What level of service do customers expect?
In today’s market place customers really do expect the very highest level of service. Companies need to provide continuity in terms of engineering staff and service levels. Redundancy in terms of spare parts is always an issue. Most of the top companies carry spare parts in local storage so that the company can offer a hot swap solution if a customers CCTV system fails. This can be costly and most customers do not appreciate just how expensive it is to provide this service.
Resilience.
The kit must be able to stand up to harsh environments when put out into the field. What most customers again don’t realise is that the saying buy cheap buy twice is often very true. It is almost always the case that the cheapest quote very rarely offers the best value in the long run
Response times.
A 4 hour response is generally accepted as a sensible and reasonable expectation but same day response rarely attracts a complaint. Follow up calls are often needed especially where parts are required. No engineer can be expected to carry every part on board that will be required for each job.
Training your customers.
A well trained customer who fully understands their CCTV system is a benefit. It means there is a better understanding of faults when the system fails and more likelihood it will be picked up by the customer before an incident occurs. Spending time talking to your customers will always pay dividends.
Conclusion.
Good practice, motivated staff, quality equipment and good training will always add up to a happy customer. Actually selling this at point of sale with the extra costs that are generally involved can be a more difficult matter. If you are an installer or service provider who has any points to add to the above observations please feel free to comment. On the other hand if you are a business who have experienced problems with your service provider please leave a comment with some of the bad things your have experienced at the hands of a CCTV installer.