Topics:

-This week we are pleased to welcome John Moder, owner of Crisp Solutions, LLC in Des Moines, IA

-Jerry asks John about his choice going to Synology after moving away from macOS server

-John discusses his small team and his decision to move off on his own

-Crisp Solutions operates out of a co-working space

-Customer service is John’s focus and a building a “not transactional” relationship

-Building a relationship with clients is of critical importance

-Response time and letting the customer know you are aware of their situation makes a massive difference

-Jerry wonders about competition in John’s market and he talks about his relationship with them as well as with the Apple Store in Des Moines

-Building a rapport with the store is an art form that differs for each of us. Strategies are discussed.

-With Ashleigh’s iPhone needing a replacement, Joe learns some interesting tips about repair costs and trade in values.

-John is a very active participant on the MacAdmins Slack

-John runs into an odd issue in a Ubiquiti UniFi Deployment with a USG that would periodically stop communicating. He polls the hosts about what their next steps would be.

-Synology backup solutions and cloud syncing tools are kicked around. John has been testing Synology’s own cloud backup solution, called C2. The thing to be aware of is that the data is stored in Germany.

-Jerry picks John’s brain about managing Wi-Fi implementations as part of a monthly managed fee

-Ping monitoring and being proactive leads into a story about John’s ability to replace a dead AP before open of business for a customer

-John talks about keeping meticulous notes and making full rates known, even for MSP customers, to remind them just how valuable your services are

-Do you charge for notes or proposal creation? An important topic that you may need to consider. Listen to the crew and their take on the subject.