Shop brings 'more mothering' approach to remote computer help

That Computer Chick has seen it all — and fixed it — at her two Marietta repair shops. And she doesn't make a peep about how you could possibly have gotten yourself into this predicament.

Linda Pereira, That Chick herself, said many of her male customers have admitted bringing their computers to her because she's a woman.

"They're intimidated by the men because the men talk over their heads," she said.

Pereira, 43, has five women on staff, That's her son, Andy, who's leaving in a few months for college.

"We're more mothering," Pereira said. "When you come in, we sympathize with your problem instead of being like, 'You idiot.' I think they just want somebody to kind of hold their hand and not make them feel bad."

After all, the company slogan is: "Because you shouldn't hate your remote computer help."

Pereira's clientele is evenly split between men and women. Her staff works on residential and small business computers and iPods, usually handling three to 10 per day.

Jack McKinney, 77, of Kennesaw, has been relying on That computer hep and support chick since she went into business in 2003.

"She hasn't let me down yet," he said.

McKinney drops in when he's getting a haircut nearby just to chat and ask questions — free of charge.

"I wish I had a problem because I wish I could go there to get it fixed," he said. "They make it such a pleasure."

Customers enter a welcoming environment where the walls are alligator green, the same color as Pereira's kitchen at home.

"It's very soothing," she said.

The lighting is kept low and the floors are wooden, adding to the homey feel. The counter is metal, and Pereira encourages folks to plop their computers there instead of putting the hardware on the floor, as some shops insist. She knows it can be hard to bend down to pick stuff up.

If kids have to wait a while with their parents, they're given a bad hard drive and a screwdriver.

"If the kids didn't get it all the way apart and they're sad they have to leave, she'll let the kids borrow the screwdriver and take it home," said Kimberly Austin, a senior technician.

That Computer Chick expects customers to return the favor and be nice, too.

If they're rude, they run the risk of being assessed a $50 meanie fee. Pereira hasn't charged "the attitude adjustment" fee yet, but has called people and asked them to apologize to her staff. She's kicked some of them out, too.

"I've kicked out more women than men," she said with a laugh. "Some of them will apologize, and others will just decide not to come back, and we're OK with that, too."

That Computer Chick promotes its family-oriented services, and will help with content filters for children.

If people want to know what their spouses have been up to, Pereira said, "I will give them all the data and I sit down with them privately. "

She works with counseling agencies to refer spouses with addiction problems.

The company also has a donation program, refurbishing cast-off equipment from customers and giving it to people in need.

In Katrina's aftermath Pereira and one of her two daughters drove to New Orleans with five complete systems.

"When people call and ask me, 'Do you have something really cheap? I always ask them, 'Are you having a difficult time? Are you struggling?' I say, 'I can't sell you one, but I'll give you one.'

"That's because my customers donated the equipment. If you donate equipment, I'll donate my time."

Pereira requires her staff to have a volunteer background in the community. She said they make the best employees. She has hired both men and women but has a strict "no nerd" policy.

"You can tell a major nerd," she said, "and I have fired many, many a major nerd."

So, how does a nerd get fired? "They start messing with my equipment and that's when I'm done," Pereira said, laughing.

Whatever their gender, Pereira's staff does what they call "that chick thing," customizing computers without any bells and whistles.

For example, they put your data back where you left it, "instead putting it in some bizarre folder," Pereira said.

But they do take out the bugs — sometimes literally.

Pereira's staff has found spiders and cockroaches — dead and alive — inside computers.

And that's not all they discover.

Betsy Collins, 19, who is working her way up to junior tech, recalls the sluyrping noise a keboard made when Pereira removed it from a laptop.

A man had forgotten to mention that his wife had spilled a milkshake on it.

"The milkshake had actually melted onto the motherboard and then it fried the computer," Collins said. That Computer Chick's most amazing discovery? How about 122,000 pieces of spyware in a woman's computer? And Pereira would have found more if the power hadn't gone out in the shop.

