Service / Maintenance Contracts Guide And Downloadable Sample Agreement
Author: Brian Karas, Published on Aug 18, 2016Login to read this IPVM report.
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Comments (7)
Undisclosed Integrator #1
“Typically a percentage of total system price is used as the annual price of a maintenance agreement. 8-10% is common for a basic agreement that focuses more on annual preventive maintenance and next-business-day repair.
Couple questions from a service newbie about the above points. First, what items are considered part of total system price? Just the hardware, install of hardware and programming? Not cable and conduit I assume?
What outside of preventative maintenance is covered typically with the 8-10%? Replacement hardware and labor (assuming hardware is out of warranty)? Or just labor?
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Steven Wirz
Outstanding, thank you. I remember a few discussions about this awhile back but this really condenses things for us REALLY small guys.
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Undisclosed Integrator #2
We have one with very similar language but more of a deep dive which includes explanations and scenarios of covered vs. non covered. And obviously we include detailed information on how to initiate a Maintenace request, how we monitor plus what I'll just simply call our competitive edge with our contracts and how we arrive at the cost.
Since inception 2 years ago, Most have purchased them and those that haven't wished they did. For those that didn't it wasn't because they didn't think they needed it, it was because of some higher up finance person who simply denies all Maintenace contracts. That being said, we have yet to sell a "contract" to someone who we haven't done the full installation for. Haven't tried much but we have had the opportunity and they haven't gone anywhere. Probably because it's hard to value an existing install and meet that competitive price point.
The biggest problem we run into is customers who don't give us access to their network to troubleshoot remotely, this really needs to double the cost of a Maintenace contract but good luck with that. I just make it clear that you can still have your contract but your response time is best effort.
Now if only the devices were smart enough to not keep alarming for the same errors consistently. It's certainly not like monitoring an intrusion alarm when all you have is email and uneducated devices sending notices for everything. Our service tracker will probably be more complex with all the rule routing than the systems themselves.
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Undisclosed Integrator #3
Brian, I know this thread is a bit old but I wanted to know what the general consensus is on out of warranty equipment coverage.
1. Do Integrators offer to cover "anything" that breaks?
2. Is this marketed as "Extended Warranty" coverage?
3. What is the cost of this specific coverage on average?
4. How do you handle end of life products? Do you keep offering coverage forever?
Thanks.
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