Warranty Wise

Freedom to be Free

It struck me, as I was walking in the Wireless section of CES this year, shoulder to shoulder with people from all parts of the world, from all religions of the world, that the Consumer Electronics industries, (I say industries because so many are sprouted from and related to) make peace.  Peace makes us Free.  Our ability to communicate with each other is phenomenal and the commonalities are phenomenal.  This industry helps pull us together in so many ways.

 

Yes we can debate that like anything else, peace comes with a price as does freedom.  We can point our that the CE industry is really a part of us losing our freedom by always being connected, and with so many ways to be connected, we are always expected by others to be connected.  That really affects our ability to be free.  In efforts to be “part of”, our ability to experience Peace and Freedom can go away.  In our need to accept invitations to be “linked in”, or “friended”, or continually in contact so we don’t miss anything, what are we really missing?  Peace?  Freedom?  The ability to be productive?

 

We all really do have choice. Today I will choose to think about the marvelous mix of manhood that I spent the last 4 days with.  All in “noisy” peace.  All without threat.  All without incident. Yes, all in the name of commerce, but it was in peace nonetheless.  Peace in Vegas.  Now that is an oxymoron.

 

Now I will go meditate and workout without the TV on or the IPod on.  I can choose to get real peace.  That is Freedom.

 

I’ll connect with you later.

CES is Intensely Interactive

How can so many people be on the same page?  E-Tabs and E-Readers, that’s how.  E this.  E that.  E is for Electronics.  E is for Entertainment.  E is for Extensive as in selection of new ways to get on the same page with everyone else in your life and I am not talking Facebook.  There are so many ways to stay in touch, or stay out of touch.  Upload, download, voice activations for everything in your home and business.  It is getting to the point you will not need to know how to type….just speak….

 

Some of my favorites so far are all the variety of 3 D offerings in every type of device from everyone, something called Lookee TV that let’s you upload TV and radio from just about anywhere without a subscription if I understand it right, and a new International Wireless phone company that has free phones waiting at the rental car or hotel counter for those of us that forgot ours---all we pay for is usage and it is pretty inexpensive at that….

 

I could go on, but suffice it to say, there will be plenty of need for warranty and customer support in every channel with just about every product….I think my career is secure.

 

Warranties…what a concept.

Let The Games Begin CES is On

Consumer Electronics.  What an amazing industry to grow up in.  When I started in the mid seventies the Sony Betamax had not yet hit the market.  I remember getting it in and putting it on display.  Demonstrating it.  Having contests to see who could sell a gross of tapes because it would only record an hour.

 

I went to my first CES when I was 21. I am now 52.  Sony went on to introduce consumers to VCR’s, then to Walkmans and have always offered beautiful TV’s from their Trintrons to their Bravias they now offer.  Playstations, Blue Rays, Hi Def Video Cameras, wow.  I think their Laptops are super.  What fun. I always go to the Sony booth to see what they are up to.

 

That is not to say I do not like other brands.  Are you kidding me?  Apple was born here in my south bay area.  My homies.  Tell me they don’t know how to keep us involved with CE evolution.  Love those guys….They have their own show.  Always trying play the “we are different” card.  They are.

 

You look at how this industry has permeated medical, DOD, and you can’t say enough about wireless applications that have changed the industry….uploading….where does it stop?  It doesn’t.

 

This industry is so exciting and of course, the warranty industry and extended warranty industry would not exist in its current form without the CE industry.

 

I’ll be back in a few days to give you my insight as to what I think the best products concepts are that warrant your attention.

Increasing ESP Sales with Technology

If you have been to a Best Buy, Sears, Harbor Freight, Overstock, Amazon, Sony, and many others, there is virtually never a time that the Extended Service Plans options and OEM warranties do not pop up on the POS or E-Commerce screen.  How can you expect your sales folks, or your customers, to effectively sell or purchase these valuable programs without the information they need?  They need to see three things in particular in order for your program to succeed.

Manufacturer Warranty Information:  This should be simple.  The Prompting or Pop Up should just show parts and labor in months. Nothing more, nothing less.  Some examples of this would be 3/3 or 12/12.  That would translate to 90 days parts and labor or 1 year parts and labor.  Without supplying this information it is a little difficult for anyone to understand when one warranty stops and the other starts or when anything expires…This not only affects purchases, but pricing and pretty much everything else as well. If more information is needed such as special coverage then additional links or references can be made available but are not generally necessary in making purchase decisions.

Pricing:  This too should be simple.  The Prompting or Pop Up should reflect the length of coverage you are offering, the product category and the price of the product. It should be real time and up front.  You do not want to make your sales staff or your customers work to find the pricing. That will cost you more in sales and support for the program than you can possibly spend in the simple programming needed to make this fly.   A couple of examples could be 1yrEOM or 2yrEOM or 1YR DOP or 2YR DOP.  These simply mean one or two year that begin at the end of the manufacturer warranty time or 1 or 2 year from the Date of Purchase inclusive of the manufacturer time.  Like with the warranty information if more information is needed additional links or references can be provided.

Type of Coverage: This too should be simple, but it necessary.  Code it so it shows whether the coverage is a replacement plan or a repair plan, or something else and should be easy to decipher.  Simple examples are PRP or RPL which may designate replacement plans, RPR or REP which designate Repair Plans or MA which designates a plan that includes maintenance, AD, which designates a plan with Accidental Damage.  The point is a screen or a receipt has simple designations that can be referred to quickly and accurately.

Spend the money and time on Prompting.  Use Technology to Drive Sales. Don’t Hesitate One More Day!