If I could give some advice to someone new in this business (the topic of this thread, right?) it would be to offer maitenance plans right from the beginning. You can triple your profits by doing so.
This is going to vary a little by the brand or brands you sell (reliability, long term cost and availablity of parts). Also, stay away from lessor available brands and your costs will remain lower (due to supply and demand and competition between the repair houses). Last, specialize in 1 or 2 brands only! Too many firms try to sell too many lines, and your profitability gets killed in too much inventory, too much tech training, too much headache trying to keep things straght!
About service plans: I own an interconnect in Idaho and have a very healthy in house maintenance plan. A few years ago I wrote a manual to help other interconnect owners do the same thing. That turned into seminars, which turned in to speaking engagements for North American Telcom Dealers, NEC, Winn Communications, and others. In the last 5 years I have trained over 1000 interconnect owners on the subject of starting and running an in house maitenance program on the small phone systems they sell. And most firms can triple there profits by doing so. In fact, if you are not offering a plan you are leaving most of the profit on the table.
I have a flyer I would be happy to fax to you regarding my manual. If you have any interest, please email me your fax number and I'll have my office fax you this 2 page flyer. (We won't sell or use your fax number for any thing else).
Take care, and if I can help or answer any questions, please contact me.
Brian Stutzman
President and CEO
Business Phone Specialists, Inc.
Idaho Falls, ID
