When sourcing a warranty services provider partner, it is important to keep the following issues in mind:
| NO
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ISSUE
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IMPORTANCE
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| 1 |
Help Desk Availability and Response Time
(Immediate diagnosis) |
In order to achieve the best customer satisfaction level, the end-user must begin to feel
comfortable immediately when calling in a service event. The on-site help desk technician must be available
immediately or have a minimum call back not to exceed 1 hour so that the diagnosis can begin immediately. This is
also very important for 24/7 after hours support with how quickly the help desk technician responds to any and all
calls and how it is measured, etc. |
| 2 |
Help Desk Ownership |
Many help desks have varying levels of capability divided up with different levels
of resources. The most effective help desk is one where the initial technician, who takes the first call, has full
ownership of the call from start to finish. Handing off of the call midway to move up from Level 1 to Level 2 is
time consuming and frustrating for the end user. |
| 3 |
Help Desk Expertise and capability to handle your
type of systems |
The ability to effectively diagnose your company's systems is a necessity. An
onsite technician can service a Linux cluster without having Linux experience as long as the help desk technician
has the capabilities and experience necessary. It is vital to have the appropriate help desk technician, which can
be determined with an interview. References are helpful as well. |
| 4 |
Help Desk Decision Making capability |
The help desk technician should be the one, who is not only able to diagnose the
problem and decide which spare parts are needed, but also has the decision making power to arrange for the proper
spare parts to be immediately shipped out. Additionally, he/she should have the authority to dispatch a technician
for 4-hour and next business day on-site. Too often, end-users are frustrated while service company's scramble to
get the proper approvals and authority to dispatch parts and or on-site technicians. |
| 5 |
On-Site Coverage |
Your warranty partner needs to be able to service your systems wherever needed
and give you excellent sales tools demonstrating this capability to help reduce the explanation time in front of
your end-users. |
| 6 |
On-Site Certification Program |
Your Warranty Services Provider needs to have a "Certification / Qualification"
program in place to ensure that quality technicians are used. It is also an excellent advantage if they are willing
to work with you to create a Certification Program, specific to your company's products so that when a technician
goes on-site to one of your end-users, he is wearing a "Certified Technician badge" with your company's name on it.
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| 7 |
Installation & Non-Warranty Service Capabilities |
Your Warranty Service Provider should be able to offer installation capabilities
as well as aggressive "hardware maintenance plans" for non-warranty devices. |
| 8 |
Real Time Service Call Tracking Program |
In order to ensure the best communication between you and your Warranty Service
Provider, it is essential that the provider have a real time, web-based service call tracking program. This will
allow you and your end-users to initiate, track and monitor all service events at a particular site, a particular
re-seller, or for your entire product line. |
| 9 |
Real Time Reporting Capability |
Your Warranty Service Provider should be able to provide you with reports on the
performance of your systems, including failure rates (at the component level,) as well as performance on their own
company's handling of any and all service events. |
| 10 |
Escalation Plans |
A clear and adhered to escalation plan is necessary to ensure that any "non-standard" events
or issues are brought to the proper management's attention within both companies, in a timely fashion. |
| 11 |
Dedicated Phone Line Capability |
Although not a necessity, the ability to give an extremely seamless and transparent
picture to your end user is often considered very important. If your Warranty Service Provider can work with you to
set up a dedicated toll free number to ring at the Providers help desk with the Provider answering the phone in your
name, it eliminates any potential for confusion with the end-user. The end user has bought your product, dialed your
number, and heard your name on the other end of the phone even though you have outsourced the help desk and warranty
service. |
| 12 |
Full RMA Capability |
Even though you may be initially looking at an "on-site provider" as a partner,
you will quickly find that there may be areas in your organization (specific products, geographic regions, or types
of channel partners) where more than just an on-site offering is beneficial. Taking the first call on the help desk
is a great way to begin relieving some of the after-sales pain and headaches of a computer manufacturer's support
team. The ability to administer, own, and completely handle the RMA process can be a great advantage when sourcing
an on-site provider for the time being. However, in the future you may additional services, so selecting a company
that can provide this will save lots of un-necessary transition time down the road. Can you partner handle RMA's,
including the logistics, inventory, and in-house depot repair? What is their experience in this?! |
| 13 |
Pricing model by country and not by city |
It is very important to make sure that the on-site coverage costs are not based
upon distances to major cities. An effective pricing model is the one with the fewest variants. A standard price
per system is the easiest way to work using one pricing model for North America, one for Europe and one for Asia. |
| 14 |
Ease of Quoting Warranty |
Quoting and selling warranty needs to be very quick and easy. A "Pricing
Calculator" of needs to be provided by your Warranty Services Partner so that the sales team of the computer
manufacturer can easily get costs, independent of where it's going (US vs. International,) including the value and
quantity of systems. You do not want to have to request a quote for each time you quote warranty. |
| 15 |
International Capabilities |
If you are selling your systems both domestically and internationally, it is very
helpful to have the same partner handling the warranty services. Does your Warranty provider have "Regional Help Desk"
support capability? Europe Help Desk and Asia Pacific Help Desk? Of course, an on-site network covering these
regions is also important. The same basic way of working and on-line service call program is very important in
keeping in-touch with these remote end-users. |
| 16 |
Flexibility |
Providers must display the ability and willingness to be flexible to your needs.
Quite often with larger companies, the procedures in place prohibit the ability to be flexible. While it is important
to follow procedures, the end-user may suffer as a result in the delay associated with it. A quality-driven, yet
flexible organization is extremely important. Can your partner be flexible, and still provide you with the quality
documentation and communication needed to ensure customer satisfaction? |
