Aberdeen Blog Post: Repair, Refurbishment and Return: Does Your Customer Expect Failure?

Posted on February 16, 2012 by skirstein

Repair, Refurbishment and Return: Does Your Customer Expect Failure?

2012 FEBRUARY 16

Does your organization have full visibility into what happens when a customer has a failing part or product? As a service leader, you may be thinking that everything is fine because your outsourced partner is efficiently managing the customer’s returns and repairs. Or, your operations team is on the job and working around the clock to fix those parts/products and ensure the customer gets another one fast. But what if this isn’t happening to the standard that you assume, or worst yet, to the standard that your customer expects?I am excited to tackle the topic of Repair, Refurbishment and Returns as it relates to service spare parts and products, and have launched a research survey to better understand the challenges and best practices tied to this important operational process. Throughout our research over the past few years, we have seen that the customer expects faster, consistent and more reliable service. However, as seen in our State of Service Management research (January 2012), organizations polled reported that they were just above average when it comes to delivering a consistent service experience to the customer (3.5 on 1-5 scale, 1-Poor 5-Excellent).

Can your organization afford to be just above average when customers have options in an ever more crowded service landscape? For this reason, organizations can’t allow any aspect of their service brand to suffer from inefficiency. The repair, refurbishment and return operations are not immune to this need to improve.

Often times the repair and return operations are thought of as a negative situation due to the fact that a part or product broke or is not running optimally.  However, these operations are viewed by the Best-in-Class as an opportunity to leverage this customer interaction and maximize the value of the service opportunity. And as customers attempt to pull every last drop of value out of their equipment/parts in a down economy, top performing service organizations are able to manage the repair and return processes to avoid customer dissatisfaction, cultivate new revenue streams and cut out costly inefficiencies.

If the repair, refurbishment and return operations within your business are not running as smoothly as you (your customers) would like or if you are performing at a Best-in-Class level and would like to share, please participate in my survey.

We have already had over 100 service organizations take part and would like to better understand what you are doing well, where you can improve, or why you chose to outsource your repair/return operations. For participating in this 15-20 minute survey you will receive a complimentary copy of the findings upon publication in early April 2012.

 

Posted in Customer Care, Customer Experience Management, Customer Understanding Research, Service Supply Chain Optimization, Service Supply Chain Optimization | Tagged , , , |

Dip Your Toe Into Service Supply Chain Optimization (SSCO)

Posted on February 1, 2012 by skirstein

The Service Supply Chain, a subset of the overall supply chain concept, deals specifically with the operations and experiences of providing post-sale service. The challenge for a large enterprise to successfully organize, plan, source, operate, fulfill and reconcile the post-sale service supply chain in an efficient, customer-centric & cost-effective manner is formidable.

Most of us who have been on the end-user side of the equation have little or no idea of the scale and scope of this challenge; that being said, most of us also don’t care – the universe of post-sale service revolves around us and our particular need at the time. Successfully address my concerns, and you have earned my loyalty (at least for the moment). Handle it improperly, inefficiently or clumsily, and I may unsubscribe, change companies, abandon your product or even publicly berate you in social media or in person.

But you, our typical reader, know all of this. It’s your responsibility, in total or at least in part, to ensure that one or more of the following occurs:

  • Service Parts are sourced in the most efficient way possible, and located at the optimal quantity in the right location to enable quick transport to a client’s location in order to maintain a Service Level Agreement (SLA)
  • Service calls are addressed efficiently and in a customer-focused manner, while ensuring that Warranty Entitlement is checked, Orders and/or RMAs are created without error
  • In some cases identifying the likely cause of a problem and, if possible, addressing the issue at the time of the call rather than requiring parts or technicians to be dispatched
  • When necessary, dispatching parts (the correct parts) and/or technicians in a timely manner to ensure resolution within the SLA
  • Ensuring timely return of the defective or replaced parts
  • Getting complete reconciliation and closure of all service events, with data analysis and learning to enable continuous improvement.

Doing any or all of the above, balancing the best end-user experience with the most efficient, cost-effective, stable and scalable operation, is a huge and ongoing challenge.

Which is why OnProcess Technology specializes in Service Supply Chain Optimization.

Have a look at this SSCO diagram, and let us know if you’d like to learn more.

OnProcess Service Supply Chain Optimization

 

–sk

 

 

Posted in Asset Recovery, Asset Retrieval, Asset Retrieval, Customer Care, Customer Experience Management, OnProcess, RMA administration, RMA management, Service Supply Chain Optimization, Service Supply Chain Optimization, Spend Management, Warranty Management |

Spend Management: A Key Success Factor for Competitive Enterprises

Posted on January 27, 2012 by skirstein

Spend Management is a key component of competitive advantage for companies with increased focus on cost and compliance. By strategically addressing procedures, purchase sources and costs throughout all aspects of procurement, companies can lower their overall “cost floor” without negatively impacting any operation.

