Strategic Service Management

It’s that time of year again. MillwardBrownOptimor have published their Top 100 Brandz ranking, and corporate marketers are either celebrating or justifying in boardroom around the globe.

But should marketers alone take in these findings? Or does customer perception break down any barrier between Service and Marketing that may exist on Org Charts?

If you are in either Marketing or Service, I recommend you take in the “Trends” on page 10 of the report. What are its key SSM implications?

As people stay in during the recession, home shopping / home services are on the rise. Not only does that mean more deliveries, but also a greater need for repairs as users invest, for example, in coffee machines to cut down on trips to coffee houses. Do you deliver? Have you optimised your routing and scheduling? Is your parts planning reliable? Do you have the required visibility to exceed your customers’ expectations in your management of vans and technicians?

People buying equipment for home use, or putting off major new investments (which goes a long way to explaining the 22% hit suffered by the car segment), opens up an opportunity for service parts pricing. How are you positioned to take advantage of it?

Apple grew 14%; BlackBerry 100%. Where once we had phones, now we have… handheld life organisers. This trend is supported by growth in network brands: Vodafone is up by 46%, AT&T by 67%, O2 by 36%. We are increasingly connected, which (when managed…) benefits our efficiency (in and out of the office). But it also means our expectations rise. Why can’t a delivery be scheduled more accurately? Why can’t a tech turn up with the right part? We are all more aware of technology’s potential – and accept no excuses for failure to leverage it.

Such increased technical sophistication also means we are often happy to fix minor problems ourselves – a scenario that expedites repair time and dramatically reduces costs for all involved. Do you have the technology to remotely support your customers?

At Servigistics, we have long underlined product commoditisation. Branding is a critical path to differentiation. Is it achieved through good marketing? Is it achieved through good service?

Let’s look at it this way: I would challenge anybody to achieve differentiation in 2009 without good marketing or good service. Which is why SSM goes beyond managing your Service operation, and encompasses your entire business. And, in your quest to win and retain customers, you create fictitious barriers between Service and Marketing at your peril.

best,

g.o.s.

Shannon Rentner, Senior Manager, Servigistics

Driving home from work the other evening I was listening to the radio and heard a commercial for AT&T’s new service: ConnecTech. Now, when I first heard the announcer say ConnecTech, I honestly thought he was saying “Kinetic” but with an initial “o” sound.  So it’s a difficult to pronounce name, it goes to show that service is selling.

Forget about Target partnering with Zip Express. The new belle at the ball who claims to “out-Geek” Best Buy’s Geek Squad (forgive the mixed metaphors) is AT&T’s ConnecTech, which is now available for residential customers in all 50 states, whether they use AT&T or not. Customers can request home theater installation, computer and home network setup, and a host of TV, computer, and network repairs - all right at home.

So, I may not need AT&T as my cell phone carrier and I may already have a DSL provider, but I certainly will need help at some time for a malfunctioning computer or a broken plasma TV that I won’t want to lug into the local electronics store.

So once again, it comes down to the service - especially when spending for new products is almost nil.