I’m temporarily handing over the blog for a Guest post from Netlink IT’s Office Manager – Sharon Howard.

Sharon has been with Netlink IT since January 2009 and has been hugely instrumental in helping reform our financial processes to see us through the difficult recession, manage our clients and suppliers, keep the office premises running smoothly and general act as what Karl Palachuk would refer to as our $200 miracle!

Sharon will be remaining with us as Office Manager during the merger with JamesCash.co.uk – as we announced last week – but judging by her blog post below, I can guess at one supplier we’re unlikely to be using post-merger…

I’ll hand things over to Sharon!

***

It’s been a month since I arrived at QA-IQ’s Birmingham office for a course only to find it had been cancelled and I still haven’t heard back from our account manager…

When I started working for Netlink IT I was registered for ten training days via a Training License with QA-IQ to build up my skills with Microsoft Office Applications. The first few days went smoothly; I registered for my classes, received confirmation of my booking, went along and sat through my first four classes. Then the next three were cancelled due to low fill, which was fair enough as I was notified and I went along to the rearranged dates without a problem. Now I just had three days left to complete before our training license ran out in May. So in April I went along for my 8^th session only to arrive and find that my course had been cancelled yet our account manager had failed to inform me, this then happened again the following week. I was notified of a third cancellation and finally had my eight training day in may. Our account manager had apologised unreservedly for not informing me and assured us that he would inform me if there were further cancellations, our training license was extended to allow me to complete all the training and we were given one complimentary training day.

Now you would think after this QA would be more careful about keeping us informed of any changes or cancellations but no…

At the end of May it happened again, I arrived for a class only to find they had booked me in for a Microsoft Office 2003 course when I was supposed to be doing 2007, even though I had e-mailed before to check that the course was running. I had received no reply to my e-mail, and as no news is usually good news, I had to take it that no reply meant everything was okay, as surely given the past mistakes they would have replied if there was a problem!?

I finally managed to complete my ninth training day in June so just one left which was booked for 24^th August…

I travelled back early from my weekend away at V-Festival so I could get to my course on time on the morning of the 24^th. On arrival I found that yet again the course had been cancelled, but not only had it been cancelled but this time my place had never been booked by our account manager at all! I returned to our office to find an e-mail sent by our account manager at 9.55am on the 24^th August informing me the course was cancelled, a totally pointless message seeing the course was due to start at 9am! In addition the message went on to offer two alternative dates for the training, but one of these was not even for the right course!!

I replied politely with the following message:

“Unfortunately your message arrived too late to be of use, I had already gone to the centre to be turned away again, they also informed me that even though the course was cancelled I had never been booked on to it in the first place. We are obviously not happy that this has now happened several times with courses where we have not been informed that they were cancelled. Please can you advise me how many training days we have left to use as a result of the complimentary days offered due to the previous mix-ups and also can you provide me with full contact details for the Birmingham office so I can double check with them prior to attendance that courses are running.

As for the dates you have provided only the 30^th November is for Outlook 2007 Level 3, the other date being for Level 1, please can you book me in for the 30^th November in Birmingham and confirm this booking for me. Should the course be cancelled I would appreciate notification as early as possible so as to not waste any more time and expense travelling to attend courses that are not happening.”

To do date I have still not received a reply to this message…

So just a suggestion to anyone looking for training for Microsoft Office, I would recommend finding another training provider, while QA-IQ are one the largest providers of classroom based training this level of customer service is appalling! Personally I intend to opt for online training in future, this suits me better due to increased access and flexibility, and after all it wouldn’t cost so much in time or travel expenses if a course was cancelled.

To QA-IQ: Good Customer Service doesn’t cost the earth, or even significant effort. It is in your interests to retain your customers, so do something about this!

Having a standard pre-prepared e-mail to send out a week before a course either confirming or cancelling the date is easy to set up, and being providers of IT training you should know this anyway… or would you like me to come in and show you how its done?

