Journal Torinir's Journal: The Changing Face of Tech Support
Up until about 2 years ago, technical support for any company was the big money sinkhole. Millions of dollars are spent each year on providing support for the products companies make, and it never generates revenue. Until now.
Some major OEM's have started to try and merge technical support and sales in order to limit the losses of their tech departments. Out of warranty support charges are also increasing to try and recover partial costs to place a technical agent on the phone.
Even Dell has started to charge for OOW support, surprisingly. For the longest time, Dell was one of the few OEMs that did not charge their customers for OOW tech support. Even if the they outsourced their support overseas, like just about every other major manufacturer, it was still a free service for their customers.
No longer.
Some companies have taken to having technical agents attempt to sell products and services while performing their support duties. Sometimes this generates more friction than would have appeared had there been no pressure to sell. Some "technical support" reps have also abandoned support in favor of selling.
I think it's time companies went back to the ways of providing products that have longevity, rather than pushing for the sale. Longer lasting products = fewer support calls = lower support costs. True, revenues are typically lower, but customer retention is usually higher, and customers would likely be more open to upgrading when they know they are getting a well-built product than one that will likely fail shortly after the warranty ends.
Some major OEM's have started to try and merge technical support and sales in order to limit the losses of their tech departments. Out of warranty support charges are also increasing to try and recover partial costs to place a technical agent on the phone.
Even Dell has started to charge for OOW support, surprisingly. For the longest time, Dell was one of the few OEMs that did not charge their customers for OOW tech support. Even if the they outsourced their support overseas, like just about every other major manufacturer, it was still a free service for their customers.
No longer.
Some companies have taken to having technical agents attempt to sell products and services while performing their support duties. Sometimes this generates more friction than would have appeared had there been no pressure to sell. Some "technical support" reps have also abandoned support in favor of selling.
I think it's time companies went back to the ways of providing products that have longevity, rather than pushing for the sale. Longer lasting products = fewer support calls = lower support costs. True, revenues are typically lower, but customer retention is usually higher, and customers would likely be more open to upgrading when they know they are getting a well-built product than one that will likely fail shortly after the warranty ends.
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The Changing Face of Tech Support
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