There’s an old saying in business: “Think like a customer.” At least I believe that’s an old business saying. No matter, basically it means to think about your business as a customer would. In my business, and I suppose many others, it means to not talk above the customer and assume they know nothing.
I’d like to think I’m pretty good at thinking like a customer. After all, I’m probably the most needy customer. My car mechanic usually ends up asking me to leave and to come back when he calls. I think I know more than he does and I’m pretty good at letting him know.
Last week I had a heated discussion with a woman regarding the hard drive we installed in her Hewlett-Packard computer. When she gave authorization she specifically asked for a Hewlett-Packard hard drive. After an hour discussing why we use aftermarket parts I finally started thinking like a customer.
Computers are not like cars. When someone buys a Toyota, they buy Toyota everything except standard replacement items. Tires, wipers, bulbs, and the like are made by third party vendors and will likely fit other cars. Engines, on the other hand, are proprietary to Toyota.
In my world of computers things are a bit different. A Hewlett-Packard (HP) computer is only branded with a logo that says HP. Just about every component inside the chassis is manufactured by another company. HP purchases huge volumes of products; only some are branded for them.
Hard drives are a common item and the one we had issues. Turns out there’s only a couple major brands. Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi make 90% of the hard drives currently sold. HP doesn’t actually manufacture the drives; rather, they request bids for huge quantities to meet their specifications.
Other components are similar: motherboards, power supplies, DVD drives, and cables are all sourced from outside vendors then assembled and branded. Oddly enough, companies like HP don’t handle much of their own assembly and leave that to outsourced vendors. Just about the only thing some companies actually do is market their brand and invoice their customers.
The computer business is extremely incestuous. All companies buy from their competitors in one way or another. Using HP as an example, it purchases from both Asus and Acer which are two of its major competitors. Components like motherboards are usually Asus and other components are Acer. It’s hard to tell what’s going to be inside a computer until we crack it open.
It might be kind of surprising to realize that a competitor might be less expensive than the brand’s own product line. A company like Acer has many divisions with many products. At any time it might be less expensive to purchase Asus DVD drives than Acer for whatever reason. A smart purchasing agent is going to take the least expensive option that meets their specifications.
Just because your computer has components from many different companies doesn’t necessarily make it cheap. Manufacturers are going to purchase components that meet and exceed their own requirements. Aside from meeting technical requirements, components must also be able to exceed the manufacturer’s warranty period.
Finally, don’t automatically assume the cheap computers are going to be manufactured with the same quality components as more expensive systems. Companies are known to take massive shortcuts in order to meet price demands of their customers. One machine currently on the market has the tiniest motherboard I’ve ever seen and uses a very low end hard drive. With worldwide sourcing now the norm in my business I’m truly surprised manufacturers have kept a one year warranty period.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him directly at (978) 413-2840 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)