How to Balance Standards - Work and Personal
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So, serious question: I was having a discussion with my tech supervisor tonight. He said I've been taking too long doing tech work behind the bench. Now, in my defense, we've been exceptionally busy the past few weeks.
Anyways, my question is in regards to the standards held for the tech work. For example, people bring in their PCs for a diagnostic and repair. My retailer has been pushing for us to use the service that has technicians at a call center remote in and do the work. Fine, I use it. I don't like it but I use it. And, to be honest, it saves me time because they can do the scripted stuff and then I can go back and do anything else that needs to be done.
The issue is that my retailer says the standard for a PC setup, a diag and repair, etc is at X. There are many things that they don't have use do that are important. For example, if a computer comes in with outdated versions of Adobe Reader, Java, Chrome, Firefox, etc, I make sure they're updated before it leaves. We're talking about consumer PCs here, so I generally use Ninite to accomplish the task. One installer, does it all automatically for me.
But the big issue is that I don't say computers are done until they are done correctly. So my question is, how does someone balance between what is said to be good enough and what you know to be good enough? Now, I know the company pays my paycheck, but I still handle the other functions of my job. Part of why where I work has a booming tech business is because of the fact I hold things to a higher standard, and customers realize that and refer others and also keep coming back. So what I do works and works well.
Also, I told my tech supervisor that when I sign off on a computer, it's my name and reputation that I'm signing off on. Yes, the tech work is done at my retailer. But customers come back asking for me, many times years later. It's because I don't do shoddy work and I take the time to do it right, as well as engage the customer in a beyond-the-superficial manner.
Lastly, my tech supervisor got upset with me because, as a rule, I've been selling only one computer to pretty much everyone. (This one: http://www.staples.com/Refurb-HP-8460P-14-inch-laptop-Core-i5-25-GHz-4GB-Memory-128GB/product_1523729) I told him it's because it's better than anything we have in store and it's a business-grade machine. He then said that it might not be what customers want. My response was that most customers don't know what they want, or need. He got upset at that. However, from my time in retail and the MSP realm, customers, as a rule, DO NOT KNOW what they want or need. They come in thinking that if they get a bigger HDD, it'll be a faster computer. They think that a computer with a Celeron but 8GB of RAM will still be fast, etc.
My comment was that customers don't know what they really want or need. They have needs. They have wants. My job is to find the best solution to address those. But I will almost certainly never do what the customer wants when they come in, unless they are really adamant about it. The reason is that customers just don't know. That's why they came to see me in the first place.
I understand that there is a line but a computer with a second-gen i5 and a 128GB SSD will be perfect for almost all customers. Most people don't use 100GB between the OS and files anyways. I know that my tech supervisor doesn't have my background or experience in the MSP/business realm, so it's hard for him to understand that. He's perfectly fine doing just enough and selling the crap we have in-store. I'm not. So should I just shut up and sacrifice what consider to be the "bar" of where the quality should be at simply because I'm told to or, as long as I'm still doing my job, should I stick up for doing things the way they should be done?
Thanks in advance.
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You haven't told us why he's upset that you're only selling that one machine. Though if I have to guess it's because you're not driving sales at the local store level. This is where you are failing your store. Probably - and this is only a guess - your manager's bonus is tied to the general stores sales, you're hurting those sales by sending them to the online to order (at least you're keeping it in the family).
While I appreciate your desire to do right by your customers, your not doing the best you can for the company - retail store - as they have set their way of making money. From what I have seen in most retail stores, they have one stated goal, sell the customer the most profitable for the company items as possible. Rarely do I see a retail store (normally only mom and pop shops) that care about return sales.
You definitely need to get out of the retail. MSPs have a higher chance of caring about doing the right thing - or even better, find a pure consulting company who only makes recommendations and not sales.
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@Dashrender said:
You haven't told us why he's upset that you're only selling that one machine. Though if I have to guess it's because you're not driving sales at the local store level. This is where you are failing your store. Probably - and this is only a guess - your manager's bonus is tied to the general stores sales, you're hurting those sales by sending them to the online to order (at least you're keeping it in the family).
While I appreciate your desire to do right by your customers, your not doing the best you can for the company - retail store - as they have set their way of making money. From what I have seen in most retail stores, they have one stated goal, sell the customer the most profitable for the company items as possible. Rarely do I see a retail store (normally only mom and pop shops) that care about return sales.
You definitely need to get out of the retail. MSPs have a higher chance of caring about doing the right thing - or even better, find a pure consulting company who only makes recommendations and not sales.
One, the store still gets the sale. We order the item online but ring it up in the store. That part doesn't hurt us at all. And this isn't my GM who was complaining (although the bonus part is correct). This is my tech supervisor, who isn't technically a manager but a keyholder. He doesn't get a bonus.
Also, I'm actually making us more money with this computer. The warranty costs are lower, which means more people buy it. Because they save on the actual unit, they also buy more accessories, where we make all our money on computer sales anyways.
Lastly, the computers we sell in store for $150-200+ off the full retail are priced, when they are full price, at an average of about $50 above our cost. That computer that is selling for $259 costs the company $275, which means I'm adding more accessories than normal (I have sold none of those computers without tech services, a warranty, or both), and lowering how much we lose on the actual computer in the sale. We lose usually $100-200 on the average computer we sell in-store.
