Not even the most optimistic economist in the country is predicting anything but hard times over the next few months. Small business owners are trying to figure out what to do to survive, if not thrive, during the days ahead. As a small business owner, you should look to all of your advisors for ideas on ways to get by with less. Your accountant can help with tax avoidance or delay ideas. Your banker (yes, he should be helping too) can offer ideas about refinancing lines of credit or other current debt. Your attorney may have ways to help tighten up collecting thru better contract language.

But what should your IT support services provider be doing to help out? All kinds of things. Now is the time to turn to your computer outsourcing company and ask how they can help you succeed. They ought to have a few good answers too. If they are going to really help, they'll start with a few good questions. For instance, are you or your customers harder hit by the recession? Are there markets that you can enter that will do better in these times? Where do you stand relative to your competitors in financial strength?

You see, the answers guide the discussion toward doing things to get more customers like you have, or seeking different customers, or looking for bargain opportunities to acquire competitors, or even preparing yourself to look acquireable. Each of these directions leads to different IT strategies. Those strategies vary from doing as little as possible and just keeping everything in its best running condition to launching some aggressive Internet presence activities to implementing internal system improvements. One thing is for sure: Your business computer support partner should have some ideas to toss on the table as you consider your options. Share your position and plans with him and ask him what ways he sees to help.

While we haven't officially closed the books on 2008, it's already clear that it will have been a good year for the Pertingo^® computer support business of Port-to-Port Consulting. I often have mixed feelings about our success during tough economic times. While other Indianapolis area businesses are trying to figure out how to cut back in order to survive, we're trying to hire talented and skilled people to join our IT support services team. Our difficulty in hiring is related to our success in tough times.

If you're a small business owner and you're looking at your staff to determine who has to get cut, it doesn't take long for your eyes to fall on the computer support guy. You know how everyone else on the staff makes money (or saves money) for your business, but you aren't quite sure what your computer guy does exactly. Part of this is because business computer support is not a core function of your organization. A bigger part is that your guy has probably grown lazy over the years and he really isn't doing much except keeping the rest of the staff in fear that he can make their lives at work miserable if they don't treat him nicely.

I know it's true because I've gotten so many phone calls from people who literally whisper in fear that their computer guy might overhear. They want to know if I believe they need to have a full time computer person in their company of 30 or 40 or even 50 people. I generally tell them that depends on how their organization operates: how critical their IT system is the them; and how well it's been designed and maintained. After a bit more discussion, they invite me in to see their system, usually at a time when they're sure their guy will be out of the office. I go, and most often, I find that they don't need a full time guy if they just invest a little in upgrading and re-configuring their system. They are relieved to hear it and set about the task of replacing their guy with Port-to-Port's Pertingo^® service.

Then the other shoe drops. The owner will come to me and say something like, "Joe has been with the company for a long time. Surely you can use a good man like him on your staff." I don't often enjoy this conversation because I have to tell them that if Joe were any good at his job, he would have quit it long ago to seek a real challenge in the industry. My guys do every day the kinds of things that Joe only does once every couple of years. He probably convinces you to hire an outside computer consulting company for that. If Joe was good, he would already have applied for work with us.

Most of my Indianapolis computer consulting prospects take this news in one of two ways. They either get really mad that Joe has been dead weight on their business for so long and can't wait to get rid of him, or they get mad at me for insinuating that Joe was somehow fooling them into believing that his work was more important than it really was. In one case I get a new client. In the other, I apologize and walk away.

The reality is that very few small businesses need to have a full time computer consultant unless their business is directly related to technology. Yes, all of our businesses rely heavily on technology. Having an on-staff Help Desk guy is a false sense of security. No one person can keep up with all of the things that need to be managed on a typical computer network. The time has come to consider how you spend those IT dollars. Computer outsourcing is the norm for larger businesses. It should be the norm for your business too.

