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- Managing Clients Expectations – A Readers Anecdote
Managing Clients Expectations – A Readers Anecdote
A Technibble reader named Rob Mitchell sent in this anecdote to share with the Technibble readers. Rob Mitchell is the founder and owner of P3iSystems LLC near Memphis, Tennessee. P3iSystems has been providing technology solutions for small and medium businesses since 2008.
Rob Mitchell wrote:
We had a new client who is in another state, almost an hour away from our offices, where we had deployed a new wireless router in their small office network with about 10 computers. The router had some stability problems so at my initiative I sent a tech over to replace it for the client – we could RMA the original one on our own time and show proactive customer service to the client. While the tech was there the client pointed out that he had several PCs with expiring antivirus licenses, and others with free antivirus. The tech was able to offer the client a discount on the antivirus solution we resell. The client asked the tech to uninstall the hodgepodge of virus solutions that was previously deployed, and install the new antivirus software.
All went well except for one notebook system which was running Vista. After the new AV solution was installed, this notebook wouldn’t boot. The user of the notebook was about to go out of town and didn’t need it on the road, and it was already past the end of the business day, so the client agreed to let the tech take the notebook back to the shop.
The notebook had bits and pieces of several antivirus apps installed, and the installation of the new antivirus was enough to keep it from booting. At the shop the tech was able to get the old AV apps cleaned off the system, repaired the Vista installation, then re-applied patches and updates and returned the notebook to the client office.
I sent a follow-up email to the client a couple of days after sending out the invoice, and in response to the follow-up note (not the invoice itself), the client said he was a bit shocked by the amount invoiced and noted he thought the tech arrived at 3:00 and worked until 6:00 PM. The time tracking app on the tech’s phone showed he left our office at noon, arrived at the client site at 12:45, and left just after 6:00 PM.
The tech was onsite just over five hours and put in two more hours fixing the dead Vista notebook, plus travel time, which is explicit on our Work Authorization form. Our form says that customers are charged for travel time as well as actual repair time, and the client had signed the Work Authorization. Nevertheless, I was bothered because the client said he was surprised by the amount of his invoice.
The tech who did the work is a good tech – honest, diligent, and skilled. The times were all correct – the tech did everything right, but I surmised there was a hole in our service delivery process. I needed to tell my techs to make sure that clients are aware of exactly when we began to travel, arrived on the job site, and left the job site, and that we annotate the same on the Work Authorization, not just on the tech’s smartphone time tracking application.
I pulled up the client’s invoice and took two hours off the total – the travel time for two trips to and from his office, and immediately emailed the client with an apology and the amended invoice. In the apology, I recounted the actual times spent at work for the client (which were accurate in the original invoice) but apologized for failing to communicate clearly and explicitly. “If our invoice comes as a surprise, then we failed to do our job right,” I said in my email. “Please accept my apology for any lack of communication that might have resulted in misunderstanding. I hope the amended invoice will help make things right.”
The takeaway to this is always over-communicate. If the client is surprised by the invoice, we haven’t done our job right, and we need to own the responsibility for that. This last sentence is going into our Operations Manual. In this case it meant eating a couple of hours of tech time. Even though it was properly accounted, we didn’t communicate well with the client.
Time flies, and when a tech is on site a client will often say “Oh, while you’re here can you look at this other thing?” Processes have to allow for flexibility to maximize both customer value and profitability of every call, especially when you’re far from the office. But make sure the client is aware the meter’s running so that there are no surprises when the bill comes.
Over-communication is such an elementary aspect of service delivery it almost goes without saying, but it can trip up good techs and good companies. Being honest and humble, owning the mistake, and eating the cost goes a long way to build client trust. Building over-communication into the service delivery process avoids the necessity of having to correct this sort of mistake.
I hope this anecdote will be useful.
Note from Bryce: If you have your own anecdotes or other stories that you would like to share with other Computer Technicians, please send them to tips[at]technibble.com
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Great article!
I now realize that I need to over communicate and make it very clear that I need to make my clients aware that problems out side of the original scope of work will cost extra. Even for phone support. It’s certainly not my goal to nickel and dime people. But I have to be able to cover my costs and make a profit, and I need to do work for people that can understand that.
Excellent post. Thanks.
We probably would not discount our time as the first choice of the way to handle situations like this unless we made a mistake. Number of hours on site is pretty straight forward and if the client knows he pays travel then I see no reason to discount in this instance.
We have found that finding reasons to discount our service ultimately turns our good customers into mooches that continue to look for and expect discounts for every little thing. It turns into a game in itself.
We do agree with great communications. Our communication is that we maintain the best quality of tech’s that money can buy and we are here to solve your technical needs with great response times. We guarantee a 2 hr emergency response, no one else in our market offers that service.
