Take a second and think about the last time you were dissatisfied with a good or service. Assuming that didn’t take long, what led to your dissatisfaction? Were you underwhelmed with the good or service provided? Was it due to a lack of knowledge or expertise? A lack of customer service? More importantly, did you go back? There’s a good chance that you either:

  1. Terminated your contract or simply did not revisit.
  2. Stayed the course but are now more willing to leave, never go back, or simply wouldn’t recommend to a friend or foe.

Ok, maybe a foe in some circumstances, but nevertheless, you were unhappy and that in turn will guide a decision made in the future.

How does this apply to networking hardware, server and storage hardware?

First and foremost, it all boils down to customer satisfaction. That’s the underlying theme. Our competitors may offer similar products at a comparable cost, but does the service match up? Do they have timely solutions when a problem arises? Do they honor what they stand for? It’s within these questions that separate the best from the less, and in our industry, it’s the most common reason that leads a customer to find an alternative.

If customer satisfaction is the underlying theme, then product knowledge is an important facet or branch of the total picture. Given that our industry is based off of solutions, it’s not uncommon for a competitor to offer a solution that may simply not work—or the alternative, gets the job done, but just works a little harder and less efficient. In both the long and short run, this leads to money and time wasted. And headaches. Lots and lots of headaches.

There’s more.

As in timely quotes. You call or scroll through. Find what you need. Ask for a quote. And crickets ensue. For something that shouldn’t be overcomplicated, this tends to be a common occurrence. It’s the long, tedious, loading screen of our industry, and the only party that it hurts most often is you, the consumer.

And even more.

No lifetime warranties on any hardware, whatsoever. It’s a stance many companies take, and while it’s uncommon to offer lifetime warranties across the board, not having the capacity at all basically just means “hey, we only sell the stuff”.

How does this apply to Summit?

It’s that underlying theme again. You know, the one about customer satisfaction? Well, simply put it’s what our company believes in. We understand that customer satisfaction is what leads to long-standing relationships, so that’s why we only employ people who know our products and services better than the rest. It’s why we’re quick to respond to a quote, and if for some reason we need more time, we respond in a timely fashion that gives you peace of mind. And finally, it’s why we offer lifetime warranties on select Cisco products and third-party transceivers. It’s these differentiators that we believe separate us from our competition and it’s why we continue to go to work every day.