Trust is something we come to expect from people who help us. Whether that help is personal or a business decision, we expect those who we ask for help to be knowledgeable and truthful. Most of all, when we finally seek information we expect the source to be educated and informed about the specific inquiry.
Sometimes I forget not everyone in my profession is smart or truthful about the technology industry. Last week I was outraged by a call-in talk show host who claimed to be an expert in computers but gave incorrect or misleading information to callers’ questions. Callers accepted the answers because the guest was supposedly an expert in his field.
Technology, for the most part, is pretty cut and dry. Let’s face it, my industry is nothing more than a bunch of zeros and ones. For someone in the know, picking out incorrect or misleading answers is easy. For those with a rudimentary knowledge of technology, even an opinion can be interpreted as an answer.
Walking through an electronics department store and eavesdropping on sales banter can be a real eye opener. It’s important to understand that employees at many department stores are no more educated than the customers, and without the spec sheets they know nothing of their product. Educated customers make the best decisions because they do research before buying.
Every time I call either my cell phone or internet service provider I’m told there’s a better plan for me. “Faster is better,” always seems to be the message they try to send. Faster isn’t always better, and in my case I live alone and use only one device at a time. A friend of mine who works for a major cable company told me she upsells customers about 50% of the time making that claim.
Last month a client showed me a proposal he had received to install a new VoIP phone system which supposedly required investing in a new network. After double checking the specifications of the network equipment I installed three months ago I assured the client they would be OK. After doing some research on phone systems I discovered there’s more profit in networking than phone systems.
In my repair business we have many first time customers who trust us without knowing anything about my business. Simply because I have a sign on my door that says we’re computer experts, customers trust that we know what we’re doing and believe the work will be done correctly. It amazes me the number of customers who never bother turning on their equipment to make sure the work was completed to their expectation.
Most of us work hard for our money and essentially exchange our hard work for a product or service with the understanding the other party is truthful. Many times we can trust that who we’re dealing with has our best interest at hand; however, there are many times we, as consumers, have to do our own research. Just because someone claims to be an expert doesn’t mean they necessarily are.
No matter who you’re working with it’s a good idea to do your own research and understand not everyone is an expert. An easy way to tell if someone is giving you incorrect information is to do your own fact checking. The internet is a wonderful place to start followed by talking to other experts in the field you’re questioning. Trusting someone when money is on the table could be a very expensive mistake.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can read past articles at www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)