Trust is a common theme that comes up when I write about the relationship between a computer network consulting company and its customers. I mention it often because it is the most important element in the success of that relationship. The same is true for other professional relationships we have like doctors, lawyers, accountants, and coaches. A recent malware attack led me to remind of this again.

According to Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, hackers figured out how to take advantage of the URL redirector function of some popular web sites including Microsoft.com and IRS.gov to send people to malicious sites. These people were looking for downloads to help them protect their systems from just such malicious activity. Port-to-Port Consulting's Pertingo(r) computer consulting clients can avoid these kinds of problems by trusting that we, their IT support services company, have taken care to protect their systems. They also know that because of the fixed fee relationship between us, a mistake in this area will cost us time and money to repair.

When people don't trust that their computer outsourcing company has their best interest at heart, they start searching for good advice from other sources. That search often leads, on the Internet, to bad results. It's like when your kids listen to their misbehaving friends instead of the good advice you give them.

So if you find yourself chasing online solutions to threats and problems instead of seeking your business computer support provider, you should perhaps seek a new provider. Find one you can trust and your life will be better.

A recent study conducted at DePaul, Lehigh, and Rutgers Universities found that people are more prone to lie in email than they are in written communication. When subjects were asked to share an amount of money with another person, they lied about the total amount 64 percent of the time when telling their partner in writing, but the rate of lying went to an amazing 92 percent of the time when the communication happened via email. Email is one of the most critical of my Indianapolis computer consulting customers' IT support services. It's number one or two on their lists of capabilities needed to recover first after a disaster. Imagine what it means to know that the likelihood that your correspondent is lying to you goes up when the method of communication changes.

The researchers who conducted the study believe the difference is because the accepted social rules of email have not yet been established. Although, it is clear that email is much less formal than other written forms of communication. Apparently, that lack of formality leads to a reduction in veracity as well.

Even more interesting is the impact that this can have in future litigation. Now that email has become the favored source of damning information thru the legal discovery process, how will knowledge that people tend to lie more in email than other forms play into the introduction of this material in court?

Technology moves extremely fast. Things are constantly changing. We're all becoming ADD. Our poor caveman brains are having a hard time adapting to all the new stuff. Perhaps we should all slow down just a bit. One things for sure, when the information you seek is important to you, you should start asking people to "put it in writing."

I was in a car accident on Tuesday. I was just driving along when suddenly I heard a loud noise. It took a moment for me to realize the noise was the sound of another vehicle slamming into my car. I made the connection when I became aware that my car was spinning in the street. No one was hurt but my car was severely damaged. The other driver had run a red light.

No one who witnessed the accident stopped to offer assistance or to provide their version of what happened. I was apprehensive that the other driver would claim that I ran the light and, with no other witnesses, we'd have a long drawn out dispute. He admitted fault and we're well on the way to resolution.

The incident made me think about the many occasions we have in the course of our computer network consulting business to bend the truth, exagerate, or flat out lie to our customers. We usually know more than they do on the topic. It's the reason they use us for their computer outsourcing. We've learned over the years that those are character making opportunities. We tell our customers the straight truth, whether it's good for us or not. A good example comes from a recent email I got from one of our not-for-profit customers for whom we provide IT support services. He had asked me what it would cost for us to build a new website for him. He didn't know that I was in the middle of a decision about bringing on a full time web developer, but I knew that his project would provide the startup work to make the decision. I also knew that a local school was looking for a not-for-profit organization that needed a new website to use as a class project. I directed him to the school.

Michael wrote me back saying how much he appreciated that I would "take money out of my pocket" to help him. That's the value of honesty in computer outsourcing. Michael knows that he can trust my recommendations because they are made with his interests in mind, even when they don't align with my short term interests.

