Customer Wants Computer Lessons

[brock029]

I had a customer ask me today how much I would charge to give her and her husband lessons on how to use a computer. I already have a general idea for a lesson plan put together but have no clue how much to charge. She said possibly once or twice a week if they could afford it. My schedule is clear after the day job and defiantly would not mind the extra money, my income being the only income coming into the house right now.

So any one have suggestions on pricing? Right now I am thinking $20-$40 for one hour sessions 1-2 times a week (if one hour is enough time). They live right down the road from me so gas in my skyactiv mazda 3 is not going to be a problem (40 mpg ). Also does any one have any experience teaching basic computer/internet skills that they would share?

 

[kwest]

Whatever your hourly rate is that is what you should charge.

 

[bertie40]

Daft as it may seem. I would charge a little but more.

One service I DON't offer is tuition. I simply don't have the patience. I suspect over time it could drive you insane. Then again, that's just me

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

It's a personal decision you have to make.
Ask yourself..."How much is my time worth during the hours they want this?"

You mention you day job, so I'm assuming you're considering doing this after your day job. Lets assume after 5pm.

If you're a single guy...not much of an issue, that just cuts into time at the pub.

If you're a family guy...well, I don't like my phone ringing after 5pm..that's family time to me. I get home, make dinner, do homework with daughter, spend time with family, take son out practicing his driving, do stuff at home, TV, relax, chase wife around, etc.

As for value to the client...teaching how to use a computer, I could not justify charging what I charge for my IT work...$125/hour. But I don't know what you do for IT work...perhaps you're break/fix for home computers, and you're normally $75/hour...but IMO that is still steep for teaching someone how to surf the net, do e-mail, type in MS Word, print, manage downloads, etc.

So you're stuck in a dilemma....charge for what your time is worth after hours...or charge fair for the service of "basic training".

If you don't mind the extra time..and dropped rates...and could really use a couple of extra 20 dollar bills..go for it. If you feel it cramps you a bit..for time, try to steer them to some affordable training. Often there are adult computer use classes at the local community center or the local library.

 

[tf76]

"chase wife around"

Regards,

 

[altrenda]

I've done this in the past and its one of the most frustrating things I've ever done. I stopped because no one will pay enough to make it worth my while. Most wanted to pay about $25 an hour, and complained that I charged more. If you can get someone to pay $75 an hour, more power to you.

I did this for several older couples. They would bicker with each other most of the time.

You need a strict lesson plan and don't expect to move very fast. No matter what they say, you have to start with the very basics and get rid of misconceptions and just plain wrong information they have been given from friends and family.

I bought the Computers for Seniors for Dummies book and used that as the basis. They mainly want to learn how to send email with attachments (a big one), search the web (especially WebMD), print, watch videos and use Skype.

I still get calls from referrals, and shudder every time before i decline. There's is a definite need out there, but not much money in it.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Daft as it may seem. I would charge a little but more.

One service I DON't offer is tuition. I simply don't have the patience. I suspect over time it could drive you insane. Then again, that's just me

Ditto. You don't go to your mechanic and ask him to teach you how to drive. Why do people assume that you are a teacher as well as a computer repair man? Don't really have to do that much in the Business environment. If you don't know how to run Windows, Word, and Excel you generally don't get hired.

 

[brock029]

Thanks everybody. Really I am pretty patient and generally am pretty good at teaching. This will not be a service I offer but these people are very nice and have said im "their family computer person kind of like their doctor (more or less)" so I really don't mind. Luckily their not elderly and have a general understanding of using windows and office. Their main complaint is a lack of knowledge about using the internet and being able to do things like selling items on ebay.

It's a personal decision you have to make.
Ask yourself..."How much is my time worth during the hours they want this?"

You mention you day job, so I'm assuming you're considering doing this after your day job. Lets assume after 5pm.

If you're a single guy...not much of an issue, that just cuts into time at the pub.

If you're a family guy...well, I don't like my phone ringing after 5pm..that's family time to me. I get home, make dinner, do homework with daughter, spend time with family, take son out practicing his driving, do stuff at home, TV, relax, chase wife around, etc.

As for value to the client...teaching how to use a computer, I could not justify charging what I charge for my IT work...$125/hour. But I don't know what you do for IT work...perhaps you're break/fix for home computers, and you're normally $75/hour...but IMO that is still steep for teaching someone how to surf the net, do e-mail, type in MS Word, print, manage downloads, etc.

