By C. Joseph Ciccarello, CPA, MST
Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP
Are you still managing your service department the same way you did 20 years ago? By that I mean using manual scheduling and dispatch, paper invoicing, and “looks good” inventory management practices that have outlived their usefulness.
If this describes your business, you are cheating your customers out of the level of service they deserve (and have come to expect). Worse, you are also cheating your business out of efficiencies that can lead to improved profitability.
In a recent article published in Accounting Today (May 2014), “An enormous change is about to hit this $15 billion industry,” columnist Gene Marks takes the field service industry to task for dragging its feet on using existing technologies to speed and improve response time and the level of service being delivered. He cites the lack of such readily available solutions as online scheduling of service appointments, e-mail or text confirmations, iPad or tablet-based inventory and parts ordering, electronic sign-off, and automatic electronic invoicing and payment.
Perhaps the biggest mistake being made by service department managers: no communication with customers before or after a service call. They simply wait for a problem to arise and answer the phone when it rings…if it rings. Marks says service providers whose only contact with customers is when there is an immediate need are missing opportunities to lock-in customer loyalty and cross sell other products and services.
We agree. The evolution of the energy retail industry – among others – has made a healthy and profitable service department an essential part of the business mix. Trying to maximize profits from a department that is 20 years behind the times is a “no win” situation.
The technology is widely available to correct this situation, and others are paying attention. Marks’ article warns about venture capital groups that are investing heavily in service companies that use technology to achieve efficiency. These companies present the threat of taking service customers away from a business (maybe yours?) that has not made the move to improve their response and communications process.
For information on how you can bring your service department into the 21st century, please contact us.
Joe Ciccarello is the Managing Partner at Gray, Gray & Gray Certified Public Accountants (www.gggcpas.com).