Here's A Method That's Helping POS VARs Keep Customers

By The Business Solutions Network

If you're a POS VAR still not considering managed services, listen up. During the recent Autotask Community Live! conference, one of the speakers did a great job of explaining what I think is one of the greatest benefits of a services model:

Imagine your current situation. You work your butt off to win a one-time hardware sale against local and virtual Internet competitors. Once the sale is complete, what's really left to tie you to that customer? What's going to prevent your customer from looking at all your competitors again the next time a need arises?

Now, if you're on an [insert technology here]-as-a-service/managed services model, your relationship is a whole lot more sticky, provided you're doing it right. Why? Because you have an opportunity -- actually, an obligation -- to prove the value you provide on a monthly basis, thus creating a customer relationship that is vastly more resistant to outside influence.

Much of what you already provide can be tweaked to a services model. Some software vendors have, or are in the process of creating, cloud-based POS software you can offer on a subscription basis. Your security skills can be turned into a PCI validation service, remote monitoring, managed security, and so on.

Talk with your vendors. Talk with your distributors. Check out the exhibitors and speakers at RetailNOW. There are lots of services you can be offering to create a more sticky relationship -- and earn recurring revenue to boot.