Linda posted on February 12, 2010 12:38
You wouldn't hire a new employee without checking references, so why would you hire a computer support company without talking to a few of their recent clients? It would be particularly helpful if you talk to clients who have had similar problems or projects. If that's not possible, ask for clients who have done business with them consistently over at least a two year period.
This seems obvious, but a lot of companies skip this step.
When you talk to their clients, be sure to ask the following questions:
- Did they deliver what they promised?
- Were they responsive and easy to get ahold of in times of emergency?
- Did they bill accurately?
- Did they stay within the projected budget?
- Would you use them again? Why or why not?
You might also ask if there were any problems that arose and how they handled them. Not every project goes as smoothly as one would like, and it isn't so much the problem as how the problem was handled when it happened. If the company you are talking to is hesitant to provide a list of clients, proceed with extreme caution.
You should also take advantage of Google searches and other online tools to find out what people are saying. Searching for the company's name will help you find comments made by other clients. You should also take note of any clients that are mentioned on their website and contact them as well.
If you have a social network on LinkedIn, facebook or twitter, search for mentions there as well, or simply ask your social network if anyone has done business with the company you are considering. Unless your network is small or the company your are talking to doesn't have very many clients, you are likely to get an opinion from someone!