Potential New Client Questionnaire

[Velvis]

I was wondering if anyone has or has a link to a questionnaire that they would be willing to share to give to potential small business clients to get answers from the client to understand their current situation and needs. (# of employees, pain points, equipment, software, etc.)

 

[thecomputerguy]

I go onsite, fix what's broken. Take a quick few minutes to look around. Take a look at their Domain and DNS, explain how effed they are and decide for myself if I'm willing to come back.

Most of the people you run into won't even have control over their own Domain. Much less have the ability to answer anything intelligently.

 

[britechguy]

Most of the people you run into won't even have control over their own Domain. Much less have the ability to answer anything intelligently.

I don't disagree with this, but even getting "not able to answer intelligently" data before a visit gives you some useful information.

For myself, though, before I'd give the potential client a questionnaire I'd try talking to them directly, using a questionnaire I have as a guide. I find out, very quickly, "how bad" things might be that way. Every once in a while I get a shock because there's someone who actually knows way more than I could have hoped for about what's going on.

 

[sapphirescales]

Most of the people you run into won't even have control over their own Domain. Much less have the ability to answer anything intelligently.

This. Having people fill out an IT questionnaire and expecting accurate answers is like a mechanics shop having a questionnaire that asks customers about what parts they need to fix their car. They have no fricking clue. That's what you're supposed to figure out! I go out on site and I charge for my assessments. I suggest you do too. I don't go out and give free estimates. If they want multiple estimates like that then they're probably price shopping anyway and there's no way in heck I'm going to be the cheapest quote so it's a waste of time for everyone. I don't charge a lot to do an estimate but I do charge in order to weed out the cheapwads.

 

[callthatgirl]

I agree with @sapphirescales here, I do my phone consults and ask general questions to know how to give them a quote but once I'm paid, I do my complete onboarding and then offer new solutions. I can't know the deeper config until I'm remoted in. I'm changing my business this year to include core services, which means we cover it all no matter what. Some clients like to skip around a few things and if you hire me, I can't support you unless I know everything I need to know. Things you will call about.

 

[frase]

It isn't a quiz show, recon the business and see what they require, ask questions in basic terms and listen and take notes, if they do not know much about I.T. Formulate a plan of attack in a document, estimate cost; submit a quote. If accepted create a business contract.

 

[Markverhyden]

Most the time I'll start with what's not working and then go from there. Because once you start digging around you'll find other things. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Back when I first started I tried a couple of times to have customers put things in writing. Very few of the observations/comments had any value. If nothing some were humous. More than once I had "the picture doesn't look right on my computer". Which many times was screen burnin. Sometimes there were dead pixels on the LCD. Of course none of that was the computer.

 

[sapphirescales]

I'm changing my business this year to include core services, which means we cover it all no matter what.

Can you elaborate on that? Do you mean you'll do more than Outlook now? Set up printers, configure network shares, remove garbage Chrome extensions, and stuff like that? Where do you draw the line? What if a dentist needs help because his specialty software that keeps track of his patient x-rays won't launch? What if a client has a problem with Quickbooks? Do you do remote hardware diagnostics? I read your "core services" page on your website but it's pretty vague. Not that that's a negative, mind you. You don't want to overwhelm potential clients with technical jargon. I'm just curious.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Lots of "MSP Onboarding Checklists" out there....we had a 3x part one that we overhauled in the past year.
I was going to say I can send to you but realized since it's flowing forms in HUDU, there's no way I can export it in a workable format..so here does a buncha screenshots....

So..each "radio button" you see, such as in the first page, you expand that to spill out a tonna more items...(like the second screenshot is the first "Conduct the new client survey"..expanded.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

If any of the other radio button choices are of interest let me know and I'll expand and screenie 'em.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

And our 3rd page

 

[callthatgirl]

@sapphirescales Can you elaborate on that? Do you mean you'll do more than Outlook now?

I've always done more than Outlook, I do what I can and if I can't, I tell the clients they need to call my referrals. I have a list of people I refer over, mostly for Excel, database, networking/hardware, etc. I've been a tech for 28 years so I'm still handy. My main specialities are Outlook and 365/OneDrive/Teams/Admin/Accounts, stuff like that.

The core services will be important in 2024, happy to message privately about it.

 

[sapphirescales]

I've been a tech for 28 years so I'm still handy

I'm sorry I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I remember you saying on here that you used to actually do computer repair but transitioned out of that business, so I figured you left all that behind so you could focus exclusively on Outlook. I'll admit my Outlook skills leave a lot to be desired and I've referred quite a few of my clients to you over the years. Frankly I'd prefer not to deal with Outlook at all but I'll do the basics for people if they're willing to pay. My clients don't even flinch at your prices because frankly if they did, I would have already weeded them out and not done any work for them in the first place. I've had nothing but good feedback from my clients regarding their experiences with you.

The core services will be important in 2024, happy to message privately about it.

Sure! I'm curious about what else you offer because I really hate doing some things and would rather refer it out. My techs can handle most stuff but I'm trying to wind things down nowadays and go back to being a one-man shop working from home. They money's nice but it's killing me.

 

[callthatgirl]

@sapphirescales I'll message you, we can go into more details.

I was a general helpdesk tech from 1996 to 2007, focused on email and Outlook. 2007 started my business and found many clients needed my Outlook help. 2013 decided to go national and market as an Outlook Expert. Since I had helpdesk skills, I just kept doing that too with my clients that buy prepaid tickets. I booked my first monthly vCIO gig back in Sept and today got offered a 3 year contract to work with a company in India as tech writer/influencer. This was not an overnight thing, been working with them for 7 years on side projects. Kinda neat how my business goes in different directions, all from home, by myself lol.