In part # 1 of this two part blog we explored the common question posed by business copier buyers as to whether they need a service contract. We shared the first two reasons in Part #1 as being the high cost of necessary supplies and the potential for increased downtime when you don’t have a service contract. In Part 2 we will explore additional considerations as to whether a copier service contract makes sense for you.

Pay Wholesale Instead of Retail Price

The copier industry is a competitive industry where the various copier service providers compete against each other to offer the very lowest price for their copier service contracts. A copier service contract almost always includes absolutely all of the parts, supplies and labor necessary to maintain your business copier machine. Essentially, all of the parts, supplies and labor are under one service umbrella package offered to the consumer. The competitive nature of the industry motivates copier service providers to reduce this service package in an effort to be less expensive than their competitors. The result is that all of the parts, supplies and labor are heavily discounted leading to a package that is reflective of low margin and wholesale pricing. In comparison, there is very little competitive need to discount parts, supplies and labor when a service company is providing these products on a one off, as needed basis. Generally, if you don’t have a service contract you can expect to pay retail for every part, supply and all labor that is required.

Faster Response Time for Copier Repair

Increased ROI is important for businesses, and copier repair companies’ bread and butter are their customers that invest in annual copier service contracts. These customers that have invested in these service contracts are generally guaranteed a fast response time for all copier repair needs. Generally, it is written into the agreement that they will receive a response within 4 working hours. Due to this obligation those customers that have service contracts are always going to receive the first priority over those customers without a contract that are calling for an isolated copier repair visit.

Improved Copier Reliability and Longevity

It probably goes without saying, that if you as a customer have invested in a copier service contract, then you are going to expect that the copier repair company is going to perform every scheduled maintenance visit, and replace every part on the recommended replacement schedule. In my experience however, companies that are paying for copier repair as needed often delay or permanently postpone preventative maintenance visits, and only call for copier repair when their machine breaks down. Like any other product, deferred maintenance leads to diminished performance and lessens the longevity of the product.

The bottom line is that your copier machine is going to require the same amount of supplies and the same amount of copier repair regardless of whether you have a service contract or not. It really comes down to whether you want to pay retail on a per call basis or pay wholesale with a service contract. Other important factors to consider would be:

• whether you want to empower your employees to quickly schedule necessary copier repair visits or entangle them in delays while getting the supervisor’s approval
• whether you want to be the higher priority customer when you have need for copier service or a lower priority per call customer
• whether you want to have all preventative maintenance done on schedule
• whether you choose to defer this maintenance due to costs

When you consider all of these factors, you will likely pay less to have a service contract than you would otherwise pay on an as needed basis. You will most certainly benefit from less downtime and faster response to your copier repair needs. It’s for the summary of these considerations shared in this blog that with over 95% of every business copier machine sold a copier service contract is included. Contact us for further information on how we can provide all your copier service needs.