By IT Support Team on Monday, 26 September 2016
Category: IT Support

Why It’s Time to Sack Your Large IT Support Supplier

The problem with big companies for consumers

We’ve all been there, particularly when dealing with personal consumer affairs. We are unhappy with the service we receive from a great big company that we deal with, like a telecoms provider, an energy supplier or an e-commerce giant. We try to get the company to rectify the situation, we may often find that we are still not satisfied that the outcome is fair.

Social channels are supposed to change the asymmetry of power in consumer - supplier relationships and allow the little guys to be given a more sympathetic hearing. The principle being that companies should do all they can to prevent negative feedback being shared within and across social channels. This is fine, insofar as it goes. However, sometimes, when a company has too much market power and is in a monopolised position, then it may be able to ignore social feedback.

Shortcomings of large IT Support providers

For those that run a business that depends on external IT Support services, then it’s very likely that at some time there have been some poor support experiences. Frequently, larger support companies present themselves as having greater resources and have the capability to fix more problems first time, more quickly.

They may also explain low pricing as a consequence of the economy of scale. However, over the course of a few calls for support, the tell-tale signs of the shortcomings of a large scale operation may become apparent.

Some key signs and their underlying problems may include:

Tell-tale signs

Underlying problems
  • Having no nominated support person
  • Different support people every time
  • Consistent failure to provide first-time fixes

Suggests:

  • Poor staff retention rates
  • Inexperienced staff or trainees
  • Reliance on agency staff
  • Hiding behind email
  • Hiding behind a support website ticketing process
  • Insistence on customers using FAQs and knowledge bases to self-help first
  • Making customers endure long holds for telephone support
  • Slow in responding to site for callouts

Suggests:

  • Over-committed and leveraging economy of scale beyond realistic limits
  • They need to slow the support process down to help them cope with the issue of inadequate resourcing and resources

 

Now, a big IT support company has some big fish to fry. If your company is a relative minnow, with say 10 -100 users, you may find it is way down the queue for service and support. If we get pushed around as a consumer, we often have the option of taking our business elsewhere. So why not do the same in a business context?

Right-sized IT Support from HTL

HTL provides firms of 10 -100 people that need exceptional high quality, with dependable IT Support to get access to the right level of service. Why be the under-valued customer of a big IT Support provider when you can be a valued and important one by selecting HTL as a right-sized service provider?

To find out more about the value our driven team of professionals provide to clients, simply get in touch today.

Related Posts