The Prepaid Block Of Time Is Different From The Service Agreement. The IT Service Agreement Is Specific About The Kinds Of Things You Will Do Maintenance, Upgrades, Etc. The Prepaid Block Of Time Is Simply That Time. For Example, The Customer Recognizes That Your Normal Hourly Rate Is 100 An Hour. In Return For Prepaying 20 Hours Of Time, Theyre Going To Get A 10 An Hour Discount.Get Your IT Service Agreement In WritingYou May Still Want To Have Some Sort Of Agreement About Having A Single Point Of Contact, Software Licensing, And The Confidentiality Clauses. In General, Though, Its Just A Matter Of Saying That We Normally Charge This. In Return For The Customer Prepaying X Number Of Hours, Theyre Going To Get This Discount, And Then Its A Matter Of Setting Up Your Accounting. Most Importantly, You Need To Be Able To Generate A Renewal Notice When Theyre Pretty Close To Using Up Their Time. Obviously The Huge Advantage Is Youre Getting The Cash Flow Upfront And You Dont Have To Worry About Getting Stuck On A Receivable. The Disadvantage Is Its Not Quite As Recurring As The Retainer-based Agreement Because Youre Selling A Fixed Priced With A Definite Beginning And A Definite End To IT Service As Opposed To More Definite Long-term Possibilities.Make Sure You're Providing Valuable IT ServiceThe Best Thing To Do Is To Make Sure That You Set Them Up On Some Kind Of Proactive Regimen And That Youre In Touch With Them On A Regular Basis To Make Sure That Youre Taking Care Of Their Ongoing Security. You Need To Make Sure The Backup Is Running Properly And The Relatively Small Things That Are Happening In The Office Are Documented And Prioritized So That You Can Fix Them.Dont Allow The Prepaid Time Block To Get You Into The Mode Where Its More Of A One-shot Deal With IT Service. You Want To Make Sure That Everything You Do Is Setting Things Up For Long-term Relationships. Copyright MMI-MMVI, PC Support Tips .com. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. Attention Publishers: Live Hyperlink In Author Resource Box Required For Copyright Compliance
