Advice on using this Directory

There are a few well-known nationals that don’t play well with the technicians they hire. That’s why we have boards in the forums requesting verification of them, i.e. company name – are they OK?
And most of them have legitimate web sites.

What I am trying to say is don’t just jump up and sign up for every service that comes along just because it is there. Be careful. Do some research and check it out first. You are trying to build a reputation for your business and you are judged by the company you keep. Guard your reputation and your business well. 

I visited one site and noticed that there is no other corporate information other than the phone number. There is no physical address or location information. There is only an E-mail address and a collection of online forms to fill out.

This company may be legit but I have no idea who they are. I am a little wary of filling out an application with personal information even if it is just the last four digits of my SS# (Why do they need that? Do they already have the first five digits?) on a web site that does not offer any corporate information to the applicant.

Yes, we could do a WHOIS. But that is not what I meant. A web site that requires your information but does not offer any of its own on the web site itself is a red flag. Besides, the domain registrant is not always the owner, as most of you who do web hosting and/or web site design well know. 

Would you do business with a company that does not post contact information? I am sure you would be somewhat wary of any web site that does not let everyone know where they are located and how to write or reach them other than by calling.

A web site that does not post this information is telling those who visit it that the publisher does not want to be found and therefore could be anywhere in the world. Spoofing and scamming are common on the web, so you can’t blame people for not throwing out the red carpet of unconditional trust when they can’t find any real information on who the publisher of the site is.

This is not a primer on developing a web business, nor is it a slam on any particular company. It is just a natural instinct with those who have surfed the web for any considerable length of time, particularly techs who are used to calls from customers who have been bitten or who have been bitten themselves.

To those who already signed up with such a national, please keep us posted on your experiences with the company. You may help save a colleague from harm.

Some of these companies will require you to provide them with your bank information. Some technicians may balk at this due to concerns about privacy.  Actually, ACH does not bring up privacy issues. It brings up security issues. Two different things. Once someone has ACH authorization they have full access to your checking account. They not only have the ability to credit accounts but to debit them as well. There are even legitimate companies out there that abuse this authorization – most notably cell phone companies and lending institutions – if you are not paying attention and let them.

There are few companies that I authorize ACH transactions with. OnForce is one of them. That is a very high level of trust I have in them that I do not have in my power company or satellite provider.

When dealing with clients and end users of a contractor remember this. The Contractor hired you, not the Client. The contractor pays on completion of the contract regardless of the client. If the contractor tells you they will not pay until they are paid in a contract and you sign it, that is the agreement between you and the contractor. If he tells you he pays NET 30 in the contract and you sign it, he better pay in NET 30. If the contract states that he pays you within 72 hours after the completion of the contract, he better pay within 72 hours after completion of the contract whether the client pays him or not. Failure to do so is a breach of contract. If the client doesn’t pay the contractor it is not your responsibility. You delivered according to the contract.

We are ICs. We have just as much right to make conditionals in contracts, add clauses or presenting our own to the Client as they have to us. Just because they send you a contract doesn’t mean you have to accept it as is. Of course they do have the right to reject your conditionals but if you place it in a conditional and they accept, they are just as legally bound to you as you are to them. Contracts are not supposed to be one sided although too many are. They are something that both parties agree to. 

The State of the IT Service Field

I believe this industry is due for a shake up very soon. Nationals come in, underbid us, then try to contract the same work to us for less than what we were billing before direct.

Think about it. That’s crazy. And we allow it to happen. We resign ourselves to the reality that it is inevitable and outside our control. To a point it is, because we allow ourselves to be herded into that reality. In other words, it is only true because we collectively let it be.

Unfortunately, unlike most other service industries there is no real set of standards that dictate our professional value.

Plumbers can charge more because they have a skill set that most laymen do not aspire to meet. Electricians can charge more because there are local, state and federal standards that must be followed and there is a level of hazard that places it beyond the capabilites of the average self-trained tech to practice. Auto mechanics can charge more because they have a nationally recognized and respected certification. It is not one that can be easily obtained by wannabes who cram for a simple test.

Unfortunately, our business, as respected as it once was and should be, is too accessible by hobbyists, students and the average layman who, with no tools or special knowledge at all, can simply turn the computer on and off, open the case (screwless), and plug and unplug things inside. Of course, there is more to IT than that, but there is also Google, which is just as easily accessible to the layman as it is to the tech. Certifications, such as they are, can be passed with no real technical experience. There are too many of them and they represent too many different aspects of the field. They are also, with few exceptions, vendor specific, which waters down their value further.

You can walk a layperson through a repair on the phone. Once they’ve done it, the fear and uncertainty of the device is diminished. They could do it again on their own. They don’t need us. If they do it enough, they embolden themselves to become us.

The truth is, unlike plumbing, electrical work and auto repair, the inside of a computer is too easily accessible to the layperson and, with a few exceptions, is neither overly dangerous, dirty or messy work.

This is why salesmen dressed in black can pass themselves off as “geeks” and why the local high school kid can advertise on craigslist. It is also why there is little or no respect for technicians or their wages by national IT service companies and why they can dictate contracts according to their terms, not ours.

This is why OnForce exists.

We are not a profession, we are a commodity.

Unless we set the standards, it is going to get worse.

©2007 Rick Savoia