I attended the Dealmaker Media Under the Radar conference yesterday. This is a speed dating style conference where companies that are doing new things in Information Technology get six minutes to pitch their company before a room full of potential investors and business partners. Chip Heath, co-author of "Made to Stick," did a brief presentation on the secret to pitching in a short time. It's amazing how much one can present in only a minute. Unfortunately, one cannot pitch everything in one minute. Heath's advice: Pitch the single most important thing and leave the audience with questions that will lead to future conversations.

In thinking about that advice, I considered what is the single most important thing that a good business computer support company should do for its customers. My conclusion surprised me. Your computer network consulting company should make you more money by increasing your revenue. I can list a dozen things that your IT support service provider should do, but the single defining element is that we, like all of your other employees, should work to make your business more profitable. If we aren't doing that, then we aren't working hard enough.

Given that as the main objective changes the way that my Indianapolis computer consulting company views its relationship with customers. Clearly keeping the computer network running is important, but it doesn't begin to impact profitability. The place where we add value is by taking our knowledge of technology and combining it with your understanding of your business and finding the sweet spot where they fit together. That's why we're always asking questions that don't seem to directly apply to the activities of your computer system. We're looking for those places of most potential. Share your goals and objectives with us so we can do our part to make you more successful.

One of the things my Indianapolis computer services company tries to do with our small business customers is to help them maximize the benefits of having us provide their IT support services. We started out being called computer consultants, then we were called Information Technology consultants, then Network Services consultants. None of the old monickers goes away as new ones appear so now we're called all kinds of things. The one that didn't stick was the one I thought was most descriptive: Information Management consultants.
It makes me think of the old adage: "A man doesn't buy a shovel to get a tool. He buys a shovel to get hole." Likewise, you don't buy a computer to own a device. You buy a computer to manage your information.

In his book, On Dialogue, Robert Grudin divides information into two sections: forms of information that people consciously desire, and forms of information that are vital whether people desire them or not. We bring both to the attention of our computer network consulting customers.

Consciously Desired

• We want to know what will bring us advantage and, conversely, what holds danger for us;
• We want access to sources of pleasure and excitement;
• We want genuine, heart-to-heart communication, with confidentiality, and the ability to form networks with the likeminded or similarly distressed;
• We want to learn and to empower ourselves.

Undesired But Necessary

• We need to know when we are making mistakes or maintaining self-destructive attitudes or misguiding our young;
• We need to know about emergent forces in history that may necessitate our making some investment or sacrifice;
• We need to know about ourselves and the cultural and psychological forces that influence us;
• We need to review and sometimes to amend the very arts by which we analyze and communicate.

The title of that old Teddy Pendergrass song is "When Somebody Loves You Back." That's the essence of a good computer consulting relationship. Love isn't often used in business relationships, but I think it should be. The difference is that these relationships must be 50/50 loves. It isn't enough that you appreciate the effort of your IT support services. They (we) have to appreciate the opportunity you give us to work with you and your staff toward achieving your goals...your dreams for your organization.

My Indianapolis computer consulting company recognizes the incredible trust our customers place in us when they let us manage their critical network support. We know that we have to return the trust and demonstrate our love for them if we hope to be successful in doing what we do. And we have bad days too. That’s why it needs to be a 50/50 love. On occasion you will be the fifth or fiftieth person to ask the same question of us. We have to care enough to realize that it’s the first time you’ve asked it that day.

All of us take tremendous pride in the successes of our customers, personally and professionally. We cheer when we hear that M.D. Wessler is one of the 15 best places to work. We celebrate when we hear that Rebecca Baer has been recognized as a distinguished Graduate of the Last Decade at Ball State. We love being a part of the incredibly diverse group of organizations who allow us to participate in their daily operations through their business computer support.
We do love our customers, and we believe that they love us too.

