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ForumsIf you are working as a Computer Technician, chances are you have been asked “do you build new computers?”. In most cases when the client asks this, they are just shopping around considering their options.
When I am asked this, I try sway them from just considering me as “another option” to the person they actually buy the new computer from. Here is what I say:
“For desktops, I can almost always beat the price and performance of the new computers at the big brand stores.
As you know, I work as a computer technician and because of this I get to see which parts are troublesome and unreliable out in the field, because, well, its my job to go fix them. The salesmen at the big brand stores may know about the features of the product he is selling, but he doesn’t know how reliable the product is once it has been used or how hard it is to setup after its been purchased.
I only use parts that are known to be the most reliable and easy to setup.
If you like, I can email you a quote when I return to my workshop. What your email?”
Sometimes, if I am in the right company such as long time clients or friends, I joke and say “besides, I don’t want computers coming back to me to do warranty work on them. So I only use the good stuff”.
This story sense to the clients and doesn’t sound like a sleazy sales pitch which smart consumers are well aware of now days. Also, by adding the “I can write you up a quote” at the end, it adds a call to action that gets the ball rolling. Out of the all of the people that asked me the “do you build new computers?” question, I would say at least 80% of them eventually bought the computer from me after saying this.
What your sales tricks? Do you say anything similar?
For the record. I usually use Gigabyte motherboards. In my experience they are always stable, I rarely see them die prematurely and their drivers are stable/vista ready.
For RAM, brands like Kingston are always nice.
For HDD’s, I use either Western Digital or Seagate. Hate Maxtor with a passion.
What is your strategy for budget systems? I’ve found it’s hard to compete on price at the $400-500 range unless I’m willing to do it on the cheap. If I do it cheaply it’s just not worth it because of the liability of the warranty.
Primarily the monitor and Windows XP just kill the margin on a budget system.
The last time I had a business customer ask me about a new PC I just offered to find a good deal locally and go pick it up for them. We got online and checked all the stores within 60 miles for a good sale. A Walmart 30 miles away had a $400 dollar system on sale that met their needs. I picked it up, brought it back, and setup it up for them.
I made as much money that day as I would have if I built it for them, and quite honestly I couldn’t have matched the specs for the total price they paid. Plus I wasn’t responsible for the warranty. If anything went wrong with it in the first 30 days I could have just taken it right back to the store.
In the end they got a really good deal on a computer and I made a good bit of money with no liability. The customer was more than happy to pay me my normal fee to find them the best deal, and make sure it was setup properly.
If they want a monitor I’d say there is no point in building unless their budget is $700~. At that point you really notice a jump in quality of parts and what you get for your money. Anything cheaper than that and I’m just selling them the same junk parts they get from major OEMs at a lower price.
I can’t blame customers for not wanting to spend more than $400-500 dollars on a computer though when the alternative is twice that much. They’d rather have a disposable system that needs replaced in a year or two because if they go for quality all those parts will be obsolete before they ever break. It really makes you realize how wasteful a free market can become.
Jory, I dont make custom built budget systems. As you said, its not worth the liability of the warranty. The cheapest custom ones I make are $650+.
I do sell budget machines though, but they are second hand. I buy up ex government/police clone PC’s. Ive sold a ton of Compaq Evos (which I believe are certified for business use). You can get a few of them with good specs cheaply on eBay.
They are generally around the 2.8 to 3.2ghz single-core range. To this day I havent had a single one come back for warranty work *touches wood*.
If they want a screen I give them the option of a old CRT (sort of 2004-2005ish) or a brand spanking new LCD. Mouse and keyboard are just the standard Microsoft Business Pack.
All my clients with this configuration have been very happy with them.
Bryce
How long does it normally take you get the system together after you have all of your parts. How much do you charge?
I do basically the same thing in that I get junker systems for free or very cheap and refurbish them , but the customer knows up front that the refurb system are only covered for 30 days, and even then only newer parts that I installed are covered.
I like the idea that you only use quality parts Bryce, presumably from experience you have a good idea on failure rates….
…so, what products should we avoid, if you are able to say!
gunslinger, once I have all the parts it usually takes 20-40mins depending on whats going into the system. The form factor changes it a bit too since its a little tricky working with MicroATX’s in a small MicroATX case. As for charging, I usually work out what 10% of the cost of the parts is and charge that to cover the tax, and then usually slap $200 AUD on top for building.
Steve, in my experience the hardware you should avoid are Maxtor hard drives. These things often run very hot and evetually become undetectable by Windows.
Cheap RAM of unknown brands tends to fail more.
Sound Cards from Creative. Crap/unstable drivers.
ASRock motherboards seem to need to be replaced alot. From what I can see its caused by cheap construction.
Never buy a cheap power supply.
Great tips there, I always thought creative would be a reliable name and have had the maxtor problem myself. I’ve only ever built one or 2 machines in my time and would much prefer the hassle free way of buying form a store with warranty.
Phil, talking about Creative, check this thread out:
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2187
I got rid of them a long time before this happened though. Too many driver issues (BSODs, Lockups etc..)
Creative was once the leader in sound hardware and for a good reason. But that was about 5 years ago and its been in decline ever since. If you read that forum thread, you will probably change your mind as well.
At first my thinking was that this seems as though making a profit would be limited to only mid to higher range systems. I like Jory’s idea about still earning on budget systems though. Certainly one could charge for the research, delivery, installation (preferably a clean install, and make a backup disk if need be). Buying up ex government/business computers, in bulk and/or at auction is also a great idea. I’ve read about folks who have gotten started that way with a major surplus of spare parts.
I just pre order the systems from my supplier and add/remove parts to the customers requirements. My supplier charges me $15 to put it together, so its a small amount and saves me the hassle, plus i sometimes get it delivered directly to the customer so i have a quick response, I can then go to the customers premises and set it up for the network & apps.
I think the selling skill still working here…Offer added values to the customer, something that differentiate our product/service with other. That’s very nice…
Bryce,
I’m not in the biz (used to be but now just a hobbyist), but I thought I’d chime in and say that I really like your sales pitch. I’m not surprised at your 80% success rate.
I like that alot, that’s smooth. Don’t be surprised if we ‘borrow’ those lines!
-Thanks!
There are many factors which can affect your sales success rate. The time of year (tax return/payment), competition, customer loyalty.
I’m a Dell reseller (I can’t stand building systems). All I do is search for some screaming-hot deals, configure and submit a system to my Dell sales rep for a price quote, add a certain amount of profit margin, then offer them for sale, either on my website, in a newsletter or in person, to my customers. I can make a small amount on the system, then add setup and migration fees. As long as your customers trust you, the selling part is easy. The key is to be fair.
great tips, thanks. I have also found kingston to be very reliable when it comes to ram and seagate hdd.