Ring! Ring!

Me: I.T. Depar…. 

Caller: Hey, Dan?  This is Terry. 

Me: Hello, Terry.   What can I do for you, today? 

Terry: My wife just bought a new computer.  From Amazon.  It comes with McAfee Security or something like that.  Do we even NEED an internet security tool? 

Me: Will that machine be accessing the Internet? 

Terry:  Well … yeah.  Of course.  

Me:  OK.  I think you just answered your own question, Terry. 

Terry:  But … it’s expensive!   And it really does nothing, right? 

Me:  Terry … do you have a spare tire in the trunk of your car? 

Terry: Well, yeah.  Of course. 

Me: And how much does a tire and rim cost? 

Terry:  Probably $100 dollars for those little donuts …  

Me:   And what does it do? 

Terry: OK, OK.  I get it.  It’s there when I need it.  And I may never need it. 

Me:  Anti-virus software, anti-malware software, and so many others are not NEEDED to surf the internet.  But they are damned useful against the jerks who publish and send out bug and hacks in an effort to steal from you or breaking your system. 

Terry: So … which one do I need?    

Me:  As a business person, the ‘right’ answer for me is ‘the one I resell’.    But that might not be the right answer for you.  It depends, largely upon your wife, her surfing habits, and so on.  Windows comes with a decent security suite.  It’s not perfect.  None of them are.  McAfee, Norton / Symantec, AVG, Avast, Panda, Kaspersky … they all have their pros and cons. 

Terry: What do YOU use? 

Me: Because I have such sensitive information on my systems, and because my systems connect to so many client systems with an even wider ranger of sensitive data … I have recently switched to BitDefender.  It works well for my needs and the needs of most of my clients.  It also fits a price point for businesses such as yours and mine .. ie, very small. 

Terry: Is that what is on my systems? 

Me: I don’t think so.  I have not installed it on your systems, because it requires a monthly subscription.   And I know you don’t like monthly subscriptions. 

Terry: Then what am I running for security? 

Me: I don’t know, Terry.  I’ve not looked at all your systems to identify this.  You only call me to fix things that are broken.  Not to provide on-going maintenance that helps prevent things from breaking. 

Terry: Is that the managed thing you tried to sell me a few years ago? 

Me: Yes. 

Terry: But it’s so expensive! 

Me:  I understand.  And it’s even more expensive to NOT perform maintenance.   The last time you called me in was to fix Cindy’s system.  Her hard drive was going bad and causing her system to corrupt and crash the system.  With proper monitoring and maintenance, that could have been caught, and an repair scheduled for like a Saturday, so you did not lose her productivity.  Especially when she was supposed to cut payroll checks the next day. 

Terry: Yeah. I got your report on that call. 

Me: So … ? 

Terry: I’m still not ready to do that, Dan.   But I get it.   

Me: OK.  You get it. So .. back to security software …  

Terry: Yeah.  Back to that.  It’s my wife’s machine.  Our son says to use the free software. He says it works just as well. 

Me: OK. Some of them work fair.   But tell me, Terry, is it a good business model to give something away for free that does not expire pushing someone to buy or payback the costs in some fashion? 

Terry: I don’t understand. 

Me: Software … security software …  it’s ‘free’.  It needs constant updates to remain relevant and useful.  So … how does Avast or AVG make money off their tools that do not expire.   How do they make back their investment? 

Terry: Well, by volume, I guess.  Enough people will subscribe, after installing, to get the full suite. 

Me: So … the car is free and when you buy it, you will get the fourth wheel? 

Terry: Oh.   I had not thought about that.  They might keep part of it out.   What might they keep out? 

Me: They might provide anti-virus, but not the anti-spyware piece?   That is one way.  Others do exactly that, they spy on you, collecting your browsing habits and directing advertising to you that someone paid them to present to you. 

Terry: But … that’s not right! 

Me: Do you watch TV?   Those programs you watch may be free.  But they are paid for by the networks who air them.  The networks make money off of the advertising they show every 8 to 12 minutes of a 30 minute program.  The more popular the show, the more they can charge for commercial time.  Like during the Super Bowl … a 30 second commercial spot can cost 10’s of millions of dollars, because of the number of people expected to be watching the event.   

