what” yellow sticky stuff, especially a laptop screen. Obviously you have to make sure you use the proper cleaning products, you don’t want to damage the clients computer. Again this is something the client will really notice, especially with a laptop screen and case, other people who see or use the laptop on a regular basis will also notice.

Give them some free software – Free

We all know them, we all love them. The tools we use to make our lives easier. Defraggler, CCleaner, Super Anti Spyware. In certain situations in my business we will install these programs onto our clients machines, again this is about building trust and forming an enduring relationship. For maximum effectiveness the key is timing. Say you have just gotten a new client who  thinks they have lost all of their data due to a virus. Firstly, being a good computer technician you remove the virus and recover the data – well done! Now is your chance to go the extra mile, install your favorite  anti-spyware program on the machine and spend about ten minutes showing them how to do a manual check and keep their system safe. In the consumers mind you are probably now the best person in the entire world, the perfect time to give them some customer referral cards!

Make some Step By Step Guides – Free

Good for home and business clients, a complimentary “How to fix” of the basic problems they run into can save you a lot of headaches, and make the customer feel loved  all at the same time! Try not to go overboard (you don’t want a 100 page monster!)  with your guides, but remember to include some screenshots when appropriate, and remember to personalize! Where possible use their own computer for the screenshots and mention their ( or the business) name. Our guide covers things like how to fix the internet, recover some basic start-up errors, and a small section about how to keep their computer running well. (Defrag, Virus Updates etc.)

Now I know what some of you must be thinking – Won’t this cost me money ? Well quite possibly, but as yourself these three questions.

Is it really worth your time to drive out to a clients home, to plug in their power cable ?

Do I really want this business customer not to have internet because I am on another job ?

If I can make my clients lives easier, will they be happier with my services and refer me to their family and friends?

Only you can answer these, obviously you don’t need to put everything in your step by steps, just enough so the client feels that it is a valuable and you are doing them a good turn.  Alternatively you can cover everything you fell that you would not be comfortable charging for anyway, such as plugging in a power cable, resetting a modem etc.

Oh and one last thing, make sure you run your guides past a “non computer person” !

Finally

Remember this process is all about building a relationship with the client. So try to make things personalized , and remember that building a reputation takes time. Try to get some online feedback you can show the world, such as Facebook, True Local, Gumtree, Yellow Pages etc. and ask your best clients to mention these services. If you are doing a similar program make sure you talk about it on your homepage and advertising material – customers can’t like what they don’t know!

 
Written by James Gilbert