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so then why does he care?
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@Dashrender said:
so then why does he care?
So because the computer is an Elitebook, has an SSD, etc, I spend a few minutes explaining things like the matte finish screen, the better quality build, why an SSD beats a HDD, etc to the customer. His complaint was that I tailor it to customers and that they buy it because I've tailored it to them. Well, for 90% of our customers, it DOES work perfectly. But because I spend a few minutes explaining what makes this different from the HP Pavilions we have on the shelf, he says I'm sacrificing time I could spend on operational stuff. But sales have gone through the roof, and I'm not just driving higher sales, but higher percentage of profit as well. So honestly, I don't understand his issue.
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You're 'wasting' time making a sale with higher margins instead of spending time working on non money making operational things? Clearly he doesn't understand what the hell is going on.. and if his opinion matters but you can't get that through to him... then you have little choice but to move on... which I thought you were doing already?
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@Dashrender said:
You're 'wasting' time making a sale with higher margins instead of spending time working on non money making operational things? Clearly he doesn't understand what the hell is going on.. and if his opinion matters but you can't get that through to him... then you have little choice but to move on... which I thought you were doing already?
I am. Four weeks from today is my last day at the store. I'm not going to change what I'm doing. Also, I was talking to my best friend, who I used to work with at the store and helped train me initially, about how if my company is doing the same shit as other retailers for about the same price, what gives people incentive to come to us versus someone else? I get told a lot that I don't think big picture and that I micro-analyze, but what I don't think anyone (except MAYBE my GM) realizes is that I focus on these little things, like patching installed apps using Ninite, because that sets us apart from the other local retailers, and gives people a reason to come to us instead of them, which drives LONG-TERM sales.
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After much thought, I've come up with the perfect job description for what I do at my current job, and honestly what IT Professionals should do in general. (This has something of a sales angle, just FYI)
- advocate for the customer when they are too stupid/ignorant to do it for themselves
- get them the best solution at the best price while still making my company the most money
- don't lie or BS the customer EVER, and if you lose the sale because they don't like someone telling them the truth, so be it
- provide quality technical work, and that means quality from a professional standpoint, not a corporate one
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He knows you are moving on right?
I think he is just trying to poke at you, shrug him off.
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@Breffni-Potter said:
He knows you are moving on right?
I think he is just trying to poke at you, shrug him off.
Well, I made a post on Facebook about it and tagged him in it and he has since unfriended me.
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@handsofqwerty said:
Now, I know the company pays my paycheck, but I still handle the other functions of my job. Part of why where I work has a booming tech business is because of the fact I hold things to a higher standard, and customers realize that and refer others and also keep coming back. So what I do works and works well.
This is a problem here. The company is your customer, not the customers. Your job is to make the company happy. That the company may or may not make more or less money because you hold things to a higher standard is a red herring and has nothing to do with the equation. What you do works well by an artificial standard to you. Unless the company has officially said this to you and clearly agrees with this being the case (we can assume that because this question has come up that they do not) then it is something you have decided and must be treated as either untrue or irrelevant. It has no purpose being stated.
A higher standard would be "what benefits your customer most" and since your customer is the business and since you don't have all of the potential information about their needs, costs, etc. you are in no position to make a determination as to whether doing what they don't want you to do actually helps them or not, correct?
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@handsofqwerty said:
- advocate for the customer when they are too stupid/ignorant to do it for themselves
In your case, though, the customer "to you" is the shop, not the shop's customers. It is absolutely critical that you remember who is the final consumer of your work. The "customer" that you are thinking of is not your customer but the company's customer.
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Not the best way to handle it perhaps.
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@handsofqwerty said:
- get them the best solution at the best price while still making my company the most money
That's not for you to decide. Is this explicitly stated by the company that you work for? If not, you may be making this up. It sounds good, but there is nothing to imply that this is your responsibility if not stated.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@handsofqwerty said:
- get them the best solution at the best price while still making my company the most money
That's not for you to decide. Is this explicitly stated by the company that you work for? If not, you may be making this up. It sounds good, but there is nothing to imply that this is your responsibility if not stated.
My job is to make the customer happy and the company money. My sales accomplish both.
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@handsofqwerty said:
- don't lie or BS the customer EVER, and if you lose the sale because they don't like someone telling them the truth, so be it
Again, sounds good, but this is rarely how stores with salespeople operate. Are you sure that this is company policy for you? I'm not saying that you should be unethical, but there is a lot of grey area here and your "customer" is the company. Telling the customer the whole truth, even if they don't like it, is unlikely what they want to be doing.
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@handsofqwerty said:
My job is to make the customer happy and the company money. My sales accomplish both.
Is that official policy or an assumption? Is it in writing?
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@handsofqwerty said:
- provide quality technical work, and that means quality from a professional standpoint, not a corporate one
Again, is this in writing from the company?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@handsofqwerty said:
My job is to make the customer happy and the company money. My sales accomplish both.
Is that official policy or an assumption? Is it in writing?
No, that's policy. We push for warranties and tech work because it's very profitable for the company, and honestly it's also in the customer's best interest. Also, we are to make customer's happy because that affects CSAT scores and the like.
