How to Prevent Technicians from Stealing Business

When it’s time to grow your business beyond just yourself, one of the biggest concerns computer repair business owners tell me is, “I’m afraid if I bring someone on board, they’ll steal clients and steal business.”  I’ve learned some key ways to protect your business and your client base.

Hire the right people

A  detailed background check is the first step in hiring the right technician.  You’d be surprised at how few employers will check references on potential hires, but you’d be even more surprised at the references’ honesty.  They’ll often tell you directly if the previous employee attempted to steal confidential information from the employer.  You don’t need an employee’s permission to contact a reference in most jurisdictions.  You can do independent research via Google or LinkedIn to find this information.  You are welcome to call a previous supervisor and ask an opinion on the new hire without informing the applicant.  The HR department of  the employer may have a policy against giving out a reference beyond confirmation of employment, so whenever possible find out the direct supervisor of the applicant.

Some companies engage in is a credit check of applicants.  I’m opposed to this practice.  The theory is that technicians desperate for money may attempt to steal your clients to bolster their income in the short-term.  I feel that someone can be down on their luck and still be ethical.  I could make the argument that those applicants who aren’t having money problems could be engaging in a side business and could just as easily steal your clients.

Treat Them Right

Many of us are in this business because we enjoy the challenge of technology and problem solving.  We go from computer repair technician to computer repair business owner because at our previous employer we weren’t happy.  The pay wasn’t what we wanted, we had a difficult boss, or just weren’t appreciated.  Once you become a business owner, though, you deal with much more of the stuff you don’t necessarily enjoy such as finance, marketing, and call management.

To manage your technicians right and to keep them happy, think about why you became your own boss and make sure you don’t push your technician into competing against you.  During the interview process and throughout the relationship, ask the technician what they like and what they don’t like about previous jobs.  Keep them insulated from the things they don’t enjoy and make sure to put them on projects they do enjoy.  Seems simple enough, but I’ve never had an employer do that and that’s why I went out on my own.  Respect the technician’s time away from the office and avoid calling them at home.  Give them every reason to stay with you by giving them little, if anything, to complain about.  Why would they go out on their own if they are happy working with you?  Create a partnership with your technicians and respect their growth.

Many computer repair business owners tell me they won’t hire a technician who tried going on their own.  They feel that the “entrepreneurial spirit” will kick in and they won’t want to report to you.  Technicians that tried going out on their own do things the way they want, ignoring your established procedures.  This is a topic to discuss during the job interview.  The technicians I’ve talked with in the past started a computer repair business due to dissatisfaction with a previous employer or to earn extra money.  The reason they are applying to work with me is because they realized the administrative hassles of owning their own business.  In the right situations, you can buy that technician’s previous client base.

Although you want to maximize your profits, without technicians you can’t grow your business.  After all, this is why you are hiring.  You need to pay them an excellent wage.  If you want professionals representing your business, you need to pay a professional compensation.  Pay rates, of course, vary by region and individual companies, but if you are paying your technician well they’ll be less likely to go out on their own.  If they see a huge discrepancy between what you bill the client and what you pay the technician, you need to make sure they see the reasons for the difference or you need to pay them higher wages.  You don’t need to show them a P&L statement (although I do), but they need to understand the administrative costs of running the business.

If you pay technicians a good wage and give them the recognition and respect they need, they’ll have little incentive to go out on their own. However, even in these circumstances loyalty is not guaranteed.

Maintain Your Relationship with the Client

In particular with MSPs and remote service providers, your client may forget they are doing business with your company rather than your technician.  If the client never sees you or hears from you, they’ll forget who is in charge of the business.  You want to make sure all clients call your company directly instead of the technician.  The technician probably doesn’t want to take calls directly from clients anyways, so they shouldn’t return client calls unless under your direction.  Position this as a way of respecting the technician’s valuable time rather than a way of protecting your business relationship with the client.  As a technician employed for someone else, I wanted to fix computers.  I didn’t want to mess with scheduling or ordering equipment and I certainly didn’t want to take a client phone call while on-site or after hours.

Clients will call technicians directly when the client doesn’t get a rapid response from your company, so do whatever is necessary to provide quick and immediate response to client needs.  This will vary from client to client, but make sure they know that calling the technician won’t give them a better response.  All communications with clients should go through your central office.  If a client emails a technician, don’t have the technician respond directly.  Ask the technician to forward it to you and then you respond directly.  If necessary, explain to the client that you respect the technicians’ time and it’s your job as the business owner or manager to make sure the client gets a quick response.  The client will have no need to contact technicians directly if you manage the communications properly.

Ideally, once a quarter, but at least twice a year you need to contact the client directly as a business owner.   While the technician is on-site, meet your point of contact and thank them for their business.  If the client is a large one, bring a token of thanks such as food or small gift.  Appreciating your clients is great for sales, but it also reminds them that the relationship is with your business, not the individual technician. I send out hand-written holiday cards each year and follow-up emails after service calls.

If you’re afraid that the client’s relationship with your technician is superseding your own business relationship with the client, it’s time to send in a different technician.  The client might balk at this, but that reinforces the need all the more.  If they trust your technician more than they trust you, the relationship is in serious trouble.

Ultimately, if You Lose a Client Then They Weren’t Yours

I’m a firm believer in this philosophy when it relates to competitors.  That competitor could be a current or former technician. If your technician somehow “steals” the client from you, then they’re providing your client something you couldn’t.  If the client is happy, why would they switch providers?

Typically the switch is due to a lower price, but it could also be a better quality service or more flexible scheduling.  If your client is vulnerable to these market conditions, then you could lose them just as easily to a competitor.  If your client could be swayed by a lower price, they’ll be swayed by a new competitor on the block.  The fact that the competitor is a current or former technician isn’t really the issue.  The issue is the client relationship as I wrote about earlier.  Think about the professionals in your life.  I use doctors as an obvious example.  If someone called you and offered you only a lower price on service, would you switch?  Most people wouldn’t switch a long-standing relationship if they are happy.

Non-compete clauses in contracts theoretically insulate you against your technician taking your clients away from you.  In practice, non-competes are difficult to litigate and your client is free to choose a service provider they want.  Besides the legal costs, the amount of time involved with these cases is a distraction to the core of your business and your clients’.  Most important, though, is that these cases start involving your clients.  As I indicated earlier, if they leave you for a competitor you are doing something wrong.  These non-compete cases waste your clients’ time and if they are already unhappy with the service you provide, this litigation simply reinforces it.  They’ll go out of their way to defend their technician of choice rather than you.

If you hire the right people, treat them right, and manage your client base properly, you can significantly reduce the risk of hiring new technicians on your team.

Written by Dave Greenbaum