In this article, I talk about one of my troublesome clients expecting free phone support and an incredibly simple way to deal with them.
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Last Friday, I only had a few computers on the bench (which didn’t take long to repair) resulting in me having much of the afternoon free. I took this time “seal some business leaks”.

I like to think of my businesses finances as a Styrofoam cup with holes in the bottom. I pour water into the top of the cup (which represents my income) and some of it leaks out of the holes in the bottom (which represent my expenses). If the cup is filling up faster than it is leaking then I am making a profit.
The cup is always leaking because I have the ongoing expenses of running a business like utilities, fuel and web hosting. It is the web hosting leak I wish to talk about in this article.
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Guest Post by Lisa Hendrickson, owner of Call That Girl, 15 years experience of supporting client computer issues.

Back in the spring of 2008, I had just a few clients but was somewhat bored working by myself, so I opted to get an unpaid intern to go along with me on the computer repair jobs. She stayed on with me for 6 months and we both learned quite a bit. I learned how to teach someone new to the field and she got repair experience. Going ahead a year, I decided that I had a need for a business intern. I had been in business for a year and a half and felt I had plenty to offer a business student.
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A few months ago I ran a software giveaway in exchange for some survey answers. There were two questions that came up often amongst the technicians and one of them was:

“Where do you draw the line between suggesting rebuilding a PC or suggesting that they go buy a new one?”

The other question is:

“At what point in the repair cycle do you make the choice to format & reinstall the OS and the applications?”

The answer to both of these questions are identical.
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Guest Post by Lisa Hendrickson, owner of Call That Girl, 15 years experience of supporting client computer issues.

For many months now, I have been in need of an assistant, but just couldn’t make the decision as each week business was still “up and down”. It’s a struggle as an entrepreneur to make that decision.
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There is a common trap that Computer Technicians can fall into. It happens when the Computer Technician goes onsite to the clients location, removes a virus and gets paid. Then, a week later the clients computer is reinfected with a virus and they expect the technician to come over and remove it free of charge.

Now, if the Computer Technician didn’t do their job correctly the first time, then they should go back and fix it for free. However, often the virus is a new infection and is not related to the first one, yet we are still expected to fix it for free.

The way to avoid this issue (assuming you did your job correctly the first time) is by managing the clients expectations and not speaking in absolutes. Let me explain.
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In the past I have shown you my onsite technician gear. Now, I would like to share my work process with you to give you an idea on how you could start or possibly improve yours. Of course, I am not saying this is how you must do it since everyone has their own procedures. This is just a method that I have refined over the years to help me eliminate any potential issues.
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A few weeks ago, I created a survey for our software competition and one of the problems that frequently came up was many technicians don’t know how to compete against the low price of new computers now days. If you visit any big box store you can now get a Netbook for as low as $250.
If a client asked you to repair the LCD on their laptop, it is quite possible that your price will come pretty close to what they could have bought a new computer for. So how do you compete?
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In today’s day and age, people are relying on computers more and more to complete their day to day tasks. In just the last 5 years I have noticed a change in how 30 to 60 year olds use their computers. They used to just use them for light internet browsing and basic email, but now days many of them have stepped up into using them for internet banking, paying bills, running a business and made it so that their lives depend on it.

This is great for computer technicians as it increases our potential client base but adds more pressure for a faster turn around since they rely on their computers so much. While you should always try to get a computer fixed as soon as you can, sometimes its just not possible because you are waiting on a certain part or are battling a tough problem. These clients can start to get anxious while they wait so here is how to deal with them.
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There are many articles on Technibble are about gaining more clients. However, you need to make sure you keep them once you have them. In this article, I’ll show you 5 ways you might be losing clients.
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