While software solutions have emerged in the procurement/spend management space, a more comprehensive service offering–including process management and the ability to utilize skilled, experienced personnel to execute and manage these processes– is often an attractive way to maximize the benefits of such a system without installation issues, IT support bottlenecks, learning curves and staffing challenges.OnProcess Technology SSCO - Spend Management

OnProcess Technology offers such a service offering (naturally!), within the rubric of our Service Supply Chain Optimization (SSCO) approach. You can learn more about OnProcess’ Spend Management capabilities at http://www.onprocess.com/spend_management.php, or just reach out to us using the big orange button to the right, or by your preferred method at http://www.onprocess.com/contact.php.

 

 

Posted in OnProcess, Spend Management |

Article: 100% of Surveyed Adults Bought a Consumer Electronics Device at Holiday

Posted on January 27, 2012 by skirstein

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/166581/survey-100-bought-ce-device-at-holiday.html?edition=42713

From MediaPost:

Survey: 100% Bought CE Device At Holiday

by Aaron Baar, Yesterday, 2:22 PM

So, here’s one to mull: According to an extensive survey of more than 4,200 adults, every one of them bought some sort of consumer electronics device during the holiday season.

That’s 100%. And not a “margin-of-error” 100%, either. A deep-dive into the survey results revealed that every one of the 4,200 people surveyed (from a representative demographic of the United States, median annual income of $50,000) answered in the affirmative when asked whether they had bought a consumer electronics device during their holiday shopping.

“I was floored,” Janet Eden-Harris, chief marketing officer at Market Force Information, which conducted the survey in January 2012, tells Marketing Daily. “It was a representative mix of consumers. It’s a representative sample [of demographics] and income levels. And every single one said they bought some kind of consumer electronics device.”

Video games and gear and televisions and accessories led the purchases. Thirty-two percent of consumers said they purchased video games, gear and accessories, while 31% said they bought TVs, DVDs and other equipment. Smartphones and digital cameras were tied for the third-most-popular gifts, at 24%, while 23% of survey respondents bought a computer. Despite the hype, iPads were cited by only 21% of respondents, while Kindles were cited by 20%.

“If we think about what the category has done over the last decade or 20 years, so many [devices] that didn’t exist before have become a must-have item and so many items have been incorporated into our daily routine,” Eden-Harris says. “They aren’t luxuries anymore; they’re must-haves.”

When it came to making those purchases, people generally preferred to head to a brick-and-mortar retailer instead of making online purchases. Among those surveyed, 100% said they bought at least one device from a retail store, while only 35% said they made a purchase online. The reasons people preferred retail locations included the ability to walk out of a store with a purchase, in-store promotions, to avoid shipping costs and to get a personal demonstration of the device.

When it comes to those in-store purchases, the sales associate plays a huge role in a consumer’s decision. According to the survey, more than three-quarters of shoppers said they were helped by a salesperson. Forty-four percent of them said they received a specific product recommendation from that salesperson, and 85% bought the product that was recommended.

“It tells you how critically important … having a knowledgeable salesperson is,” Eden Harris says.

Posted in Complex Consumer Electronics, Customer Care, Customer Experience Management, Customer Understanding Research |

Attend the RLTS Las Vegas Show at a $1500 Discount!

Posted on January 19, 2012 by skirstein

If you’re considering attending the RLTS 2012 show in Las Vegas, but haven’t yet signed up or are on the fence, please be our guest to a $1500 discount off the normal attendee registration fee!Reverse Logistics Association

Click on this link and you’ll have access to our special discounted rate  - and once you’re there, please stop by our booth (location M6 in the back row) and learn about our most recent innovations in Asset Retrieval and Recovery as well as our new and broader set of services collectively known as Service Supply Chain Optimization (SSCO).

Get the discounted rate!

Hope to see you there!

 

Posted in advanced exchange, Asset Recovery, Asset Retrieval, Asset Retrieval, OnProcess, Service Supply Chain Optimization, Service Supply Chain Optimization | Tagged , , |

Seth’s Blog: Trustiness

Posted on December 22, 2011 by skirstein

Seth’s Blog: Trustiness.

We’re all looking for someone to trust. People and institutions that will do what they say and say what they mean.

Banks used to use marble pillars and armed guards to make it clear that our money was safe. Doctors put diplomas on the wall and wear white smocks. Institutions and relationships don’t work without trust. It’s not an accident that a gold standard in business is being able to do business on a handshake.

Today, though, it’s easier than ever to build a facade of trust but not actually deliver. “Read the fine print,” the financial institutions, cruise ship operators and business partners tell us after they’ve failed to honor what we thought they promised.

It’s incredibily difficult to build a civil society on the back of “read the fine print.” Emptor fidem works so much better than caveat emptor. When we have to spend all our time watching our back and working with lawyers, it’s far more challenging to get anything done–and it makes building a business and a brand infinitely more difficult.

The question that needs to be asked by the marketer is, “are we doing this to create the appearance of trust, or is this actually something trustworthy, something we’re proud to do?”

Building trust is expensive. You can call it an expense or an investment, or merely cut corners and work on trustiness instead.

Trust is built when no one is looking, when you think you have the option of cutting corners and when you find a loophole. Trustiness is what happens when you use trust as a PR tool.

The difference should be obvious. Trust experienced is remarkable, trustiness once discovered leaves a bad taste for even your most valued customers.

