Customers are often reluctant to invest in services for purchased machines. As service managers, we are aware of the benefits of our work. So the question is how we can make these clear to potential buyers.
To do this, we have to put ourselves in the other person's shoes and understand what the customer's problem is. This has now become a standard phrase and it's almost annoying to point it out. However, that doesn't make it any less important!
Services are less tangible than products and therefore less understandable
The product business has it easier here. Nowadays, if you want to buy a product, you can look at it in the online store beforehand and check the features in the description. In most cases, this makes it possible to make a good assessment of whether a purchase will satisfy my needs.
But what about services? A little different, unfortunately! We all have an idea of what a Mercedes is and what it can do. At the same time, we are also quite good at judging what the difference is between a more expensive Mercedes and a cheaper one, or what the advantages and disadvantages are compared to competitor models, based on key data such as engine power and fuel consumption.
It is much more difficult to get an idea of the benefits of the services provided by Mercedes Benz Group AG. Especially in comparison to other providers. This is a problem that we have to solve in service marketing.
The difference between buying a service and buying a product
What do you do when you want to buy a product? Let's start with the end customer. Many people start by looking on Amazon or another retailer. You can already find a good overview there. We can often tell from the appearance alone whether the kitchen appliance on offer could be the right solution. Then we look at the product description to be able to compare any details.
If we are still unsure, there are a large number of Youtubers who specialize in testing such devices. We can even watch a video of the device in use. And then, in the best case, it's time to go for it! It's not usually that easy with services.
As a rule, we cannot see a picture of the maintenance service before we buy it. We don't know which technician will carry it out and whether we will be satisfied with their work in the end. We can only offer the customer the product description in the service by explaining to them exactly what they are entitled to and how maintenance and repair work is carried out. However, this often only works in practice when we are in a sales meeting.
Making service clear through marketing measures
So much for the problem. In the following, we want to talk about solutions. You need to focus your service marketing efforts on lifting the veil and making your services as tangible and understandable as possible. You can use the important W-questions as a guide, which even good authors need to bear in mind when writing texts: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW, WHY.
WHO is your service team? Introduce your team and your service philosophy. You can use your website, flyers and social media for this. YouTube is also a good place to publish a short image video of your service professionals. It strengthens trust in a service department if I know the right faces and who will do the job in the end. Keep in mind and respect that not every technician is looking for the public spotlight and some just want to do their job. But you will certainly find personalities who are prepared to represent your service activities in public.
WHAT are your benefits? This is what you need to know before you take out a Service contract anyway. The only thing to note here is that many companies could also deal with this more aggressively by advertising it more prominently and, for example, drawing more attention to it with flyers or securing a prominent place on the company website.
WHERE do your services take place? Perhaps not the most important point in our case. This is usually self-evident from the type of service you offer. However, you must of course explain the regions in which you operate and that you may have branch offices so that you can be on site quickly at the other end of Germany or perhaps even worldwide. What remote services are available?
WHEN can you provide your services? Is your hotline available 24/7? How quickly can you be on site in an emergency?
HOW do you provide your services? In addition to the others, this may again be a very important point in terms of clarity. It helps immensely if you explain exactly how you provide your services in a prominent place. To do this, you can present and describe exemplary orders in text or video. In this way, it becomes clear what is important to you when providing the service and how you benefit the customer.
You need to take appropriate marketing measures to answer the above questions as well as possible for the customer. And the best way to do this is proactively, i.e. not just in the sales meeting requested by the customer. Draw attention to yourself early and consistently and help shape the face of your company to support service sales.
But haven't we forgotten something? The WHY is still missing from this list. And this point is so important to us that we want to give it its own heading. Attention:
Quantify the benefits of services for the customer!
Many customers do not know the benefits of services. If you want to explain to them why they should become your service customer, you have to tell them the WHY clarify. This includes something that many service managers in sales still neglect: Providing data and facts.
Collect these and show him the bare figures for what a machine breakdown costs him, for example, and what he can save by using your services. As a rule, the price for the service is more than justified. In most cases, however, you need to be able to calculate this precisely.
Most decision-makers on the customer side only have very vague ideas about this and the benefit of 2 days less downtime is not tangible for many of your customers. Help them with this transfer and translate these benefit dimensions into euros. This will help to make the added value of your service portfolio more tangible for your customers.
