The #1 Mistake In Monetizing Your Service Transformation

By Sarah Nicastro, Field Service Evangelist, Future of Field Service

Today’s manufacturers and service organizations have a wealth of initiatives underway to improve, evolve, and transform how they leverage service as a strategic differentiator and seize the opportunity that service provides. Top of mind for these companies is determining how to serve customers in a way that delivers increased profit margins and revenue growth. This is entirely possible, which is why the focus on service is so strong, but unfortunately companies can fall disappointingly short when it comes to execution.

I wrote an article not long ago titled “Is Your Business Structured to Seize the Service Opportunity?” that discusses some of the organizational and operational changes that are necessary to see success in shifting from a product-focused to service-centric company. It’s well worth a read as these points are very important, but besides these operational changes there’s a very common mistake I see company’s making that may surprise you – articulating their service transformation in a way that resonates with their customers. You may read this and say, “Wow, that seems so simple.” In some ways it is. But to this point, I’d say two things – first, it’s often the simple things that are most overlooked. Second, for a company that’s history is rich in product development, creation, selling, and delivery, learning to speak this new language of service is not as simple as you might thing.