If you are the IT leader of a large company with lots of locations, then you understand the challenges of trying to support the systems and equipment in every facility. Because most companies can not justify the cost of employing an IT engineer or technician at each office, their IT support staff must rely on one or more IT service providers to provide the on-site technical assistance needed to restore operations quickly at remote sites when their systems fail.

Unfortunately most IT leaders have had to learn the hard way that finding any local IT services company who can service your remote locations is not nearly as important as finding the right company to partner with.

So Tech Service Today polled a bunch of our large customers from the Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Property Management, and Healthcare industries and asked them what questions they have learned to ask potential IT service providers before they hire them, and what answers prompt red flags for them.  Here are their top four responses:

Questions to ask prospective IT Service Providers

Question:  Can you provide fast, professional technical service to all of our offices in North America?
❖ Wrong answer: “It depends what you need.” or “For the right price, anything is possible.” or “We can make it work for you.”
❖ Right answer (from TST): “Yes, with 20,000 technicians scattered all over the United States and Canada, we can typically have a technician arrive at any location within 4-hours or less.”


Question:  How many technicians do you have?
❖ Wrong answer: “Well, it’s difficult to provide an exact number because there are a lot of variables….blah, blah, blah.”
❖ Right answer (from TST): While we have worked with over 20,000 North American Technicians over the years, when one of those Technicians fails to perform to our customer’s or to TST’s standards, we immediately stop using them. Because of TST’s 2-point grading system (which involves a performance grading assigned by both TST personnel and our customers after every work order is completed), we only utilize tried and true, top-quality Technicians to service our clients.

Question:  What happens if I have a problem with one of your technicians?
❖ Wrong answer: “Well, you have to understand that (blah, blah, blah)…” or any refusal to directly answer the question.
❖ Right answer (from TST): “If you feel that a technician failed to perform the work you requested to your satisfaction, then TST will credit your invoice and you owe nothing. If you have a problem with the behavior of one of our Technicians, it will be dealt with immediately, and that Technician will never work for TST again."


Question:  What is your company’s pricing structure?
❖ Wrong answer: "It depends on what kind of technical service you need, and where your facility is located, and what time of day you need service."  (In other words, mysterious and complicated)
❖ Right answer (from TST):  "We charge you a flat hourly rate for all our services, regardless of when you need the work completed. So you pay the same hourly rate for work performed at any time of the day, and any day of the year - including weekends and holidays.  Plus, we only charge you for the time our Technician spends on-site at your facility, and we never charge travel fees, dispatch fees, expedite fees, or any other fees beyond our hourly rate."  (In other words, Transparent and simple pricing.) 
 

Conclusion

As an IT Leader, it is important to learn from those who have walked similar paths before you, and avoid making the same mistakes they made.  The tips offered here are just a few to help you avoid making some of the more common mistakes other IT leaders have made when selecting third-party IT service providers.   

For a more in-depth look at some of the pricing games that IT services companies will play in order to win your business, read our previous article:  Is HOURLY RATE a Reliable Way To Evaluate IT Service Providers?

To access the comprehensive collection of IT industry Best Practices that Tech Service Today has defined over the years - covering everything from getting your IT projects approved to successfully rolling out new technology to all your facilities - check out our webinar video library.  

Need help installing, troubleshooting, testing, documenting, or replacing your network cabling?  Call Tech Service Today for on-site technical services anywhere in North America - often in 4-hours or less.

Just call (800) 973-2022 (option 1), or Email us at Service@TechServiceToday.com