About Us
We manage 100% of your firm’s IT needs, combining CIO-level advice with senior project management skills and highly experienced IT technical consulting. What sets us apart is that we have built out an enterprise support platform including trouble-ticketing, remote automation services and client tracking systems that the small business typically cannot afford to create. We then turn around and make this available to our clients in a "fractional-ownership" sense to keep their business and data safe and secure.
*** We specialize in Healthcare (Medical/Dental), Legal, Financial Services and any company that has heavy reliance on technology and realizes the role it plays in their business. ***
The products and services we offer
Products & Services
PCs, Macs, servers, network attached storage, wireless networking, switches; it you have an issue with it we can help.
Planning to move your office? PCIO can assist with all the planning and design for network needs at your new space. We will package and prepare you...
For those companies that rely on technology and recognize the role it plays in the enterprise, we offer full manage services. For the smaller busin...
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"They deliver and lead with integrity!"
Recent Activity
I'll bite. I want more clients. We need more clients. However, after a dramatic downsizing last year after losing a couple of clients to acquisition (bought by multinationals that have their own IT staff), we simply don't have the manpower to assimilate a lot of new clients at once. They dribble...
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I'll bite. I want more clients. We need more clients. However, after a dramatic downsizing last year after losing a couple of clients to acquisition (bought by multinationals that have their own IT staff), we simply don't have the manpower to assimilate a lot of new clients at once. They dribble in, and frankly that's about all we can handle at this point. So while I want them, I can't actually handle them -- yet. We are changing the way we go to market, making it less human-intensive, and when fully implemented we'll be able to bring on a lot of new clients without being overtaxed.
You touch on a really important point with your question, however. A lot of us say we want something, but we're scared to death of actually receiving it. Fear is corrosive and controls so much of what we do. Eliminate fear. What would you do if you could not fail? A friend dying from cancer told my 25 yr old son to live without fear, that anything is possible and to go after whatever he wants without the boundaries of fear. He died the next day. I thought that was the greatest gift he could ever have given my son.
Money is rarely the true obstacle. There is always money to be found if you're truly committed to something. Once you announce your intentions and truly commit, providence occurs. Just my opinion..
I agree, but don't take it so literally, take it in the context in which he was saying it. Tony wasn't talking about copying 100% of another person's actions for yourself, he was talking big-picture about modeling successful behaviors from people who have figured "it" out, whatever "it" is for...
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I agree, but don't take it so literally, take it in the context in which he was saying it. Tony wasn't talking about copying 100% of another person's actions for yourself, he was talking big-picture about modeling successful behaviors from people who have figured "it" out, whatever "it" is for that person. This is pretty obvious, isn't it? Of course there are certain behaviors that winners (or losers) exhibit that we can take examples from. There are absolutely recipes for success, and for the opposite. Everyone is an individual, and no two situations are alike, so you learn from other's successes and mistakes vicariously, incorporate what works, and develop your own blend.
For the folks saying "no", how is this any different from a younger sibling copying their elder's actions? Or, reading a book from someone teaching us about business? We're constantly learning from others, copying them to some degree, and making value-based decisions about the things we're willing to do in order to be successful.
Yes. Not often, but enough times that I've gotten better at doing it with aplomb. I've owned an IT firm since 2001. I've discovered that firing a client is the last resort but sometimes quite necessary. Doing it well is an art. Stress is corrosive, and some clients simply need to be fired. One...
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Yes. Not often, but enough times that I've gotten better at doing it with aplomb. I've owned an IT firm since 2001. I've discovered that firing a client is the last resort but sometimes quite necessary. Doing it well is an art. Stress is corrosive, and some clients simply need to be fired. One school of thought is that you should be culling your 10% least profitable accounts every year if you are unable to upgrade them into better positions. Harsh, but what we all want is to work less hard and make more money, yes? In the early days, we were way too needy and didn't know how to identify a potentially malfunctioning relationship because we were desperate and wanted every client we could get. Now, I can see things developing way sooner and do a better job of screening potential clients up front, and practice better proactive communication to avoid having things go off the rails once they're established as clients. The need to separate a client usually comes down to poor communication or missed expectations somewhere in the course of events. I repeat a mantra in the office with my staff when I see issues being bantered back and forth in email too many times, that should be handled more personally: "Pick up the darn phone!" In other words, stop trying to manage relationships through email, because it just doesn't work. We're in the people business, not the computer business, and it pays well to remember that.
