How do you know if you are selecting the right vendor for your business?
Questions to ask yourself when purchasing a multi-functional device.
In Today's world of super stores selling products and some vendors advertising nothing but price mixed in with many cases of comparing apples and oranges it may get confusing .When selecting the right vendor for your office technology needs by asking yourself the following Questions it might help you arrive at the right decision.
1. What type of reputation does the vendor have in your Marketplace? Checking Google Reviews can provide some good insight.
2. How long have they been selling servicing and supporting the product they're recommending to you? Are there service technicians Factory trained and certified with years of experience on the product you're about to buy. Good service can make a bad product work better but bad service can make a good product not work at all. Service is critical.
3. Does the vendor have certifications and awards to support the information they are providing to you. All vendor partners provide their dealers with written certifications and awards IF they have earned them.
4. Pricing is a big one. A lot of vendors will give you a low price for the first year but then they have built-in escalators which allow them to increase lease payments, service and supply prices, and will charge you to ship supplies already included in your contract. Shipping of supplies can cost $20 or more to ship a bottle of toner to your office. Add that up over the course of a month.
5. Resolution time! As mentioned above service is critical but it's always the vendor's ability to resolve the situation within a four-hour time period that truly measures the quality of their service support. Many vendors will “promise” a 4 hour response time but what good is that if the problem is not resolved.
6. Can the vendor provide you with additional products, solutions and services? In today's world many companies want to deal with one vendor to simplify invoicing and to maximize relationships. Make sure your vendor can provide you with all of your office and IT Service’s needs.
7. Another good way to evaluate a vendor is to see how many job openings they have on their career site. That is always a good indicator of employee retention which ultimately impacts their performance to their customers.