Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

[adrian]

ComputerGeeks Hawaii just reopened its doors because of your truly, and business is very slow. If you're too lazy to come to our store at 77 South Pauahi Street on the Mauka side of Fort Street Mall (with Subway to the right of us) then visit our website at computergeekshawaii.com. We offer computers to browse the internet, Mobi PCS cellular phone service, Clearwire wireless broadband, and of course we can fix your computer while you walk around downtown.

Call the store at 599-GEEK (4335), which is open from 10am till 3pm Monday through Friday.

[pzarquon]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

Do you have a fire extinguisher yet?

Otherwise... better not bring in any of those exploding batteries...

[TuNnL]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

You should always have a link to a section entitled, “About Us.” It adds legitimacy to your company so people who never heard of it feel comfortable doing business with you. Of course, the coconut wireless works very well in Hawai‘i, but that’s not what you’re selling.

[adrian]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

You should always have a link to a section entitled, “About Us.” It adds legitimacy to your company so people who never heard of it feel comfortable doing business with you. Of course, the coconut wireless works very well in Hawai‘i, but that’s not what you’re selling.

To tell you the truth, I don't think the business will survive after March, when the lease will be up. I overheard my boss say that he won't renew it, so there won't be any point in redoing the website or anything big.

So far, there's only two people with the company (me and him) and he has atleast two other businesses to run so that's why he hired me - to run the store.

Of course, you can just walk in, but what I'm learning is that parking isn't that easy to come by, especially if you don't want to pay for parking.


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If you want to try clearwire service, then come down! In our store, it has "4 bars" but the speed is about 1mbps down, so its more than enough for basic internet - plus you're not tethered to any wires if you get the car adaptor.

[adrian]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

WE'RE HAVING A PORTABLE SALE!

Got a laptop? Want the best accessories for it? Come down to Computer Geeks Hawaii during the Portable Sale and get a Clearwire Broadband Modem, plus free activation on a new Mobi PCS plan, plus $3 off slimline portable speakers!

Enjoy the joy of surfing the 'net where ever you want, while listening to music with slim portable speakers, and make unlimited calls to your friends with a Mobi PCS phone!

[nachodaddy]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

I was thinking of you the other day........

My computer crashed so I called my IT support, which is located in Bangalore, and they took control of my computer and fixed it.......

I am not sure the nuts and bolts of how NetMeeting works, I called IT when I had a problem, they instructed me to dial into an IP, a chat box came up and the tech was able to move my mouse around and check stuff while chatting with me. They fixed my problem, gave me back control of my computer, and we went our seperate ways.

So.........geek stuff aside, this is a good value added benefit for your customers. For example, you sign up a customer for a "remote access troubleshooting program" or sumthin' like that, they pay you X dollars per month for X times you rescue them. Of course you have them pay a month ahead of time so you don't have any AP issues (diffuses the " well, I did not use it, so why should I pay for it" stuff that comes up). You put this program on their computer, they call you when you got a problem, you take control of their computer, you fix it.

You can have Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze programs based on the times they can call in and # of instances per month. You can do this on the road if you have a wireless connection.

So they don't drop you the first month they sign up and don't use it: track your customer's usage of the program. If you are getting towards the end of the month and they have not called at all, you call them. You do your stuff remotely, clean up a few things, show some value. Then, they might actually sign up for an additional month. If they drop you, they still have NetMeeting on their computer, so when they get messed up, they can call in and you can charge per the incident (but you have to be sure they will pay you for it).

This way you are not having to fight traffic going from one end of the island to the other, almost eliminating that zero pay you get for windshield time.

[tutusue]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

[...]they pay you X dollars per month for X times you rescue them.[...]

Sounds kinda like AAA for computers!!! I would've signed up for something like that in a heartbeat when I had a desktop computer. But, my guess is the software is for PCs only.

I have something a bit similar with Apple...ProCare. For a yearly fee of $99. I can bring my laptop in to the Genius Bar by appt. for diagnosis and, usually, repair on the spot. Ditto for my iPod. It also entitles the subscriber to once weekly, one-on-one tutoring in Apple's applications...and refresher courses! Customers can and do bring in desktops but, ugh, too heavy!

My Powerbook has a nifty, free, little application on it; SmartReporter. Along with an icon in the menu that changes colors, it sends an alert when it detects an impending hard drive failure...which it did a couple of weeks ago. I got everything backed up that night, made a Genius Bar appt. online, took it to the Apple Store the next morning, where the impending failure was confirmed, and had my computer, with new hard drive, back late that afternoon. ProCare status pushes repairs to the top of the list!

This is a long winded way, Adrian, to say that customer service is so important. I don't know if you have enough time to develop any customer service programs for your store but possibly one could be put together that caters to the HPU students in your area. Just a thought...

[adrian]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

I was thinking of you the other day........

My computer crashed so I called my IT support, which is located in Bangalore, and they took control of my computer and fixed it.......

I am not sure the nuts and bolts of how NetMeeting works, I called IT when I had a problem, they instructed me to dial into an IP, a chat box came up and the tech was able to move my mouse around and check stuff while chatting with me. They fixed my problem, gave me back control of my computer, and we went our seperate ways.

So.........geek stuff aside, this is a good value added benefit for your customers. For example, you sign up a customer for a "remote access troubleshooting program" or sumthin' like that, they pay you X dollars per month for X times you rescue them. Of course you have them pay a month ahead of time so you don't have any AP issues (diffuses the " well, I did not use it, so why should I pay for it" stuff that comes up). You put this program on their computer, they call you when you got a problem, you take control of their computer, you fix it.

You can have Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze programs based on the times they can call in and # of instances per month. You can do this on the road if you have a wireless connection.

So they don't drop you the first month they sign up and don't use it: track your customer's usage of the program. If you are getting towards the end of the month and they have not called at all, you call them. You do your stuff remotely, clean up a few things, show some value. Then, they might actually sign up for an additional month. If they drop you, they still have NetMeeting on their computer, so when they get messed up, they can call in and you can charge per the incident (but you have to be sure they will pay you for it).

This way you are not having to fight traffic going from one end of the island to the other, almost eliminating that zero pay you get for windshield time.

Mind you, the company only has two "geeks" - and one of them has another job, while I have to man the store with limited supplies. So unless we're 100% positive that the customer is running XP, and that we have a static IP (which we don't have) then we can't use Remote Desktop to assist customers.

Plus, so far all problems that were at the customer's home is related to the peripherals (monitors, speakers, etc) so maybe if CGH survives beyond March, then we'll implement something like that.

[adrian]

Re: Let ComputerGeeks be your computer source!

We got the following specials:

PORTABLE SALE
Got a laptop? Want the best accessories for it? Come down to Computer Geeks Hawaii during the Portable Sale and get a Clearwire Broadband Modem, plus free activation on a new Mobi PCS plan, plus $3 off slimline portable speakers!

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$720 LAPTOP
These are the specs I remember:
Compaq Presario laptop
AMD Turion mobile 1.8ghz processor
1gb RAM
80gb HD
VISTA COMPATIBLE!

Sadly, we only have one laptop, so its first come first serve. Heck, if I had the money, then I'd get it.

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Slim USB speakers: $13
Their USB powered, so all you need is to hook them up to your laptop via USB and plug them in to get great portable sound. Great for the beach, at the park, or to listen in your car! They fold together to form a neat package for easy portability.