Deliver Service With A Mind Towards Customer And Employee Safety

By Antony Bourne, Senior Vice President – Industries, IFS

Having gone through the first global pandemic most of us can remember will change the way we think about a number of things, including the way we go about delivering service in the field.

Even historically product-centric companies are adopting servitization—a progression from product to recurring service revenue—so a broad spectrum of the economy will need to chart a course to advanced service provision. This will build customer loyalty and trust and position them for reliable, high-margin revenue. But how do we deliver valuable customer touchpoints in an era where we must keep our distance from each other? And how are customer expectations and preferences going to push our service organizations in new directions? Technology has a role in addressing both of these questions.

Nearly far away

Technology for instance has a role to play in helping us be closer to our customers and each other even from a safe distance. The most obvious example of this is the rapid rise of remote service tools which enable a skilled technician at a distance to meaningfully consult on work being performed at a customer site. This reduces the need for on-site visits, makes more efficient use of highly knowledgeable experts and improves the customer experience. The technology can be implemented in as little as a couple of weeks, as our customer Munters has found. In some cases, this tool may also enable customers to access remote experts directly, for a transformational approach to self service.