Service and Support a Top Buying Factor in U.S. Companies
Today’s companies want to be sure the products they are purchasing, including printers and MFPs, are not only reliable but able to be easily fixed in the event of an issue. This is reflected in Keypoint Intelligence research showing that service and support are the most important buying criteria for selecting a product or vendor—outside of device features.
Today’s companies want to be sure the products they are purchasing, including printers and MFPs, are not only reliable but able to be easily fixed in the event of an issue. This is reflected in Keypoint Intelligence research showing that service and support are the most important buying criteria for selecting a product or vendor—outside of device features.
Besides device features, what are the most important buying criteria for selecting a product or vendor for your organization?
To ensure adequate service and support for printers and MFPs, organizations are encouraged to ask their business technology partners about their servicing packages. Partners may be office equipment dealers, office technology re-sellers, office equipment manufacturers, or other types of entities. Having the right service contract in place can provide peace of mind to companies as well as quick help in the event of a problem.
Generally speaking, companies can question their technology partners on various areas of service to better understand and set expectations in this area. These include:
- Vision: How does the partner perceive service, including its alignment with product offerings; what does service look like today; and what does the partner consider to be the future of service?
- In-field support: What support is provided for new and legacy devices (including response times), what escalation protocols are in place, and what support desks and help resources (including geographic presence and hours) are available?
- Environmental: How is product disposal for hardware, parts, and consumable handled?
- Tools: What service-related tools are offered in categories like device management, smart and predictive analytics, and apps?
- Training: What service-related training programs are required for dealers, service managers, and technicians?
- Device design: What device design elements, including average copies between service and out-of-the-box software, are in place to minimize the need for service?
In addition to asking a range of questions about serviceability, customers may choose to look for online reviews on office equipment technology providers. These reviews can provide good insight into the overall level of service provided by the organizations as well their performance servicing printers and MFPs in particular.
Summary
Companies rank service and support as a key factor in choosing a product or vendor, driven by the role product uptime plays in productivity. When exploring different servicing packages for their printers and MFPs, it can be beneficial for organizations to ask technology providers for specific information on their vision and capabilities around service and support. This can help them make the best decision on a service partner as well as package.
