Today

Turns out I picked a great time to start my new blog (sarcasm intended). Not that there would ever be a good time, when I just have nothing to do. I'm writing this post at my Father-in-Law's house in Reno, NV. We just drove 2,000 miles, kids and all, from Texas to Reno as we set out on our end-of-the-summer family vacation. We decided to drive instead of fly, and take some time to enjoy the scenery along the way. Stops included the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, a quick drive down the Vegas strip, and several other less well-known detours. The kids have done great, considering the fact that we drove for three solid days. Early on in the drive, we all agreed that it was so much fun that we will never fly again. I'm interested to see if we still feel that way by the time we are finished (two weeks and 4,500 miles).

OK, so I'm on vacation and still I'm working. My excuse is that it's 6:30 AM local time so nobody is awake yet, but its 8:30 AM according to my internal clock, so I can't sleep. I suppose the real reason is that I can't ever take a true vacation. I can't ever get my mind completely off of work. In fact, I'll still be answering phone calls while I'm on the road and dispatching technicians as needed.

I admit that I'm still trying to find my "blogging voice" here. I don't want this to be an ongoing sales pitch for the company. In fact, my real goal is to write things that will be useful to the average business owner or executive, having to do with computers and technology. These first few entries are going to be a bit more of a personal introduction, but if you stick with me, I promise to make the content less about me and more about you, the reader. Of course, in order to facilitate that goal, your feedback is crucial. Please let me know when I get off-topic. Tell me if what I write is useful. Let me know if you think I'm wrong. Argue with me if you feel the need.

In my last post I gave a personal history and a bit of background on Master Computing. Today I want to elaborate on where we are today and what we have to offer the community. In my next post I'll talk a little about how we see the future.

In order to explain my personal philosophy on running a business, I have to start with all the what-not-to-dos I see on a daily basis. When was the last time you had to call "customer service" at a bank, a phone company, a government agency, or any other large, well established organization? How many times were you transferred to yet another robotic agent who was simply reading a script, telling you, "I'm very sorry for the inconvenience"? How sorry were they? My favorite rebuttal to that line is: "yes, I'm sure you're going to lose sleep over this tonight!"

Well, the reality is that I do lose sleep over upset customers. I don't care how "insignificant" (I use that word sarcastically) a customer may be to the bottom line, I want them to feel as if they are my single most important customer. Customer service, real customer service, is my first and greatest priority in running my business. Nothing irritates me more than a company or organization who loses sight of the fact that their customers are actually people. People with real needs, real concerns, real problems. Sure, we are all in the game to make money. But isn't there an inherent, moral obligation to take care of those whose money it is that keeps us afloat? Doesn't the very fact that they are a customer at all, earn them the right to be treated like royalty, and not like a number? Yet many organizations do even worse, treating their customers like a problem, like a thorn in the side. I believe in treating all customers like friends, like part of the family. Ya, that sounds a bit cheesy, but it's how I feel.

Getting beyond the how we do business, let me wrap this up with an explanation of what it is that we have to offer. Computer shops are a dime a dozen. There is no law governing who can and who cannot call themselves a computer tech. You don't have to pass a bar exam, there is no college degree required, there are no mandatory background checks. For this reason, I am very big on certifications. They aren't government regulated. In fact, they are typically regulated only by the associated manufacturers. But they at least show that someone took the time to study a specialized subject well enough to pass a rather brutal test. These certifications weed out the wannabes. My technicians are required to be certified. I may hire the right person before they obtain their certs, but in order to stay with me, they have to be actively working in that direction. A discussion of what these certifications are and which ones we obtain is a bit beyond the scope of this post. I may revisit the subject at a later date.

I think I'll wrap this up with a few comments about money. We all want to save money. We want quality products and services without paying a fortune. But cheap can be a disaster. One of my favorite things to say is: "You can spend a fortune being cheap." Allow me a quick personal example (true story). I buy my kids cheap shoes to save money. They wear out in a few weeks. I repeat the process. Then I tried an experiment and I spent twice as much money for each pair of shoes, which end up lasting three times as long. So it costs me less money to buy more expensive shoes. So how does this apply to computers? I don't really know if it does, except that I do not compete to be the cheapest computer shop in town. This isn't Walmart! If you want cheap, go to those geeky guys at the retail shops. I focus on quality. I like the job to be done right the first time. Or better yet, I like to identify potential problems before they take you down. I hire good employees and I pay them well. But at the same time, I know that times are tough right now. It is imperative that I find a way to provide quality service at a reasonable price. Not cheap, but reasonable. I do this by offering unlimited tech support for a low monthly fee. This keeps the income steady for us as a company, allowing us predictable cash flow. It also acts as a form of insurance to the customer, eliminating those huge bills when something goes really wrong (and things will go wrong!) while providing consistent, proactive support and ongoing maintenance to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

So that's us in a nutshell: 1) Striving for perfect customer service to even the "smallest" customer; 2) Well qualified, certified technicians; and 3) Predictable expenses and reasonable prices. These are our core values and will not change. Tomorrow we hope to grow, expand, and improve. But we will never change who we are today.