Annual Customer Service Reviews 2003

It is common knowledge that profit margins in the PC manufacturing business are razor thin and. in many cases, non-existent. What is less well known is the fact that most PCs other than Apple are made from standard components manufactured by someone other than the builder of the PC. Thus processing chips are manufactured by Intel, or AMD and a few other other manufacturers of specialty chips. Hard drives are manufactured by companies such as Western Digital, Seagate and IBM. RAM chips and motherboards are pretty generic, as are things like cases, keyboards and even to some extent monitors. Thus, it is not really accurate to say that major computer companies such as Dell, IBM, Hewlett Packard and Gateway "manufacture" computers. It is more accurate to view them, Apple excluded, as assemblers of parts manufactured by others. The confluence of intense competition, razor thin margins and generic components means that the price you pay for a desktop computer from a major manufacturer is not substantially greater than you would pay for an equivalent computer from your local GarageTronics builder.

That is not to say that all computers are equal. They are not. The now standard entry-level computer (around $400), with a Celeron 2.20GHz processor from Intel, 128MB of DDR SDRAM, 40GB hard drive, a recordable CD-ROM drive, Microsoft Windows XP Home and some basic office software from Microsoft or Corel varies greatly in terms of service and reliability from company to company. Today’s standard computer is faster than you will ever need so long as you stay in the law business. The difference in processing speed between the top rated computer and the bottom rated computer is dramatic but since they all are incredibly fast there is no direct impact upon your return on investment. There may seem to be an inconsistency between the fact that some computers perform better than others and the fact that they are all made from generic parts. The explanation for the apparent conflict lies in the direct analogy to cooking. Two salad chefs can put together generic ingredients in different ways. One will produce a masterpiece and the other will produce junk. It's pretty easy to send back your salad but if you have a bad computer it is not so easy. And often the problem with the computer is the same problem as the problem with the bad salad. You send the salad back to get a different salad not to have it patched up by the addition of a few more ingredients. If a computer is a bad product because its component parts don't work together well, no amount of fiddling and tweaking will make it O.K. You are stuck with it and with the cost of the reduced productivity that comes from having an inferior product.

There is another advantage that comes with mass manufacturing of computers and that is that experience often teaches that a particular combination of generic components doesn't work as well as another combination. In the fast paced world of computer assembly the ability to respond to that information and to incorporate it into a better product is critical. It is here that the "just in time" assemblers of computers such as Dell should have a big advantage. Their customer base provides them with constant feedback and their service organization is able to identify problems that show up on a broad basis. Often those problems come about because of subtle dissonance that occurs among the hardware, the operating system and particular software applications. It is here that experience counts for everything just as it does in making salads and in heart surgery and in law practice. Nobody wants to have their heart operated on by a fellow with an IQ of 180 who is eager to learn but has no experience. Nobody would turn over a major piece of litigation to the new associate who just happened to be editor in chief of the Law Review. The truth is that experience counts in life, in litigation, and in computer building.

What then is the difference and how should you choose? For me the difference is support and service. Everything else being equal, the quality of service is the thing that makes difference. The quality of service is not only a function of time it is also a function of experience and management. Back in the '80's WordPerfect developed its dominance in the word processing software field on the basis of its high quality service. Today Dell Computer Corporation is building its dominance in the manufacturing field on the basis of its service. Dell is eclipsing the competition as the most recent review of national brand customer service in PC Magazine shows.

Some really big names have absolutely awful service. I have had clients who bought a name brand computer by mail who have been unable to get any significant service and who have spent more time trying to fix machines than they are worth. Sometimes it seems your only remedy is to file a lawsuit but even then some of the seemingly solid manufacturers may be effectively judgment proof. No matter how good your computer is, if you can't get considerate, fast and knowledgeable customer service you are in trouble. Dell's service has been top rated for several years now and it is not surprising that it is about as good as you can get. But recent surveys have show that Apple is catching up quickly. If you want to read the details go to the August 5, 2003 issue of PC Magazine (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1186258,00.asp) where you will find the latest customer service statistics. Apple and Dell provide the top rated service overall. Dell has dropped out the top catagory for notebooks where Apple, Toshiba and IBM hold sway. Dell got dinged for the slowness of support (that has not been my experience) but they still managed a strong 4^th place finish. The bottom end for notebooks contains some surprising names like Compaq, NEC, and HP. In the desktop category, Apple and Dell are winners while NEC, HP, eMachines and Acer finish in a dead heat for last place.

Apple and Dell show that a company that cares about service and technical support can provide it on a national basis in an effective and efficient manner. While Apple is favored by those who do intense graphic/video work, Dell remains the choice for information processing such as found in law firms. They both give me faith that the American business machine and computer industry can combine quality, service and price to compete effectively in the international markets that will be dominant in the 21st century.