Every manufacturer likes to boast of his service initiatives and every channel partner likes to ask for a better service structure. When it comes to service, the IT distribution industry is just learning to get demanding.
A recent service survey done by 360 Magazine showed that while most manufacturers did rate service as an important differentiator, most had begun their service initiatives in the metros. As a result, non-metro partners were beginning to feel neglected. And as demand is more in our smaller towns and cities, this skew in the service structure is beginning to get noticed.
Another very interesting finding of the survey was that while nearly every worthy manufacturer had invested in a service center and a toll-free helpline, most channel partners found these means of communication ineffective or unproductive. This made us realize that while on the outside the company might have all the trappings of a service-focused manufacturer, on the inside most of the systems don’t work.
As most service needs are outsourced, the control is not with the service provider, who will dole out service depending on the money he’s going to make from it. Another flaw is that most channel partners are not updated on the various service initiatives, so when a problem arises they do not know whom to approach.
The irony is that even though a channel partner might be able to sell a high-end MP3 system or a six megapixel digital camera in any part of the country, in a majority of the cases the product will still have to come back to a hub based in the metro for repairs.
Despite all that we might claim, we still emphasise more on the sale than on the service. And hence I say, that service is gaining respectability faster than usability.