No more residential

[Bullfighter]

ACG, asked me why I stopped taking residential customers in the "Why" thread, so I thought I'd answer here. And maybe others can offer their experiences...

I stopped taking residential customers in the last few months because I found that:

• Residential's want too much for too little money
• Cling-on customers, who have that quick question on the phone... every day.
• Business customer income is much more lucrative
• I'm tired of telling people to stop installing BearShare, Limewire etc
• I like being the Hero - business call me when they are having issues and I save them. Or they are expanding and I get to show them how to handle information more efficiently (my fav!)
• Most businesses aren't afraid to spend money.
• And the biggest for last - I have enough businesses as clients that not only am I busy, but I'm growing.

EP

 

[Kenhelms]

I only do residential by referral only.

If you can do business only, that is the way to go.
A lot of techs however may be in areas where it simply cant be supported, or new techs cant break in to that market.

Business clients are extremely loyal in my experience. you often have a hard time acquiring new clients if they already have a tech, even if you do beat on price, etc though.

 

[greggh]

ACG, asked me why I stopped taking residential customers in the "Why" thread, so I thought I'd answer here. And maybe others can offer their experiences...

I stopped taking residential customers in the last few months because I found that:

• Residential's want too much for too little money
• Cling-on customers, who have that quick question on the phone... every day.
• Business customer income is much more lucrative
• I'm tired of telling people to stop installing BearShare, Limewire etc
• I like being the Hero - business call me when they are having issues and I save them. Or they are expanding and I get to show them how to handle information more efficiently (my fav!)
• Most businesses aren't afraid to spend money.
• And the biggest for last - I have enough businesses as clients that not only am I busy, but I'm growing.

EP

That last point is the most important and great to hear. Glad to see your doing well.

 

[Bullfighter]

That last point is the most important and great to hear. Glad to see your doing well.

Thanks, Greggh, that's nice of you to say. I know a portion of my decisions can be credited to this site. What a wealth of information!

EP

 

[stevenamills]

Boy, do I envy you! I still need them to get my nose out of the water.

Just tonight, for the first time ever, I walked out on a job. The husband sat 1 foot from me and questioned everything. I'm not one to get nervous, but after a while I fumbled an item or two - nothing unusual, just the normal repair testing until I got to the point I couldn't take it any more.

I didn't leave them in bad shape - wouldn't do that - just didn't get the 3rd computer on line - a Lenovo with some strange IBM software looking for credentials....

Tonight I really hate this business, but what can you do......

 

[1aComputerServices]

• Residential's want too much for too little money
• Cling-on customers, who have that quick question on the phone... every day.
• I'm tired of telling people to stop installing BearShare, Limewire etc

I usually try to nip this one in the butt before I hit the seat. It is explained upfront that if you have a bunch of questions write them down and I will gladly answer them during "Progress Bar Time". Also the hourly part is explained.

Cling on's usually will get away with it twice and then are told if they continue to call on a regular basis they will be charged.

I just keep on telling them about Limewire and Bearshare. When they are paying me to fix their problems related to installing these apps - it is their ignorance for not listening.

 

[K007]

Maybe I should pack my bags and move on the same street where your business is.
Imagine, all those residential customers ..... what a golden mine.
I do residential, and I love it.

Edit:
On a different note, be careful not to make some wrong decisions.
Growing also means getting help (new staff).
Let your helper handle the "liaise on" part with residential customers.
You never know how tables may turn in the future and you may be faced with loss of investment. Regular (residential) customers are there because you have invested in that.

 

[K007]

.... The husband sat 1 foot from me and questioned everything......

I get that sometimes, and I have to feel who calls the shots in the household.
Then I explain everything I am doing and look at the head of the household first, then to the others.
You see, if you have shown him more interest, something like to make him understand that in the end he is the one who will fork out the money, he would have changed his atitude instantly.

 

[NickCat11]

I love residential as well. Don't get me wrong, businesses are great and good money but serving residential clients enabled my business to grow starting out and therefore I won't be turning my back on them anytime soon.

 

[K007]

... they don't need us again, sometimes for over a year.

I see what you mean. You are providing a very good service, and you should be proud of it.

However, the way I see it is:
- you tell the customer "we don't do residential" (no referral)
- customer goes to the nearby tech who does it
- nearby tech gets a good share of your ex residential customers
- nearby tech grows
- nearby tech expands and one day he will also apply for governemnt contracts
- nearby tech will try to get his hands on business customers (in that area)

My question is:
where this leaves you?