I previously wrote about the importance of having styles that fit with your small business computer support provider. I mentioned then that you aren't looking for a perfect fit, but one that will allow you to trust the information your consultant brings to you without feeling you have to independently confirm it. I keep coming back to the element of trust because it is the heart and soul of a good computer outsourcing relationship. Just as no two families fit perfectly together, no two companies will either, particularly when they are from different industries. So you're going to have discomfort with even the best fitting computer outsourcing company. When that discomfort rises up, you'll need to be able to trust that your consultant has your best interest in mind as he makes recommendations.

It helps when you know that your IT support services provider will have to be there to make his recommendations work according to your description of the business need being tackled. I have much less trouble making recommendations that someone else will have to live with. Of course, the fact that my Indianapolis computer services company has to implement the solution and keep it working means that some of the elements in my recommendation take my concerns into consideration as well. I always point out those elements as I make the recommendation. Full disclosure is the only way to ensure that trust continues to grow between me and my clients.

This is the same kind of trust you have to have in the other professionals who help It's different from the level of trust you need to have in your mechanic or your you with your business and your life: doctors, lawyers, accountants, and the like. plumber. Remember that it's important to the success of the relationship that your technology advisor be near the center of your circle of trust, so he can stay beside you if the circle starts to shrink.

The computer industry is about 70 years old if you measure from the introduction of the ENIAC computer. The small business computer network consulting and it support services industry is really less than 30 years old if you measure from the introduction of the terminate-and-stay-resident programming trick that led to pc networks. The industry has changed dramatically in that short time, and it continues to do so at an amazing rate. When we started port-to-port consulting in 1991, I was willing to say that between my partner and me we knew everything necessary to run a small business computer network.

Today, I wouldn't pretend that the entire staff at Port-to-Port knows anywhere close to enough about business computer support. we spend a good portion of our time, both at work and at home, reading, researching, and experimenting with hardware and software that may have an impact on some small businesses. Now we're a pretty bright group of people, which makes me wonder how any one or two people can even pretend to keep up with the technology to run your operation.

I'm spending this week at an industry conference where I get to spend time in conversation with my peers from around the country. in every interaction I or the person with whom I'm speaking learn something previously unknown about some aspect of it support services. If you're depending on one guy to keep your system at the point where it truly helps your organization, you are not optimizing the benefit of your computer system. There are too many new things to review for potential fit.

I met with a prospective client the other day to discuss their computer network consulting needs. Like most of my Indianapolis computer consulting clients, this was a small organization looking to upgrade some very old computer equipment. As soon as we sat down, she started right into her list of things she wanted us to quote for her: new server, several workstations, wireless keyboard, etc. etc.

When she took a breath, I asked her to start over and talk to us about her organization. What is their mission? Where are they having trouble? How has their computer system been helping them deal with those troubles? She sat back and stared at me for a moment before asking why I needed to know that information.

I explained that under our Pertingo(r) IT support services, we believe that our job is to add value to her organization's overall reason-for-being. She reluctantly started to explain what they do. I listened and asked question to clarify. After a few minutes, she had given us a good overview of the way her organization functions and I was able to sense that she had a big problem. You see, this was a Not-For-Profit organization that generated much of its funding from its member base. She needed to make sure that her existing members continued to renew, and, more importantly, that her total membership grows in the future.

When I told her that I believe we can do things that will help make that happen, she looked in disbelief. We talked a while longer and I made suggestions that might reduce the amount of equipment she needed to purchase to move forward. I then pointed out that she could probably afford to pay for our business computer support with the money we had saved her during this brief conversation. I told her that even if that savings wasn't enough, I was confident that we could help her increase her membership enough to cover anything that was left.

I hope she decides to take a chance on it. This is where we most effectively show our value. It's not about the tecnology in the end. It's about the successful accomplishment of the organization's mission. I'll update you on this if it goes any farther.

Lately, a lot of pundits in the computer tech support industry have been talking about the value of vendor certifications for computer technicians. The pendulum swings back and forth on this because there really aren't independent certifications available. Why wouldn't Microsoft, or Cisco, or any other supplier to the industry want people to pass their certification tests? If you're certified on my stuff, you're likely to recommend my stuff so I win whether you actually know what you're doing or not.

