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There’s No Such Thing as a Stupid Question
There’s No Such Thing as a Stupid Question
…only stupid answers right?
How often do you stop yourself asking a question for fear of sounding silly or rude or nosey?
Ok, it might be sensible to hold some of the questions back in certain situations. But the one time you should ask anything and everything is when you’re looking for a new IT support partner (or any other outsourced service, for that matter).
When you’re trusting a large element of your business to another company, you want to be certain that you’re making the right decision in choosing them.
If you’re looking for a new IT support provider, these are some of the tricky questions we suggest you ask…
Do you specialise in an industry?
Do they have the right knowledge of your sector to be able to provide you with the right solutions? If they do specialise, how will they translate their service to your business? Will it be a good match? Are they used to working with businesses the same size as yours, or do they usually work with smaller or larger companies?
What is your retention rate?
Are they going to do what they say they’re going to do? Or do their clients soon become disillusioned and look for a better service elsewhere? What’s the main reason that clients leave them?
How much of your activity comes from fixing issues rather than preventing them?
We know things can’t always be anticipated – especially when it comes to IT problems. However, it’s important to choose an IT service partner who will work proactively to prevent as many issues as possible. If their work is primarily reactive, they’re missing some big steps in their service.
Who will be responsible for my account?
You want to know who you’re working with, and if they’re a good fit for your business. But it’s important to know if you’ll have a dedicated account manager, or if issues are simply passed to the person with the lowest workload at that particular time. A level of continuity when it comes to your IT support can mean that problems are resolved faster, simply because someone is familiar with your set-up.
What is the biggest disaster you’ve ever had?
Not a trick question! It can tell you a lot about the business to know how they dealt with a huge problem. Was it something they already had a procedure for? If not, have they created procedures in case something like that happens again? The biggest warning sign is a company that tells you they’ve never had a huge disaster – unless they’re brand new, that can’t be true.
The answers to these questions can really tell you a lot about a company. So, ask the difficult questions. Learn as much as you can about any new partner for your business. Because you want to make sure they’re a great fit for you.