| Notebooks
Notebooks, today, form not just the entry point, but also the fulcrum of
enterprise mobility. The satisfaction levels in this particular segment,
therefore, become critical in determining the entire enterprise mobility
experience. This, in effect, brings with it a set of more demanding and
discerning customers (CIOs). The end resultthe overall satisfaction levels of
the notebook users dropped, albeit a mere 0.12% (from 83.6 to 83.5).
While it may be a little far fetched to brandish such a marginal fall as a
rise in dissatisfaction levels, it would, nevertheless, do a lot of good to
probe a little further to understand the areas needing improvement.
This drop is primarily because of the performance in the three big areas of
product, pre-sales and marketing, and delivery and installation. Specifically,
CIOs referred to demonstration and training, interaction with service team,
total cost of ownership, vendors understanding and domain knowledge, and
availability of spare parts as their concerns with their notebook vendors. As
per the survey, the enterprise customers feel that vendors should also be
leveraging on aspects like functionality and convenience in operations.
As per the findings of CSA-2008, CIOs are now attaching greater importance to
pre-sales and marketing, price and commercial, and delivery and installation as
compared to last year.
Among the vendors, while HP moving from the second position to the number one
spot was no surprise, it was Dells ascendance of four ranks that is a drestic
change. Also, the companys model of direct dealing and selling can have
something to do with satisfaction.
 |
| Source: DQ-IDC CSA Survey 2008
Base: 326 CIOs (486 responses)
Satisfaction on vendor understanding/domain knowledge of your business
(Pre-sales and marketing), Clarity of Pricing, Contract & Credit Facility
Received (Price and Commercial), and Demonstration/Training (Delivery and
Installation) have been the major contributors for satisfaction improvement
for Dell this year |
Customers are quite satisfied with Dells overall product functionality,
convenience in operations and clarity of pricing, wherein it has overtaken HP.
Both Lenovo and Toshiba witnessed a fall of two ranks each. Toshiba, in fact,
scored the lowest among all the vendors on the product and post-sales service
front. Riding on the IBM legacy, Lenovo had managed to make it to the top of
customer satisfaction in notebooks last year. However, over the year, the
company added its own Lenovo notebooks at the lower end to increase its market
base. Similarly, like IBM, Toshiba is also a premium brand. But, over the last
one year, in its bid to expand its market, Toshiba also got hit. Customers
couldnt find the brand value that they identified with the brand, leading to a
fall in satisfaction levels.
 |
| Except for the product parameter, in all the
remaining four parameters only two vendors are able to make it above the
industry average. Some of the major concerns that CIOs have from their
notebook vendors are proper demonstration and training, interaction with
service team, total cost of ownership, vendors understanding/domain
knowledge of their business, and availability of spare parts |
| A
business notebook user is a user having a very busy day, carrying data that
is critical to him
Anurag Arora, country manager,
Business Notebooks, Personal Systems Group, HP India |
What
initiatives has the company undertaken to help improve its customer
satisfaction levels?
The initiatives taken by HP to improve customer satisfaction are to do with
ensuring that customers get a business notebook that they can rely on, is
easy to use and secure. For this we have worked on features that take into
account the usage patterns of users and suggest business notebook solutions
based on the usage.
 What
about customer service/support initiatives?
We believe that a business notebook user is a user having a very busy
day, carrying data that is critical to him. Our services have been oriented
to satisfy this user. For that, a whole lot of notebook vendors give return
to bench warrant. In HP business notebooks, we have the provision to offer
on-site warranty. We are constantly innovating and have now started the Data
Recovery Services with our notebook. This is over and above the fact that we
are bundling the data backup and recovery manager software in our notebooks.
Our coverage spans thirty-three locations across the country and we plan to
triple the same within a few months, ensuring that the user virtually has no
downtime.
How are the satisfaction trends and
patterns of notebook customers changing?
The factors that are becoming crucial to keeping the customers in this
segment happy and satisfied are to do with the user of the notebook being
able to trust the notebook, have a great battery life, find it easy to use,
and is confident that the notebook is secure enough to avoid pilferage of
data. After all, a business notebook spends 12-14 hours in a day with the
user, and HP business notebooks are built to withstand that usage.
From your perspective as a vendor, which
challenges do you face in satisfying your customers?
Some of the challenges that we face are usage of the notebook in the
business environmentreliability, security, the spectrum of
needslightweight, workstation, standard, highly secure; and international
warranty. |
 |
| While CIOs attach almost equal importance to
the top two satisfaction parameters (100 for product and 99 for pre sales
and marketing), there is greater disparity in their satisfaction levels on
both these derivates. Sony needs to put more energies and efforts into its
understanding of this market and domain knowledge of the business, wherein
it has scored well below the industry average and has also the lowest score
among all the attributes of product and pre-sales and marketing parameters |
Next Page : ServersPage(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
|