Terry: So … What?   The free anti-virus will push advertising to me?  And they get paid to do that? 

Me: Yes, Terry.  A LOT of spyware works that way.  Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and others do too.  That is how these companies make money without charging membership fees.   Some sites do offer advertising free / reduced membership levels.   But they STILL track your actions on their site.   

Terry: That’s wrong!   

Me: Not really.  It’s an exchange.   Look at it this way … using Google.  Every Friday afternoon, you search Google for food delivery to your house.  Because of other forms and sites you have visited and searched for, Google knows where you are and that you like Pizza on Friday nights.  So .. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Google will push to you different pizza ads in your internet activities.   They get paid for putting that ad in your face.  And they get paid more when you click on an ad.  They have to pay for the servers, the internet access for those servers, the programming that makes searches work, etc.  They give that service to you, for ‘free’.  In reality, you pay for it, by giving up a little bit of information about yourself.    Facebook does that.  Twitter does that.  LinkedIn, all of them do it.   Because it how they make THEIR money. 

Terry:  Capitalism at work, huh? 

Me: Something like that. 

Terry: Is that why social media shut down that competitor with the election? 

Me: More like that is HOW social media companies, the ‘big tech’ companies, were able to send targeting advertising and not equally support candidates and platforms their corporate decision makers disagreed with.  There are A LOT of laws involved with what they did and should or should not have been able to do.  But that is how technology and our private information is used in politics.  An anti-virus software package is not likely to fix those issues.   

Terry: Right … anti-virus software.   So … which should I use? 

Me: Terry … You should use the one I resell.   But you won’t.  You believe it is too expensive. 

Terry:  Well … it is!  I can go to Walmart and get something there for a lot less. 

Me: Yes, you can.  And you can legitimately use it on your wife’s home system. 

Terry: Just the home system? 

Me: It depends upon the license.  Some licenses are restricted to ‘residential’ or ‘non-commercial’ use only.  Just like that Windows 10 Home system you have in the office.  The one you bought from Walmart, that Adam uses?  Windows 10 Home is NOT for business use.  Which is why Adam can not properly log into the server and network.  We have to do all those work-arounds to get him access to resources.  You need to upgrade that machine to Windows 10 Pro if you are going to continue to use it in the office.   We have discussed that, before.  

Terry: Damn it, Dan!   Everyone wants money from me.   You computer people suck, you know that, don’t you? 

Me: Terry … What is it you do, again?  How much do you charge? What do your clients walk away with?  

Terry: Dan I like you.  You take the time to explain things. And you do it without the sales pitch being in my face.  It’s always there, just under the surface.  But you give me details to make decisions with.  And you are not as expensive as other techs.  But you are still expensive … 

Me: At the same time I am not as expensive as some, I also am more expensive than others you have used, and do not call back.   Terry, it takes TIME to answer these questions of yours.  It takes TIME to constantly be learning about new technologies, tools, and best practices as things change.  It takes TIME to be constantly on top of my industry to help you best I can, every time you call.  TIME I might be billing someone else.   I would not be investing this time with you, if I did not think you a) NEEDED the help and b) were worth the investment.    And to be honest with you, Terry … November, December, January, and so far for February … You have called me for emergency services that would have been prevented with proper maintenance and monitoring.  And if you were subscribed to those services, you would have saved money between what it cost to have me fix the issues AND the lost productivity of your users.   It REALLY is time for you to run the numbers, yourself.  I don’t know what you pay your staff, but I know that at an average of $12 per hour, you lost a lot more money than what my services cost to prevent those unexpected outages. 

Terry: It’s just not in my budget, Dan. 

Me: OK, Terry.  But are these emergency service calls in your budget? 

Terry: <sigh>  No, not really.   Send me a new proposal?   And include my wife’s home computer? 