This level of service costs a bit more to maintain the extra staff, maintain the extra training and quality of service.
The way we handle this sort of thing is that we setup with each client “A contact person” and “A backup contact person” if the first person is on vacation. This person might be a secretary or owner or manager but that person is the only person who can authorize us to come out and work. That person is checked in with and checked out with. There for the hours on site are evident for each job. We specifically get a verbal approval for parts costs. If they are a person who needs authorization for a budget item then we go up the channel before beginning.
Another way that we ensure that we are giving good service is that we require cash for all new clients so they get the invoice and pay by credit card at each transaction and there isn’t any room for misunderstanding. Some business clients after doing business with us a while, are allowed to pay net 10 but that is after we have a relationship with them and one that we both trust.
WE have had a good client indicate that a job cost more than planned ie 25 hrs rather than 18 estimated on a server upgrade. They way we handled that is invoice and charge them the 25 hrs at that time. But we then gave them a gift certificates in 1 hr increments $120 ea, for half the difference (meaning we split the difference or overage with them. This showed the client we were flexible but allowed us to get paid and pay our bills.
In general giving a gift certificate for future service is better than a cash discount in that it preserves your current cash flow and ensures the customer comes back to you at least to use the outstanding gift certificates.
Great article! I am interested in knowing which time tracking software you use when on a job on your smartphones?
I used to be a repair tech for business customers at AT&T. At every business we had a customer contact…as soon as we arrived we would ask for them. We would check-in with them and then call our dispatcher and let them know we were at the customer prem.
So maybe next time when a tech goes out there they need to remind the customer contact…say something like “it’s 2pm and I just arrived and I’m going to call my dispatcher”.
Also it’s not a bad idea to check-in again with your customer contact and let them know when you depart.
I’d like to know the time tracking app you’re using too. I know there are apps like glympse and loopt, which let you share your location, but one optimized for service calls sounds great.
I know that CRM softwares often have a mobile app available.
Also, you could customize a web-based app for the mobile platform so it is accessible on any phone.
Good comments for Tony. At first when reading the article I thought the customer was at loss because just to get the antivirus issue fixed cost over $400. Most of my clients are small business who are very concerned for each dollar. If I charge that much they will not only be upset but kick my butt out the window, never to see again, hence I am always struggling to survive. Somehow after Tony’s comments I feel like hey there are businesses who are willing to pay, so I need to grow my confidence and charge more. Just to discuss this is what I would have done and NOT make any money but would have suffered as I would have said sorry the new antivirus stuffed the laptop, I will not charge you for this as I interrupted your time, I will take it and bring back tomorrow. I have done that in the past STUPID ME. I am just a SILLY ASS.
I need to learn PLEASE HELP if you can: how do you handle situation when things go wrong when you are fixing computer eg new installed antivirus stuffed the laptop costing much more for the customer in this article. Could some one please write an article on that. I am sure there are many SILLY ASSes like me in this industry who suffer more instead of making more when things go wrong.
The time tracking app for Android is called Time Recording, available in free and pro versions
http://www.appbrain.com/app/time-recording-timesheet-app/com.dynamicg.timerecording
There are many good reasons why you should be up-front with expected repair charges, prior to doing any work. Here are just a few:
1. You let the customer know how much they should expect to pay for your tech support services
2. You get to filter out the customers that are unwilling to pay how much you charge
3. If you find that the customer is unable to afford your services, and you have time on your hands and/or you’re desperate for work, you can negotiate payment terms or temporarily offer them a lower rate
4. You get peace of mind knowing that the invoice isn’t going to be a surprise for the customer…
A couple of days ago we had a 24″ Mac user who needed a tune-up. I told her what our in-shop flat rate is but forgot to mention that the rate is ONLY for in-shop work. She then asked me to come out to her site to do the work. I wrongly assumed that since she was a high-end Mac user, that she could easily afford our travel rates – so I didn’t even mention it! When I got there and started to explain how much all the repairs are probably going to cost she insisted that I should only charge the flat in-shop rate since that is what I quoted her. I deliberated on whether I should take the job, then went ahead and did the tune-up since it was my mistake in not informing her before-hand (and since I was already on-site). Turns out that she can barely afford the initial quote (I’m still waiting for her approval to cash her check). This article is yet another reminder about being up-front with ALL your rates in the FIRST conversation you have with a new customer.
EXCELLENT reminder – I would add that not only will the technibble ‘engagement form’ help, but also communicating with the client DURING the process to let them know that this is adding to their time during this service ticket/call. I have had clients right then approve the ‘while your here’ and other times, this has given them a moment to reflect on rethinking that from a financial perspective – thus minimizing the invoice issue.
I want to be clear, I thought the sentiment about “if your surprised…then….” was excellent customer service and warrants consideration. Well done ancedote.