Click here to connect to Sharon via LinkedIn

Click here to follow Sharon via Twitter

A snappier title to this blog entry might be “Cash and Tubb”, evoking images of a ‘70s Cop Show, but I decided to keep the more straight forward headline…

The title of this blog post says it all – my company, Birmingham based Netlink IT, has merged with nearby Dudley based JamesCash.co.uk – owned by James Cash!

Netlink IT started in 1999 as “Netlink Trading Ltd”, essentially a vehicle for my 9 to 5 IT Contracting at companies such as Ernst & Young, GE Capital and the NHS. By 2004 I was regularly undertaking out-of-hours projects for those clients and other small businesses, and so I took the plunge to give up the IT Contracting and work for myself.

I continued as the “IT Guy” until 2007 when I became aware of something called “Managed Services” and so sought more information – then stumbling across the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community. I attended the Microsoft SBSC Symposium in Manchester where I listened to people like Susanne Dansey, Gareth Brown of Sytec, Vijay Riyait and Steve Wright of BMS speak on the subject of SMB and Managed Services. This had a profound effect on me – suddenly my eyes were opened to a whole community of IT Professionals and Business Owners who faced the same challenges as me.

I visited my local user group, AMITPRO, where I was made to feel welcome by everyone. I also met a couple of folks there called James Cash and Mark Poulding. More on them later!

Visiting AMITPRO each month gave me the opportunity to discuss the challenges I faced as a “one man band” with my peers. I took on board the advice given by them and other people I’d been introduced to within the Global SMB Community, people such as Tim Long, Vlad Mazek and Karl Palachuk.

By the end of 2007 I’d moved Netlink IT from being “The IT Guy” doing break/fix IT Support in to a pure Managed Services Provider. But the problem remained that I basically still owned a job, and not a business. I no longer wanted to be a “one man band”. I read “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber and decided that the best way to grow my business was to systemise and automate it. 2008 became the year I really concentrated on this – and pretty soon Netlink IT had offices in Weoley Castle, I’d employed an Office Manager to manage all the admin and other chores that stopped me from getting out and earning, and built strategic alliances with other local trusted IT Consultants who I made sure to treat as employees of Netlink IT – sharing our goals, ideas, training, resources, best practices and processes with them. Huge thanks to Mick Davies of MAD Computers, Rob Savage of RobSavage.com and Rob Franklin of JPT Solutions – they all “got it” around the idea of tight collaboration and enabled me to stop being a Technician and start growing a business.

Thoughts then turned from fixing Technical issues to adding new clients, and then meant me taking off my Geek hat and putting on a Sales hat. Uncomfortably territory! I discussed the issue with James Cash (who was growing his own business 8 miles up the road from Netlink IT at a fantastic rate) who suggested I come along to a Sandler Sales Training event with him. I stretched my comfort levels and went, and soon I was attending a bi-weekly Presidents Club hosted by the fantastic Steve Wright (a different one to the BMS owner mentioned earlier!) which focused my business brain on generating sales.

In mid-2008 I also made a trip to the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston, TX. Much like that first SBSC Symposium, this was a real eye owner for me. I sat in on seminar sessions delivered by Arlin Sorenson, Stuart Crawford and others which I found genuinely inspirational. I also sat in on a get together of something called HTG – Heartlands Technology Group. The conversation blew me away – here was a room full of around 100 business owners who were REALLY good at what they did.

At WPC 2008 I also met a chap by the name of Dave Sobel, owner of Evolve Technologies. He discussed with me the idea of starting a HTG group in the UK. “Would I be interested?”. You bet! The resulting HTG 11 group became a major influence in my business life, the “Virtual Board of Directors” concept really driving me forwards, and Dave (the Facilitator) of that group becoming a good friend and a great advisor, along with the other fantastic members of HTG 11.

January 2009 saw a reward for our drive towards systemising the business. Netlink IT were awarded an Accreditation by Accredit UK for General Business Processes and Network Design and Installation. I also took on a new Office Manager, a fabulous lady named Sharon Howard. Sharon was hugely instrumental in overhauling our financial management processes – and the timing couldn’t have been better as the UK went into recession.

