Loyalty to CAD Vendor Survey

From the March 2004 issue of

CAD Spaghetti conducted a Web survey amongst CAD/CAM users in the UK in order to discover what they think of their suppliers. Some 235 users completed our survey shortly after the New Year.

We talked to them about their potential plans to change suppliers, what keeps them loyal to existing suppliers, and what they think of their suppliers’ service and support offerings.

In this issue, we focus on the question of “to change or not to change” CAD supplier.

Over half of the respondents who completed the survey use only one CAD reseller or vendor, with the majority of the remainder only using 2 or 3.

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However, less than one in 10 of respondents are considering changing any of their CAD resellers.

Only 18 people within our sample stated

that they are currently considering changing their CAD vendor or reseller. When asked why they want to change, there are a number of different answers given:

Single mentions are made of performance, training and package issues, such as backup and updates.

We then asked respondents to tell us what are the most important issues that they look for in a new reseller / vendor – and service and support came through as the most important element, with price getting slightly less mentions. Other answers included training, speed of delivery and compatibility / customization opportunities.

We finally asked those considering change to rank a number of criteria for choice of a new supplier in order of importance. The chart below shows this ranking with the mean score of the ratings (on a scale where most important=7 to least important=1).

Knowledge of the product came out as most important, with price in second place (as with spontaneous responses).

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The vast majority of respondents were not currently considering changing their CAD reseller or vendor. Three quarters of those not considering changing also feel that their current resellers / vendors have no areas that could benefit from improvements. Those that do feel their contacts could improve tend to cite price and proactivity / fast response times as areas for attention.

When asked what makes them loyal to their existing reseller / vendor, a wide variety of responses were given. However, key areas of response mirror the elements cited by those considering changing.

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This is mirrored by their responses to several specific questions regarding their likelihood to change. Firstly, respondents were asked whether they genuinely felt that their supplier(s) was the best available, or whether they felt it was just not worth changing supplier – and there was a relatively even split between those feeling they had the best, and those apathetic to change.

Respondents were also asked how likely they would be to “try out” a new supplier who offered a better all round service – the answer was again more inclined towards the negative – not very / not at all likely to try out the new supplier.

Once CAD / CAM users select their suppliers, it is very unlikely that they will move away from this supplier – very few users are currently considering a change, and in the most part, those that are have been caused to do so by circumstances beyond their immediate control. Thus it is important for vendors and resellers to maintain their services to customers once they have attained them, as provision of a good service is likely to ensure continued use.

Key drivers of reseller / vendor selection are service and support offerings, and value for money – areas in which vendors should develop a strong offering in order to meet users’ needs. Other core elements include friendly, personal service, good response times and good knowledge of products – all areas that can be tackled with improved staff training and development.

CAD Spaghetti is a free monthly newsletter published by the Business Advantage Group Plc

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