How do you increase your service revenue?

If you want to increase your service revenue (and overall profit as a result), you need to become a more customer-centric and service-orientated business. Here’s how you can do that.

• Integrate your service processes and technology
• Be more proactive
• Ensure a smooth handover between sales and service teams
• Optimise your resource usage and management
• Give your agents and technicians the right tools

Integrate your service processes and technology

This is arguably the step that ties together all of the other points we’ll be discussing. If you can unify your technology, such as your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system with your field service software and your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (all possible in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement...), you can benefit from:

• Enhanced productivity as your data is centralised, making it easier for you (and your employees) to find what’s required. This also means advanced reporting, custom analytics and data visualisation capabilities are possible
• Automation which can optimise your current solutions
• Streamlined customer support - thanks to integrated channels, it’s easier for your customers to retrieve the information they need and not need to reach out to you for help
• Intelligently schedule your resources by dispatching the right technician when and where they’re needed most
• Ensure a first-time fix

Be more proactive

Today’s customers expect manufacturers and suppliers to anticipate their needs. It’s about being more proactive - resolving issues before they become a real problem or even before a customer notices.

But how can you anticipate issues before they occur? Will it involve your engineers having to make service visits more often than they already are? Not necessarily if you’ve invested in the right technology.

Dynamics 365 Field Service, for example, uses IoT predictive technology that helps you detect, diagnose and resolve problems before your customer’s aware of them. Not only does this reduce unnecessary service visits (saving you time and money, while boosting team productivity and process efficiency), but it also helps to improve customer trust and satisfaction.

If you’ve integrated your technology, you can take this all one step further. For instance, data gathered from the Field Service solution can feed into your CRM. This means any of your field agents and technicians can easily pick up the case and access all the information required.

Again, this boosts productivity, ensures cases can be resolved as quickly as possible and enhances customer satisfaction.

Optimise your resource usage and scheduling

The right technology can help you optimise your resources to maximise fleet performance.

For example, Dynamics 365 Field Service can allow you to access a real-time scheduling board. Using this board, you can match your field service technicians with the most appropriate jobs, depending on their skills, priority, location and demand. You might even be able to fit more appointments per day as routes and assignments are optimised!

This ensures your resources are allocated as efficiently as they can be, increases on-site efficiency and boosts first-time-fix rates (and customer satisfaction, service and experience as a result).

Give your agents and technicians the right tools

Give your customer service agents and field service technicians the power to access the information they need from any device and location. In Dynamics 365 Field Service, your staff can access:

• Work orders
• Route directions
• Customer preferences
• Customer case history
• Collaboration tools (including mixed reality video calling and file sharing so remote technicians can always receive the support they need)

A combination of the above means your agents and technicians receive complete customer insight, real-time guidance and cross-team collaboration. This empowers them with the knowledge they need to ensure optimum on-site efficiency and quality of service.

Additionally, Dynamics 365 Field Service’s real-time scheduling board (that we mentioned in the previous point) allows you to send the nearest technician with the most relevant skills. You can match the right technician to the right job, optimising resources and increasing first-time-fix rates.

Ensure a smooth handover between sales and service teams

To ensure there’s a smooth handover of information between your sales and customer service teams, your systems need to be integrated and your essential data centralised. This prevents data from being duplicated, lost or entered incorrectly in some way.

It also means your teams can collaborate more efficiently with each other, boosting overall productivity and improving the accuracy and quality of data entries.

In Dynamics 365 Field Service, it’s possible to automate the install base record. So, rather than having to manually update every sold item, that item can be sold via a Sales Order. This then automatically creates a Service Object.

This is just one example of a manual task that can be automated, saving you time that you can then spend on higher value-added work. Read more about the benefits of automation for your business here. 

Increase your service revenue by putting your customer needs first

Nowadays, businesses, especially manufacturers, are focusing more on growing service revenue. Products are often sold with OEM (original equipment manufacturer) warranty but once that period ends, buyers enter a time of potential uncertainty. So, many manufacturers offer extended warranty and service programs to give buyers that extra peace of mind.

But this isn’t the only way to grow service revenue. The best approach is to become more customer-centric and service-orientated - anticipate your customers’ needs and provide them with the streamlined, efficient service they’re expecting.

Invest in the right technology that can transform your processes and improve your team efficiency - like Dynamics 365 Field Service. Want to find out more about what this solution can bring to your business? Check out our comprehensive factsheet via the button below.