When remote support needs "hands on" support for distant clients

[tankman1989]

I have the opportunity to pick up 3-4 client lists (200-500 clients each) in very different geographical locations. Basically think of this as regional offices for a large business. The mojority of the work will be system setup, cleaning, advising on equipment, installing/config new equipment and I'm sure a fair amount of trouble shooting and AV work.

I'm sure that I can do the vast majority of the work remotely but I'm not sure how to go about handling anything that would need hands on attention.

I've thought about possibly contacting a local repair shop but I don't want them to poach my customers. Another option is to find a local tech that would be willing to work on a per job basis and hopefully I can line something up with maintenance contracts where I can offer them guaranteed weekly/monthly work of at least cleaning machines and anything else that may be a hands on requirement.

The problem is that I know these clients may be a little particular about who they allow access to their machines and might not feel completely comfortable dropping machines at a house vs a shop. What I was thinking was that I might be able to partner with a local store that deals in "like" sales, (say electronics, A/V, security, etc) but not in computers or tech support, and have this as a drop location. I'm guessing I would have to pay the store a handling fee (the drop-off would increase traffic into the store so it is a benefit to them in a way as well) and I would have to worry about security and damage.

I'm wondering if I am missing something about what may be required to contract the technicians and how to go about screening them.

Does anyone see any hitches in this that I haven't discussed and or can offer some suggestions as to what might work for the onsite solution? I very much appreciate any considerations or suggestions!

 

[Paul Rodgers]

I'm sure you could find people here that would be willing to do onsite and won't poach.

 

[Markverhyden]

Nothing wrong with looking for help on here as well as any other reputable forum. But you still need to engage in due diligence. Meaning you need to get recommendations, etc or accomplish this via a proxy by using a 3rd party. One time I recommended a tech who was on another forum. Knew the tech from a couple of other forums and seemed to be a straight forward person.

The company I had been doing work with liked me and I had a great relationship with them. Of course I wanted to make sure it stayed that way. I recommended him to the company and he stood them up twice in a row. Said he would run the call but then was a no call no show. Fortunately they did not blame me.

 

[carrcomp]

Nice dodge ... that could have been bad.

What's important with this is contracts, non-disclosures and non-competes.

If you are sending another firm to your customer in order to make sure they are taken care of that's not a bad thing if the firm is reputable, but that firm would need to sign off that they won't do business with any customer you refer to them during your contract, and for xxx months after your contract expires. I'd talk to a lawyer to see what the legals say about each area.

 

[CompConfig]

We do a fair amount of on-site repair work for other companies, including Lenovo. On some we sign a contract or a non compete. The worst thing any of us could do is to screw over anyone who is sending us business.

 

[rsarceno]

Does anyone see any hitches in this that I haven't discussed and or can offer some suggestions as to what might work for the onsite solution? I very much appreciate any considerations or suggestions!

Finding someone you can trust is the main thing but you know that already. I can tell you what other companies are doing because I sub-contract for four companies.

One of the company gave me a company polo shirt, business card and email address. When I show up on site I introduce my self as business partner with company x. I don't mention my company unless I was ask a direct question.

Two of the company's prepared that I only recommend product they sell. I don't take any orders on site but I call their office and place the order in behalf of the client.

Each site has a logbook that keep track of all the work that was perform. Same thing for the maintenance. So if the job is schedule for two hr, I do what I can and the next technicians might have to finish the job.

I don't take any payment for business clients. They are all set for terms. The customer pay the company I sub for and they send me a check.

One of the company I sub for, I introduce my self and my company. Then I explain that I'm a back for so and so and that their technicians is currently not available. This is mainly for residential. I take the payment and pay my commission.

 

[drjones]

You need to find a sub-contractor. No big deal.

Find a good sub-contractor agreement with a non-solicitation clause (non-competes are borderline worthless in most/many areas) and have an attorney review it.

I do a little sub work here on the west coast, for an east coast IT firm.