On-Site Computer Service Firms: 4 Reasons to Avoid Residential Clients

Home users can be fine to help you get started in your on-site computer service business, as residential clients can start you off with some great testimonials. But residential clients may not be of much value to your firm in the long run. Read through the tips below to see why you should be focusing on the small business market, rather than the residential or home user market for your on-site computer service firm:

1. You’re Competing Against the Weekly Coupon Mailers. I’m sure you’ve seen the coupon pouches where a local computer business includes an ad to attract customers for a $29 on-site visit. Do you want to spend a third or half of your day working on a home user’s computer for $29? Home users are always looking for the best deal. Do you want to be portrayed as a service technician or as a high-level consultant?

2. Residential Users Have No Urgency. For most home users, if the computer is not booting up, it’s not an urgent matter. Maybe they can wait a week or two before they call you! For small businesses, it’s an emergency. They can’t afford to send workers home because the computers don’t boot. Who do you think will pay a higher hourly consulting fee?

3. For Home Users, Technology is Not an Investment. It’s more of a utility. If it’s not working, they will find something else to do or some other way to find what they are looking for. Small businesses invest in themselves and they invest in their technology. Better systems can bring more efficiency, which can lead to higher profitability. If small businesses invest in their technology, they will invest in their consultant as well.

4. Home Users Will Not Turn Into Long-Term Clients. Home users will keep you busy. The more home users you have as customers, the busier you are. But is this the best way to build your business? Certainly not! What builds your business is ongoing maintenance and long-term projects that bring recurring revenue into your on-site computer service business.

The Bottom Line

Certainly, there need to be computer consultants that service the home user market.

But why should this be you?

Leave the home users to the Geek Squads of the world and focus on small businesses.

It all comes down to recurring business, which brings recurring revenue. And there’s not much recurring revenue to be made in the home user market. Changing your focus to the small business market is what will bring your on-site computer service business to the next level.

Do you provide on-site computer service for the residential market? Or do you avoid it like the plague? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

And to follow through on the tips introduced in this short article, especially if you work with SaaS and IaaS, be sure to enroll now in our free 7-day eCourse: Go-to-Market Strategy 101 for B2B SaaS Startups and Scaleups.