Hi all,

One of the questions I hear come up all the time is how much after-sale support a customer can expect when it comes to using a system that you've installed. You know the calls I'm talking about -- everything from "my wife can't figure out how to watch TV" to "I'm getting an intermittent buzz in the background," "my picture looks stretched," etc.

Is there a formula for how much support is reasonable? A set number of phone calls? A set period of time after the sale? An ongoing service contract? And at what point do you decide to cross over from attempted phone support to an in-house visit?

I'm featuring this topic in the next "Tales From the Trenches" column of Custom Retailer. If you'd like to see your views quoted in the piece, please email me with your name so I can get in touch with you for permission.

Thanks, looking forward to it,
Ron


This message was edited by Ron CR on 04/15/03 09:53.

We give the home owner basic training when they move in and tell them that we will be back in 2 weeks. In those two weeks we ask the homeowner to write down everything they hate about the systems current setup. When we come back we reconfigure the little tweeks they want and the tell them we will be back in 2 weeks again. Do the same thing. We do this twice for each client. All service calls dealing with user error are handeled in the first month free of charge. After that we charge our hourly rate.

After a sale, a customer should expect service relative to what they paid for. Before you jump to any conclusions, hear me out. If a person walks into Joe's Stereo Super Store and buys a big screen, takes it home themselves in the back of a pick-up, and installs it themselves, they don't expect an installer to show up on thier doorstep 20 minutes after they call to ask how to get the picture tuned. If someone works with a company(or installer) to design, pre-wire, trim, install, and program an elaborate whole house audio/video system, they expect it to work right and do expect someone to show up if something goes wrong. Every situation is unique unto itself in this regard. We try very hard to be there for anyone who has a question at anytime. We give out cell phone numbers to clients and work hard to build that person to person relationship. When a client calls on a Saturday to ask why they lost picture, we try the basic things over the phone, "is the TV on?, Is the receiver on?, Does the DVD play, Do you have audio?" If we can't get it in a couple of minutes, or more importantly, if the client begins to get stressed, we offer to come out and fix it. It usually only takes one or two minutes and a couple of presses on the remote, and they are back in business. On the rare occasion where equipment actually fails, the client appreciates the prompt service and that makes the warranty procedure go a lot smoother. Do we charge for these service calls? Yes and no. We charge a premium for premium work. We believe that if it is done correctly, than it should work right every time you use it. Do we hand the client a bill after we switch the TV from video 1 to video 2? Never. I personally feel that if the client is having too many problems using the system, than I didn't design it adequately for thier needs or I didn't do a good enough job instructing them in how it works. That is a shame on me not them. Also, it is our name and reputation on the line.
Almost every one of these "free" calls has resulted in more business for us. I went to a client's house late on a Friday afternoon to troubleshoot a sat receiver that wouldn't call out for pay-per-view and ended up meeting one of thier friends who was just wrapping up a new home and needed to get a full system. The overwhelmingly positive endorsement from the existing client was better than any advertisement we could have payed for. Nothing impresses a prospective client more than seeing your customer service in action. I went this last Saturday to install a router at a client's house to get both of their computers working, left with an order for a TSU-3000, docking station, progressive DVD to replace the interlaced model, and an HD sat system to go with the HD TV someone else had sold them. Was this 30 minute service call on a Saturday worth a free 30 minutes?
The flip side of this policy is that we do get people who are tweak crazy. We had a client call who could hear a difference in his system in room A when the system in room B was on. He thought that when the surround system in room B was off, that the basic 2 channel system in room A sounded worse,and that it got better when you turned room B on. When we came out, we listened, and room A never changed(ran an RTA to prove it). The two rooms share air space so the client was hearing the better sound(mostly the bass) from the surround system in room B and thinking it was making room A sound better(they share a CD changer as a source). We tinkered a bit and the client walked back and forth between the rooms and decided that the basic system in room A needed a sub to make it sound more like the system in room B. Sub added, problem solved. The moral of this story is that this was a service call, a "my system sounds funny" call and it turned into a paying job. They haven't all been like that, but most have. We went to a service call that was a simple tweak and tune and while we were there, the builder who built the house was there touching up some details. We left that job with a set of blue prints to put in a proposal on.
Customer service will always be profitable. There is no better time to talk to a customer about upgrades, new technology, or better ways to make a system work than when they have seen you at your best. When you go the extra mile to provide good service, there is no losing job.

What about the kind of dufus that will call every 2 weeks for a year to ask the exact same question. "I get sound from the DVD but no picture!"

Hopefully, after the first couple times you already know the answer to his problem!

But, I think an upfront approach is the best way. If you have good communication with the client up front, these issues have less impact further down the road. For example, if you do a quote for a customer, and include a control system of some type, and they decide to ax that part of the system. You should prepare them at that point for possible scenarios, and if the day comes that they complain how hard the system is to operate, bring out the original proposal. I think most people are quick to realize their own mistakes and bad decisions and will gladly pay for any 'upgrades' that may be necessary for the system to operate as you originally intended. PHS examples this in a different sort of way. Our biggest upsellers in the field are our installers, I'm a firm believer in giving some type of bonus for a nice upsell onsite. Be it a night of beers, food, and fun, or a cash bonus. Some guys could careless for food and drinks and would rather have cash money, it's up to you to know who those people are.

For those clients like Brent mentioned, you have to support them for the length of your agreement, no matter how hard it hurts. Your reputation depends upon it. Now, there is nothing that states you can't do phone support, and after the 2nd time of the same problem, you can be 99 percent sure that it will be the same 'problem' time and time again. Hopefully after a year of this, they will eventually get it, or, will pay for your time.

Thought?

I must state my agreement in the strongest, nay the most vociferous terms.

This message was edited by NBDEER on 04/17/03 00:32.

I believe all support conditions should be listed in a boilerplate type contract. This is also a very good opportunity to introduce a service contract. In general I will provide full support for the first 6 months including visits if phone support is inadequate. I provide support on all equipment for the period of the manufacturers warranty, but it is stipulated in the contract that if it turns out to be user error that the service call will be billable. This encourages people to try to figure the problem out before they make the call. After that the contract says that any service call will be billable or they have the option of paying a yearly fee for continuous support.