However, when a small business owner goes looking for a new network consultant, he usually doesn't know enough to evaluate the technical skills of the prospective IT support service provider. As a result, he has to look to surrogates like certifications. Forget about whether or not your computer network consulting company has industry certifications. The most important factor in the success of the relationship is TRUST. As a business owner, you have to have a consultant that you trust with your stuff. Without your trust, I can't do my job for you. No computer outsourcing company can.

Now trust tends to ebb and flow based on how things are going right now. It grows slowly over time but can vanish in an instant. Knowing this, I tell new customers to our Indianapolis computer consulting company that they will be in a six month period of buyer's remorse. Every day (sometimes multiple times per day) they will wonder if they made the right choice or not. It takes six months to build up the level of trust necessary for a good company to provide the best service to you and your organization. Wait it out. If your confidence is still not there after six months, perhaps the fit is no good. Talk it over with your provider. See if there is a way to fix it or if it's time to part ways. Don't trash the idea of computer outsourcing from a mismatch. Talk to others and find a new provider. If you are parting amicably with your current provider, he may be a good referral source to another. We often recommend our competitors in cases where we feel they are a better fit.

When I have conversations with my business computer support customers about the level of service they receive from Port-to-Port Consulting, one topic is always on the top of the list. Whether they feel that our IT support services are good or bad seems to be based on a single element, and it's not whether their network is running well.

The number one element in my customer's feeling of satisfaction is how well we keep them informed of what's going on. That's it. Across the board, people who feel like they are being kept informed feel better about their customer service and people who fell like they've been left in the dark are unhappy with the level of support. I had noticed that my unhappy customers mentioned a lack of information, but I hadn't noticed that my happy customers were mentioning the availability of information until I came across a passage in the recent book "Sway" by the brothers Brafman. In one section, they discuss the impression that convicted felons had about the judicial process. Regardless of the outcome of the case, those whose attorneys spent time with them explaining the process felt the system was fairer than those whose attorney did not.

The answer seems simple then. I'm off to find out.

The latest buzz in the computer outsourcing industry is virtualization. It’s getting more press than managed services these days. At the heart of virtualization is the acknowledgement that most of the computing power in our offices just sits there waiting for us to do something. Why not take advantage of that power? Through virtualization, you can have several machines on one piece of hardware. It sounds a lot like the very old days of time sharing because it really is a lot like it.

Even in its current form, virtualization has been around for a long time. We were using the Citrix software that was based on IBM’s OS/2 in our Indianapolis computer consulting business back in the early 90s. There are some incredibly good uses of virtual machines. There are also places in your small business where you should consider carefully whether it’s the right answer.

Virtualization started with the servers this time around. An excellent place for a small business to better manage network support. Instead of having three big beefy servers because the software vendor’s architecture won’t let all of the pieces run on one, you can have one really big beefy server that runs three virtual servers and meet all the requirements. This reduces your hardware costs and your power consumption.

As virtualization moves to the desktop, take a wait and see approach. The saving is less because you still have to put a machine on each desk. There also aren’t as many benefits on the tech support side of it if your IT support services provider is keeping up with best practices.

An important responsibility of a good computer network consulting company is to keep their customers apprised of the changes in computer technology that have the potential to impact their business. It's not adequate to announce every change that happens in the computer industry, but to act as a filter so the customers here about the things they should give some attention while being isolated from the gee whiz stuff that will only distract them from moving their businesses forward.

Of course a problem that we have here at Port-to-Port Consulting, like most good IT support services companies is that we think all of the changes are vital and critical. I personally replace my cell phone about twice a year because I'm convinced the new one will be better than the one I'm carrying. I don't, however, recommend that my clients change that often. When I come across a phone that solves a particular need of one of my customers, I take that to them, but not to the entire group.