So you're stuck in a dilemma....charge for what your time is worth after hours...or charge fair for the service of "basic training".

If you don't mind the extra time..and dropped rates...and could really use a couple of extra 20 dollar bills..go for it. If you feel it cramps you a bit..for time, try to steer them to some affordable training. Often there are adult computer use classes at the local community center or the local library.

You have got it right on, after 5pm m-f and Saturday and Sunday im free. Since I run my business part time in the hopes of going full time I take jobs any day and any time after work. No family just the wife who is going to be finishing school full time and then do a part time work from home gig, so I have all the time in the world, still being small and only geting a few jobs a month means its not going to effect my time with my business either. Currently only do residential/Soho break/fix at $75 an hour onsite.

Completely agree that price would be way too steep for learning to use the web. I might just say $30 a session twice a week max since im thinking 20-40 any ways ill just go in the middle. So if we do that, $60 a week would cover about 3 weeks or more of gas in my car. If we did it for a month (8 sessions) that will cover my insurance, gas, and have some left over to put into savings.

I've done this in the past and its one of the most frustrating things I've ever done. I stopped because no one will pay enough to make it worth my while. Most wanted to pay about $25 an hour, and complained that I charged more. If you can get someone to pay $75 an hour, more power to you.

I did this for several older couples. They would bicker with each other most of the time.

You need a strict lesson plan and don't expect to move very fast. No matter what they say, you have to start with the very basics and get rid of misconceptions and just plain wrong information they have been given from friends and family.

I bought the Computers for Seniors for Dummies book and used that as the basis. They mainly want to learn how to send email with attachments (a big one), search the web (especially WebMD), print, watch videos and use Skype.

I still get calls from referrals, and shudder every time before i decline. There's is a definite need out there, but not much money in it.

Luckily they are in their 40s and do know how to send attachments and the like. I completely agree though about starting from the basics and having a strict lesson plan. My plan is the first 1 or 2 sessions will be navigating Windows, different functions, and generall terms and definitions like what a web browser is. If any one else asked me I would probably do what stonecat suggested and refer them to some place that trains adults.

Ill probably check out that book though to get an idea on how to teach them. Looking at some research done, adults learn very differently then how children do. Doing a mix of verbal, visual, and hands on seems to be the best approach. So trying to put all of that into a plan will take some work.

 

[brock029]

Ditto. You don't go to your mechanic and ask him to teach you how to drive. Why do people assume that you are a teacher as well as a computer repair man? Don't really have to do that much in the Business environment. If you don't know how to run Windows, Word, and Excel you generally don't get hired.

I do agree with this too lol. I have people at work ask me how to do crazy stuff in excel. Generally my answer is to look it up on google.

 

[Theo]

I train old people when they ask me, usually they have things that they want to do or don't understand so I just walk them through it. That's it. You can have them show you after you show them, but it's on them to retain that knowledge just like anything else. I usually ask "do you understand?" once in a while and explain something differently if they don't. Above all you need to not stress out, for your sake. Sometimes I leave sessions like this with my head throbbing.
I just charge my regular hourly rate, if someone complains I tell them about training at lynda.com or to go to the bookstore and get a training book. They never will... If somebody says it's a lot of work I tell them yes it is and tell them how many years I have been practicing (about 20).

 

[Prune]

I did this with several clients before and learned a couple of lessons.
As someone said above, no one really wants to pay a fair price for this kind of service. If you consider travel time there and back, the fuel cost and then the hours time, what is all this worth. What would you need to ask to make it worthwhile? For me the travel time and fuel was the killer so now when a customer asks about tuition I say yes, I do it, but its remote only. We connect up, do the hour and then I can get back to my other work straight away with no time lost or expense.
Another issue that I encountered was that sometimes the line gets blurred between tuition & normal computer repair. This is a big problem if you charge less for tuition that for your normal repair service. eg you are connected up tutoring and then the customer mentions that thier computer is running slowly, or could you have a quick look at this other problem etc etc. So I think its important to say from the outset that tuition is a totally different service from your normal computer repair.
I think if tuition is done remotely in this way that it is a good add-on service to offer and will be profitable.

 

[AdvancedTech]

I've done a bit of training in the past. It provided an income opportunity when business was slow. I charge $35.00 per hour as I feel that my regular rate is too high just to teach people how to move photos from their camera and browse the web.