The perverse irony is this: the more you work on your trustiness, the harder you fall once people discover that they were tricked.

 

Posted in Customer Care, Uncategorized | Tagged , |

The Importance of New Product & Service Activations for MSOs

Posted on December 5, 2011 by skirstein
OnProcess CE360™ Activations

Dramatic Positive Impact on Activation Rate and Velocity

MSOs are constantly seeking to introduce new products and services to differentiate their offerings from competitors and alternatives. The challenge is how to encourage and increase successful adoption and activation of those new services. In a noisy promotional environment, your message is likely to get lost, ignored, or misunderstood.

 

The stakes are quite high when introducing new products or services to an established subscriber base. The rate at which your users adopt, as well as the speed at which adoption takes place, can have a dramatic and profound financial impact on all the levers of profitability, including:

  • current revenue streams
  • service cost avoidance
  • lifetime subscriber values

Case Study – How Successful Activation Reduces Subscriber Churn

Watch our new presentation on CE360™ Activations Management for MSOs and see, in an actual client case study, the direct correlation between activation of a new product and dramatically reduced subscriber churn in the SMB space.

For more details, visit our CE360™ Activations for MSOs page on www.onprocess.com.

 

 

Posted in Broadband/Cable Industry, Complex Consumer Electronics, Customer Experience Management, OnProcess | Tagged , , , , , |

Changes in the Medical Device Vertical

Posted on November 14, 2011 by skirstein

As part of an overall internal realignment to further improve service delivery to our clients, we are pleased to announce two new key positions for our Medical Device vertical market practice.

Matt Rice, a six year veteran at OnProcess, will be stepping into the newly created role of Business Line Director, Medical Devices. With a rich and deep expertise in operations, process and analytics, Matt brings a unique set of talents to bear to ensure that all of OnProcess’ considerable capabilities are aligned and available to best serve our clients.

In addition, we are pleased to announce that Scott Wilkins has joined OnProcess Technology as Vice President of Business Development. Scott, who was most recently with New Breed Logistics and Kuehne + Nagel, has over 20 years of experience and expertise in developing and managing consultative, customer-focused end to end supply chain management programs.

Scott stated, “I’ve known of OnProcess for several years through the quality of their work and the respect they get from their customers. I’m really pleased to now be joining this organization and being a part of its next stage of growth.”

With these two primary customer-facing positions, and the supporting team structure, OnProcess will be uniquely able to provide technology, people and processes to solve virtually any service supply chain challenge for companies in the Medical Device and DME space.

Learn more about OnProcess’ solutions for Medical Device companies

–sk

Posted in Medical Devices, OnProcess | Tagged , , , |

Community Through Teamwork, October Edition

Posted on October 20, 2011 by skirstein

OnProcess Technology has, as a working blueprint for its employees, a set of Core Values that guide our everyday decision-making and activities. One of those values is “Community Through Teamwork”, which is summarized below:

Community Through Teamwork

We work together to create a community that is
respectful, diverse, challenging, and rewarding. We…

  • recognize individual and team accomplishments
  • listen to each other and value different viewpoints
  • commit to making a difference in the greater community.

In keeping with that goal the company, spearheaded by our Communications and Events Manager Stacy Harrington, has organized and is managing the following events:

  • American Red Cross blood drive in October (part of an ongoing quarterly effort)
  • October thru May OPT employees will be sorting and bagging fresh produce and food for JFS’s Healthy Harvest Program in Framingham, MA.
  • Collection of coats, hats & mittens for Hopkinton’s Just Because Program
  • OPT employees will “adopt” 30 children, meaning they will buy Holiday Gifts, toys, clothing, books, winter coats and boots etc., for SMOC’s Adopt a Child Program.
  • We will collect toys for The Ashland Police Dept. Toys for Tots program

This is but a small sampling of an impressive, ongoing flow of community participation and sponsorships that OnProcess involves itself in. Congratulations to Stacy and all of her colleagues who devote so much time and effort to fulfill this vital component of the OnProcess Technology Core Values!

–SK

Posted in Community Through Teamwork, OnProcess | Tagged , , |

Updated Career Page Adds Video Interviews

Posted on September 30, 2011 by skirstein

We’ve recently updated our Careers page to include a series of interviews we did with our own OnProcess Technology team members.OnProcess New Career Page

Derived from a series of interviews with over ten OnProcess team members from all parts of the company, these unscripted responses to questions such as “What’s It Like Working At OnProcess?” are designed to give prospective job candidates a better understanding of the culture, environment and overall ‘mood’ of the place as they consider their career options. Given that the Careers page is always in the top five pages visited on the OnProcess Website, we should also get some halo effects in terms of branding benefits, differentiation and general interest. OnProcess is a special place to work and these candid and fresh comments reflect that.

Special shout-out to my colleague, Faryn Savasta, for her support and enthusiasm in developing this joint Marketing/HR project.

– Steve Kirstein, Director of Marketing, OnProcess Technology

Posted in Community Through Teamwork, Jobs, Jobs, OnProcess | Tagged , , , , , , , |