The thing to remember is this: no amount of money you receive from a difficult client is worth your happiness. And, let's face it, not every client is going to be a good fit for your firm, and vice versa. It's inevitable. We live in the Bay Area where there are thousands of companies to work with. My job as a leader is to identify these situations as quickly as possible and resolve them before they get out of hand. Your staff is the most important asset, and chewing them up by holding onto a bad relationship is disrespectful and harmful to the long-term health of your company. Respect your staff, respect yourself, move on.
To Maury — I don’t disagree about the efficacy of marketing nor your Microsoft analogy. However, from a small business owner’s point of view I think there is another factor that you are not perhaps acknowledging which influences the method of prospecting and client acquisition. That is, as a...
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To Maury — I don’t disagree about the efficacy of marketing nor your Microsoft analogy. However, from a small business owner’s point of view I think there is another factor that you are not perhaps acknowledging which influences the method of prospecting and client acquisition. That is, as a small business with limited capitalization and internal resources, there is only so much new business I can accommodate and assimilate at any one time. Client assimilation is a critical and time consuming process. Do it right and they’re long-term referral platforms. Do it wrong and create a negative energy in the marketplace.
Extending the thought, if I hire your effective marketing firm to run a program for me, unless I have seriously considered my client acquisition process, staffed it appropriately and can monitor/manage it, I’m setting myself up to fail from being swamped when I reap the benefits of the campaign. It’s definit a GOOD problem to have, but a problem that needs to be addressed nonetheless.
Most companies our size are under-capitalized and unable to staff in advance of sales, so as to use a firm like yours. It’s expensive. My point: Marketing is not just as simple as knowing to hire a marketing firm - there are other factors that must be in place to ensure success.
PS - Just to be clear, I certainly do recognize the value of marketing being a 17 year advertiser and writer in a local news magazine. I also know I couldn’t handle MORE business without some serious internal ramp-up. The referral flow is quite enough.
1 Reply
Referrals, and advertising with a 1/2 page ad and a monthly 750 word article I've written for the local newspaper since 2002. People get to know you through that, and drip by drip it builds credibility such that folks give you a call. One of my largest clients, worth about 750k over 4 years, was...
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Referrals, and advertising with a 1/2 page ad and a monthly 750 word article I've written for the local newspaper since 2002. People get to know you through that, and drip by drip it builds credibility such that folks give you a call. One of my largest clients, worth about 750k over 4 years, was sourced this way.
Good Morning Sheressa,
Your headline stated "How Do You Know It Is Safe To Meet A New Connection For Coffee?" So, I answered that directly in my first sentence with "You don't know, really." I certainly didn't intend that comment in a rude manner.
Regards,
Kirk
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Good Morning Sheressa,
Your headline stated "How Do You Know It Is Safe To Meet A New Connection For Coffee?" So, I answered that directly in my first sentence with "You don't know, really." I certainly didn't intend that comment in a rude manner.
Regards,
Kirk
If I can build trust first, then they'll know (more likely to feel) that I am looking out for their best interest.
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If I can build trust first, then they'll know (more likely to feel) that I am looking out for their best interest.
1 Reply
GREAT question...we serve (among other vertical markets) the healthcare industry (medical/dental/chiro) and you'd be amazed at how many have yet to transition over to electronic medical records and go paperless. Aside from that vertical, we serve small businesses and I run into less than 3% that...
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GREAT question...we serve (among other vertical markets) the healthcare industry (medical/dental/chiro) and you'd be amazed at how many have yet to transition over to electronic medical records and go paperless. Aside from that vertical, we serve small businesses and I run into less than 3% that "get it" and actually scan everything and organize with an app like Evernote. Being a paperless proponent and user of Evernote for everything, I can say that it requires a fair amount of discipline. Too many small businesses are busy working in their business and not on it and lastly, the small business is late to the game in realizing the role that technology plays.