Hi tfg13,
I live in wpb, Fl. Here it is ALL service oriented and low-balling is a common practice in the fields that I work in. Recently I spent some money to advertise in the local "service guide" of the palm beach post newspaper, 3 days later another person started their ad with "Any pc service call $40". I charge $75 an hour. I don't believe in low balling. My first 5 calls from the ad came in and the potential customers were put-off by my service call price. Didn't hurt my feelings none, cause they are not the ones I want as customers...(people looking for the lowest price). I want the customers who expect and desire quality service, who know the difference between a hobbyist and an expert.
I did get a call from a small businessman. He owns a very profitable business, has 1 server, 5 machines, 3 printers, no laptops. He purchased a HP server and doesn't have a clue what a server is for. The initial call from this customer was neat. He called, we set up a time to meet him, we met and evaluated his needs. We is my brother in law and I. We emailed him our proposal. No response for 1 week...then...ta da last night he calls and says he would like to do business! Yes! So, we start servicing his network on Saturday. Nice small, simple network for me to learn (don't wince) with. Brother in law at my side, Network+ studying going on in my head = real learning! I am an expert when it comes to pc repair, software troubleshooting. What is new for me is Enterprise software..i.e. our customer uses QuickBooks for financials, yet does not use his $3000 server to hold the database. Yes, it's a $3000 HP with a Raid5. Anyway, on the initial visit, I noticed: "free AVG software installed (I don't recommend), Machines were crawling (I can clean up and speed up), Printers connected locally, I can network them, ect...You can't tell that I am excited, can you? ;-)
The businesses are where the steady income is, imho.
Let me tell you how the 3rd Home user call went: She called and wanted someone to set up her newly arrived bellsouth dsl modem and needed someone to "show her around" on the internet. lol After getting her location and an appointment time, she says, "how much"?, I told her and she said, "Oh my, I don't think it's worth $75, I think it's worth $50" this is vertbatim mind you...are you laughing yet?!
I told her that after she shops around and noone shows up to feel free to call me again. No hard feelings in business for me.
My brother in law used to work for the busiest and most respected Networking service company in Palm beach county florida. He is (imho) a helluva troubleshooter! I've seen him solve problems that the owners of the company and their eldest/best engineer couldn't solve. I've seen them second guess my brother in law, only to see at the end that "he was right" in his course of action to solve the problem correctly. This service company isn't interested in the integrity of the customers data, service level agreements, keeping techs long term or new technology. 90% of their customers are law firms, for a reason. Law firms are trying to go paperless, love wireless, palms, and don't mind paying for good service. Some lawfirms spend more than $40000 a year for service and this is "on need basis" instead of having a service level agreement. Service companies are alot like lawfirms, they're concerned with billable hours. They pay mcse guys/gals $18/hr and bill $105/hr They like to see 30 billable hours a week. It's good for the law firms and good for the service company, not good for the guys/gals trying to get ahead. These companies are not proactive and don't encourage teamwork. I know business is war first hand, I work for myself, but not in the technology field, yet. Politics and strategy are a way of life in business.
I earn a good living doing what I do, but it's 70% physical work. I'm a fast and smart worker which is how I am able to earn a good living. But fast will slow down with age..lol
My father lives in the daytona beach fl area. He tells me there isn't anyone who "knows their _ss from a hole-in-the-ground about computers" there. I hear this similar response from alot of places. I've spoke with realtors in cental florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Ga. I surmise that two or three things is going on. Either the customers are nincapoops who should be kept away from the system, the techs are incompetent or the techs are ripping them for multiple service calls. This is why I am considering the service level agreement: I make money and the customer is happier.
tfg13 I hope you get another job soon. Have you considered hiring on "in house" at a law firm? You can do it and earn $45000 plus. It is easy to show your value, compare the costs of service they presently pay, the downtime, wait time TO having "You" on-call in house working proactively preventing problems before they occur. Lawyers hate it when they can't access thier email!
Thanks for the tip regarding the medical field.
p.s. stay away from the realtors, most but not all, don't pay their bills, when they do they are late. Horrible business relationships.
Cheers and may we all increase our Ram and avoid IRQ conflicts!
Getmikee
