As part of the “Digi-Talk” preparations, we would also like to take a close look at Hardwarewartung.com and see what they have to say. Did the digitization help the maintenance company or do they see it as a threat?
Hardwarewartung.com was created on the drawing board and had a plan from the start to challenge the entire maintenance industry. Digitization played an essential role.
The basic assumption was that hardware maintenance has already become a commodity product and can therefore be distributed via the Internet in a standardized way. Until the launch of the brand Hardwaretwartung.com, a maintenance contract for IT infrastructure was clearly classified as face-to-face business, which excluded online sales.
Another assumption was that existing third-party maintenance companies had sufficient know-how in warehouse management, logistics, technician coordination and repair services to provide maintenance services throughout Europe. Hardwarewartung.com simply wanted to access these resources instead of building them itself.
Assumptions must first be confirmed
They were able to confirm the second assumption very quickly. After some discussions with the three largest Third Party Maintenance (TPM) companies, it was clear that all of them with 25 years of experience not only had enough know-how, but were already offering some of their services worldwide. The biggest problem of these companies was the very slow growth.
They could not confirm the first assumption so quickly. In order to confirm this acceptance, at least one customer had to conclude a maintenance contract online.
Challenge Accepted
Yusuf Sar, founder of Hardwarewartung.com, created a landing page for hardware maintenance and launched an Adwords campaign. After two weeks, they were able to close their first customer online. So the second assumption was also confirmed.
Next was the growth model. The young entrepreneur opted for two models that allow exponential growth and enable them to quickly open up even difficult markets. They developed a system that allows them to target those customers who are willing to conclude an IT maintenance contract online. They also found a solution for the still insecure companies that want to be personally looked after.
The golden combination: online sales and partner management
With online sales, a combination of content marketing, SEO, Adwords, online PR and social media, customers are specifically addressed for whom hardware maintenance is only a standard service. These customers are willing to buy this service online if it is offered simply, trustworthily and without effort.
All customers who have not yet found confidence in online business are picked up by partner management. For this purpose, they specifically address IT service providers and system houses and win them over as partners for the sale of third-party maintenance. The added value for IT service providers is obvious. Simple, fast and direct communication, higher quality service levels, guaranteed response times and 50 percent lower prices. It is therefore not difficult to quickly win a large number of partners who, as multipliers, convince even the most hardened customers of third-party maintenance.
The plan is working
“We simply have an unfair advantage now,” says CEO Yusuf Sar. “With our online sales, we are more than ten times more efficient than traditional sales. In just two years, we have managed to become the market leader in the online market. Our team is set up like a media agency. We deliver useful content on hardware maintenance and remove all barriers for our customers to contact us. We are not looking for our customers, our customers are looking for us.”
When asked whether this is enough to call it an “unfair advantage”, the CEO answers: “As far as online sales are concerned, definitely! But this is where it all starts. We punched in the old classic maintenance contract and replaced it with modern general terms and conditions. So we can complete maintenance with just one email. We have automated or simplified almost all processes and are now four times more efficient than the market. Meanwhile, our entire back office can be handled by one 20 hour force. These immense increases in efficiency make it possible for us to offer maintenance from a single device and that 50 percent cheaper than the manufacturer. We are thus opening up a completely new market that could not previously be opened up for cost reasons. The SME market”.
Conclusion: Clear winner in digitisation
Hardwarewartung.com is not only clearly one of the winners of digitization, but would not exist without it. Some market participants even fear that it could be a disruptive innovator in the maintenance business. But only time will tell.
