The Importance of using Local service providers
I have, in the past, been asked to write post’s on the importance of using local service providers instead of large national providers but would like to provide you with another example.
I have a client with a number of managed services spread across 3 local service providers. They always use local service providers for business-critical systems for one reason only – customer support.
I'll give you an example…
Last Friday my client had an urgent request from a client that needed to be completed by COB that day. Same-day urgent client requests are not uncommon for my client because they offer this as a service – fast turnaround for critical jobs.
However, to offer this level of service they needed a service provider who also “jumped when they jumped”.
When you use a national provider you run the risk of time issues as often they are unable to “flex” in the same way a local provider can or even give the level of response time needed due to engineers either carrying to many “other” manufacturer parts or simply not having the parts on board or the local facility to get the parts from! This often results in printing devices being down for 2 or more days whilst the engineer awaits your parts to arrive!
A.L.E Business support is just a phone call away but unlike most large national providers the customer support staff are not outsourced and are part of the core team. In less than an hour my clients request was processed and completed, and they had direct contact with the engineer completing the task at all times.
This is where a lot of national providers collapse with their customer support. They outsource customer support to another business, normally in a country where the cost of labour is cheaper or their support teams are spread across a number of different national offices making it hard to keep their internal communication levels. They provided their staff with a set of template responses. Any deviation from the templates causes confusion on their part and different answers from different customer service reps each time you ring.
I think all of us have experienced the frustration of customer support centres setup like this.
Sometimes cheap service costs you more in time, effort and stress.
At A.L.E Business Machine’s we place both our staff and customers at the heart of everything we do! Our support staff are all trained to manufacturer approved standards and you can be sure of a personal approach giving you the support required to complete your working day with success!
I recommend that all businesses look for local suppliers – not only are you supporting your local community, but you can rest assured of receiving a better service.
Whether you are in contract or not contact us today to arrange a meeting with one of our team! www.alebusiness.co.uk