Reply to: Some advice required, been asked to quote for a support contract.

[Antman]

Great thread, thanks for posting, really inspiring, well done

[chewie171]

This is great post.

I'm a web developer / programmer, working on developing monthly support for some clients. This has given me some great ideas and options to add.

[mattfx]

As someone new to this thread, it was nice to see how you got on through the project! Great job, you should definitely keep building on your business if you can / want to! You obviously have a knack for it

[northernladyuk]

Thought I'd update this.

7 years or so on and we still have this contract.

We now are LTD Co and charge £1490 pcm, this includes up to 20 hours per month on-site and unlimited remote support.

In reality my partner and I are there for a couple of hours each per week.

We do various of additional projects outwith the standard support agreement and we charge £30 p/h per head for that.

We also supply them with various consumable hardware and we deal with mobile device repairs.

Last year we turned over approx £30k, with a gross profit of £22k, this year we're looking at nearer £35k/£27k.

We do this alongside our full time jobs as desktop support engineers, works well.

Thanks for updating.

[cojak]

Thought I'd update this.

7 years or so on and we still have this contract.

We now are LTD Co and charge £1490 pcm, this includes up to 20 hours per month on-site and unlimited remote support.

In reality my partner and I are there for a couple of hours each per week.

We do various of additional projects outwith the standard support agreement and we charge £30 p/h per head for that.

We also supply them with various consumable hardware and we deal with mobile device repairs.

Last year we turned over approx £30k, with a gross profit of £22k, this year we're looking at nearer £35k/£27k.

We do this alongside our full time jobs as desktop support engineers, works well.

Thanks for coming back and telling us how it's going.

This is a perfect thread for showing others how IT business is negotiated and run.

Good luck for the future!

[TheAnalyst]

Thought I'd update this.

7 years or so on and we still have this contract.

We now are LTD Co and charge £1490 pcm, this includes up to 20 hours per month on-site and unlimited remote support.

In reality my partner and I are there for a couple of hours each per week.

We do various of additional projects outwith the standard support agreement and we charge £30 p/h per head for that.

We also supply them with various consumable hardware and we deal with mobile device repairs.

Last year we turned over approx £30k, with a gross profit of £22k, this year we're looking at nearer £35k/£27k.

We do this alongside our full time jobs as desktop support engineers, works well.

[TykeMerc]

Just an update.

Been doing this since July now, going really well. The first few months were busy but been very quiet since November.
We have always been on site within 2 hours of any call and pop in once a week for a hour.
They are extremely happy with the service they are getting which is fantastic.

So it's £700 a month for a hour a week and not been called out over and above that since before Xmas.

Couldn't have worked out better

Nice one, that's how to do good business

[TheAnalyst]

Just an update.

Been doing this since July now, going really well. The first few months were busy but been very quiet since November.
We have always been on site within 2 hours of any call and pop in once a week for a hour.
They are extremely happy with the service they are getting which is fantastic.

So it's £700 a month for a hour a week and not been called out over and above that since before Xmas.

Couldn't have worked out better

[lje]

Got the contract!

• 4 hour response with low priority jobs logged in the evening to be dealt with next day.
• £400 monthly retainer plus minimum 10 support hours @ £30 p/h each month.
• Additional hours @ £30 p/h (minimum 1 hour per job)

Around 20 hours per week for the first 3 weeks with flexible start times to assist with initial rollout and get up to speed.

My colleague and I are going to split the cover (and fee) between us and we have a third person (ex colleague) who can fill in if required at an agreed rate. This takes the burden of all that availability away from me which is good, it also gives us scope to find other similar contracts going forward without encroaching on our full time contracts.

Quite pleased now

Good news and good luck!

[Scrag Meister]

Congrats, well done.

I hope it all works out financially and time wise.

[TheAnalyst]

Got the contract!

• 4 hour response with low priority jobs logged in the evening to be dealt with next day.
• £400 monthly retainer plus minimum 10 support hours @ £30 p/h each month.
• Additional hours @ £30 p/h (minimum 1 hour per job)

Around 20 hours per week for the first 3 weeks with flexible start times to assist with initial rollout and get up to speed.

