Basic tips to a better utilization of your service department

Today's turbulent economy creates problems for a number of companies - also those who providing service and maintenance. Many experience that it becomes increasingly important to streamline the business process and make the most of the resources they already have. For many reduced costs will be the very key to get strengthened through the economic challenges they now face

Do not succumb to bad times! Let Evatic help you with your service operation.
The following tips can easily be followed by using a solution such as Evatic service management system. Evatic has since its inception in 1991 helped companies which provide technical service and maintenance to a fast, efficient and - above all - profitable operation of the service department.


	*Invoice all service jobs!*
	Make sure all your invoiceable service jobs are actually billed. Automate your invoice procedures. This reduces errors and makes it easy to capture time spent even on small projects that previously would have been waived.
	*Complete the job in a* *single visit!*
	Make sure that the service job can be completed already on the first visit. It is rarely possible to charge for travel and working hours if the technician has to return again. Let the vans become complete inventories with the appropriate range of spare parts and consumables for all planned projects.
	*Don't lose money on unprofitable service contracts!*
	Make sure you know which contracts generate income and which only involves extra costs for your business. You can easily find out by using a good analytical tool which shows exactly which contracts that profits and which ones are pure loss projects for your company.
	*Schedule periodic maintenance to periods of good capacity!*
	Make sure that all recurring service jobs are entered into the service system in accordance with the contract terms. A good overview will enable the service coordinator to know about a scheduled recurring service job if a new service job at the same location is placed so that both jobs can be completed at the same time.
	Let your service technicians work electronically!
	Make sure your service technicians are equipped with handheld devices, where all necessary information about service jobs, customers, service history, user manuals, etc. is available by a few keystrokes. This will greatly reduce the paper flow in your service department. Your service technicians will not have to stop by the office between each job and can continuously receive their electronic work orders while on the road. Your business is not only saving fuels costs – you are also protecting the environment.
	Know the efficiency of your resources!
	Make sure you know how efficiently your resources work. Does everyone work to their full potential? How much time is on average spent on each service job? How long is the response time for each individual? How much income does each of your service technicians generate to your business? A good service system will give you all the information you need to analyse the productivity of your resources. In addition, each service manager will be able to manage a larger number of technicians.
	*Hold on to your existing customers!*
	Make sure that you keep your existing customers happy. It costs 5 to 10 times more to acquire a new customer than it costs to hold on to an existing customer. The most common reason why customers switch suppliers is precisely that the service level of the previous provider did not measure up. A good service system will help you take care of your customers' needs and give your customers less reason to investigate offers from your competitors. Do like a number of other service-performing companies in a wide variety of industries: Use Evatic to reduce the costs in your company!

Kilder: Service Management, R. Norrman, Liber 2009; Gartner : Balancing Service Cost & Service Levels 2010; Aberdeen Group: Research Report, Challenges in field services. 2010