To boost sales in the service department, you need to market your services proactively. It helps to be aware of the many points of contact that exist between you and your customers in after-sales.
We define customer touchpoints as all interfaces that you can use to inform customers about your after-sales portfolio. The following description does not claim to be exhaustive, but is intended to provide an incentive to develop your own ideas. The focus is therefore on 5 touchpoints that are often not used.
Unfortunately, the sales team often tends not to promote technical after-sales services to the appropriate extent, as selling primary products usually offers a higher commission. Often, however, sales staff simply do not feel confident in selling after-sales services and have too little experience in this area.
Therefore, as a Service Manager Sometimes you have to get a little creative yourself to promote your offers. We have collected a few suggestions here that we know from experience are not used so often and can be a good lever for your sales if used accurately.
1. landing pages for operating instructions and spare parts manual for the machine
Operating instructions and spare parts manuals are now often only available electronically. Customers obtain them via the company website, and more rarely via specially programmed apps. This means that the documents can be accessed directly at any time and cannot be lost. The landing pages for these documents are an excellent opportunity to place advertising messages. (A landing page is the specific website where you can download the files)
With operating instructions, you can advertise on-site training or suitable training courses, for example. In most cases, customers are interested in the operating instructions because they want to find out about an unknown function of their machine. For the spare parts manual, you can of course advertise the following, among other things Service contracts as maintenance also reduces the need for spare parts. Of course, other spare parts and consumables packages are also suitable at this point.
2. a newsletter as a customer touchpoint
This idea requires a little more work, but offers a unique opportunity to maintain contact with the customer after a purchase. A newsletter can significantly increase the repurchase rate. It is best to try to obtain the customer's e-mail address at the time of purchase. You can do this by actively advertising the newsletter on information material and brochures.
You should make sure that the content of your newsletter is not too promotional. Don't just present your own services, but offer real added value. For example, share tips with your customers on how to reduce machine maintenance costs or increase availability. Humor can also be a viable way for smaller companies to reach their customers.
A practical tip for creating a newsletter is: Don't call it a newsletter! The word is often associated with spam. Instead, use terms such as "Receive regular machine and system tips by e-mail". Or even better: Give your newsletter a name! This will significantly increase the number of subscribers.
3. the email signature as a customer touchpoint
Your email signature is another useful way of communicating sales messages to customers. If you have a newsletter, you can also advertise or link to it here, for example. Otherwise, you should also regularly update the messages that are distributed via the signature. After all, it will have little impact if you point out for ten years that people can also conclude service contracts with you.
It makes sense to directly set a fixed date on which you adapt your signature. In this way, you can always provide customers with up-to-date information. This allows you to create something like a mini-newsletter for which you do not need a double opt-in procedure. However, you should not want too much. When it comes to the slogans in an e-mail signature, less is more! You should pack the message into a maximum of 7-8 words including the link.
4. enclosure for the delivery of spare parts
Spare parts deliveries are an excellent way to get more comprehensive advertising material out to your customers. In principle, you can include an entire brochure or even a catalog with the delivery. However, a flyer providing information about other after-sales services should be the minimum. For example, a customer who has ordered a single spare part from you could be informed about the price advantages of one of your spare parts packages consisting of three or more parts.
Of course, you could also focus on the benefits of service contracts and maintenance. Calculate for the customer how high the spare parts costs are that they could save through regular maintenance. As you can disseminate somewhat more comprehensive messages at this point, it is also an excellent opportunity to provide information about innovative data-driven services.
5. invoices
Invoices can be very boring and simple. Ultimately, they are just a business obligation. With a little creativity, however, they can also be a real eye-catcher. You can find inspiration here.
Some ideas may be too silly for mechanical engineering. Nevertheless, it is worth thinking outside the box when designing invoices. This is also a great way to draw attention to your advertising message.
There are a large number of possible customer touchpoints in after-sales. The variants mentioned here are a good starting point for further considerations. If you want to boost sales in your service department, you need creative ideas. In the competition for the marketing budget, primary products will often outstrip you.
