One of the most common questions we get from new prospective clients calling our office is “What do you guys charge for your IT services?”

While price certainly needs to be one consideration, it’s extremely important you make an informed decision and choose the right IT services company instead of using price as the main deciding factor.

This seems obvious, but the reality is that most business owners don’t really know what questions to ask or what to look for when choosing one IT company over another and therefore put too much weight on the quote.

What you want to avoid is getting lured into a lowball quote from an IT company that is in financial trouble, cutting corners to lower their fees to get you as a client, but then unable to afford to hire experienced, knowledgeable techs, dedicated account managers and the security tools they need to ensure YOU are actually getting the security, stability and service you need.

So, how much is “too much” and what are the signs that someone is underpriced?

While everyone likes a “bargain,” here are the reasons why “cheaper” is not the advantage you think it is when you choose an underpriced IT company:

  1. They are woefully short-staffed because the biggest expense in any IT company is the technical staff. THAT means if one of their techs quits, they’re quickly overwhelmed and unable to support your account, and response time suffers, not to mention critical security and backup maintenance of your network.
  2. The staff they hire are at the lower end of the pay scale, which means you’re not getting the most competent people working on backing up your data, keeping your network secure and handling the critical operations and data your business needs.
  3. They are very unlikely to have a dedicated account manager and team to work on your account because they can’t afford to hire them.
  4. They are one or two bad months away from going out of business because they have no buffer. That means you could wake up one morning and find yourself without an IT company, scrambling to find a new one.

If you want to know what types of questions you should be asking your managed services provider, then click here to download our IT Buyer's Guide: “What You Should Expect To Pay For IT Support For Your Small Business”

This report discusses in detail exactly what to look for to get exactly what you need without unnecessary extras, hidden fees and bloated contracts. But most importantly, it will show you how to get the right support you want in order to lower your risk and eliminate the frustration of dealing with a less than competent IT company.