Edit:
Just to clarify, I am not saying about ACG in particular, but in general where guys like us want to give up a share of their market just because low repeat business or too much hassle in handling difficult customers.

 

[Mr I]

I agree with K007's. What if the residential customer is the owner of a company and can get you to multiple contracts? then he can recommend you to get more businesses? Besides, if you are professional and your website as well as your marketing is intended to a business audience, I don't think that an average customer with limited budget chooses you as an option.

 

[K007]

My regular customer is MY regular customer.
I will do anything I can to keep him
And if I have to give him up, I will at least charge for it by making up a list, and selling it, then contacting all in the list and sing the prayers for the one who bought the list.
I would NEVER EVER deliberately feed my competition with "charity meals".

 

[Mr I]

I will do anything I can to keep him

Anything? just kidding
Then you should have a decent number of customers. I'm glad for you

 

[K007]

Anything? just kidding
Then you should have a decent number of customers. I'm glad for you

I know what you mean, it scares the hell out of me only when I think about sending my "bread and butter" someone else's way.
Or maybe is just me. Greedy as usual.

 

[Mr I]

I know what you mean, it scares the hell out of me only when I think about sending my "bread and butter" someone else's way.
Or maybe is just me. Greedy as usual.

I reward my customers with 10% discount for each referral. So after 10 recommendations, the next service is FREE!!!. That's a way to keep current customers as well as to obtain new ones.

 

[ITG Tech]

I prefer business clients over residential clients for a couple of reasons.
When a residential client calls and the first thing they ask is " how much do I charge for XXX?"
When a business client calls they usually ask " when can do you think you can come and fix my problem?"

The only residential work I do is for my business clients or referrals from them.

Residential clients can bring thier computers to my shop and I will be happy to work on their machines.

My business is organized and setup primarily to support small business needs. Once I respond to a business client, they end up giving me more work. Example, client asked me to set up his telephones. When I was done, he asked if I could work on his computer? Now client has me developing a website for his business. One thing leads to another.

With residentials, once they have to pay you, your done.

 

[Geeky Neighbour]

ACG, asked me why I stopped taking residential customers in the "Why" thread, so I thought I'd answer here. And maybe others can offer their experiences...

I stopped taking residential customers in the last few months because I found that:

• Residential's want too much for too little money
• Cling-on customers, who have that quick question on the phone... every day.
• Business customer income is much more lucrative
• I'm tired of telling people to stop installing BearShare, Limewire etc
• I like being the Hero - business call me when they are having issues and I save them. Or they are expanding and I get to show them how to handle information more efficiently (my fav!)
• Most businesses aren't afraid to spend money.
• And the biggest for last - I have enough businesses as clients that not only am I busy, but I'm growing.

EP

Why don't you just focus on the business customer, and hire a contractor to work on the residential customers. Pay them like 40% of the invoice. That way you still have income coming in, but you're not wasting time on site.

 

[Reset]

I take Residential clients for one reason some of them run their own business which in return can land you a contact for future work. Example did a service call which was a referral and turns out he had his own medical practice in three locations now i have a contract for his practice which turned out to be great $$$ and ive been referred to a lot of people because of this now i have contracts with a Pharmacy's, Lawyers, Car shops, and a couple gas stations etc. So all in all it might be a good thing to take them as its been great for my business.

 

[NickCat11]

I am raising my residential charge to 99 dollars+65/hour to go onsite, So I will never go onsite to a residential location for less than $165.

That seems like a lot of money for a problem that might take you 30 minutes to fix but if you can get it, more power to you.

Do you generally have a hard time with residential customers? For me, 99% of them are good customers. Of course there is always a select few that will give you a hard time but this can happen with business clients as well. It's part of the game. Not sure if I would raise my rates because of a couple annoying customers.

 

[cmonova]

I take Residential clients for one reason some of them run their own business which in return can land you a contact for future work. Example did a service call which was a referral and turns out he had his own medical practice in three locations now i have a contract for his practice which turned out to be great $$$ and ive been referred to a lot of people because of this now i have contracts with a Pharmacy's, Lawyers, Car shops, and a couple gas stations etc. So all in all it might be a good thing to take them as its been great for my business.

That is the exact reason I will not turn down residential customers. Maybe it depends on your area. We have gotten some major jobs/contracts out of residential clients that in turn have gotten us into businesses etc.