Are you considering offering DaaS and/or leasing and want to ensure the success of this new venture? Perhaps you’re looking to boost an existing program?
Ingram Micro Lifecycle supports businesses with a range of packages that enable the circularity of technology, maximizing the product’s life and potential value recovery.
This article will cover a range of services you should consider incorporating into your overall DaaS and/or leasing program to ensure maximum success.
What are DaaS and leasing?
Device as a Service and leasing models are rising in popularity as they offer an alternative to ownership of goods. These are based on a monthly subscription cost for the use of a product rather than paying a lump upfront sum for ownership.
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Supportive solutions
We list below some of the bolt-on services you should consider that will support your DaaS and/or leasing program, if not already in place. These all add to make the program more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable.
Technical contact center
Customer support needs to extend beyond telephone calls. Support must cover additional channels including online live chat, WhatsApp, and automated self-help messaging so customers can receive help in some form no matter the hour, wherever they are.
A technical contact center will provide support to customers across more methods than the telephone. A key aim of support agents should be to avoid or prevent returns. DaaS/leasing programs come with robust support and returns options, should the product be faulty or if the user is experiencing an issue. Therefore, agents within a technical contact center will offer support to customers to lower the rate of returns of your DaaS/leasing program.
They also provide reassurance to users that support is on hand, if it’s needed, and while you hope customers never need to use the support, it serves to build trust and loyalty to your brand.
Repair and refurbishment
As companies better their sustainability, repair and refurbishment of technology are becoming increasingly popular within the market. No longer does technology have to become waste after its initial use. Lifecycle extension solutions ensure that reusable units and components are recovered, minimizing waste generation and reducing the associated carbon footprint. This also supports cost savings as there’s less need to invest in brand-new products as frequently.
As part of this processing, returned units will be tested and graded to determine potential faults or issues, routing the product through the appropriate servicing channel. This data can also be fed back up the supply chain to the manufacturer. Here it can be used to influence future product designs, making them more sustainable or avoiding common issues.
Information collated from returns can support the responsiveness of customer contact center agents. The findings provide better insight into the causes of issues and better arm agents, and therefore customers, with DIY, self-solve fixes, supporting returns prevention.
Inventory management
This enables live monitoring of supply levels via a third-party partner. You’re able to call off products either from your own owned supply or from the supply of the partner. This gives you flexibility in storage, ownership, and product range.
Products may be either brand new or refurbished, having gone through testing and grading and then the necessary restorative tactics to get the product to a useful condition.
Returns management
Through leasing and DaaS programs, you have an elevated certainty of product returns when contracts end. Returns management ensures processing of these products which needs to be efficient and rapid. Once received, products need to be checked for quality and re-use potential so they don’t sit in storage, depreciating. If they have re-use potential, and therefore the potential for value recovery, they must be processed quickly and sent back out to a new user.
Products must be accurately assessed to ensure appropriate routing for either re-use or disposition. Automation streamlines this process, applying a set criterion of requirements across the full breadth of returns, removing some impacts of human error, and improving efficiency.
Recommerce
Where there is no longer a market demand for a certain product through DaaS or leasing, or you no longer have a use for the product, you should be looking to recover as much residual value as possible from the product. This keeps the product from becoming e-waste and enables the opportunity for it to find a useful life elsewhere.
These funds can be used to reinvest in the company, either in new products or elsewhere.
Configuration and fulfilment
If supplying devices to employees or for business use, ‘gold build’ products may be beneficial. These are curated to a set list of the customer’s requirements and can include specific software, website blocking, disabling applications, and peripheral equipment. This configured equipment is therefore supplied ready to be used, straight out of the box, needing minimal effort and time to get started.
These customizations support the customer’s business strategy for the use of internal technology and make it easier for their users to adhere to company policies.
Financing
Financing can underpin your DaaS and/or leasing offering by giving extra security, enabling wider go-to-market options for your inventory. As your offering expands, there are pay-as-you-grow structures with built-in, affordable refresh cycles. White-label financing for your own branded DaaS offer can also be considered.
Building a robust DaaS or leasing program
The additional services above, when bolted onto your DaaS and/or leasing program, can ensure a smooth process for your customers, boost their satisfaction, improve sustainability, and generate cost savings.
Ingram Micro Lifecycle works to support customers around the globe with technology lifecycle extension services that enable a circular economy. We support Device as a Service and leasing programs with a breadth of bolt-on services to ensure success.
Ingram Micro Financial Solutions plays a crucial role in our DaaS offering by providing flexible financing options. This enables businesses to acquire the necessary technology without the upfront capital investment, helping them optimize their budgets and allocate resources more effectively. Through our financing solutions, organizations can easily adopt the latest technology while maintaining financial flexibility.
For more information, contact our team today, download our ultimate guide to Device as a Service, or complete our workbook for finding a DaaS partner.
Related articles:
- Technology lifecycle management: what is configuration and fulfilment?
- Techniques for uplifting value on returned products
- New device sales & leasing: returns management challenges
- 10 ways a lifecycle partner supports DaaS and leasing
- 6 reasons why subscription models are on the rise
- Device as a Service vs leasing: which is best for your business?
