You know, it sounds cliche, but is very true. I recently had lunch with a friend of mine, and he reminded me how often this simple fact is forgotten. When I say that service is money, I’m talking about your aftermarket business. I’m talking about selling spare parts, repairing items, selling extended warranties, and on and on. While some companies recognize this as a part of the business, many organizations don’t realize the full potential. In a climate when the economy is up and down, and every one is uncertain of the future, it means that more people are interested in extending the life of current products. If you aren’t providing your customers every opportunity to keep doing business with you, you are throwing away revenue. And I assure you, someone else is happy to take that business.
Now, the first thing that you really need to analyze is what can you being doing for you customers? Now there are a lot of potential options, so start simple. Start with what you already do, but do it better. So, let’s say that you currently perform repairs for your customer. Great, but how easy do you make it for your customers?
- Do you provide them 24/7 access to initiate a service call?
- Do you give them the option to buy an extended warranty?
- can they print out their own shipping label or return merchandise paperwork?
- Do you provide them a loaner or exchange option?
- Could you provide them a complete history of what they’ve bought?
Get the idea? All of the ideas that mentioned above make your customer experience easier, faster, better… this encourages them to continue doing business with you. And to top it off, many customers are willing to pay extra for some of the bonus features. For example, the loan or exchange option can be sold at a premium to your customers. Now all of these options are available right now. All you need to do is setup some pricing and some processes. The chances are you, already have refurbished units sitting in your inventory. Why not use them as a loaner bank to keep your customer rolling along in their business while you repair their unit?
If you’re not already using some of these techniques, and are interested in learning how you can use SAP to deliver a better experience to your customers.
Thanks for reading,
As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our SAP Service Management Products at my other company JaveLLin Solutions,Mike