Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Coresystems
Title: Transforming Field Service into a Profit Centre
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Synopsis:
Manufacturers in various industries are increasingly under pressure to make their customer service units profitable. In order to deliver great service, businesses need to focus on understanding what customers want. This can be achieved by investing in new tools that improve efficiency and quality. To keep customers coming back and deter competition, manufacturers need to develop business models and customised services that are aligned to individual customer’s business goals.
For the customer, faster service delivery and less unplanned downtime mean a higher yield from capital investments, which then justifies high-value services.
Field service has traditionally been a drain on cash. However, with field service automation software, there is an opportunity for the first time to save money and increase profits. It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to achieve efficiency savings of up to 30% while still increasing customer loyalty and growing brand value.
Field service not only transforms finances, but also the whole customer relationship. This white paper offers guidance as to how to make that transformation in your business effectively.
Overview:
The key topics discussed in this white paper include:
Why Does Field Service Need to Become a Profit Centre?
The world is changing fast: economically, socially, and politically. Businesses have to adapt to new competitive landscapes, including challenges caused by cheap suppliers from abroad or disruptions by startups that turn whole industries upside down. Customers are becoming accustomed to higher levels of personalised service, often assisted by technology that facilitates their lives.
These global trends present challenges, but also great opportunities for businesses to tap into.
By focusing on their customers and disrupting their own business models, businesses can create new revenue streams and distinguish themselves from the competition. If it is run as a profit centre, field service management can play an important part in this transformation.
How Field Service Can Become a Profit Centre
In this section we present five practical steps for turning field service into a profit centre. These steps are all about putting the customer first and empowering staff. You will learn how to move from minimal efforts and reactive repairs to focus on proactive, productised services, and relationship building.
The following points are covered in this section:
- Operational efficiencies
- Field service ambassadors sell more products and services
- New innovative business models
- Customisation and individualisation
Customer Focus:
Today, manufacturers have new means to impact their customer’s success. New processes and tools are available for the first time allowing manufacturers to interact with customers in new ways. These tools organise resources and processes and feed field service staff vital information and instructions. Engineers completing a service job will now be able to offer meaningful advice based on real-time data combined with their experience and collaboration. Customers will see the benefits of field service management software straight away.
They will not only appreciate the improved efficiency and quality of the service, but also the difference the service has made to their productivity. This can go as far as the equipment manufacturer becoming a business partner invited to advise on capital investment to meet production targets.
Operational Efficiencies:
By definition, less costs means more profit. By achieving more with the resources available, field service teams can reduce costs and improve cash flow by increasing efficiencies in information management, service delivery, and planning.
This can start by optimising some resources, such as:
- Planning service calls with a routing system, allowing more visits per day.
- Enabling fast access to historical data from digital archives, which reduces planning time.
- Reducing the cost of sale by planning pre-defined templates, software automation, and online resources to significantly reduce the time it takes to provide a quote to the customer.
Employees are more focused on efficiency when provided with the tools to empower them to increase this efficiency. Mobile data solutions mean engineers onsite can complete services faster because they have all the information they need at their fingertips.
Field Ambassadors Sell More Products and Services:
Field service engineers are in a perfect position to establish a valuable relationship with customers that facilitates up selling of services and equipment, at a very low cost of sale. They have access to the customer’s organisation where they can offer insight, advice, and guidance based on technical knowledge and years of experience. As ambassadors of your company field service technicians can have significant influence, but they must be supported in this role with the right tools and training.
New Innovative Business Models:
Services can be developed, marketed and sold like products. Adding in new processes and technology can also make them modular and easy to purchase, for instance from an online catalog. Innovative ideas can then help create services that adapt to customers’ own businesses. In fact, customers might find that they can create new products as an addition to your services – the ultimate form of brand loyalty.
Customisation and Individualisation of Services:
The world is becoming more customer-focused and individualised. Older manufacturing companies are traditional, but a new generation of staff is experiencing a fresh, digitally driven customer service world at home, and increasingly expects a similar experience at work.
Forward-looking brands now put much more emphasis on the customer’s individual requirements, and seek ways to offer more customised services that support business targets and staff KPIs. Brand loyalty and keeping ahead of competitors are key goals.
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
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