I often compare IT Support to the used car industry. That may sound odd to you, but used car salesmen have a bad rep overcharging first, thinking about quality second. Unfortunately this is because most people who buy cars aren't mechanics. They rely on what the sales person tells them. Aren't you kind of in the same position with your IT support?

Today most use cars are certified and you can take them to your mechanic for a second opinion. What do you do for your IT support? It's not really the type of thing you can take it to your local trusted expert and get a second opinion. Your "expert" is the only person you have, so they better be right for your business.

Let's face it; it can be a painful process selecting a new IT Support company. There is first a courting period where you are getting used to each other. Then you have to spend the time to build the trust in the relationship. If you make it this far, you can finally relax with your decision and move on to other things. It can be a long process, and I know very few clients who have had less than 2 or 3 divorces.

Often people are unhappy with the current company they use but are scared to change because they have had worse in the past. Your business livelihood relies on your technology and you really cannot afford to make too many bad choices.

Over the next week I am going to share some tips with you to help you in this process. In the end you will be able to make wiser decisions the next time you decide to look for another IT Support company.

1. Avoid the "We'll fix it or it's free promotions"

This may sound good in theory, but let's think about this intelligently for a few minutes. In reality any IT company can offer this. This is a ploy to get them in the door, even if it's just once. Using the car analogy, this is right up there with the guaranteed $5000 for your trade in. The time has to be paid for some way or they just couldn't stay in business.

What happens if your computer has a virus and after 2 hours of troubleshooting they decide the only solution is to wipe your computer clean, reinstall windows, your programs, updates, and then charge you over $400 for their time?

How about after looking at your computer they decide your computer is too old and the solution is to purchase a new computer from them?

Maybe you have network issues, and while this is not a strong area of their business they have enough "knowledge" to fumble through the process and it takes an entire day to solve the issue? Most IT companies charge over $100 per hour. That could be upwards of $1000 to fix an issue that might take the right company less than 3 hours to fix.

In just these 3 examples, you can see how you can spend a lot of money quickly and the issue will be considered fixed. This means there won't be any free work given away. They are going to figure out a way to fix the issue regardless of the solution because they need to get paid for their time. The worst part of it is, is that your best interests are not a priority, they need to make money to stay in business.

More tips coming soon!