Recently, a new client called me into their business to clean-up remnants of a database implementation gone wrong. I might mention that they shopped me first, determined I cost to much, and hired a general IT firm. Now, I am not saying anything negative about IT firms, I need them as much as they need me in a perfect network LAN setup situation, but what I am saying is: Don’t let a general doctor perform your heart surgery! That’s just asking for trouble!
After peeking into the situation, and seeing all 30+ databases that were created during the troubleshooting process, it reminded me of why I specialize in particular areas of expertise. Here are three things that I need to remind my clients and prospects of when price is a factor:
1. What I can do in 3 hours as a product expert, others probably will have to multiply by 5. In the end, how much money did you save? Not only did you spend your time, but they spent theirs trying to solve problems they didn’t really have a complete and total understanding, grasp, and full scenario of possibilities. A product expert that knows the ins and outs of the product will be able to leverage different aspects of the software that most other professionals miss, or fail to completely develop thesis on. Sometimes their solutions create the need for other solutions. Sometimes their solutions create other problems to be solved as well.
2. What happens when they cannot fix a problem is: You are paying for me anyway. That has to really hurt. When you shop someone, go with the lowest price, and then you have to pay the firm you hired for their time, and the person you could have hired from the beginning to fix the mess. Can you imagine all the time and money saved had you just done what needed to be done in the first place. Moral is: Go with Experience! It is the only truth that can be trusted.
3. Trust your IT firm to provide you references for professionals/experts they have worked with. Your IT firm is your trusted advisor, your intermediary. A good IT firm will refer you to who you can work with when they realize and understand the extent of their own expertise. They will steer you in the right direction and save you money by bringing in partners or experts in what you are trying to do. If they don’t, find a new firm. You are no one’s Guinea pig. Don’t allow yourself to be treated that way.
Having and expert makes a difference because it saves you time, energy, and money. They all combined equate to success…
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