One of the great advantages of being a self employed computer tech is that you can choose your own hours to work. Two months ago, I did just that and went traveling around the world with my girlfriend for two months. Before I left I changed my answering machine and voicemail messages saying that I am traveling, will be back on X date and would love to help them with their problems when I return. When I got back… I found out just how loyal my clients are to me.

When I returned I had alot of messages left on the answering machine by clients. 95% of the messages were the clients asking me give them a call when I return and 5% were ‘clickers’ who hung up after hearing the message. I knew I would lose some clients from travel ling because they found another tech in the mean time. I promptly returned all the call for all clients who left a message and to my surprise they all waited for me to return to fix their problems, they didn’t find someone else. More surprisingly some of these calls came just days after I left so some clients had been waiting for two months.

Why were so many of the clients so loyal? I believe it was because of a tip I mentioned in a past article Increasing Client Loyalty.

Every time I am on a computer repair job while I am working, I try to find something to talk to them about whether it is just asking them about their business, how long they have been doing it or how it started. If you are doing home computer repair; ask them about something prominent in their house such as the painting on the wall, the football team flag or their pets. Become a friend.

Talking to a client while you do your work puts them at ease and gives them a sense of trust which can help with getting more word-of-mouth referrals.
In return you will have clients who wouldn’t dare hiring another technician as it would be like ‘betraying a friend’ to them.