🚀 go-pugleaf

If Dell and others had only to deal with hardware failures it would not be
so challenging. It is the 80% to 90% of the total calls that are the result
of self-inflected software issues that negatively impact the quality of
technical support.

"Phred" <ppnerkDELETETHIS@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:c27je6$1q0nq7$1@ID-151056.news.uni-berlin.de...
> In article <104dhf2lg7a2h95@corp.supernews.com>,
> "Irene" <girlsrule@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I am in customer service, and during training, I was advised it costs a
> >> company something in the order of 7 times more to try to win back a
*lost*
> >> customer(or aquire a new customer) than to try to retain an existing
> >> customer.
> >
> >My father was in a service business for more than 40 years, and I
remember,
> >vividly, him making that same comment many, many times. Another comment
he
> >often made was, "the best way to keep a customer is with a quality
product
> >and quality service". I am not sure that  business practices such as
those
> >exist within any large corporation, any longer.
>
> I think the problem we have with the PC industry is that the margins
> just aren't there now to support the type of "personal" service many
> of us became accustomed to expect over years past.  And even if the
> percentage margins were still there, the actual dollars aren't.
>
> Once upon a time my "ideal" PC system (i.e. including VDU and
> printer) always seemed to cost $4000 (talking Oz dollars here -- you
> yanks may have had it better).  Hell!  I even managed to sell my
> original 8088 system after three years for $2000.  (Largely because it
> had a "huge" 30MB HDD instead of the standard 20MB of the time. :)
>
> Now, you can get a damn decent system for about $2000.  Meanwhile the
> cost of everything else, including labour, has been going up and up.
> (Try buying a new higher-performance car, or a better house, for half
> the price you would have paid for your old one 15 years ago!)
>
> Companies like Dell have a survival strategy of huge turnover to make
> up for lower margins as much as possible.  That wouldn't work even if
> the unit cost of subsequent service and support remained the same!
>
> To be fair, I guess there has been some scope for reductions here due
> to more reliable components, and more experienced users.  But these
> positives are countered to some extent by more complex systems leading
> to more "problems", for even experienced users; and are overwhelmed by
> the increased cost of labour to provide the support.
>
> It's really no wonder such companies are trying to cut back on unit
> support costs any way they can!  (Mind you, I agree with Irene that
> making a reliable quality product to begin with would be a good place
> to start. :-)
>
>
> Cheers, Phred.
>
> -- 
> ppnerkDELETE@THISyahoo.com.INVALID
>