Service providers have very unique needs, and if you’re a service provider, you need special software. Unfortunately, this means that the processes that other companies use work for you. To learn more about what tools service providers should focus on, we sat down with Konstantin Yakimenko, Director of Sales in Field, who has nine years’ experience in the service industry.
Konstantin started his career working for an architecture design company, where he created custom designs for residential and large commercial properties for over six years. After that, he started his own company, building a service-based business from top to bottom. He knows firsthand how complicated and time-consuming managing the service company can be.
Konstantin believes that the service industry poses specific challenges to business owners. Services are performed by humans doing the labor, which means that the service you provide, and therefore the experience you provide, will always have slight variations. These are difficult to prevent simply because we are human, and often means that the customers are not totally satisfied, which can translate into fewer sales.
To overcome these challenges, the service industry has to be innovative, working to improve processes all the time, says Konstantin. Your processes are the key aspect of successful business development and sales growth.
Here are the tips that this expert shared with us on how to improve business processes for service providers.
Create a Process Manual
A process manual is the Bible for your company, a manual that explains how your company will perform all the everyday tasks that are involved in providing service. Developing a set standard that everyone can refer to is a cost-effective way of achieving some level of consistency. Although it cannot get rid of human error entirely, it makes it easier for your team to stay consistent in the service outcome and business development. That makes it much more likely that your customers will be satisfied with the service they receive.
Automate Processes
Unfortunately, humans can not perform a task exactly the same every single time they do it, which means variations will be inevitable in every step of the service. All over the service industry, organizations have created a standardized means of providing service by automating their processes. One of the best examples is Field Complete Software. It provides powerful and easy-to-use software that works great for any service provider and adapts to unique business processes.
Blueprinting
Service blueprinting is a way to improve and innovate services that focuses on the customer. This is accomplished by mapping out the journey you want your customers to experience every time they have service performed by your company. You will need to identify the target customer base, identify the processes that make up the service and map out every user action during the service in a visual way. It shows both the role of the customer and the role of the value you provide so that you can easily see where you can improve.
With these tips, you can begin to improve your service process for better customer service and satisfaction.
