Business Opportunities Weblog

September 2, 2010 by Angela Shupe | 1 Comment

If you’re having computer problems, who do you call? If your computer is outdated then tech support for your machine might be out of the question. However, to take your computer in to a repairman can cost $50 or more just for a consultation and if you want them to come to your home that fee only gets higher. One entrepreneur has found an alternative to the traditional tech support that allows you to pay for only the time spent helping you, whether it is 5 minutes or an hour.

Computer Specialist Online was started by Ramanath as an alternative to fixed rate services that overcharged customers the only needed simple solutions. During his career in this industry he soon recognized a trend among some customers that felt like they just weren’t getting the service they had hoped for. Thinking about those discontent customers inspired Ramanath and his business was born.

Tell us a little about Computer Specialist Online.

We are an online computer tech support service provider. Our HQ is located at Bakersfield,CA. We provide one call one shop solutions to fix all computer related problems to consumers & small business owners. We provide our service mainly over the phone, chat & remote log in methods depending on [what] the customer needs.

What inspired you to launch this business?

Well, I had worked as manufacturing specialist for over 25 years as a specialist trouble shooter to solve many faceted technical problems. I had worked as specialist consultant to many world bank funded industries too.

Due to a special request from my American friend I switched to ITITES sector during 1998 to set up, manage her software company (Geo-spatial design work) which I had established very well. Since then I have been involved in many BPO’s like AOL, K2soft, etc. managing tech support divisions.

During my tenure with these BPO’s I observed that there were many customers who were felt neglected, unhappy & helpless due to the very difficulty for them to reach out for the support they needed. I also noticed that due to the restrictive policies of these corporates the customers were not getting proper solutions to their problems. Instead the customers were being tossed between different vendors without much help. Pass the buck type of attitude in the support centres.

This inspired me to come up with an idea to set up my own service which can do justice to the customers & provide one stop support for all issues by owning responsibility.

How did you come up with your pay-by-the-minute model?

I am yet to realize if my idea & purpose to provide per-minute charge basis service to the customer. However, it was done with an intention & from experience that the problems faced by a regular computer user varies in complexity & the current computer related products are becoming more & more difficult for an average user. They face problems from very simple type to complicated ones.

Most of the servicesupport providers were charging fixed charges either on per-incidence or flat rate immaterial of the type of problem being fixed which I felt was more taxing on the common user who has simple problems.

Some problems require just few minutes or less than 5 minutes to solve & some problems require 30 or more minutes to solve. Now if a customer with a simple problem is charged for flat rate on an average also, it does not sound reasonable as per my view. Yes, we need to make profit but we certainly should not try & loot an innocent customer.

This inspired me to come up with a solution to provide a service where we charge only to the used minutes for the support, thus trying to reduce some economic burden to the customer.

How much does it cost for the average support call?

Our experience and statistics show that the average support call is around 20 minutescall which as per our rates make a sale of $38.00 which is currently putting us in the break even or just below Red zone.

What separates you from the competition?

As mentioned earlier we work on a very low margin thus provide maximum savings to the customer.

Our prices are based on per minute of actual usage [where] the billing starts after the customer is connected to our experts. The customer gets free minutes for the duration it takes us to process the call, payment, & provide free estimation to the customer.

Apart from this the customer can use any un-used balance minutes for which he has paid for anytime for any problems within 1 year. This is a unique service from us we can say.

The most important benefit a customer gets from us is that we have chosen our experts very carefully & they have a built in problem solving attitude.They all have been trained to take ownership of resolving the customers problems & work to provide the best solution without considering who were the vendorsmakers of the software or hardware which is giving the problem to the customer. Our am is to provide all solutions under one roof.

The other unique feature with our techs is that they keep constantly learning & improving their skills which enable them to avoid the most common practice used in any other support centre which is read by the manual & solve. We are different we think out of the box & fix the problems directly from our knowledge & experience.

Of course, the customer gets the best value service for the money they spend & also save a great deal in these tough times.

In your opinion, what should people look for when they shop around for a support service like yours?

To be fair, let me just say the customer always knows what is best they want. They want quick access, best price, reliable quality of service.

The customer will always look for the above mentioned qualities in any service provider.

Do you have any goals you hope to accomplish over the next year or so?

I am sad to say that the customers are unable to get what they really want & also there are many good service providers out there who can provide or fulfill the needs of the customer. But both are unable to reach out to other as there is a huge wall called corporate marketing. This wall makes it very hard for the customer to know that there is a better service provider as the small scale service provider who is good is unable to spend that huge amounts towards marketing to reach out to the customer. This is the actual situation which is putting both the consumers & small service providers off the track.

Our main goal is now to find an effective & economical way to reach out to the consumers. Our intention & aim is to find methods to communicate & re-assure the confused customer that we are there & there are many like minded service providers are there for them to reach.

What are some lessons your business has taught you?

It is the marketing or the method of marketing & its effectiveness which ultimately makes a business succeed or fail. The current situation is the more money one spends (which they will collect by charging more to the customer eventually) will more likely to stay afloat which is not a right indication of ethics of business. But we are determined to change that.

Do you have any advice you’d like to offer fellow entrepreneurs that are just getting started?

Well, we have been providing our service for over a decade as a contractor who does marketing by themselves. We are just new too just 2 years as new business. Our model & methods of providing economical, affordable service fighting the big companies with huge marketing budgets is under test by our own self. It is not correct on our part to make an advise at this stage. However, we just like to tell everyone, including the consumers, that the success of a country’s economy also depends on how strong the small & medium business are encouraged to the maximum.

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Tags: Computers, Technology