Module 6: Hardware Replacement

Overcoming Objections

When discussing Advance Replacement support with your customers, it is natural for some of them to raise objections. In this section, you are going to review some common objections that customers have raised in the past. Each objection has a corresponding response that you can use to address your customers’ concerns.

Objection

It is time for your customer’s service contract that includes Advance Replacement as a component to be renewed. However, your customer is hesitating to renew because he has had concerns in the past with the Advance Replacement service.

Response

More often than not, this is simply an educational issue. Ask your customer some initial questions
such as:

		What type of replacement timeframe were you expecting?
		When did you receive your replacement?
		Did you relocate or move your supported equipment without notifying Cisco?
		Did a Cisco or partner onsite engineer configure the spare for you – or did you do it internally?
		How long did the spare take to configure?
		Is your customer aware (depending on their location) that there may be delivery restrictions associated with their support?

Once you have gathered some of the details about the problem that the customer experienced in the past, your next step is to ensure that his/her expectations fall in line with the delivery response time that he/she selected for their contract. For example, common misunderstandings can arise when customers select the 8x5xNBD or 8x5x4 replacement levels because many people assume their response time begins as soon as they call into the Cisco TAC.

In situations like this, let your customers know that problems must first be diagnosed by 3:00 pm local time before the response time can be activated. If your customer is using the 8x5xNBD or 8x5x4 option, also let them know that those two services do not provide coverage on weekends.

Additionally, you should explain to your customer that the delivery schedule associated with each Advance Replacement option begins when the customer and Cisco TAC engineer have tried other solutions and mutually agree hardware replacement is necessary. The delivery schedule does NOT begin when the customer initially places the call with the Cisco TAC.

In summary, you can usually resolve many issues that customers may have experienced or not understood in the past by:

		Educating them on the particular entitlements associated with their Advance Replacement service offering.
		Updating their service contract if appropriate to a different delivery option to help avoid similar issues in the future.

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