Client Refuses Recommended Backup Solution 2024

Published 7 months ago5 min readOpen-Source Openfiler Community Edition...

Situations where a client or potential client refuses your recommended backup solution will be the discussion of today's article.

In the United States alone, it is estimated that data loss costs businesses more than $1.7 trillion per year. This amount demonstrates the need for having a comprehensive backup solution in place. Unfortunately it is common for business owners to outright refuse backup solutions recommended to and this is for a variety of reasons.

While you are here, take a look at some of our other backup-related knowledge below that may interest you:

I have found that there are several reasons why clients refuse backup recommendations. These reasons range from a lack of understanding of the importance of backups, the cost and complexity of implementing a solution as well as the habit of business owners to believe the chance of something bad happening to them such as company data loss is less than the reality of the situation.

As a secondary goal of the main topic, I will also discuss how documentation can help IT consulting services manage and maintain data recovery solutions effectively as it specifically relates to this topic.

Data & record keeping is also an essential aspect of the IT industry whether it be storage solutions discussed here or the steps involved on how your custom made network attached storage was assembled so that others can fault find in a time effective fashion . It enables IT consulting advisors to manage and maintain the IT infrastructure of their clients effectively.

We have years of experience in working with service providers to document their processes and procedures and there is no area more important to a service provider than how their clients' backup and disaster recovery systems are documented.

Reasons For Backup Refusal

It is always the same combination of two reasons, they do not believe data loss will happen to them coupled with not wanting to spend money on an event they do not believe will happen to them such as their data being held to ransom.

The Only Conversation A Client Will Remember

Let's not kid ourselves here, at the start of talks with a potential client regarding an appropriate backup solution for their needs. The only conversation they will remember will be that the backup solution you recommended is the backup solution that failed.

So my recommendation when it comes to backup solutions is, do not compromise and if the client refuses your first backup recommendation then walk away.

Do not try and come back with a solution that comes in under the budget they say they can afford. The reason for this is that the client has refused the recommended backup solution and anything else is going to be a compromise and will be missing important components that are required to successfully recover client information.

Silent Backup Strategy

There are a number of ways to handle a client who refuses a recommended backup and recovery strategy and probably the easiest to do if you are the primary managed service provider is to not separate it out from your other services.

By costing the backup solution as part of the rest of your services provided, you may be able to avoid the point where the client chooses to say no to whatever data backup solution you have recommended to them.

This is not ideal because it seems to suggest that the potential client or client does not actually value or comprehend the value of your professional recommendation. They either are the type that are willing to take massive risks with their business or are denying the risk of backup failure in the first place, both of which you want to avoid.

Upfront Backup Recommendation

The other way to overcome this issue and the one I recommend is to be clear with them and in no uncertain circumstances advise them that they are being overly courageous and that the rest of your services are dependent on them accepting the recommended backup solution you have given them.

This is a little easier when it is a potential client as it is a straight yes or no answer to taking on your advised backup strategy although it is quite risky and you are likely to lose more deals this way, you will however sleep soundly at night.

Advising an existing client that they must take the backup solution that you have recommended can appear as if you are forcing them and that never goes down well even if it is being done with the best intentions.

Covering Yourself

Again with a potential client it is simple, walk away if they do not see the value in an effective backup solution that has been recommended to them. Businesses like this are not worth the effort and if they are penny pinching on the backup solution, guaranteed it will occur across the board.

With existing clients, I advise getting your backup recommendation and hardware on paper and do not compromise on the solution. Either put the backup solution you recommend in or put nothing in.

The reason I say this is that any backup solution you recommend and they accept is a backup solution that you must stand by when it is needed. If you put in a budget cloud backup vendor in place of a cloud backup solution that you trust and then cut the link you know you need for something half as good because at least it will work sometimes is a false economy.

Because you know it is not good enough and the day the client actually requires it, there is a chance it will fail. As mentioned, the client is not going to remember they actively refused your recommended data recovery solution, all they are going to remember is the backup they are paying good money for has failed and that is when the legal system will take over.

Letter To The Client

I recommend along with not offering any alternative to your recommended back up solution, you also send the following letter in an email as well as a signed copy (If they are an existing client)

Dear Client

Thankyou for your time to discuss our recommended backup strategy earlier today.

As you have requested, we will not be taking our recommended backup and disaster recovery solution any further for your organization. Because we know and understand your environment and the level of reliance your business has on information, we do not feel comfortable offering a solution that is more cost effective.

Hardware failure, software failure, employee file deletion among other catastrophic events will currently end in potential unrecoverable loss of your information.

While we cannot offer any solution other than the refused backup recommendation, we strongly advise that you engage a provider that can offer you a backup solution that will cover you for sudden unrecoverable loss of either part or all of your company data and virtual machines.

As your managed service provider we offer up to 2 hours of technical labor included to recover lost data however beyond that our services are offered at the standard rate of $180 per hour towards any recovery work regardless as to if it is successful or not.

Because of the often contentious nature of this work when required, we will require a 40 hour pre paid block separate from the current agreement at the time this work may be requested.

To give you a specific idea as to recovery time based on your company's setup, we believe assuming your company data is available to recover that rebuilding servers and virtual machine operating systems will take a minimum of 200 hours labor.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or we can be of further assistance.

Best Regards,

Your Managed Service Provider

Communication In Backup Recommendations

Communication is vital and by that I mean if you and the client came to some type of verbal agreement on backups then it never happened. Communication in the form of a letter such as the backup rejection letter above should be on record and ideally should be signed by the client.

The reason this is so important is that I need you to think back to a time where a client has blamed themselves for a bad situation they are in? Excellent, you now understand why you should have written evidence of the conversation where they have agreed to assume the risk of not having a reliable backup in place.

Part of this backup rejection letter should be seen as educational. Seeing something like that written down can help educate the client on how important a reliable backup and recovery system is to their business.

Conclusion

Clients and service providers have competing interests especially when it comes to taking up a recommended backup solution. It is up to you as the provider to educate and convince them that your solution is an absolute necessity for them to be able to sleep at night.

If you are unable to convince a client that your recommended backup solution is required then it is my recommendation that you do not offer any sub standard backup solutions just to get the sale and that you also follow up the backup rejection with a formal written letter acknowledging the backup rejection to cover yourself when data loss inevitably occurs.

Just remember, it is their decision and your own business should not suffer because of their poor decision making process.

We have a number of other backup articles specifically related to clients listed below that will provide you with more detailed information on a number of related topics:

https://optimizeddocs.com/blogs/backups/backups-client-index

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