Strategic Service Management

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

The good news is… looks like I’m not alone.

The bad news is…

Well, come on – people shouldn’t be dreaming dreams in 140 characters, or dream of the new iPhone hardware as they ponder whether to splash out or not. That’s not what the resting hours are for.

This is what happens to us when we overdose on technology. It happens to all of us, at some point – and the effects are clear to see. Because, fundamentally, we are hunter/gatherers, not e-mailers or twitterers. And, at least in our sleep, we should revert to our fundamental nature.

Our fundamental nature… are there aspects of it that we may want to dust off for the workplace? Or would that simply go against centuries of evolution theory?

Some of the most successful sales people I’ve worked with don’t appear to have embraced the great technological revolution. Their world doesn’t appear to move any faster now than it did five, ten years ago; they still listen and observe, like old-fashioned hunters. But wise hunters, who know that it will be easier to gather the prey when it approaches them rather than to chase it round in circles. (And they have embraced the good technology bits, by the way – just not the distractions.)

In a world where the divide between sales and service is increasingly blurred, similar key considerations apply. Sure, techs have to be more proactive. But, in getting the job done, they should never jeopardise the possibility to take in the environment around them, and consider how they may turn it to their advantage.

If today we live in the iWorld, then the ‘i’ can often be seen as standing for ‘instant’. And when great service is instant, everybody is happy – especially the customer. But, when a compromise has to be made between great service and instant service… compromise on quality at your peril. And, once you’ve got job done as quickly as possible, to keep your customers happy – why miss out on an opportunity to spend five minutes finding out what’s going on at a site? Why not try and gather further info that will increase your colleagues’ (and company’s) effectiveness?

If that’s what being hunters and gatherers is all about, then a “back to basics” approach (supported by technology for storage and analysis) is not necessarily a bad thing…

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

I wanted to expand on the concept covered in the previous entry to explore a key benefit of excellence in service - one that is all the more critical in the current climate.

We have seen throughout this blog how service delivers profitability on a sustainable basis. It helps you retain profitable customers at a time when, rightly or wrongly (don’t get me started on this one - not here…) marketing spend is typically cut; it offers differentiation at a time that product commoditisation is rife. Sure, mass customisation is happening; but technology makes that easier to copy than differentiation built on people and processes; differentiation, that is, built on service.

So these uncertain times call for proven solutions and methodologies. As President Obama said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Inauguration Day, “Our workers are no less productive, our minds not less inventive, our services no less needed, our capacity remains undiminished”. He was addressing a US crowd, but such statements ring true around the globe. Yet what these times are compromising is the critical link between that invention and the financial gains it stands to deliver.

Let’s take one simple example, since everybody else seems to be doing the same: Twitter. Do you tweet? I’ve only just started (feel free to follow me), out of a mixture of curiosity and fascination. The phenomenon itself is gathering attention, but so is curiosity over how it will make money. Indeed, is there any money in Web 2.0? I expect Apple and its network of independent iPhone Apps writers would merrily tweet ‘yes’. But, for many, the question mark (and the cloud of the previous dotcom crash) hovers.

With service, there are no such debates. There is room for constant improvement, in which technology (including Web 2.0) can play a significant part; but the fundamentals are a given. Look after your customers, and they’ll look after you. And, when the winds are howling and the levies are cracking, as is the case all around us, it’s imperative to ensure we excel at the basics before attempting to stretch. Many a great offerings have failed due to bad timing. But there is no such thing as a bad time for great service. Service always delivers.

That’s what makes service sexy. Because it’s not about comparing a sweaty technician with a funky website. It’s about knowing whom you can count on when it matters. And, if your customers can count on your service infrastructure to deliver, so can you - to deliver profits. And that’s always worth tweeting about.