Recurring Income for Techs

Many times Tech services fall into the category of break/fix solutions. When something goes wrong, we’re called to fix it. While this is the standard operating procedure for many services, like home repair and vehicle repair, it doesn’t have to be the procedure for your business. How can you break out of the simple break/fix work and build up recurring income for your business, and why is this a good idea in the first place?

For service providers, selling time for money means you can only make so much in a day because there is only so much time in a day. Users with little experience in using computers often run amok and either end up accidentally downloading malware instead of useful programs they intended to get, or they get infected because they opened an email attachment they thought came from a friend or a legitimate trusted corporation.

You may fix something today and tomorrow have to return to fix it again. Also, most heavily used systems are in need of maintenance on a regular basis, depending on the operating system and what’s running on it, of course. Data has a way of getting lost if it’s not backed up, so that’s another maintenance factor. These are just a few reasons why it’s sometimes better to branch out into managed services rather than a simple break/fix solution.

Managed Services

Managed services are a great way to build up recurring income. You’re providing guaranteed service, and it generally evens out between customers who need you almost every day and customers who only call you once a month. With managed services, you’re the first Tech that’s called, because they’re already in a program with your business, which cuts down the competition. Here are some ideas for managed services you can offer as a Tech. They might not all apply, depending on your area of expertise, but as the Tech sector covers a wide spectrum of experience, they’re all worth mentioning and considering.

Managed services build relationships with your clients. They pay a flat charge per month or per year, and you cover all the bases. This type of business model is scalable, increases the value of your business as you grow, and provides stability for planning and decision-making down the road. For the client, they have a budgeted support plan and don’t have to worry about being billed for every service call, especially when unexpected severe problems arise. If you need help getting into managed services, then you should check out our Technibble Marketing Membership.

Annual Contracts and Service Plans

Annual contracts can be a great way to build up recurring income. Offer service plans covering a certain amount of hours per month, per year, or per week. There are a variety of plans you could devise based on tiers of service, including whether or not you include emergency 24-hour service or weekends. Service plans could be prepaid monthly plans that cover a certain amount of hours per month or perhaps just provide services without any restriction on hours, depending on the client.

If you have a client who is willing to pay much extra for being first priority for any service call and emergency support, offer a service plan to cover it. You could offer discounts on equipment upgrades, waive labor fees, and immediate response on that plan, and you may be surprised how many you may be able to sell that plan to. You might want to call it your ‘customer care package’ or something similar, avoiding the often disliked term ‘contract’.

Prepaid Coupons

Personally, I dislike service contracts, and I know a lot of other people do as well. They may have been burned by a phone company contract that they either had to pay to get out of or spent more than they would have liked to just to get that new gadget that was offered, with a contract. Prepaid coupons for hourly services are a great way to counter that dislike for contracts. You could offer to cover hourly work for free or at a discounted rate with these coupons.

Offsite Backups

Offsite backups are a good way to build up recurring income as well. Check out your favorite offsite backup service and see if they have a reseller program, as many do, such as Carbonite. This is a good way to give your clients peace of mind, and you could consider including this with the ‘customer care package’ mentioned above.

Webhosting

Not all Techs are Web Designers, but a fair amount of Techs have enough knowledge and expertise to set up their own server and design and host websites. This is another good way to set up recurring income because it enables you to provide a monthly service to a growing client base. Make sure you offer referral incentives to promote growth.

By offering managed services, you provide an easy budget-able solution for your clients. When you provide more than just ‘Tech Services’ with your ‘care package’, you’re building a relationship with your client that will help to ensure they stay with you rather than jumping to the competition. By going that extra mile, you’re contributing to that relationship, and that’s a good way to get good referrals as well.

There are a few tips I should add in closing. When you’ve decided on a ‘customer care package’ or service plan, pick up the phone and call all of your past clients to offer the package, rather than just sending out an email. Also, I recommend billing monthly in advance for any service plans you offer, as it will both minimize the risk to you as the provider but also allows you to be in control of the scale of your plans on a regular basis.

If you have any tips on offering managed services or building recurring income, drop a tip below!