Gaining the trust of your clients is important to any business, but is it an asset? Some would speculate that trust is only part of a much larger equation that involves customer service, pricing and quality. But is it only a fraction of the whole or does it actually all begin with trust?
In the computer services industry I’ve witnessed many clients rightfully concerned about their privacy and security. That concern may feed in to notions that their computer or data may not be safe outside of their hands or that they may have their equipment broken. Weary of the possibility that something could go wrong, many may let problems go unchecked.
This is a course of action that may have hazards of its own. For example, a virus infection left unchecked could result in sensitive information being leaked out to third parties with malicious intentions. Others may leave hardware problems, like an overheating computer or a perisistent error message, without resolution, potentially causing harm to both their computer and their data.
This paradigm of trust and mistrust delivers one clear message. Trust is now an asset and it is indeed where the relationship with clients begins, especially for computer service providers. The more the client has at risk (data, hardware, etc) the more trust they need to feel comfortable. This trust must be handled carefully and honestly, or else the risk is that we see more problems left unchecked to the detriment of the user and the industry.
computers, small business
computer repair, computer services, data recovery, hardware, small business, trust
I have seen many small business owners panic as their primary storage devices fail them and they don’t have a backup or any crisis continuity plan in place. It is very important for every small business to make regular backups of important data to keep on site and to store remotely either online or at another location on CDs, DVDs or external drives.
Advice for failures
When hard drives fail (and they will) don’t panic. If you don’t have a back up of your data make sure you shut down the system and call a qualified data recovery professional. Remember that there is little you can do if your drive is failing because most of the time you will cause more damage to your valuable data.
Don’t take your hard drive somewhere that doesn’t specialize in data recovery. When in doubt ask your prospective repair shop or data recovery firm about the symptoms you experienced, make sure to note any error messages you saw and relay them. Try to get an estimate if you can.
Backing up
I recommend starting off with an external hard drive and an online backup service for your backups. Don’t use the external drive or the online backup as your only copy. Have three copies at all time. One on your computer, one on the external drive and one online. How often you back up is up to you. Just remember that if you lose your data you won’t have but the most recent copy you last backed up so frequency is important.
Next level
You may also consider RAID configurations, network attached storage and multiple online backup locations if redundancy and continuity of business operations are mission critical.
small business
backup, data recovery, small business