One of the top keywords used when visitors arrive at this domain is service contracts. I am going to offer some of these contracts, but I want to ask you a question first. When you are searching for service contracts for computer service or service agreements, which are you looking for? What specifically are you trying to find a contract to cover?

-Zachary M. Morvik

I always reward my readers and list subscribers by offering any new products and services with a special.  List subscribers receive an email notifying them of these specials so they do not miss the great prices.  When the special is over, however, it is over.  No exceptions.

I’m offering readers of this blog 75% off for the next 36 hours (until noon on Wednesday EST) on Domeas, the Domain Renewal Monitoring software.

Using this software, you will never again have a client domain, or your own, expire without your knowledge.  You won’t believe how impressed clients are when you contact them and let them know, ahead of time, that they have a domain expiring.  If they have ever been through that ordeal, they really appreciate that you are looking out for them.

The price is normally $20 but during this special, you can get it for only $5.

Here is the URL to place your order:

http://www.Domeas.com

-Zachary M. Morvik

My new product, Domeas, will be released later tonight. All of my product releases are offered to my blog readers and list subscribers at a substantial discount during the initial launch. This is a time-sensitive offer that will not be extended for anyone under any circumstances. Domeas will be released with a 36 hour special price. If you would like to be notified as soon as this product is available, just signup over there on the right!

-Zachary M. Morvik

The computer services industry is a highly competitive field with fluid and changing technological advancements. It is more than fair to expect employees to continue their education as they progress through the fields, but is it fair to ask them to pay the expense out of pocket?

Larger firms are financially able to cover the cost of employee education, thus many of the serious go getters are always on the look out for an opening with a large firm. Alternatively, small firms and smaller computer services companies often offer a more pleasant work environment with fewer office politics and low end cut throat behavior. While the benefits of working for a smaller firm are a significant draw for many computer services specialists, tuition reimbursement is an area of hot debate, and the small computer services company that doesn’t offer it is bound to lose their better employees to larger firms that do.

If you are going to require your employees to continue their education, which you should if you’re going to stay competitive, you do have to take a serious look at whether or not you can afford to offer even partial reimbursement. This makes you a more attractive employer for higher quality employees who are more likely to stay under your employment for a longer period of time. Some smaller employers offer reimbursement for certification fees provided the certification is passed if they can’t offer tuition reimbursement.

While governmental regulations are also fluid and prone to abrupt changes in laws, regulations, and restrictions, many small businesses are able to apply for governmental assistance in order to offer reimbursement.  For some small companies, this notion has become a life saver and has significantly improved employee performance as well as employee retention.

In the world of the computer services industry, every small company needs to acquire a seriously competitive edge. Whether that means scaling down the staff in order to provide the best possible benefits and perks for the staff or asking for financial assistance via government programs, finding methods of offering employees as much as possible toward their continuing education creates an even playing field for retaining high quality, well educated, capable employees.

It is vital that you require your employees to continue their education, even if it simply one class per semester or two certifications per year. This is considered the bare minimum in the computer services industry. If you’re not going to offer any type of reimbursement, then you can’t expect too much from your employees.  In the fast paced computer service industry, how on top of their game are your employees if you don’t help them continue their education?  Requiring too much for too little is going to create a high turnover rate, which becomes expensive and time expensive for a small computer services company.

It’s not a bad idea to get caught up on what the competition is offering to their employees. Usually a simple phone call inquiring about education benefits is enough to answer the question. Offering at least as much if not more than your competition is likely to draw to your doorstep more qualified candidates as well as more capable employees.

-Zachary M. Morvik

Part of our service offerings is management of hosted accounts.  Yesterday a potential customer contacted us and said that they recently switched from one hosting provider to another.  Apparently all of the files had been copied using FTP, but they neglected to export the MySQL databases before making the switch.

Very fortunately, they had not yet canceled their service with the original hosting provider, but very unfortunately the reason they were switching was because their original hosting provider was basically going out of business and it is not possible to contact them.  When they changed the name servers, they did not write down what they were originally.

So, what do you do?  You cannot connect to the old server because the client doesn’t know what the IP address was.  You can’t do an NSLOOKUP because the customer doesn’t know what the DNS servers were.  We even called their domain registrar to see if they kept a history of changes made so maybe they could tell us what the name servers were before the change.  They did not.  While this is a minor case, it is still a good example of the necessity of good documentation.  Had we made the change, I know that we would have the information we needed to connect to the old server again.

This particular case worked out because we were eventually able to find some other domains that used the same hosting provider and then lookup their nameservers and eventually guess the correct nameserver (there were many), do our NSLOOKUP queries, get the IP address, and export the databases to the new hosting account.

