Service Management Workbook: Achieving Profit Potential In the New Millennium It is said that luck is when opportunity meets preparedness. The goal of the new Millennium is to be prepared when opportunity arises. To achieve this goal it is The evolution of service as a valuable product has necessitated the development of the service manager. It takes increased skills to define customer needs rather than waiting for them to tell you what they want. It takes increased effort to develop a contract with a customer that includes all of their unit, parts and service needs, rather than just servicing the units that the sales department sells. Eliminating the work of scheduling regular maintenance, finding emergency repair service at any time or place, and tracking total cost of ownership is valuable to every customer, large or small. The service department in any dealership is becoming increasingly important, making your role, as manager, more complex and challenging than ever. Fewer and fewer decision-makers will determine who services their equipment. Building a strong relationship with these customers is vital to every dealership. Fleet management contracts are becoming the norm as customers outsource all functions that are not part of their core businesses. The success of these long-term, contractual relationships rests, in large part, with you and your department. The customer service that you provide, the value of your services and the cost control that you maintain will determine your dealership’s success in the future. The purpose of this workbook is to prepare you for this opportunity. The Service Workbook is a tool to help you professionally manage the service department of your dealership. The view of service and the service manager that we present may be very different than the way in which you currently view your position and your department. We argue that service is increasing in its importance to customer satisfaction, and as a profit center. It is vital to look at service individually in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, expense control, and profitability. We present long-term objectives in a number of critical areas that you can use as guidelines. It will be your job to set short-term objectives based on your company’s strategies and markets. This reference book is designed to be a tool regardless of your short and long-term objectives. We present methods for improving results. No matter what the size and makeup of your dealership is, this workbook will help you to achieve your performance objectives. Industrial products are increasingly viewed as commodity items and have become more price-sensitive. It is very difficult to distinguish yourself through product quality and innovation for any extended length of time. After-market services are becoming increasingly more profitable. Quality services tailored for the customer and carried out by well-trained personnel are key for your service department in today’s market. Work with the customer to define their needs and the customer is yours. Providing products becomes an extension of the services you provide them. This skill and effort can pay off if, as a dealership, you are ready to make the commitment to broaden your product line. No longer are you only selling units and making a profit on parts and sales. Now you are selling service; it is a product and should provide an appropriate profit. In fact, appropriate pricing will make service the most profitable business area of the dealership, as a percent of sales.