Service isn't something people normally get excited about, but consider this quote from a ThinkPad notebook user who needs to have his computer fixed:
"Others I know in the IT industry tell me at least once a month how much better a deal I could get if I bought Dell notebooks for my company rather than IBM ThinkPads.
Last night I got home at 7:00 p.m. I turned on my ThinkPad at 7:15 and heard a beep, then saw the words 'Fan Error' flash on my screen, and then the computer shut down. I googled the error and determined that ThinkPads have a built-in protection mechanism to prevent the machines from running when a fan fails, so that they don't overheat and damage the processor.
My ThinkPad is two years old, but still under warranty. At 7:28 I submitted a warranty repair request through the IBM website. At 7:49 I received a call on my cell phone from a pleasant (but hard to understand) Indian gentleman confirming my request and to tell me that a service tech would call me within 24 hours. At 8:35 this morning, I received a call from Ken, an IBM support technician, asking me if he could stop by today between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to install the fan that would be arriving in his warehouse today before 10:00 a.m.
Ken showed up at 12:40 and was gone by 12:55. In less than 24 hours I went from a nonbootable system to a fully repaired notebook without ever having to pick up a phone.
Friends, that's why I continue to pay a premium for my ThinkPad notebooks."Every week college coaches get e-mails from high school volleyball players that they know aren't good enough for their teams. What if, instead of deleting the e-mails, we wrote back with a note of encouragement? Or an extra tip about the recruiting process? It would probably make a world of difference to that teenager, and eventually, word would spread.
That's just one example.
Note: This quote was taken from Seth Godin's book Meatball Sundae.