NEC Offers Risk-Free, Money Back Guarantee on SAN Products
Effort is focused on building the company’s branded storage business and increase sales.
By Chris Talbot
NEC is looking to increase its branded storage business by offering a risk-free, 30-day money back guarantee to customers.
The guarantee not only offers customers their money back with no questions asked, but also includes de-installation and removal of the equipment, paid freight to ship the equipment back and even data migration to the storage of the customer’s choice. The 30-day guarantee is meant to get customers to consider NEC as an alternative while offering them no risk, said Josh Eddy, product marketing manager for NEC’s Advanced Storage Products Group.
NEC may not be a huge brand name in North America when it comes storage, but the company regularly ranks in the top 10 worldwide storage vendors, Eddy explained. Much of its business has been through OEM sales, though. Now, NEC is trying to build its branded business up more.
“The reason that we do this is we’re trying to increase sales, and we do that because we provide the best value in SAN storage,” Eddy said.
NEC is confident in the dependability, scalability and efficiency of its systems, as the company has been in the storage business since 1959, he said. Because of that, Eddy said he doesn’t actually expect any customers to take advantage of the 30-day guarantee, but it can open their eyes to an alternative storage vendor–and they know there’s no risk involved, he said.
“We are so confident in this belief that customers are going to find value in these three core areas that we stand behind it 100 per cent,” Eddy said.
The 30-day clock doesn’t kick in at the point of sale or delivery, but after the storage solution (NEC’s D-Series SAN product) has been installed and is up and running, he noted.
Additionally, there’s no risk for NEC’s channel partners, Eddy said. NEC handles all of the de-installation, shipping and data migration if customers decide they don’t want the equipment.
“There’s absolutely no risk to either of those parties,” Eddy said.
According to Karen Dutch, vice president of marketing and support for NEC’s IT Platforms and Solutions Groups, organizations are re-evaluating the vendors they buy their IT products from because of the economy and budget cuts.
“This was a good way to get this product out in front of customers that are looking to alternatives,” Dutch said.
For the company’s channel partners, it’s one more tool in their kit to take to customers when they approach them with NEC storage solutions, she said.
“One of our goals is to get the product in front of customers, increase our footprint by whatever means possible. As soon as you get your hands on this product, we know you’re going to love it, so there’s no chance of returning it,” Eddy said.
This article was originally published by eChannelLine (www.echannelline.com).
