ASM offers up "cradle-to-grave" hardware service

Channel player hopes new offering will enhance its brand loyalty and free up customers' cash to spend on other tech

ASM Technologies is hoping to bolster its brand loyalty by offering its customers and resellers a new service through which it manages their technology throughout its entire lifecycle – from sales to disposal.

The firm's new IT Lifecycle Management service, which it unveiled this week, will see it offer customers and resellers its vendor partners' products and support them up to the point of disposal – including sourcing any necessary replacements.

It hopes the service, which it claims no other direct competitor offers, will boost its brand loyalty and free up customers' time and money so they can focus on buying in new technology to support their core business.

To begin with, the service is being rolled out via just one of its vendor partners – Sennheiser –but more deals are in the offing with other manufacturers.

Iain Tomkinson, ASM's sales director, said the service shows his company has a long-term commitment to its customers which he hopes will pay off.

"If you're providing customers with a good product and you support it well through the lifecycle then you create brand loyalty and that is a powerful selling point," he said.

"Two or three years down the line when [customers] come in and say ‘I want to buy more headsets' [they see we're] offering next-day replacements for example and have supported them well, so they say ‘we will go down that road again'. It's the John Lewis mentality – really looking after the customer."

Tomkinson added that although the service has only been talked about over the last few days, reaction has been positive and companies have suggested having an offering like this available will be an extra selling point when bidding for large frameworks, particularly in the public sector.