Fast forward to July 2009 and thoughts had turned to taking on more Technical Staff and improving the Sales process. Just before I was due to fly to New Orleans for WPC 09 I had lunch with James Cash. “How do you feel about talking about a merger with Mark and I?”. When I’d been approached on the subject previously I dismissed it out of hand, but this time around we chatted it over and something blindingly obvious became apparent - the main challenges JamesCash.co.uk were facing, Netlink IT had tackled, and the main challenges Netlink IT were facing, James and his partner Mark Poulding had dealt with. Why not pool our resources, lower our costs and accelerate our mutual growth?

I took my thinking hat to NOLA with me to mull over the options and sat with the people who’s opinion matters most to me – my HTG 11 peers Dave Sobel, Raja Pagadala, Malcolm Diack and HTG’s Stuart Crawford. I came back with a decision.

Since WPC 09, James and I have been planning how to merge our two companies, and boy, there’s a lot to plan! We’ve been lucky enough to have a great Business Mentor in John Shufflebottom to help us along the way. We have closed down the Netlink IT offices in Birmingham and taken on larger joint offices in Dudley, begun migrating data and processes, notified clients and suppliers, financially valued our two companies for the split of shares and undertaken the necessary legal steps, and just last week prepared the Public Relations (there are articles in the Birmingham Mail newspaper and Midland Business News already) There’s still a ton left to be done, but we’re now together in one building and pulling in the same direction – I’m sure we’ll get there.

So going into late 2009 I’m no longer “the boss”, but “a boss” – something that I’m sure will take time to come to terms with but with the benefit that I no longer feel like I have the whole world resting on my shoulders – and together with Mark and James we have a whole new set of goals and a plan for the next 3 years and beyond for the newly merged company!

With huge thanks to everyone I’ve mentioned above (and those many others I’ve not) who helped me grow Netlink IT to the stage where we’re ready to face this new challenge, I hope you’ll wish James, Mark, Sharon, Ian, Alex, Ian, James, Rob and I all the very best of luck for our endeavour!

A quick plug for Erick Simpson of MSPU’s new book “The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations Book EVER” (great title!) which is available for pre-order today, saving $50 off the cover price! Erick’s book, The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice, was a big influence when I took Netlink IT down the Managed Services road – so I’m always one of the first to grab Erick’s new books for a good read.

“Following in the footsteps of the last 3 books in our Managed Services Series: The Guide to a Successful Managed Services Practice, The Best I.T. Sales & Marketing BOOK EVER! and The Best I.T. Service Delivery BOOK EVER!, this new publication continues our goal of documenting best practices for each and every area of a successful I.T. and Managed Services Provider's practice.

The Best NOC and Service Desk Operations BOOK EVER! reveals how to build, staff and maintain a NOC and Service Desk effectively and profitably, along with best practices and techniques to increase efficiencies and net profits for these critical business units of your IT practice. Whether you are looking to build out your NOC and Service Desk from scratch, are interested in learning how to effectively outsource and manage specific components of these units, or simply wish to evaluate the processes you currently employ in your own NOC and Service Desk, this reference guide will teach you how to improve processes, maximize efficiencies and increase client satisfaction - all while improving your bottom line!

Ship date for The Best NOC and Service Desk BOOK EVER! is October 31st, 2009, but we are now accepting pre-orders at a $50 discount over cover price!

Click here for more information, and to pre-order now for only $99.99* - and save $50 over the cover price!”

Andy Trish of NCI Technologies, the UK SBSC PAL, sent me this request for stories to be feature in an upcoming book:-

“Do you have a funny or strange story to tell?

Would you and your company like to be featured in a book being launched to Microsoft Partners in October?

One of the sections in a book being co-written by UK PAL Andy Trish is all about the funny and strange things Microsoft Partners encounter in their day to day business.

Do you have any funny or painful or costly stories relating specifically in your involvement as a Microsoft partner? Do your female customers like you more because you are a Gold Member or do they want to partner with you in more ways than one?

Microsoft staff surely you have some amusing tales about partners that you would like to share.

Stories must be one page or less and can make you famous or be completely anonymous. All customer or partner names that are being talked about will be removed. Please submit all stories to Andy by email on andy@ncitech.co.uk by 13th September 2009”.