Many times we get calls from people who are finally calling us “after trying everything else”. Look, we get it – like you, we try to be conscious of the money we spend and when we spend it – and when faced with having to pay for technical support, all of us want to think that we can fix something on our own.
But, recently we’ve noticed an uptick in these types of calls and without question, we’ve seen that the fix that we ultimately have to put in place often costs more than if we have been called for support in the first place. So what is this post all about? This is not just a shameless plug to call Affinity Consulting for technical support, it hopefully contains some points that will help you find a trusted partner who can make your life easier and help your business to run more smoothly.
In order to feel comfortable calling support the minute you encounter a technology-based issue, the first step should be to find a vendor you can trust. Research an IT company's expertise and experience. Talk with the team who you will be working with: determine if you communicate well, have a good rapport with their team and understand their style to problem solving. And of course, consider price. Many companies that provide technical support will offer some sort of premium package for service and support. At Affinity, we provide you with an option to implement our Managed Services product. Based on the technology that you wish to support, we charge a monthly fee and in return we proactively monitor your technology for failure or need of maintenance. Managed Services at Affinity also includes unlimited support for the hardware and the applications you use. Whether you can’t get your printer to work or aren’t sure how to produce a bill from your legal time/billing and accounting software – it’s covered. Many companies will have different “flavors” of support – if you want to have unlimited support, or simply not worry about the charge for every single call, look into more comprehensive packages.
Once you have a vendor – the rest is easy – use them. You may feel silly calling about how to get your fax machine operational but that is what technical support groups are for – to help you figure out the right way to solve a problem quickly.
Ultimately, when you are willing to rely on technical experts to help you when you encounter a problem, this saves you time, frustration and ultimately money. It may seem daunting to pay for a support call, but when you consider the lost billable time spent when you or your team tries to fix a problem, it’s worth it. We also have found that your tech support charge will be less when we are able to catch the problem the minute it starts versus trying to unravel a series of unsuccessful actions.
