5 Difficult Questions to Ask an IT Support Company
your ready to outsource your IT?
Are you releasing just how precious time is when it comes to running a business? Why not delegate tasks and jobs to others in order to get back to what you do best in your business? By outsourcing your IT department to an IT support company, you will be saving loads of time as well as gaining trusted hands to take care of any IT issues you may have.
Do you already outsource your IT? If you’re unhappy with the service provided, due to undelivered promises, then it’s time to switch companies. When it comes to looking for an external IT support company, you will want to ask some questions.
How confident are you at asking those all-important questions? Follow our handy guide below to the 5 most important questions we believe YOU should be asking an IT support company.
1. “Who will be responsible for looking after me, day to day?”
We all know how important it is to build up strong and trusting relationships, especially when it comes to business. That is why you need to find out who you will be talking to each call; will it be potluck? Or will you be assigned an account manager?
Find out how they assign an account manager, as you want to ensure whoever you get is a great skill match to your particular businesses’ needs, such as being knowledgeable with the equipment you use.
Consistency is key.
When you have the same person assigned to your business, you can build on that trusting business relationship. They would know the context and history to any IT queries, so are able to get to that resolution quickly, rather than you having to explain it thirty times in a row to different people.
Find out whether the same person will be responsible for any site visits too. Again, if you have separate people delegated, it can just get confusing and frustrating for you.
2. “Do you specialise in one sector?”
IT support companies may work across different sectors; however, the bulk of their work may focus on one sector in particular.
Why is this important? It’s important to know how they will translate one sector’s needs to another. Will they be able to understand your unique business needs?
If an IT support company is familiar in working with larger organisations, how will they adapt to your small business? Or vice versa? Do they tailor their services and software to suit the needs of each sector and type of business?
Another question to ask, is whether one client makes up over 50% of their business. If that client was to drop the IT support company, you wouldn’t want them to go under leaving you without IT support. How does the support company prioritise businesses’ needs if a couple of clients ran into trouble at the same time?
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3. “What’s your customer retention rate?”
By looking at retention rates, you can get a real sense of how the IT support company treat their clients. If they deliver promises, communicate well and is a fair price, then customers are unlikely to leave. However, if their retention rate is low, this may ring alarm bells. Have a look at recommendations, as often it can be that a company works on quality service over supplying to several clients.
Economic challenges may occur within all businesses, so if you find the retention is low, ask them why? They should be able to give a reasonable explanation.
4. “How much of your revenue comes from fixing problems as opposed to anticipating them?”
Prevention is better than a cure. There are plenty of things an IT support company can put into place in order to reduce the risks of a disaster happening in your network. This could include; updates, regular back-ups and 24-hour monitoring. If you have great IT support, often you won’t even know about the problems as they will be fixed before you’re aware there was an issue.
Naturally there will be times when technology fails, but it’s still important to put prevention in place. If your IT support company is making a lot of money on fixing problems, it means they haven’t spent enough time focused on preventative measures. This will end up costing your business far more.
5. “What’s the worst IT disaster you’ve ever had to deal with?”
The worst answer here would be that they’ve never had one; this would imply that they are not being completely honest. Remember, trust is incredibly important in a working relationship.
Those that have worked in IT for a while would have had some sort of disaster. It’s important to learn why and how they happened and how this was resolved.
Did they have a plan of action, or something in place beforehand? Find out what they would do if it were to happen again. How long did it take to resolve the disaster?
This question enables you to find out if they are the type of IT support company you’d like to work with. If they are honest, and have learnt from disasters, it shows they care and are committed to giving that IT support. If they are cagey, it’s a red flag.
Picking a new IT Support Company is one of the most important decisions you can make
As you can see, there is so much you can learn about an IT support company from the questions you ask. It’s really important to find the right company to suit your business’ needs. Make sure that whoever you choose is one that you are able to trust your most valuable assets too. Your IT support company should be one that puts you at ease with their trusted hands, rather than one that costs you a fortune and potentially loses you clients.
If you need a new IT support company and would like to ask us these questions, then please do get in touch today.
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0141 255 1617
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