Most of you've been repairing computers for years. Some of you can fix Sat-Navs, TV's, games consoles, DVD's, the list goes on This week we're going to go through reasons why you're brilliant - things you may have already on your list. So, why are you brilliant?
You have real knowledge, experience and skills. What's more, they're in the shop. Most of you've been repairing computers for years. Some of you can fix Sat-Navs, TV's, games consoles, DVD's, the list goes on. You do this because fixing tech floats your boat. For you, this isn't a job it's an interest, a fascination, a passion. When you advise customers it's not based on stuff you learned in a book, it's based on experience. And the real killer is that all this knowledge, all this insight, all this value, is there in the shop right in you. So when a customer comes in with a problem, they talk to an expert. Right there, right then, they consult with you. And they get real, solid gold 100% advice - not someone's opinion or something picked up form a training course. You can genuinely delight the customer You're the boss. What's more, you're in the shop. A customer wants something you haven't got or raises an issue - you're on the spot and can deal with it there and then. You can flex the price. You can arrange to stock. You can go away and buy in from another supplier. No referral to head office. No hiding behind procedures. No" I'll get the manager". You deal with it and you can be infinitely more flexible and adaptable than the big guys. You can be opportunist. You can serve. You care As a small retailer every customer matters. The big guys would say this too. The difference is with you, they really do matter. As the local "IT shop" you have a reputation to build and maintain. And reputations can be lost in a very short space of time: a customer believes they've been done to and before you know it the word has spread. Every customer lost is money out of your pocket, food not on the table, a little bit more overdraft. You care because you have to, not because you have to say you do. You're local and what's more, you're a part of the community More and more, people are turning their backs on "big" and supporting local. Perhaps it's a reaction to the ever shrinking world we live in but, for whatever reason, people are increasingly inclined to put their business with others in their neighbourhood. Perhaps it's because they want to give a chance to "their own" - to make sure they're OK. Perhaps it's because when they want to talk about IT, they want to do it with someone they feel has their best interests at heart. Maybe they just want to deal with someone they feel they can trust and have confidence in. Whatever the reason, this is an opportunity. The door is open to be a pillar of the community - all you have to do is walk through it. You can deliver the very service people now want Service can be a transaction and the internet is brilliant at that. Service can be a few polite words, passing the time of day and taking money at the till. Service can also be a conversation with a friend, an expert, someone trusted. Service can also be about feeling your hard earned money isn't just lining someone else's pockets, that you're being helped to make the right decision. Service can be about many things but what's certain is this: it's not enough any more to just sell what's most profitable, the money's in advising customers how to spend theirs wisely. What people will pay for is being advised on how to get more out of what they've got. Hold on! Isn't the very service people want the very service you give? You are something else Walk into a big chain and you'll get a big chain experience. Walk into an indie retailer and you'll get… we don't need to spell it out. What's key is you realise while they can't be unique, you can. But to be so, you must genuinely and wholeheartedly ‘live' it. You have such huge advantages - real and genuine things. What you have they can't match, what you have they can't copy, what you have is inimitable. But the icing on the cake, the thing that blows them completely away, is it takes nothing to unleash the full force of your competitive advantages. Don't try and be like them, just be you. Be completely clear, understand this is a popularity contest, not a price war. You have to start selling yourself. You have to start getting people coming to you because they want you. Do this and you will be something else. This content was provided by Target Components and has been brought update and edited by www.TechForTechs.co.uk