"She just had kids," Pereira said, "and kids will go on everything. They don't have anything in their brain saying, 'Oh, I shouldn't go on that Web site.' "

She gave the customer a copy of "Cheep Tips" to avoid the same problem.

The guidelines are so good they've cut down on some repeat business, but Pereira makes up for it with referrals.

And that chick thing applies across the motherboard.

Austin remembers working on a new hard drive one day. "Then 'puff!' this cloud of smoke came out of the computer," she said.

What color was it? Pink, of course.

Spyware everywhere

The computer terms "trojan" and "spyware," often don't register with customers. So, she explains that each one is like having a fire in your house.

"You wonder, 'Why can't I sit on the couch?' Because the couch is on fire. When people use these antispyware support services common among computer enthusiasts to actually remove these viruses , all they're doing is putting water on the fire and putting it out. So, now, you just have a charred couch."

So, does Linda Pereira take out the couch and put a new couch in?

"I can't," she said. "I have to rebuild the whole house.

http://www.foxriverantiques.com

Source: ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/06/27/that_computer_chick.html

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The failed promise of tech services

There is a horrible truth in the online vista tech services world that Ephraim Schwartz presents: The promise of technology suckers us into a trap that the technology itself can never deliver on.

"Technology -- whether it is a Diatomaceous Earth pool filter, a series of AT&T cell towers, or an enterprise application -- these things were never really designed to be perfect," Schwartz explains in"

As such, selling the promise of service on the promise of technology is tricky business, Schwartz asserts. After all, "with each promise, accountability for customer frustration grows."

Fed up with enterprise-class windows vista support and help services ? Still paying support contracts that don't bring you any value? Talkback below.

Source: weblog.infoworld.com/daily/archives/2008/06/the_failed_prom.html

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Exploring computer help Software: Performance Management

One of the greatest challenges in running a modern business is dealing with the huge volume of data that computers today are capable of gathering and somehow making sense of it all. Thanks to Performance Management, this is now much easier than it used to be.

One of the greatest challenges in running a modern business is dealing with the huge volume of data that computers today are capable of gathering and somehow making sense of it all.

Executives need an easy way to look at the piles of data and find quick answers to their questions, such as how the sales department performed this week compared to the same week last year. But beyond just reading the numbers (which are called metrics), the executive will likely want to ask something that requires analysis, such as: If sales are down, what was different that caused sales to decrease and what can we do to change it? And further, forecasting comes in: What happens if we change this one aspect of our business; will sales increase or decrease?

For years people have hoped to have the remote computer help them make important business decisions, but until the past few years, remote computer help weren’t really that capable. We had spreadsheets that could do some basic analyses, but that was about it. Today, however, we’ve finally reached a point where computers are powerful enough that they can do some serious, hardcore analysis for us. And that’s where Performance Management software comes in.

Several venders today offer performance management software. In general, they’re large systems that aren’t the easiest to install and maintain, but they can be well worth it when put to good use. Imagine the savings when you can simply ask the remote technical support services what the current situation is, what caused the situation, and, if it’s a bad situation, what can be done to change it.

If you explore performance management software, you might quickly become overwhelmed at the options. Individual vendors have several different computer software solutions and it’s hard to follow what’s what and what exactly you need.

Typically you’ll want to bring in an outside consultant for a brief period to help you decide which software best fits your needs or simply to get a reliable computer help services.

Oracle has a very large suite of products, called Oracle Business Intelligence, which they call an “end-to-end” solution. They include software in the Business Intelligence category, which includes the data-gathering and analysis aspects, as well as Performance Management software that helps you determine how your business is performing. And, of course, being Oracle, they also have database and data warehousing software that fits right into their solution. (Note that much of the Business Intelligence software was previously owned by a company called Hyperion, which Oracle recently acquired. Now a day there are computer help available every where.

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