Customer Service
What to Look For in an IT Company
A friend of mine told me a sad story I’ve heard many times before. Their last employer kept using an IT company to fix their problems, even though nothing stayed fixed for very long. Something would break. This company would fix it. And after a while, something would break again. Sometimes it was the thing…
Read MoreYour Business Needs a Proactive Technology Planner, Not Merely a Repair Person
We recently evaluated technology needs for a company that was replacing its longtime IT repairman who was retiring. He had been “servicing” the company’s technology for more than 20 years. For him, service meant showing up when something broke, fixing it if possible, replacing it if not. For the company, that meant an…
Read MoreWhy We’ll Never Ask You to Sign a 23-Page Contract
A friend forwarded to me a one-year, binding contract that another technology company wanted him to sign. The agreement was 23 pages. 23 pages! Full of legalese, fine print, and a bunch of sales propaganda. My friend didn’t sign it. He took his business elsewhere. The idea of writing a…
Read MoreWhy We Keep Our Pricing Model Simple
I went shopping for light bulbs recently, and it made my head spin. I went to one of those big box stores where the bulbs are stacked on shelves that stretch from one end of the warehouse to another. They had had LED bulbs, tube bulbs, incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs, smart bulbs, and dumb bulbs.…
Read MoreWhy Technical Documentation is Critical for Your Business
A business owner came to me recently in a panic. Her top tech guy quit on short notice, and her network was down. She needed help, and she needed it fast. When we stepped in to help, we discovered: None of the networks were mapped. None of the processes were documented. ALL of the knowledge…
Read MoreAll Aboard! How to Get a New Employee Started without Hiccups and Headaches
Every time his firm hired a new employee, the CEO took off his senior management hat and put on his tech-support hat. He ordered a new computer. He installed the software. He established the new employee’s email address. He set up network access permissions and file shares. And on and on and on it went. …
Read MoreHow a Support Playbook Keeps Customers Happy
A friend told me the other day about a customer service nightmare. He emailed the company that provides his sales management software because the system was throwing errors. Here’s what happened… No reply after 48 hours. On hold for 15+ minutes with the telephone support. A “support” rep who 1) didn’t have a clue and…
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