Profit Margins when Offering IT Support to SME

Associate
Joined
9 Aug 2011
Posts
137
We have been asked to provide a local SME with an IT Support Agreement and we have already agreed on a monthly fee for the actual support but what I'm struggling with is whether or not to add a 'profit' on top of hardware/software prices and if so, how much is a reasonable percentage to add?

We have accounts with the large Computer Distributors but we always find that Overclockers beat these prices hands down.
 
Definitely add a margin - how much depends if fault diagnosis and parts installation is chargeable, but at least 10% and possibly more. My experience is that buying parts from a support organisation is very rarely competitive. Being "fair" doesn't come into it - it's about whether it's worth your time.
 
Definitely add a margin - how much depends if fault diagnosis and parts installation is chargeable, but at least 10% and possibly more. My experience is that buying parts from a support organisation is very rarely competitive. Being "fair" doesn't come into it - it's about whether it's worth your time.

This -your handling it all for them, thats a chargable service. 10-15% margin is what i'd aim for in SME's. Good luck!
 
No. Charge them the minimum you can for hardware and software, then charge them a separate fee for support: factor installation and repair time into this support fee and set it accordingly. Basically, keep your chargeable services as a transparent labour/expertise fee, don't add stealth charges to the prices of the parts.

I'd never add costs onto the price of the actual hardware: because at some point a penny pinching accountant is going to check up on your prices and decide they can get a better deal by buying their own and paying someone to install them. Or they'll start questioning the prices and ask you to buy elsewhere: at which point your support charge may not cover what you need to do.

Set a fee, but make it part of your marketing that you never add to the price of hardware and software. A "we're honest, our price is all you pay us" line.

The only time I'd consider it any other way is if a competitor is using the same tactic to under-cut me, in which case I'd set the margin at a percentage to make the same fee as I was intending anyway. This can backfire, as mentioned above, if the client cottons on and asks you to use a different (cheaper) supplier, at which point your under-cut fee isn't going to support the work.

Keep it open, clear and honest, and your customers will trust you all the more for it. Too many companies are wary of tech support companies because of this very thing: they don't know enough about technology to scrutinise, so they fear they're being ripped off. They're normally right.
 
It's no more transparent to increase your basic fee and supply parts at cost than it is to keep your fee low and cover costs by marking up the parts. Indeed it may lose you the contract bid as those same accountants will look at your bid and see that the annual fee is way more than the other guy simply because you "might" have to replace parts.

If you want to be open in your contract bid, be open about the markup on parts and don't try to hide it in your service fee
 
20% on hardware and software is our default with full-day engineer rates at about £1k - £750 depending on skill and requirements. Hourly is a couple of hundred. This isn't unreasonable in business and allows you to show good faith by giving discounts and still making profit

- GP
 
Thanks for all the input guys.

I definitely don't think it's a good idea to hide the profit in the cost of the service agreement because as covenantuk states, you will then seem expensive compared to others.

I've done a lot of thinking about this and at the end of the day, we provide a service under the service agreement and the client is happy to pay it, so why shouldn't we be paid for having to source the parts, deliver them to the client, and then have to resolve any issues should they arise?

I think I'm going to settle at a 15% profit margin on our cost price and see how that goes. We always look to find the most competitive prices anyway so even with 15% on top I'd say we'd be hard to beat by someone that doesn't really know what they're after.
 
Back
Top Bottom