Chris Pirillo » technician

How to be Successful With Computer Repair

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:50:57 +0000

How to be Successful With Computer Repair

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At one point, I wanted to be a computer repair person. It didn’t really pan out. After a summer of delivering pizzas, I realized I didn’t want to enter people’s homes on a regular basis. I really love the work I’m doing online, helping all of you for free via my blog and the live calls. Jeremy is a community member who happens to be a computer repair person. He sent in his top six list of tips to help you become successful in this venture.

Don’t cut corners. Do the best job possible fixing your potential clients’ computers. Remember if you’re doing it yourself you have to market superior quality. Selling cheap components or cutting corners on repairs will lead to you never getting any repeat business. Be the best!
Dress professionally. Hey, people are paying you a lot of money to fix their computers and you had better look professional even if you’re a newbie. Speak with confidence, and dress for success. Perception is reality and, believe me, handing your neighbor a $120 bill wearing a hoodie and ripped jeans gets a very different response as opposed to handing them the very same bill wearing a nice pair of slacks and at least a dress shirt (however, I still recommend a tie). If you don’t know how to tie a tie, learn like I did: on the Web (or ask your dad).
Go above and beyond. Don’t just do the bare minimum. If they asked you to replace a CD-ROM or something, give their hard drive a virus scan. Grab a can of compressed air and clean out their computer from dust. Check their fans, and so on. Providing these value-added services really makes people happy. (Especially when you tell them right as you hand them the bill.) Think of it this way: people go to those quick lube oil change places not just because they are quick but because of all the extra things they do, like check your tire pressure and air cleaner and everything. The point is helping them out! (A lot of times you can generate some extra cash for yourself by recommending simple system upgrades as well)
Don’t overbill. Regardless of the situation, have some ethics — I don’t care if you’re fixing Oprah’s computer! Bill her the same as you would anyone else. Its just fair, and good business. The key is having a consistent revenue stream rather than a one time big hit. Trust me, it is way more profitable. Eventually, customers will figure out that you’re overbilling; just remember why they likely contacted you in the first place — to save some money!
Do leave business cards and a way to get ahold of you. Market yourself! If you’re anything like I was ten years ago, high schools kid with little to no money I doubt you’re looking to spend $500-1000 per month advertising in the local yellow pages. You must, however, fork over the cash to get some nice business cards printed, and leave a bunch of them with each client you service. When I got started I just used OfficeMax and paid like $50 for a couple thousand cards — believe me, the return on investment is huge. Also, do have a Web site. They are very inexpensive to operate, and you can project a lot more professionalism with a nice Web site and nice business cards. Even if you are working from your bedroom, the garage, or your basement, your customers never have to know with a nice Web site outlining all the services you provide. (I always used to offer a “free pick up and delivery” as a great way to avoid the question of “where are you located?”)
Stick with what you know. Whatever it is, master it and then sell it, in that order. Taking on a job you cannot complete at a high level is business suicide and can lead to all sorts of problems you never want to deal with. If your specialty is PC repair, do that. If it’s networking, then do that — either way, don’t bite off more than you can chew. it’s always better to be honest and turn away a job you cant handle. It doesn’t mean they won’t maybe use you for something else. Take on a job you can’t do, and you’ll never see them or anyone they know again.

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How to be Successful With Computer Repair

Being the Perfect Techie

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:13:45 +0000

Being the Perfect Techie

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Are you a local Computer Technician? Being in business for yourself in this area can be difficult… but it can also be very rewarding. Here are some excellent tips to help you be the best Techie you can be.

Always do your best possible and through job on the computers you repair. The quality of the job will speak to others on the quality of your workmanship and you should be striving for a high standard of repair completion.
Never under any circumstances take other peoples hardware. They paid for their hardware and no matter how much an “idiot” you may the customer is, they do not deserve to be screwed over by the people they trust to fix the PC they bought and the HARDWARE that CAME WITH the PC. Also never ever steal or use someone else’s cd-keys. Windows XP/Vista cd-keys are valuable commodities these days because of the crack-down on piracy. In the wrong hands, cd-key information will make a customers PC useless because the key itself was activated on a different machine. True OEM cd-keys are far less useful because they are tied into that particular manufacturer, more-so with Vista but this doesn’t mean the retail keys are worthless. This goes for other software as well, so just don’t steal software either.
Always ask the customer what he/she wants done with the computer. Do not exceed the requests of the customer, they did not ask you to do extras and you certainly wont be paid for it. Also if your “extras” screw up the OS in anyway you’ve just lost yourself a future customer and possible customer’s depending on the person whose PC you screwed up. Keep with standard Windows, no tweaks.
Never ever insult the intelligence of the customer and always be polite and honest with the customer. People can tell normally when your feeding them a line and its just not worth it when it comes to PC repair.
Reputation is everything. As a local tech, word of mouth is your friend. If you do a very bad job then the word will get out and you will never get a PC repair job in that area again. Make sure you take all precautions with all the systems you fix and make sure you ALWAYS do the best possible job you can when repairing PC’s. Then when the word gets out that you do a high-quality job then you will get more jobs because people trust word of mouth.

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Being the Perfect Techie

Find Local Computer Repair

Chris Pirillo — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:41:31 +0000

Find Local Computer Repair

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When needing your computer fixed, you have two options: a small local repairman, or a large store-based repair technician. Which is better? Who should you trust? This video should answer those questions for you.

When hiring a local tech, find out from friends & family about their reputation. If you can, speak to any of their former customers. This allows you to find out if they do a good job in respect to quality, as well as make sure there are no complaints about service.
Local Vs In-Store – Peace of mind will always be found at the In-store repair because these people are paid to fix your PC, and they could lose their job if they remove and swap out hardware. To be honest, most if not all techs are not willing to put their job on the line for a component.
Prices will always be better with local techs. Most technicians that run locally from their home will usually have a set amount of money they are expecting to be paid. This wont change depending on the size of the job or the time scale. You need to work out for yourself if your willing to pay the set fee.
Always get a second opinion. If one tech says it’s hardware and you need to repair it NOW… don’t jump the gun and pay up. Seek out friends if possible with PC Repair skills and ask them to look at the PC themselves. Also, ask them if what the technician says is possibly false. Do not be afraid to challenge the feeling of authority you can get from most technicians. Some will even be insulted, however this is nothing to do with ego, its to do with the repair of your PC and you need to take precautions.
Try to never to leave the local technician alone with your PC unless absolutely necessary. This will make sure they cannot remove parts for no real reason. This also gives you time to speak to the technician and find out more about your system, what it’s capable of and what you can do to prevent problem arising in future. Nearly all good techs will be happy to give you advice.

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Find Local Computer Repair