Jerry Peerbolte
J. Peerbolte & Associates
Fort Smith, Arkansas
When end-users decide to outsource any maintenance service, what criteria do they use to evaluate possible vendors? This question was explored in EASA’s 2014 Customer Research study. It was also examined in the earlier EASA industry research (2003 and 2008) allowing the opportunity to determine if attitudes and practices have changed over time.
It should come as no surprise that the factor most important to end-users when selecting an outside maintenance service provider is the “quality of service work performed.” This factor was similarly the most important one in the earlier EASA industry research.
Other important criteria to end-users include their evaluation of the outside service provider’s “field technician knowledge and availability” and their “ability to complete the project in a timely manner.”
Other criteria considered, and their overall significance, are included in Chart 1.
In reviewing these replies, it is clear that end-users chose outside maintenance service providers based upon their experience and reputation. For EASAns, it is important to be able to describe and demonstrate your past service work in terms of quality, technician knowledge, and timeliness.
Are these end-user criteria changing? Again, looking at the findings in earlier EASA industry research in Chart 2, we see that “quality of work performed” consistently ranks as the most important issue. In these earlier studies, the variety of criteria considered by end-users was more limited. However, there is no question about the most important factor – quality of service work performed.
There is one final observation about the importance to end-users of the “price” of any service work performed. The most recent study showed price to be a secondary issue. As noted in Chart 2, one dimension of price is the outside service provider’s ability to deliver the maintenance services within the quoted price. Hence, doing a good job of developing an accurate quote that identifies the various factors or uncertainties that influence pricing, is perhaps just as important as the actual price billed for the services provided.