This is the difference between having computer tech support that concerns itself only with keeping the network running as opposed to worrying about whether the system is adding value to the business operations. To make those kind of recommendations, it is vital that we learn what our customers do with their computers. That means spending time with them asking questions that have to do with operations- NOT COMPUTERS. It means listening carefully for the things that they may not even know they're saying, then asking questions to clarify. For example, I met with a client the other day who told me he wanted to install blogging software for his website. As we discussed what he wanted to do, I was able to show him a couple of web based services that were a better fit for his long term goal and didn't require additional IT spending. If I had just jumped into the various packages available for blog hosting, I would not have done my job as his computer consulting professional. Intent matters when talking to my customers.

I had a meeting this morning with Larry Welke. He's something of a legend among Indianapolis computer consulting and other technology people. Larry was selling computer hardware and software before most people knew what they were. In his latest endeavor, Larry is using video to engage inner city youth. During the conversation, he mentioned the six audiences with which every organization must interact: prospects, customers, employees, shareholders, competitors, and suppliers. That made me think about the impact that our computer network consulting has on each of those audiences.

Prospects
Our business computer support makes it easier for our customers to collect and sort information about their prospects. This is accomplished thru a compendium of IT support services, including CRM and other databases, website, Internet searches, email, and broadcast email.

Customers
Many of the same tools used for prospects can be used for customers as well. Different information goes into these systems, and other tools like accounting software and specialized software for your primary product or service are used to interact with your customers.

Employees
A lot of organizations forget about communicating with (marketing to) employees. These are the secret weapons for most organizations. Our Help computer Desk is the most obvious way in which we help with this audience.

Shareholders
In most of our small business and not-for-profit customers, the shareholders are also connected to the organization as one of the other six audiences as well. There are times when their needs are different however. These often come when helping with budgeting for technology – the tug between must have and nice-to-have.

Competitors
Most small businesses spend very little time worrying about what their competitors are doing. Because our Indianapolis computer consulting business is involved in many organizations, we're able to cross-pollinate our customers with ideas from related industries, as well as keep them informed of what their competitors who work with our other clients are doing.

Suppliers
In many instances, as a result of the outsourcing relationship, we become the direct contact for our customers' suppliers. We frequently deal with ISPs, telephone equipment and service providers, copier companies, construction companies, and the host of computer hardware and software vendors on behalf of our clients.

We work to make it easier for our client companies to deal with all six of their audiences. In some cases, we spend more time with some audiences than our clients' staff members. That's the relationship that makes Pertingo® work.

I received a piece of promotional email today that had the title, "IT as a Weapon." The first image that popped into my mind was of a large viking wielding a hammer to smash his competition. The reality is that the reason we provide computer network consulting in Indianapolis is so that our customers can take advantage of the weapon that computer outsourcing can be for their organizations.

We don't look at it so much as a way to smash your competitors, although that does happen on occasion. We look at it more as a way to defeat the doldrums that tend to settle in after we've been doing something for a while. I know this because Port-to-Port Consulting spent a decade doing business with the same model as all of the other Indianapolis computer consulting companies. While it wasn't working, everybody was doing it so it had to be at least "OK."

Our first shift came during a January staff retreat. I posed the question, "What use of technology could put us out of business?" One of the first responses was desktop remote control. I said then let's start using it to put ourselves out of business. We did. Our revenue suffered because those one-hour minimum service calls started turning into 15 minute remote sessions. The strange thing was that everyone was happier: me, my staff, my customers. This revelation planted the seeds for the change we eventually named our Pertingo(r) Computer Support Service.

We continue to hunt for the ways in which our IT support services can be used by our customers as a weapon for improving what they do, as well as ways for us to improve what we do for them. The hammer jumped to mind for me because it's a tool for smashing old ways of doing things.

