How I Outsource Tech Work

I currently have a business client and I have been doing computer work for them for many years. Every computer related task they have asked me to do over those years was well within my skill set but they recently they required some specialized Windows servers on their business network. Unfortunately, I dont have any specialization in Windows servers and while I can generally figure out most computer related jobs given enough time, the fact that these are going to be mission critical servers and are going to be web assessable – it needs to be done right (plus you shouldn’t learn on a clients machines anyway).

In order for me to complete this task, I really needed to get another business in who specializes in this kind of work but there is a danger of them stealing my client. I have the skills to do all of the other tasks for this client and have been doing so for years, so I didn’t want to lose the of the rest of the work.

I could tell my client to find someone else to do this task, but I would rather manage the whole thing myself. This allows me to be the “one stop shop” in the eyes of my client and they wouldnt know what skills to look for if they were searching through the Yellow Pages anyway. They didnt speak the “lingo”.

Of course, you dont lie to your client either and say that you or your employees are going to be doing the work. I usually say something along the lines of “I dont know how to do it but I know someone who does”. The client usually doesn’t care who the other group are as long as it gets done.

There are four reasons why I choose to outsource in this way and handle all of it on my clients behalf rather than tell the client to find someone else to do this task:

No Extra Work For The Client – I am hired as a technical problem solver. The problem is they needed their servers setup in a special way and I am going to solve it, even though I am not the one that is going to be doing the actual work.

I Get To Choose Who Does The Work – I get to choose which company does the work which means I can choose an ally, rather than have the client potentially choose a competitor. Of course, I always let the client have the final say but I always recommend people which I know and trust.

I Get To Set The Terms – Coming back to the possibility of having another business trying to steal your client; You can lay down the rules on how they work for your client. There are many big national computer repair/warranty groups that operate in the same way. For example, you cannot mention your business name or give the client one of your cards if you are working on behalf of the Nationals.

Allies Are Not Likely to Try and Steal Your Client – If you often refer work to other specialists, they are not as likely to try and steal your client because they know that if they do, they will gain one client but lose hundreds of potential future customers from you – so these outsourcing alliances generally work out well.