Hello!
Every year, businesses are spending a lot of money on tech support. If you look at companies such as Oracle, almost half of their revenue comes from tech support for consumers.
However, have you ever thought about the business model of third-party tech support for consumers? To some people, it seems a bit strange. Why would a third-party company that had no input in creating a certain product claim that they can fix the product when it fails?
Consumers have become comfortable with this business model. We use third-party companies when repairing things such as appliances, computer hardware, and cars, among others. Even though this business model was failing, it looks like it is making a comeback.
A Brief History
The industrial revolution of the late 1700s gave birth to customer support services. Manufacturers needed to look after their customers and support them when their equipment failed.
Forward to the early 2000s and things had changed drastically. Technology had advanced and people were relying on it for their day-to-day operations. Companies had already been formed focussing solely on tech support.
At this time, third-party tech support companies advertised things like hotlines and software disks. This was then changed to remote PC troubleshooting, GeekSquad, and live help desks for antivirus software among others.
Today, technology has made it possible to get advanced third-party tech support from different companies. For instance, on Xtrium, you can troubleshoot frequent issues such as broadband, mobile, streaming, and other tech-related issues.
How the Business Model Faltered?
Third-party support for consumers had been growing steadily for many years. However, it got to a point where the business model was not doing well. This can be attributed to different factors, but one of the main reasons was misleading information.
Some leading companies such as Google started restricting ads sponsored by third-party tech support companies across the globe. This change saw all third-party tech support adverts being pulled down from all platforms associated with or owned by Google.
Other leading companies followed suit, and this had a major impact on the business model. One of the main reasons for this was the rise of misleading ads from the service providers.
A customer would be lured into visiting a website where their personal information would be captured.
However, even though the business model faltered, it is growing again. Customers are now relying more on third-party customer support due to different reasons.
How the Business Model Grew Again
The rise in third-party tech support for consumers can be attributed to the differences that exist between the service providers and vendors (refers to the software, hardware, or application publishers).
Some of these differences include;
Different Models But Common Goals
Third-party tech support providers and vendors have something in common. They help businesses minimize or avoid disruptions and add value to their businesses through the use of software or hardware applications.
However, most of the vendors have not been able to achieve this goal. This has given a lifeline to third-party tech support. In addition, businesses have been taking note of the costs as well as the benefits associated with getting support from the vendors. The costs are more compared to the benefits.
When there is a business problem, then a need for a new solution arises. This is where third-party tech support providers came in and provided a meaningful, cheaper, and long-lasting solution.
Saving on Operational Costs
Cost is one of the major differences between a vendor and a third-party tech support provider. Businesses have realized how much they stand to save on operational costs if they deal with third-party tech support providers compared to dealing with vendors.
For instance, businesses can save about 50% of resources on support fees when dealing with third-party providers. Some additional costs that emanate from vendors can be avoided or reduced. This can contribute to an additional 25-40% in savings.
Costs associated with forced migrations or upgrades for businesses to keep using a version that is fully supported, self-support that might not work when vendors do not respond, and supporting customization can be avoided. This has contributed to the rise of third-party tech support for consumers.
Conclusion
We are going to keep seeing a rise in the third-party tech support business industry. Before vendors realize it, they might even be driven out of the business completely.
However, businesses need to make sure that, even though getting services from these providers is better and cheaper, they are dealing with a legitimate business entity that cannot compromise their privacy or that of their clients.
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