The customer is very happy to be back in business and now understands the importance of documentation.  We have a new customer who has said they never again want to have such problems so they will be calling us for any changes they need to make in the future.  They are also interested in quite a few of our other services so everyone wins!

-Zachary M. Morvik

Small computer services companies are all out there vying for the attention of bigger and better clients.  One large account can cover the running costs for up to six months, and of course, enhances the esteem of the computer services company.  Something to ask youself, however, is does this fit with your business model and plan?

A simple internet search will provide any company with a baseline of their competition out there, and of course where their computer services company stands in the internet search line up.  If you can’t even find your own company, nobody else can either.

Large companies are going to fit into two basic categories.  Some will be independent large companies while others will be branches of a national chain.  It is during this process that you are going to weed out the companies that you aren’t going to market to.  Large branch companies rarely hire local help, although they sometimes do.  More over, you are going to need to determine what types of large companies your computer services company can honestly handle as a permanent contract, assuming you end up with the best case scenario.

Once you have a handle on what your competition can offer versus what your computer services company can offer, as well as what types of businesses there are in the area that are independent and in most likely in need of your particular services, it is time to start the process of marketing.  Marketing is often called a process because that is exactly what it is.  You can’t expect to begin marketing and suddenly have all the business you can handle at your doorstep. Marketing, especially to larger companies, is a process.

Your marketing campaign which targets larger companies needs to be professional, persistent, and offer something unique that your competition can’t or doesn’t.  Can you offer exceptional 24 hour, weekend, and holiday service for a reasonable fee? Do you have a whiz kid security specialist on hand?  Do you have a unique edge that can be your foot in the door?  If so, then you know how to market to your larger fish.  If not, then you probably need to get one in order to market to your larger fish.  Many larger companies are looking for the services that are offered by large national chains, such as the “Computer Geek” companies.  These chains are difficult to compete with unless you can offer them something special, guaranteed (be careful with what you decide to guarantee) or more cost effective.

By promoting your company regularly to the large companies you are seeking to gain as regular clients, you are constantly reminding them of your services and your availability.  It may take months, but there is possibility that if your marketing material makes it to the right desk at the right moment, you may receive a phone call from a panicked potential client looking for immediate service.  If you marketed yourself accurately, you will be able to take on the client, swoop in to save the day, and find yourself with an aptly sized client.  These things don’t usually happen overnight, but they can, and trust me, do happen.

-Zachary M. Morvik

Many computer consultants don’t charge a travel fee or surcharge.  Others will charge a flat rate or even an amount based on time or mileage or both!  Let’s break it down a little:

On average it takes 30 minutes to arrive at a client.  On average, it takes 19 miles to arrive at a client.  In my city, this wouldn’t surprise anyone.  Some clients are very close, others are very far.  Either way, in this city, driving is a pain.  Not nearly as bad as, say, Atlanta, but it can be bad at times.

Lets say at a minimum, there are two clients in every day.  This is one hour of time spent on travel, or 38 miles depending how you look at it.  Do you feel like you should not charge for this time?  I know many freelancers who say they do not charge a travel charge just to make their bid look more appealing.

At these rates, that is over $100 per day of lost revenue.  By IRS guidelines, it is a cost to the vehicle alone of $18.43.  If you or your employees spend this hour commuting and you do not bill for this time, you are basically giving up an hour of each day for free.

Pick whatever method you like best (flat rate, per mile, time), but bill for your time.  Or don’t, and miss out on the revenue.  It’s your choice.

-Zachary M. Morvik

If you use Microsoft software products, you no doubt have realize how incredibly expensive they are. Your clients have certainly brought it up a time or two. You, as a computer service professional have access to one of the greatest benefits Microsoft could offer. It’s called the Action Pack!

The Action Pack is a collection, updated quarterly, of almost all of Microsoft’s products. Not all, but most. And multiple licenses. How does ten (10) copies of Windows Vista Business sound? Or Small Business Server? Or ten (10) copies of Office Professional? All this for only $299 USD.

If you aren’t already registered as a Microsoft Partner, you need to go do that here. Once you are a partner, you are eligible to purchase the Action Pack. Here is a list of the benefits you receive:

Isn’t that incredible? Microsoft needs the professionals supporting their products to have working knowledge of everything they have to offer. It will help you promote and cross-promote their various products. It will also save your company thousands of dollars in licensing fees. This is by far one of the best values available to computer service professionals. Take advantage while it is still available!

-Zachary M. Morvik