  One of the things that led us from the break/fix world of network support to our Pertingo® model was the frequent finger pointing that occurred when multiple providers, along with our customer's staff, had to work together to get something accomplished. I can't count the number of times we sat in a meeting where things were not working and heard each participant say that his part was working as specified. It was like the blind men and the elephant. How can each part be working as specified if the stupid system isn't working? If that's actually true, then who is responsible for fixing it?

  With the Pertingo® Computer Support Service, the answer is always us: Port-to-Port Consulting. We take responsibility for making sure the final system does what it is supposed to do, but only when our customers let us. Our business computer support includes the integration required to get to the final solution. Sometimes our clients don't tell us about something because they don't think it has anything to do with computer outsourcing until their vendor asks for a piece of network related information.

  As my lawyer, Art Robinson, likes to say, "Don't wait until you get served to call me." We often look like the spoilers because we start asking questions that should have been considered earlier in the process. For example, the new copier arrives and there is no network jack to connect it to the network for printing and scanning. Or the office space is finished but no one thought about electrical outlets for the equipment.

  A critical factor in the success of your IT support service provider is the amount of information you provide. Tell them what your plans are as soon as you know them. Many times, we will thank you for the heads-up. Many more times, we will provide some good computer network consulting and help the project go successfully.

   One of the biggest challenges of an IT support services business is finding and retaining qualified staff – a problem for any business. The difficulty comes in finding computer tech support staff who can grasp the importance of the non-technical part of the job. In order to provide quality business computer support, we, as providers, must understand that we’re most appreciated when we are invisible. I was once quoted as saying we are the garbage men of the computer consulting industry. Everybody wants to have a good garbage man, but no one really wants to see him do his work.

   How then, do we attract talented people to our small Indianapolis computer consulting company? We try to create a balance of good fun and hard work. While some of the work we do in computer and network support is mindless and mundane, a lot of it is incredibly exciting. It becomes more exciting when we can see how our effort fits into the big picture for our customers and their business goals. We spend time learning what our customers do. We strive to understand why they are in their business. Then we create technology goals that help that overall objective. When we are successful so are our customers.

   Simple as that is, most computer outsourcing companies never bother to explain that to their technical staff. Their view is that the tech’s job is done when the splash screen comes up. If the tech’s job starts where the customer’s job begins, how can they ever hope to communicate in a meaningful way?

Abraham Lincoln was noted as having said, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time." The same goes for the customer service notion that the customer is always right. Not really. Sometimes the customer is trying to hurt himself without knowing it. Other times the customer doesn't know enough to have formed an opinion of any kind so he has no hope of being right. And sometimes the customer just shouldn't be your customer because he wants something that is counter to your organization's reason for existing. 

One of the most difficult things about Indianapolis computer consulting is having to tell our small business customers that they are wrong on occasion. We're firm believers in customer satisfaction. In fact, I believe that, in the end, only the customer experience will set us apart from those with whom we compete. Anyone who has managed to stay in the computer network consulting business for more than a couple of years will eventually be able to get a small business network running fairly well -- if given enough time. The Port-to-Port Consulting team is talented, but most of the time our customers don't notice that talent.

Nonetheless, I stand by the notion that a part of our job is to keep our customers from hurting themselves or their businesses. Sometimes that means telling them, "No!" In the long run, it still turns out to be the best customer service, but it doesn't feel like it in the short run. The reason we get hired is because the organization  to which we're providing computer consulting services doesn't have the knowledge or time to do it themselves. That means that often we know more about the issue at hand than they do. It's irresponsible for us to agree to help them do something that we know won't have the results they expect.

On occasion, we have a customer who continually insists that we do things that are, in the long run, damaging to his business. We've finally figured out that each time we go along, we're eroding his confidence on our ability. If you hire a consultant (an expert) and then you don't take any of his advice, you're wasting your money. If you outsourced your IT support services, then listen to what your consultants are telling you. Or get yourself some new consultants.

When would you rather be told not to scrape that car?