My colleague and I are going to split the cover (and fee) between us and we have a third person (ex colleague) who can fill in if required at an agreed rate. This takes the burden of all that availability away from me which is good, it also gives us scope to find other similar contracts going forward without encroaching on our full time contracts.

Quite pleased now

[TheAnalyst]

Well that's the quote off...

XXXXXX XXXXX (T/A) XXXXX Technology Solutions
XX XXXXX Street
XXXXXXXXX
Glasgow
GXX 1XX

Mobile: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Email: [email protected]

Quotation for IT support services

Hi Xxxxx,
I have produced the following quote that I feel would best meet your requirements.

The required support of 15 hours a day, 7 days a week is demanding in as much that it requires me or my associate to be available for a large number of hours each month. Although you indicated that once established the support requirement may only be somewhere in the region of 10 hours per month the availability has to be a key factor in my fee.

Service requirements:
IT support services @ XXXXXX, XX XXXX Street, Glasgow, XX XXX.

Hours supported:
0800 – 2300, Monday – Sunday
Holiday periods (xmas/new year) to be discussed.

My proposal:

• I will provide IT support services to XXXXXXX (Glasgow) staff and customers within the agreed supported hours.
• I will always provide support within the Service Level Agreement which allows a response time of 4 hours at maximum but wherever possible I will aim to respond sooner and in line with priority of the issue & the business requirements.
• If I am not available personally then I will provide support by way of a trusted and qualified associate.
• Wherever practical I (or an associate) will attend the XXXXXXX site however there may be occasions where it's more suitable to utilise remote support via telephone or suitable remote support tool.

My proposed fee:

Option 1
£800 monthly fee inclusive of 16 support hours per month
Additional support hours @ £30 p/h (minimum of 1 hour per job)

Option 2
£400 monthly availability fee
10 support hour block @ £300 additional support hours @ £30 p/h (minimum of 1 hour per job)
20 support hour block @ £500 & additional support hours @ £25 p/h (minimum of 1 hour per job)

Option 3
£500 monthly availability fee
Individual support hours @ £35 p/h (minimum of 1 hour per job)

For a number of years now, alongside my main job as an Apple and Microsoft certified desktop support engineer, I have worked with a number of small businesses and many home users on an “ad-hoc” basis.
This is the first (of many, I hope) on-going it support contract I have tendered for, myself, as a sole trader.

My plan for the future is to aim to develop this type of support into a full time business and I view this contract with XXXXXX as a first step towards this goal and an altogether fantastic opportunity.

With everything considered, If my proposal is not suitable in any way I openly welcome any alternative suggestions you may have.

Kind Regards
XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

Guess it's a waiting game now, hope it comes across as professional enough

[Scrag Meister]

Or perhaps you could have an hourly retention rate.

e.g They want 8am-11pm with 4 hour call out
9-5 is £1.50 per hour retainer, all others £2 per hour
That would be £26 per day retention, = £750 per month on retention

or £2.50 and £3 for 2 hour call out. etc..

or adjust as you see fit.

GL

[TheAnalyst]

I'm only about 15 mins from the site at any time, most days.

With the response now 4 hours, even if I'm working, 99% of the time my workmate at my main job will be available within this timeframe and would be very happy with £30 p/h as and when so this really simplifies everything. We've also talked about splitting it down the middle and each of us take a shifts of being "on call" if you like to release the burden a bit...

I have to put it into perspective, my main job pays me £21 a hour and It's a VERY good rate for 2nd line technical desktop support in Glasgow, last time I checked this was London rates for the role. This opportunity is a very "non-technical" role and I don't want to risk scaring them off... I see this as an important stepping stone to something potentially bigger if I can gain a few contracts like this.

Going into that meeting yesterday I'd have been reasonably happy with the extra £500 a month even if that included, say, 10 hours support (although I was not aware of their availability requirements)

Not sure wether to offer them the 3 options above or just one... don't want them to think I've just been picking figures out of the air that's all

Thanks again for the advice!

[Scrag Meister]

Where are you? and how far from the site?

£25ph seems quite cheap when taking travel and what have you into consideration.

£400 / 30days approx £13 per day for the inconvenience assuming 15 hour retained day is < £1 per hour, not a great deal, IMHO.

It could be just the London in me speaking.

Then again if you think it's worth the effort then fair play to you.