Can you remember an instance when you experienced exceptional customer service? When the end result made you feel really good and left you with a long-lasting positive impression?

You know when you have had an excellent customer experience and you know when you haven’t. Providing excellent products and services at competitive prices are expected in today’s marketplace, but this is only one part of the equation. The deciding factor between using one company over another tends to rely on the relationships that have been established and how the business makes the customer feel. This is the differentiator when providing high quality customer service.

How do you make your customers feel good?

1. Listen to their needs. Hear what they are saying and understand what they need.
2. Be genuine, honest and sincere. When customers are upset, they need to know that you care.
3. Only promise what you can deliver. If you tell customers that you will follow up with them, then do it. Set the expectation and follow through.

We all know what it’s like to be a customer and how it feels when we experience great customer service. We want more of it. Do your customers feel good?

Thanks, Pete. Now that I am officially part of the OnForce family, I would like to talk with you, our OnForce users.

It’s a little scary saying this to such a huge community of service pros and service buyers, but I would really like to hear from you. For me, engaging with customers is energizing. There is no better way for OnForce to build great services and products than getting to know our users. I’ve already had the chance to talk with some of our buyers and pros and there’s nothing like it to help figure out what’s working, what could be better, and what opportunities we have as we move forward. I’ve heard great success stories and innovative ideas for our future. It’s truly energizing and I would like to hear more.

I’m just getting started and I have a lot to understand. I’m really excited about what OnForce is delivering and even more excited about what we’re going to do in the future, together. This is your opportunity to shape my thinking and the OnForce strategy. You can reach me at bill.lucchini at onforce.com or on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wapl.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Bill

And I began to think how the hardware market has changed over the years.

Over the past few years, this industry has become commoditized. The AMI study proves that many small businesses are content with the new “click and buy” model when it comes to hardware.  And as this model becomes more popular, the next step is that users will increasingly want services to move in this same “click and buy” direction.

My advice? If you’re a channel reseller and haven’t moved to an online model, you may want to consider providing a full solution including hardware, software, and services. An integrated solution, ala “Geek Squad in a box” will provide efficiencies and a competitive advantage.

From the customer side – I have some advice for you as well. If you are the CTO or CIO looking for a total solutions package, make sure to keep an eye out for Tiger Direct, PC Mall, and CDW as their business continues to grow and prosper.

As a business leader, I ask you: Are you making the necessary investments in your IT infrastructure that are effectively protecting your company, while helping you to grow profitably?

Many companies today have focused their spending on the maintenance of their IT infrastructure to ensure that customer satisfaction is maintained. In Q1 2010, approximately 62% of all service events — that were fulfilled via the OnForce marketplace — were focused on maintenance work. However, there is an increasing number of companies that are preparing for new technology implementations. Where have you focused your IT spending?

The BP issue illustrates a valuable lesson. Always invest and implement technologies that will help to ensure your continued business grow – with no surprises. Look at your hardware, your security software, and telecommunications equipment. Is your company adequately protected and running as efficiently as possible?

Ann Livermore, the executive vice president of this business unit stated, “We think the next 10 years are going to be about who can automate the delivery of services.”

However, this wasn’t the only major newsmaker coming out of HP this week. The company has become more vocal about their evolving certified professional program. This program allows IT professionals to broaden their technical skill set and knowledge by obtaining HP training and certifications. By working with these certified professionals, VARs and service buyers can have ready access to highly skilled technicians to effectively fulfill specific service work.

At OnForce, we verify service professionals who carry these industry-leading certifications. With hundreds of service professionals in our marketplace who hold an HP certification, our customers know they can always find highly-skilled individuals to successfully complete service events, on demand.

Now, back to HP. Will the company be more successful with this bolder move into services? What do you think?

The technology industry saw many acquisitions in the latter half of last year. For awhile, this appeared to be a major trend for 2009 and many thought it would continue for awhile. However, it didn’t continue into 2010. Until now.

We experienced two major acquisitions in the last few weeks. SAP announced their purchase of Sybase on May 12^th and earlier this week, IBM was able to “woo” Sterling Commerce away from AT&T. Why did these companies make such aggressive moves? Similar to HP’s move in April and Dell and Xerox’s decisions last year, these companies made acquisitions in order to enter new technology markets and potentially gain new customers.

For SAP and HP, their acquisitions allowed them to become entrenched in the mobility market, and for IBM, it was a way to help bolster their cloud computing offerings. As for Dell and Xerox – their moves helped them enter into the technology services market.

Were these moves unexpected? Maybe. Were they expensive? Perhaps, but these companies felt the price was worth it. Needless to say, they were all bold moves.

SAP, IBM, and HP are not just sitting back and letting the economy dictate how they perform. They are foreseeing the future and taking hold of their own destinies. Where do you fall within the competitive landscape? How are you staying ahead within the IT and CE services market? Please share your thoughts.