HP Scores With Dedicated Support For Elite Series Systems

Elite Series business class notebooks

The new dedicated support team, which is providing troubleshooting and problem resolution on HP's toll free customer support line, started taking calls on March 15 with the majority of customers now rating services levels between 9.0-10.0 on a 1.0-10.0 scale, said Lisa Baker, director of customer segment marketing for HP."Our internal monitoring of the new dedicated support line is exceeding our customer SAT (satisfaction) goals," she said.

HP said the HP Elite support team, which amounts to less than 100 employees, received specialized technical training to provide 24/7, 365 day, dedicated support for North American buyers of HP EliteBook notebooks and HP Elite desktops.

HP is backing up the dedicated support team effort with a "large marketing campaign" that includes a wide range of solution provider partner resources including marketing collateral and sales tools that are part of HP's marketing subsidy program for partners, said Baker.

The support team is part of broader HP initiative to distinguish its Elite business class notebooks and desktops from competitors. "We see this as a way to differentiate ourselves not only from a product quality and reliability standpoint but from a support level," she said.

HP sees a growing market for small medium business (SMB) customers demanding premium notebooks/desktops and higher level service particularly in the wake of longer notebook/desktop refresh cycles, said Baker. She said customers holding on to laptops and desktops for three years or longer are demanding premium level products and support. "The old way of thinking is SMBs want to buy cheap stuff and enterprises buy expensive stuff," she said. "That is not the case."

Even though many SMB solution providers offer their own help desks for clients, Baker said she sees the new support team "enhancing and complimenting what our partners are doing to provide an even greater level of service and support for our joint customers."

Currently the dedicated Elite Support team is based in Bangalore, India. HP's goal is to move the service to its Rio Rancho, New Mexico customer support center by the end of the year, said Baker.