One of the most commons questions we get from new prospective clients calling our office is “What do you guys charge for your IT services?”

While price certainly needs to be one consideration, it’s extremely important you make an informed decision and choose the right IT services company instead of using price as the main deciding factor.

This seems obvious, but the reality is that most Managing Partners, Directors, CEO’s, Firm Owners or Practice Managers don’t really know what questions to ask or what to look for when choosing one IT company over another and therefore put too much weight on the price of the quote.

What you want to avoid is getting lured into a lowball quote from an IT company that is in financial trouble, cutting corners to lower their fees to get you as a client, but then unable to afford to hire experienced, knowledgeable technicians, dedicated client success managers and the security services they need to ensure YOU are actually getting the security, stability and service you need.

So, how much is “too much” and what are the signs that someone is under-priced?

Recently, an industry report from Service Leadership, the leading financial benchmarking organisation in the IT services industry, revealed that a whopping 28% of MSPs (managed IT services providers, or IT services companies) were unprofitable, and nearly half of all MSPs were under 10% net profit.

While everyone likes a “bargain,” here are the reasons why “cheaper” is not the advantage you think it is when you choose an under-priced IT company:

  1. They don’t understand or find out your long-term objectives and make recommendations accordingly.

If your current IT company, or one you’ve met with don’t ask about what you’re trying to achieve with your firm or business and what your long-term goals are, they will likely cause you to make big expensive mistakes.

This comes from making the wrong recommendations on technology solutions that you end up paying double to sort out later.

It could be the cause of you keeping an existing client happy and retaining their business or losing them forever. Alternatively, you may fail to win a new client because your technology systems either leave the wrong impression or balls get dropped during their initial request.

  1. They are unable to communicate with or meet with you regularly to find out about changes going in your firm and how they might be able to help you solve them.

As things have shown over the last few years, things can change suddenly and without notice. Has your current IT company met with you in the last 3 months to find out how you are going with your firm or business?

Do they provide you with valuable resources to help protect and grow your interests?

Do they communicate with you on a regular basis with resources that help you?

  1. They are unable to be proactive or respond promptly to your requests.

One of the most common areas we hear about as issues when talking with prospective clients is a lack of responsiveness from your current IT company. Not to mention no proactive steps are taken to prevent re-occurrences of ongoing frustrating issues.

Your firm or business needs fast support and every interruption you or your team have, costs you money.

This could be the deciding factor in you keeping your client or losing them.

  1. They are not educating or communicating risk issues to you, possibly leaving you with a multi-million dollar loss.

Risk is a critical area you need to understand, so you can take the right steps to mitigate or prevent the damage to you and your firm.

Get untimely, or the wrong advice and it could cost you your firm. Naturally, and it goes without saying, this means the current and future income it provides for you and your family.

  1. They DO NOT include comprehensive cyber security services and protections.

Finally, they may not be providing or including the right comprehensive cyber security services and protections to address the risk and help protect you.

Even if you have cyber liability insurance you may find your claim is denied without the right protections in place. Alternatively, you may be unable to renew your policy.

This puts all the costs back on you and your firm.

In general, according to Service Leadership, the average “per user” fee for managed IT services is US $205.07 to US $249.73. Those IT firms with an operational maturity level of below average is US $146.08 to US $157.49 per “user” (or employee using a computer or device they are supporting).

As you can see, if someone quotes you $120 a user for managing your network, it might feel like a good deal, but you have to ask yourself how they are able to charge nearly 50% less than IT firms globally, that are operationally mature. The answer is obvious – they’re cutting corners, hiring cheap labour and leaving out critical security and compliance services.

Now we know finding an IT company you can trust is a daunting task and want to help you. If you’d like to know what types of questions you should be asking your current IT firm, or any other IT company, then I invite you to click here to download our FREE executive guide, “The Professional Services Guide To IT Support And Fees.”

This report discusses in detail exactly what to look for to get exactly what you need without unnecessary extras, hidden fees and bloated contracts. But most importantly, it will show you how to get the right support you want in order to lower your risk and eliminate the frustration of dealing with a less than competent IT company.

My Info Tech Partner is a trusted IT Services and IT Support provider in Perth that specialises in helping the equity principals, partners, directors, and practice managers of legal, accounting and financial services firms from making big expensive mistakes with technology and ultimately, protect your income.

Naturally, we are the only one that offers you enhanced peace of mind with our “Never Pay The Ransom” $10,000 Money Back Guarantee.