20 Pieces of Bite-Sized Advice

Just about every day I hand out little tidbits of business advice. It might be on the Technibble forums, a podcast or even in person. Here are some of my core pieces of advice for this industry in small, easy to chew, bite-sized chunks.

The computer repair business can be one of feast and famine. There will be some months you will have so much work you can hardly keep up. The next month could be very quiet. Save during the busy times to make up for the slow times.

Don’t be afraid to tell a client that you don’t know the answer to something. Instead, say “I dont know the answer to that currently, but I can find out”. Don’t ever lie.

Don’t ever install or sell pirate software. Aside from the obvious moral reasons, it only takes one disgruntled customer or competitor to report you. Besides, there are plenty of good freeware alternatives for most software now days.

Always return phone calls as soon as possible. If you wait too long you may miss the job.

Be careful asking friends and family for their opinion on your business (such as the business itself, logos, flyers, business cards, your new store sign etc..) They are unlikely to tell you if something is bad. Instead, ask them what their favorite is.

Be careful when entering partnerships. Be sure to outline what each person’s roles and responsibilities are BEFORE you go into business, otherwise it can get ugly.

If the time comes where you have to fire an employee, always try to be as broad as possible. The employee will want to know the exact reason that got them fired, but don’t give in. Tell them that “its not working out, they aren’t a good fit for the company etc..“. Why shouldn’t you tell them? Because they can think of 100 things that’s worthy of getting them fired that you don’t know about. However, if you tell them the single action that got them fired, its probably one of the smaller fire-able offences they have committed.

If you are running late for a computer repair job (as in, more than 5 minutes), give your client a call that you are going to be a little late. Most of the time they don’t care. However, they will get upset if they are kept waiting around. “A quick phone call saves all”.

Client data is one of the most important things to us technicians. Always assume the client’s data is irreplaceable and treat it accordingly.

Get paid as soon as possible. Get cash from residential clients and get checks from business clients. Once you have a check from a business client, try to deposit it that day. Financial issues can happen to good people whom you know and trust, so don’t leave yourself open.

Don’t undervalue your work. Sure, you find it easy and you love it so much that you’ll almost do it for free. Keep in mind you are doing something many other people can’t do, so charge accordingly. Its no different to dentists, electricians etc..

Get to know your residential clients and become a friend. It takes you from “just another tradesman” to someone they would call again and again.

When working for businesses, they usually just want you to go in, fix it and leave. Their employees are already behind on work because the computer was down, so get it fixed and get out of there fast.

Don’t be afraid to turn down a job. It’s better to just say no and lose that little bit of money than to make a large mistake that will cost a lot of money.

Don’t have the lowest prices in town. Clients want the job done right and they often expect the cheapest technician in town to do shoddy work.

Don’t look like you do computer repairs for a hobby. Instead, look like a professional computer technician with a nice pair of dress pants and a collared shirt.

Don’t “talk geek” to your clients. Instead, try and say it in laymen’s terms. Eg. “defragging is like having paper scattered all over your office but and then putting it back in alphabetical order so you can find it quicker”.

Dont give out too much free technical help on the phone unless the person calling is known to be a good previous client. You will get many phone calls from people who want technical help but have no intention of ever paying you for it. Don’t give away the farm.

Get business insurance. If someone trips and hurts themselves on your premesis they can sue you into oblivion. They dont even have to have an accident inside your house, it can even be on your driveway.

Always ask new clients where they heard about you. This allows you to determine what advertising of yours is working and what isn’t.

I would love to hear your bite sized advice. Drop us a comment.