Service as an Opportunity for Resellers

^{From: Jaime de Sousa, TSC Printronix Auto ID Service Program Specialist EMEA
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes}

Selling a printer often kicks off a long-lasting partnership between the reseller and customer. Although the TSC Printronix Auto ID printers rarely suffered damage because they are robust and reliable, even high-quality devices can fail unexpectedly. In cases like this, the fast and competent support from service technicians is the only way to help customers out of their unpleasant situation and get the devices working again as quickly as possible. But what if resellers (VARs) do not have their own service technicians?

On-site service saves time and money

Selling printers and service programmes as a complete package pays off, especially for smaller partners who cannot provide this service themselves. Resellers benefit because, in the event of a problem, end customers can directly draw on certified service workshops, which would have been organised by TSC Printronix Auto ID when the service contract was concluded. As a result, resellers do not have to deal with the claims, saving them time and money. This spares them long, repeated trips to the customer, saves the need for storing and procuring spare parts along with the need to maintain additional staff. Only the authorised service partner handles the on-site repairs and delivers the spare parts. Further details regarding the on-site service as well as the available TSC Printronix Auto ID warranty extensions are available here.

Minimise risk and increase planning reliability

These programmes offer resellers and VARs the perfect tool to minimise their own risks in the event of problems with their customers’ devices. In addition, they also ensure more reliable planning. On top of this, the programs also create new opportunities for cross-region customer acquisition: these programs expand the area that can be served as close proximity to the customer is no longer essential to ensure good and reliable customer care.

Customer loyalty - the key to lucrative follow-up orders

The valuable opportunity to strengthen the end customer's loyalty is another aspect that is often neglected in the course of day-to-day business. When purchasing complex, high-quality printers, customers rightly expect the repair service to function smoothly throughout the entire product life-cycle. Resellers that succeed in consistently keeping their product promises will also successfully achieve greater customer loyalty. These promises include rapid and reliable service. Typically, this can develop into customer loyalty over the course of the years. In turn, this increases the chance of lucrative follow-up business.

Service and Support play a pivoting role towards a Resellers image. It begs the question; is the Reseller a competent Partner that promotes positive customer experiences rather than being viewed as one who's only objective is to grow his bottom line and thus neglect his customer?

Service as potential for increasing turnover

Customers consider after-sales service to be part of the product. This is why the sales process is also the ideal opportunity to offer the right service programmes. At the same time, it is a good means of increasing revenue. According to a study by Gartner, IT services worth 1.3 trillion US dollars are expected to be sold worldwide in 2022. As such, they comprise the largest share of the IT market, ahead of even IT hardware. Against this background, it is no surprise that the share of turnover from the service business also continues to increase. This also means that resellers who want to participate in this lucrative business also have to increasingly sell service products.

Differentiation from the competition

Last but not least, well-functioning service programmes can also boost a company’s own image clearly distinguish it from the competition. Companies offering better service and support not only stand out among the competitors, they also become leading providers who stand for quality and reliability. This strategy enables even smaller companies to keep pace with larger VARs and counteracts the risk of frustrated customers searching for a new partner from competitors.