I've had my Maytag washer and dryer for at least 10 years, the same exact ones, each with the old-style mechanical dials, timers, and buzzers.
A few weeks ago, the washer stopped working. Given my very modern life, filled with everything from soccer practice and pets to dinner parties and sleepovers, panic set in quickly. Being without a washer was like being without oxygen or, heaven forbid, my grill. But after a simple phone call and 40 bucks for a new drum belt, it was back up and running, hopefully for another 10 years. However, should the time ever come in the future when I need to replace these workhorses, the choice for a new washer will be easy to make. I'm buying Maytag.
Why? It's simple. For me, it is all about Maytag's "contract" with the customer, its integrity to stand behind the product, its commitment to quality, and its belief that service and support are just as much a part of the "product" as metal, rubber, and integrated circuits.
During the illustrious life of my washer, I've also had more laptops, cellphones, and TVs than I can remember. Obviously, the advancement in technology plays a large part in my replacement cycle, but so does the service and support, or perhaps, better said, the lack thereof. A few years ago, my laptop died. It simply stopped working; no power, no hum, no lights. Who was I supposed to call? The retailer I bought it from, the OEM, or the contract manufacturer? Where's the Maytag repairman? If you think about it, servicing electronic devices really presents a quandary. After numerous calls to call centers and wait times that lasted for what seemed like an eternity, I hung up and went and bought a new laptop -- from a different retailer and different manufacturer.
Within consumer electronics, manufacturers have lost sight of the "contract" they make between the products they sell and the customers who buy them. Companies rely on the constant and rapid pace of technology innovation and the never-ending cycle of product commoditization to drive customers to buy new products. While there are plenty of choices when it comes to the consumer electronics equivalent of the auto manufacturer's extended warranty option, are any of them really different from one another? I usually entertain the sales pitch behind these service contracts, but always feel like the sucker and never buy them. Why should I? Why should I pay for this insurance policy, and in essence reward a company for its bad quality or mistakes and be subject to endless wait times at some remote call center?
Where's the Maytag repairman? If Apple's growing market share and dominance in the space is any indication, I think consumers are getting wiser and recognizing the importance of service and support when it comes to buying decisions. In fact, Accenture research has found that the service experience during and after a purchase is the most important factor when consumers pick which brand to buy, followed closely by the brand's reputation, which is influenced by customer experiences. Not only was service the top consideration, 74 percent of 1,000 US consumers said the degree to which they factor service into their buying decisions has increased somewhat or significantly.
What does this mean for other companies? Acknowledge that service is more than a cost of doing business. It's an opportunity to boost sales, so consider creating a consistent end-to-end service experience that connects the value of a product purchase to services provided before, during, and after the purchase.
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) recognized the differentiating characteristic of service and its importance to customers. Face-to-face human contact, a "help desk" for just about anything, educational training classes, and I even received a free "no questions asked" one-time replacement of my iPhone when the glass screen broke.
And, Apple does have an extended warranty option called Apple Care, should you want that peace of mind. But the real peace of mind is in knowing that while Craig and I travel the globe, should we ever have a problem with our phones, we have confidence in the support and service "contract" we made when deciding to buy the product in the first place. If not having a washer for one or two days brings on a state of panic, what would you do without your cellphone for a couple of hours?
Someone pointed this out to me. It includes illustrations like "“Well, these computers, they are all . . . krappe. They don’t last. I don’t know why, but they don’t. I am installing a new hard drive. You mustn’t blame yourself.”
Quality product life and assurance from companies when coming to their products will win the market. By my own experience i can say Dell laptop will be sent back to store more times than a Apple may thats the reason Dell has larger number of repair depots. The life time for a product is a key for any company to stay in the market for longer time with profits.
HP! there reputation for good quality is gone, there technical support and service is horrible, unhelphful, and appalling incompetent. May be they can't afford competent technical representative.
Service is definitely very important. At a time when people can find the products they want from a variety of manufacturers or retailers, it is the service provided that sets some enterprises apart from the rest.
Your team at Accenture got it right, the customer service experience during a purchase and brand reputation play a great role in my decision making for major appliance purchase. What is also important to me is the company's follow up repair support history. Yes, the "Maytag Repairman" context is very important to give the peace of mind I need when purchasing these expensive items.
@Jaden: I agree with you. I purchased high end HP desktop and had blue screen in one week. I spent quite many futile hours with HP support, knowingly misguiding. Very poor standard. I will prefer Dell for very good service. I do not know what is wrong with HP.
@tech4people, that's easy, first of all, a 2-3 year old phone won't have 4G. And Android wasn't as common back then, and even if you do have one of the early Android phones it's very likely that updates for it have stopped. 2-3 years in the cell phone world is a long time, my last phone that I had for 2 years was Windows 6.5 based. Obviously that's been completely abandoned at this point.
If you are at all interested in apps, a 2-3 year old phone probably isn't very useful at this point (maybe the situation is slightly different with iPhones, however).
Yes, you're correct that if you're just looking to talk/text a 2-3-year-old phone is probably going to be OK... but using that logic, you could still use a land line and be just fine.
Phones have dramatically improved in a short period of time. The quality of the camera on that old phone is likely to be pretty poor as well, for example.
US and European OEMs not only are reconsidering their offshoring, but in some cases are moving manufacturing back into or at least near their “home” markets.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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