QuickBooks telephone support can be an effective, efficient and profitable way to provide QuickBooks support. However, it can also be very time consuming and difficult to bill. Don’t let anyone fool you. There are no “quick QuickBooks questions.” Each time a client calls for support, you should plan to spend between 15 and 60 minutes working through their problem.
A few suggestions for managing telephone support engagements:
It is best for you to limit your telephone support to your existing QuickBooks clients. There are several reasons for this.
Telephone support is difficult to do without a complete understanding of the client’s business and QuickBooks setup.
By offering support to non-clients, you could jeopardize the availability of service to your existing clients.
It is more profitable for you to focus on existing, local clients who are in a position to recommend your firm to others.
Build telephone support into every engagement you perform. Regardless of the nature of the engagement, make sure the client always purchases telephone support time. For seminar attendees, offer one or two 15-minute telephone support calls. For setup engagements include at least one hour of telephone support time and consider that time when quoting a price. Then communicate to the client that their engagement includes one hour of telephone support. By bundling telephone support into the initial engagement, you ascribe value to your telephone time on the outset of your relationship with the client. If the client chooses not to pay for the telephone support at the time of the engagement and then calls you for help, you will have already established the value of support calls and can more readily ask for money before offering advice.
Create several telephone support plans to provide you with a flexible means of charging for the time you provide your clients over the phone. Configure your support plans such that the time is purchased in advance, and the time “expires” after a certain number of months. For example, have the client purchase 3, 4 or 6 hours of your time each year. If they use up all of their time before the end of the year they can always purchase more. If they do not use all of their time they must renew their support plan to continue calling for help. Consider the following regarding the offering pre-paid telephone support plans:
Let your client know about available telephone support plans at your first interview or during your initial QuickBooks support engagement. You can provide them with a letter or brochure or post the information on your website for online reference. This will establish a basis for the way telephone support will be billed.
Send a letter to the client when they have less than 1 hour of time available on their plan. In the letter, state the exact amount of time available as of the date of the letter along with a brochure or bullet list of available telephone support plans. Provide a per-incident rate to tactfully let the client know that you will charge for even a single call once their available time has expired.
When you first initiate the telephone plans you will need to transition your existing clients onto one of the telephone support plans. Keep in mind that this transition may be difficult because they may have become accustomed to free telephone support and consequently devalue the service. It is best to contact each client by phone to discuss your new telephone support plans and the fact that you need all of your clients to participate. Consider significantly discounting their first year’s telephone support and also offer them a 1-3 month grace period before you begin charging. This will show that you appreciate their business and respect the longevity of your relationship. At the end of the grace period collect the entire amount for the year at the discounted price.