Geek Squad Rates – Can Your Business Compete?

The race to the bottom of the pricing barrel is a nightmare in any industry. It’s a huge issue if you’re starting up a new IT business.

It can be hard to compete with some of the larger computer repair service organizations because they have wildly different business models compared to those of small, locally-based businesses.

Now that Geek Squad is taking a serious stab at the SMB market, how exactly do you go about competing with Geek Squad rates?

My sincere advice is that you don’t! You can’t compete on price, and you frankly do not want the type of customer that is buying services based purely on the lowest price. Think carefully about the suppliers that you partner with, and you might find that your offering is a better value and quality than Geek Squad/Best Buy’s anyway! Instead, concentrate on your business and make sure it stands out.

• Build up your local and market reputation – Geek Squad is looking to service organizations in Europe and coast-to-coast across the USA. It’s unlikely that they’ll be able to build a solid reputation within your chosen marketplace.

• Be a virtual CIO – Add value to businesses that you’re looking to serve. Geek Squad might be able to provide remote helpdesk services, but it cannot help a business to shape its IT strategies in line with the business’s overall goals.

• Charge what you are worth – Don’t underprice your services, and do not pad them either. If you provide quality service and add value to a client’s business, then as long as that client perceives your value, this client you want to keep will be willing to pay more than Geek Squad rates. It’s your job to make them perceive this.

• Keep customer service on point – Go above and beyond to keep your customers happy. If you find that each of them needs services that you cannot provide economically, think outside the box. Reach out to the community, take on an apprentice, or look to colleges for interns. Be personal and take an interest so that you offer better hands-on education to employees than Geek Squad does.

You can compete. You just need to employ the right strategies to ensure that you succeed. It doesn’t mean having to slash rates so that you compete with Geek Squad rates. You just need to raise your game and ensure that your business is being perceived as providing the best quality and the biggest value-add in the marketplace.

How do you intend to keep ahead of the game? Share your ideas and thoughts with us in the comments section.

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