Me: I will need to come in and do an audit of your systems, Terry. Some things will have to be fixed, BEFORE I can put you under contract. Like Adam’s system will have to be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro.  Also, do you want me to apply the full support and maintenance solution to your wife’s PC or just the minimum to keep it current on updates, security, and such? 

Terry: It’s a new machine, and it won’t make money for me, so just the minimum to keep it protected? 

Me: OK.  I can do that, Terry. 

Terry: Will that mean she gets the same security tools as in the office? 

Me: Yes. 

Terry: and how quickly can you get us on the contract? 

Me: I will be by, this afternoon to look over your network in the office and provide a proposal.  I will create a list of the things that need to be addressed to get to minimum supportable level.  And I will put them on a timeline of when they must be done to spread out the costs over several months, so you don’t have a big bill up front. 

Terry: Thanks, Dan.  That would make a big difference.   

Me: OK, Terry.  I will be by, this afternoon.  Late, so as to minimize disruption to your staff. Though I will need to chat with each one.   

Terry: Some leave at 3.  Others at 7.  I work two over lapping shifts, here. 

Me: I know.  Those I miss, just give me a bit of support on the e-mail I will send them.  Basically, it’s just a few questions about HOW they work and what their primary gripes are about their system.  Some of those we can probably fix with tweaks to how they do things or software they use.  Others may require an upgrade to their system or some other system.  Terry … This is a team effort to get your systems and your business working together with the same goal.   Success.  

Terry: Do you really think you can help me make more profit? 

Me: It is possible, Terry.  Then again, even if I can not directly contribute positively to your bottom line, I KNOW I can help your staff increase efficiency, with your support.   That should help the bottom line.  And maybe improve your staff satisfaction with the job.   Happy staff helps make happier customers.   Isn’t that what the sign in your office says? 

Terry: OK. Dan.   One more question.   What if you do all this audit and I choose NOT to subscribe? 

Me: Then you will be ‘fired’.  I’m not going to bill you for the audit, Terry.  Normally, I would.  Maybe I should.  The audits start at $500 and covers networks up to ten systems.  Then more is added for each system.  But to be honest, Terry … I have invested a lot in helping you, over the last 4 years.  And if you do not see the value in what I’m bringing, after the initial audit … then we won’t have much to work forward together on.   

Terry: Fire me? 

Me: Yes. Terry.   Like you, I’m in business to make money.   This call has gone on for over an hour.  And this is not the first time we have had this kind of call.  Will your doctor or attorney have an educational call like this with you, and not bill for their time? 

Terry: But you are not a doctor or an attorney! 

Me: No. I’m not.   But I am a skilled professional services provider.  Just like a doctor.   Just like an attorney.  Just like you.   Would YOU invest this kind of time to help and guide one of YOUR customers?     And then not find a way to make money back on that time? 

Terry: OK, OK.  I see your point.  You think I have been abusing you.  Maybe I have been. 

Me:   Do you still want me to do the audit and build a proposal for your network? 

Terry: Yes.   Please come, this afternoon.  I want to see how and where you think you can save me money and make things smoother, here. 

Me:  Ok, I will see you about 4:30.   

Terry: Dan? If you do fire me for not buying your package … Will we still be friends? 

Me: Yes, Terry.  We will be.  I will allow business to grow from friendship.  I will not allow business to tear down a friendship.  The only thing will change between us, friend, is that we won’t discuss business.  No more “how do I” or “What do I need to … “discussions.  Or if we do have them, they will be very high level and not very specific.   And I will still continue to make referrals, to your business, when I come across a need from another friend, customer, client, or prospect. 

Lesson Learned

Dan believes in helping and educating his clients that become friends, and friends that become clients, so they not only understand their technology needs but appreciate the value his managed services provide.

A managed services plan is like an insurance plan for your small business. You think it’s a wasted expenditure until a need presents itself. Then you’re glad you allocated for the investment. Can you and your business afford to be down for an hour because your free security program had a vulnerability not being monitored? What about for an afternoon? A day? How much is that peace of mind worth to you, to know that you have a specialist looking out for you and your business’ best interest?

– Shawna