This post is sponsored by Dell Technologies.
We began our quest for the best ways to maximize productivity in our recent article and highlighted how Dell Technologies is helping small business owners and entrepreneurs make the most of their efforts to ensure they’re achieving their goals.
With the workforce shifting to a remote working style, it’s crucial to ensure that you’re getting the support you need to make the most out of your day. I had the chance to interview one of Dell Technologies’ Small Business Tech Advisors about how Dell Technologies can keep you and your small business on track.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a Small Business Tech Advisor.
My name is Alexander and I joined the Dell Technologies team back in August of 2018. Before this position, I used to work for a small business as a developer for about three years. When I took this opportunity, I received some really incredible training and am still loving it about a year and a half later.
What do Small Business Tech Advisors offer, and who can benefit from this service?
First and foremost, we’re here to understand the challenges that a small business is facing. Our job is to present value-driven solutions based on their needs and make recommendations. There’s no requirement to use this service. I want to understand what kind of business outcomes my clients are looking for, and how we can work together to achieve them. Think of us as part of your extended team.
What do you offer that is different from walking into the nearest electronics store for customer service assistance?
The real value is that you get an ongoing one-on-one partnership. You always have a point of contact and a person who can give you access to the rest of the Dell Technologies team. We have an extended group of technical and finance specialists, all free of charge. You always have a consultant you can reach out to and that kind of experience is very different from a purely transactional relationship.
What are the most frequent types of problems that you help small business owners solve?
Having been in a small business myself, I know there are a lot of vendors with many options, and it can be difficult to navigate them based on what you’re trying to accomplish. We try to reduce that complexity by understanding the needs of the owner and providing streamlined solutions.
Another challenge we help customers face is providing tactics to remain agile as businesses continue to grow. Small businesses have so much potential, and oftentimes they scale exponentially. The key is to reduce complexity and increase agility. These are the two areas that we target quite frequently.
Are there any common misconceptions small business owners have when they’re asking for help?
The most common one that we get when we start an IT infrastructure conversation is, “Oh wait, isn’t Dell just a computer company?”, not realizing the scope of Dell Technologies. We do a lot of educating on the types of products and solutions that we can offer. It’s exciting because again, it ties back into reducing complexity and increasing agility. If you can get everything from one place, then why not?
It seems to be a common thing for a small business owner to want tech that frees up more time so they can focus on their business. How do Dell Technologies solutions help small business owners be more productive and how can they measure their success?
The number one measure of success is time saved. Most small businesses will not have dedicated IT professionals on their team so to have somebody that you can reach out to complete or assess IT needs on your behalf is very effective, because it gives you more time back in your day so you can focus on growing your business.
What kind of support can an advisor provide that small business owners would not be able to get on their own?
The average person will hop online to check out some reviews to try and get an understanding of what it is that they need. But when you call us, you know you have an ongoing partnership and relationship with a person who understands your business goals. The person is essentially a dedicated account manager, who will follow up with you, reach out and always be your point of contact. When you reach the stage in your business where you’re growing and doing well, we know we’ve done our jobs because we just want everybody to be successful. If you’re happy, we’re happy.
In terms of other kinds of support, you’ll be the first to know about our sales. We ensure we can provide the kind of value to the customer through Dell Technologies Financial Services to turn your capital expenses for IT into an operating expense. We have an extended team of specialists who can provide detailed support, no matter how complex or how simple the project may be. We can always recommend the right solution based on your specific needs.
Say I’m a small business owner who wants to get in touch with you. What’s the first step?
Call us. It’s as easy as that. We’d love to hear what you’re looking for and how we can help.
Can you have a Small Business Tech Advisor if you’re only using older Dell technology, or is this service specific to newer technology?
We do support our older devices. Oftentimes, we’ll have a customer who will reach out with an older device, about two years old, and they say, “Hey, this isn’t performing as great as I’d like it to.” We’re happy to take a look through our database to see what kind of configuration you have and maybe recommend an upgrade or something along those lines.
Are there any trends that you can share that you’ve seen working with small business owners that are interesting on either a national or on a global scale?
Absolutely. The world is moving very quickly, and I find that a lot of my customers are looking for remote solutions and want or need to be able to work from home. An important consideration is security; it is of the utmost importance for small businesses. They want to be able to prevent ransomware attacks. They want to be able to prevent anybody from accessing their network with vicious intent. There is a lot of news out there about breaches and privacy concerns, so when you’re looking at solutions from Dell Technologies, security is integrated into everything that we do.
We have independent studies that show 95% of breaches happen at the endpoint. The expression is, “Between the chair and the keyboard is where most client security breaches occur.” If you have that extra layer of protection you can ensure your users are protected, as well as yourself, from any threats. People want to work from home, but there’s also that percentage who can’t. That’s one of the things that we try and do as advisors; to provide that holistic view on every piece of the puzzle – so to speak – using various tools.
Is there anything else small business owners should know about the program?
Yes, absolutely. One thing I love telling our customers is that we’re Canadian, we’re here in Canada and we’re helping Canadian small business owners solve their business challenges by providing that one-on-one partnership. We’re uniquely positioned to be that kind of valued advisor.
This post is sponsored by Dell Technologies.