Technical Support: a fundamental factor in choosing a cutting plotter
In some of the previous articles, we have covered many aspects related to the world of cutting plotters. We talked about what these machines are, what they are for, their different types of functionalities and uses.
Today we want to deepen the importance of technical support among the factors that should influence the choice of one machine instead of another. Many, mistakenly, do not give weight to this element and risk finding themselves in very unpleasant situations that could compromise the goodness of their investment.
By following the instructions in our article you can avoid making this mistake.
How can the provision of the after-sales service on cutting plotters take place?
When we talk about tech support on cutting plotters, we mean all those types of support, from the telephone call to on-site intervention, in which the parent company or the dealer helps the end user in the difficulties encountered during the life cycle of a machine. The technical support is typically provided after a request by the user towards the brand to which the purchased cutting machine belongs. Commonly these requests can be submitted via:
- Form on the company website
- Mail sent to a dedicated address
- Telephone (very rarely)
The methods of supply vary from one producer to another and can often be regulated by specific contracts in which the terms, costs and conditions of an intervention are stipulated.
The typical methods of support intervention, according to increasing degrees of need, are:
- Telephone
- Remote Support
- Physical intervention
Why it is important to carefully evaluate the assistance in the pre-purchase phase
If you are thinking of buying a cutting plotter, you should definitely include the tech support offered by the brand you are addressing as a crucial element of the choice.
Always remember that the purchase of a machine is a long-term investment that must ensure a yield and a profit. So, once you have accepted the quality of the product you are evaluating, you must also make sure that you have someone available who, in case of need, can quickly intervene to help you.
Likewise it is important that you could call competent technicians who can remove doubts, answer questions and guide you through more complicated processes. These interlocutors will have to become your first consultants and be so continuously over time.
We advise you to also take into account the longevity of the company you are addressing to, choosing a solid and established brand over time will give you the guarantee of always having the possibility to order spare parts and consumables and to always be able to contact someone on the other side.
Technical Assistance with cutting plotters: how to behave in the pre-purchase phase
Support is certainly the most difficult aspect to judge in the pre-purchase phase of a cutting machine.
Obviously, no salesman will tend to highlight potential technical or other problems that could occur. To find your way around it is therefore necessary to rely on wide-ranging considerations and common concepts. It will also be necessary for the buyer to be very active in inquiring during the negotiation, asking many questions relating to costs, programs, methods of intervention and maintenance.
What are the key aspects to be assessed?
As mentioned, evaluating a service that will be provided only after purchase is particularly difficult, but it shouldn’t scare you. The purpose of this article is to provide you with some useful tips to evaluate these important aspects and understand how to decide:
Transparency of the proposal
A serious seller has nothing to hide. If your proposal in terms of core values such as warranty duration, warranty extension (when applicable), service contracts and related costs is clear, this will certainly be a great jumping-off point.
Transparency is at the core of a sensible decision and shows that your interlocutor trusts his proposal. If the terms, on the other hand, are vague, the risk of finding yourself in front of an unreliable interlocutor is very high.
Accessibility to the support service
Once reassured about the transparency of the offer, it is necessary to obtain an even more important clarification: that on the accessibility of the service. An assistance service, to be efficient, must first of all be accessible.
At the beginning of the article we talked about the various technical support methods: it was a general framework to be explored with extreme clarity of detail. Full transparency must be required on the methods in which any report must be forwarded, on the methods in which the service will be provided, on the existence of different assistance plans to choose from.
If these details are not clear, you risk making a wrong choice about purchasing a machine that will have to work for many years.
Support timing
The times of intervention and activation of the support are fundamental. Imagine having a problem and having to stop your machine from working for several days. You would risk blowing up new jobs or orders, not to mention the risk of losing current customers because they are in turn dissatisfied with the deadlines that you can no longer meet.
This aspect is crucial in the choice of cutting plotters of one brand rather than another.
Linguistic and geographical proximity
A fundamental aspect when asking for technical assistance is that of mutual understanding between the person making the request and the person receiving it. The linguistic factor can therefore be decisive.
The possibility of dealing with a technician who speaks your language will help you more quickly and effectively, thus making you feel more comfortable. Similarly, needless to say that, if a technical intervention was required in person, being able to count on technicians and dealers who are around you would reduce time-to-resolution of service requests.
If you choose to contact Valiani for the purchase of a cutting plotter, you will always have assistance and technicians who will be able to reach you quickly from our headquarters in Certaldo (Florence, Italy). Engineers in Valiani can also fluently master English, Portuguese and Spanish, thereby providing support in a foreign language. At the same time we have a global network of resellers: anywhere in the world we will be able to reach out to you promptly.
Types of assistance contracts
As regards the types of assistance contracts, it must be said that today the picture is very complex and evolved compared to the past. For this reason a definitive categorization is very difficult. However, there are clearly some particularly common forms of providing this service that we can list below:
On-call contract: whenever the user needs, he calls the parent company, which intervenes. Payment is made by single intervention in single intervention.
Subscription: generally covers one calendar year and is renewable when it expires. Subscriptions can include different types of plans, allowing you to purchase different types of service: for example, you can only purchase online assistance, or you can provide continuous telephone assistance with an annual visit. There are many combinations available according to the commercial policy of the various companies.
Maintenance programs: this type of program provides for the a priori temporal definition of maintenance interventions.
Maintenance packages: a program that provides the option to purchase packages including hours of work or site visits.
What is the best option? There is no a priori valid answer. The important thing is that the user can evaluate different solutions, so that he can choose the program that best suits his real needs.
Assistance on cutting plotters: the Valiani proposal
At Valiani we are pretty sure of the reliability of our machinery. The reason for this assurance lies in the fact that each of our cutting plotters is made entirely in our production plant. We know the secrets of each of our products and we know that they guarantee unrivaled reliability. As evidence of this, we have placed a 5-year warranty on our plotters, an offer that has no equal on the market.
The trust we put in our machinery has led us to develop types of assistance proposals that are very advantageous for our users.
How it works
By purchasing any of the Valiani machines you are entitled to 12 months of free technical assistance.
Once this period is over, you can purchase an All-Inclusive assistance contract, at a cost of € 450 per year, which includes:
- A qualified technician always available
- Priority access to the hot line
- A remote connection to intervene directly on your machine
- A tailor advice
At the end of the 12-month technical assistance, it is also possible to request scheduled maintenance interventions which include, at a cost to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis:
- A specialized technician at your company
- Complete check-up of machinery and tools * and replacement of parts most subject to wear and tear (time required: approx. 3 hours)
- Standard scheduled maintenance kit with original spare parts
- Certificate of maintenance
- Clear and affordable prices
- Ability to schedule the appointment according to your needs and work rhythms
We also invite you to visit the dedicated page on our website to find out all the details on Valiani assistance.
Don’t stop informing yourself
Our overview of the importance of support for cutting plotters is over. We hope this article has been helpful as well as a stimulus for further progress.
We want to inform you that Valiani periodically shares informative articles on everything related to the world of cutting machines. We advise you to read the contents already present on our blog, for example the in-depth information on cutting plotters for paper, paperboard and cardboard and on cutting plotters to create signs, displays and racks.
Many other articles will continue to come out in the coming months: keep following us and contact us if you want to further explore the topics covered.
Stay updated!
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