The most lucrative training I performed was for a business that wanted me to train their staff to use Excel. The training spanned 2 months with sessions of 2 hours duration 3 days per week.

I have also done some free basic seminars in community centers. The benefit I derived from this was a few service calls and referrals. As a matter of fact, I got my best customer from just such a community based seminar.

Compared to most techs here, my business is very small. Most of these guys probably see more repairs in a month than I see in a year, so any opportunity I get to make a few bucks is welcomed.

If you've got the time and patience it's definitely worth going for.

 

[HCHTech]

I do training on occasion. I charge my regular rates and don't feel bad at all if someone doesn't want to pay that much for training. I have several customers for which I primarily do training. Whenever they run into something that doesn't make sense or they want to learn more about, they write it down. When they get a pageful, they call me for an appointment.

I think you have to have the personality and patience for this work, though. Folks don't remember, and everyone has a different capacity to learn.

For any particular task I'm demonstrating, I've learned to make an instruction sheet in Wordpad or similar AS I'M DOING THE TRAINING. This leaves them with a document they can refer to which is specific to their setup, and I think it adds value to the whole concept.

I seem to have developed an infinite level of patience for one-on-one training, but at the cost of a zero level of patience for over-the-phone training. Not sure why this is, but I know I'd rather be staked to an anthill than provide phone support for a living.

 

['putertutor]

I did technical training in the past, both as an employee of a large company for their employees and as a contractor for anyone who wanted my services. MOUS training is probably the closest thing to what you will be doing if you choose to do this. Here's my advice:

-If you have never done this before, find a computer basics book. Something along the lines of the For Dummies series, but a little better organized (there are literally hundreds of online resources for this. Google is your friend). Use this as a template for your sessions. Organization is key. Jumping from one subject to another haphazardly will make your sessions difficult for both parties and not well understood for your clients. Remember, there is a huge difference between knowing your subject and being able to teach it to others.

-Before you start ask them what they are looking to get out of your time. They may or may not know and you might have to guide them a little here. Use this as a guide as you design your lesson plans.

-For this particular audience, never assume anything about their level of knowledge. When I was dealing with a possible wide range of students, or those I thought had a fairly low level of experience, I would tell them I was going to start very basic and apologized if it was too basic. You will be able to judge fairly quickly if you need to speed things up or slow them down.

-Set a definite schedule up front. You don't necessarily need an end point, but you should know how many days per week, which days, how many hours per day.

-Pricing. This will be something you have to judge for yourself, but consider that this is not going to be high level stuff (from the sounds of it). It is really more along the lines of tutoring. That might be the best market indicator for you to help you in pricing. ind out what rates tutors are charging for technical classes, like math or science. As a corporate trainer, I was paid very well, but when I engaged in the sort of training you are looking at, not so much.

 

['putertutor]

I seem to have developed an infinite level of patience for one-on-one training, but at the cost of a zero level of patience for over-the-phone training. Not sure why this is, but I know I'd rather be staked to an anthill than provide phone support for a living.

Ditto. I can spend 30 minutes on lefty-loosy, righty-tighty for grandma if she's sitting in a chair in front of me. But helping anyone find control panel over the phone drives me absolutely bat-s*** crazy!

 

[ShinyTech]

I say charge the normal rate like 85/hr. I think this is fair as it is more frustrating to train someone then it is to fix a problem. If you want to be nice you could work out something like 200/month with 4 1 hour trainings until they are happy but I would make them commit to a number of classes if they are only ging to pay a little.

 

[Rob_NNCC]

my normal in store rate is $80. I charge $35 an hour for training (IN STORE). I find that it will help get new clients, and that if there is an issue (EG they don't remember something or what not), I don't have to warranty it so the lower price is nice.

Yes, it is not as profitable as normal work, but I feel that it helps people feel more comfortable talking to me about their computer problems.

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

I have gotten the technical training request alot, like how to use excel or access. I have always declined. The few times I tried it wasn't the hourly rate (which I dropped to 60$ an hour) that was the problem. It was the 'students' so to speak. I thought of it like this, you need to understand addition and subtraction in order to do multiplication or division.... same thing with excel or access they didn't have basic computer skills so teaching them anything else was futile. I suppose if it were for a business or a class where those interested were to sign up it would have worked out better.