Many small businesses started with IT Managed Services through a friend, a relative, or just the person top of mind the first time they realized they needed outside help. I talk to many small business owners who have been with ‘their guy’ for 10 or even 20 years.
Now, any business relationship that lasts for that long persists because the vendor is doing many things right – and nothing so wrong that switching becomes a serious thought. The vendor is providing exactly what just about every small business owner wants: invisible service and maintenance that ensures ‘things just work’.
The foundation here is trust. He probably isn’t ‘your guy’ because you’ve meticulously shopped to make sure you’re getting the best price to the nickel, or because you believe he’s the fastest and most knowledgeable computer consultant to ever walk the Earth. It’s because you know, either from personal experience or a friend, that there’s a lot of bad MSPs out there. And the truth is, you’re right. The industry has made leaps and bounds, but there’s still many fly-by-night shops out there and it can be very difficult to evaluate them as a customer. That’s one reason why switching can be scary.
The trouble is, this can become a trap. If you never shop around, how can you be sure you’re still getting a good deal? If you’re afraid to look at another vendor because you don’t trust them, how can you ever establish enough trust to switch, especially if things start going wrong? How can you even evaluate whether or not you’re getting good service?
That’s why it’s important that you have some criteria that works for you to help you evaluate your vendor. Whether that’s response time, an outside opinion of your security, or some other performance benchmark, it’s important to have a standard.
Any time the outcome is more important than the relationship, there’s an applicable saying: Trust, But Verify. The outcome here is the success of your business, so even if you trust ‘your guy’ – have a standard to verify!
You might wonder, ‘would you really want your own clients to take that advice?’, and the answer is yes. At Certified CIO, we take pride in being ahead of the curve, whether that’s in cybersecurity, automation or AI tools. We provide our clients with the most complete service offering on the market, and that’s why they’ve trusted us since 1999!
If you’d like a second opinion on your IT situation or want help designing your own standard, feel free to contact us here for a free consultation.
