Trusted Advisor Status Brings Extra Revenue

Every VAR has the goal of becoming its clients’ trusted advisor. The reasoning is simple: It is easier to secure recurring business, even grow your business, when your number is the first one a customer calls when a technology problem arises. For Seth Russell, president of Computer St. Louis, the effort behind becoming a trusted advisor has paid off again and again since his business launched 12 years ago. “While it is difficult to pinpoint what percentage of our business comes from our trusted advisor status, we do track how people find us when we get new accounts, and about 60% come from customer referrals,” explains Russell. “That paints the picture that we are doing the job well enough that they recommend us to others who need our services.”

A recent example of that effort came when Amogas, a fuel and oil distribution company just outside St. Louis, lost phone service because its battery backup was failing. Because of the immediate need to resolve the problem — as a distributor, the company’s phone system was key — Amogas called Computer St. Louis.

“We had an existing relationship with the customer, so they called us right away,” says Russell. The fuel distributor, which has about 20 employees and no IT staff, first worked with Computer St. Louis about six months ago when its routers failed. “The Amogas routers went bad, and someone referred them to us. We replaced the routers with a Nortel router that was a good value, but more importantly, we got it in the next day. Everyone else told them it was going to take about a week — that is what got us in the door.”

Quick responses have helped establish Computer St. Louis as the trusted advisor for this customer. After handling a few small IT issues over the past few months, they were a natural fit when the customer’s battery backup failed. Computer St. Louis found that the business’ existing battery backup was beyond repair. “We could have installed a new version of that same brand, but we would have spent [$600] more  than the two new CyberPower Systems CP1500 AVR LCD units cost, so we went with those,” says Russell.

Once the decision was made, it took less than a day to remove the existing battery backup and install two new CyberPower UPSs (uninterruptible power supplies) with LCD screens, which cost $460. Because of the lower cost, Computer St. Louis recommended two UPS units to replace the single battery backup unit the company was using. That, says Russell, eliminated a single point of failure, plus provides 3,000 volt/amps total vs. the 2,200 volt/amps they had available before. Adding a value such as dual fail-safe points, which may not have even been considered by the customer, is another aspect of becoming a trusted advisor, adds Russell. Besides delivering that extra backup, the CyberPower units also have the company’s GreenPower UPS ™ technology, which will reduce Amogas’ UPS energy costs by as much as 75% over the older unit.

Ease-Of-Use Products Help Customers Without IT Staff
The CyberPower units were selected not only for the cost savings, but also for the ease of use they provided a customer without an IT staff. “With the LCD screen on the CyberPower UPS, Amogas can easily monitor the status of the new system,” explains Russell. While the old battery backup would simply beep when it went down, there was no method for monitoring its overall performance. In comparison, the LCD diagnostic panels give the user real-time status reports on the system’s vitals (such as input voltage level, output voltage level, automatic voltage regulator, battery capacity, runtime estimate, load level, output frequency, on battery, overload, and fault condition). “Before, if you thought your battery was bad, you just knew you better buy a new one fast. With these, you can take preventative action instead of hoping the power doesn’t go out before you get your new battery,” says Russell. Access to detailed system information is especially important since the company’s phone system, router, channel service unit/digital service unit (CSU/DSU), and switch are all supported by these batteries.

Since that installation, Computer St. Louis has been researching a new phone system for Amogas. “We are looking at a system that will power down safely with the UPS, and, with their two locations, which are all analog now, we think a voice over Internet Protocol [VoIP] system is a good fit and will save them money.”
Russell says that while the installation was not groundbreaking, it did reinforce the importance of being a trusted advisor. “The hardest part of business is trying to get new customers and then keep them,” says Russell, who adds that while that first call from a customer may not be a big installation, you never know when that same client will recommend you or need a large installation that could open a new market.
www.computerstlouis.com
www.cyberpowersystems.com