This second edition of Service & Support for Life Science Products is based on a detailed 33-question survey of more than 1,000 scientists. This report examines the expectations of scientific customers as they relate to the service and technical support from their suppliers. By helping suppliers fully understand these expectations, this report will assist them in building customer loyalty through responsive service and support. At many life science companies, customer service and technical support activities have traditionally lacked the excitement associated with developing innovative technologies and products for scientific research. However, the value of customer service and technical support in this market has increasingly been recognized over the past decade. As competitive forces and technology have merged to create superior customer support capabilities, customer expectations of superior service have been correspondingly raised. A customer's level of satisfaction will be derived from the sum of each and every encounter he or she has with a supplier. When a customer experiences a problem, exemplary service can generate corporate goodwill. However, when a product fails to arrive on time or a replacement cannot be delivered when needed, a scientist's ability to perform his or her experiments is compromised or delayed, and a sense of injustice emerges. Scientists' perceptions of value go beyond a product's technical characteristics and price. In fact, they are highly dependent on the degree to which a supplier supports its products and hence, its customers. By adopting the customer's perspective of the buyer-seller relationship, suppliers are better able to create real value for their customers, which ultimately generates higher levels of satisfaction. Achieving such satisfaction is critical to suppliers because it leads to increased customer loyalty, which drives market share and profitability. In a market where technological differentiation is becoming difficult to achieve, providing quality service and support has become an important way to create value and ensure loyalty. Report Highlights Service & Support for Life Science Products contains over 140 charts and/or tables and more than 20 cross-tabulations for the 33 survey questions. Below is a glimpse of the key findings derived from just a few of the survey questions: • When ordering a product from a supplier, over 50% of the scientists surveyed prefer to order directly from the supplier's Website. (Question 3)
• Cited by 46% of respondents, the most frequent problem that requires scientists to contact Customer Service is when a product does not arrive when promised. (Question 6)
• 73% of the scientists surveyed prefer to contact Customer Service for assistance by calling a live operator. (Question 8)
• Sigma-Aldrich and Invitrogen were most frequently cited as the suppliers that provide the highest level of assistance related to the ordering, delivery and billing of products. (Question 18)
• When evaluating the technical support sections of supplier Websites, respondents feel that the most important features are detailed protocols and manuals, and troubleshooting guides. (Question 27)
• Approximately one-quarter of the respondents would place a 10% premium on a product if the supplier could guarantee superior service. (Question 32) (electronic copy also includes 1 print copy) | 
