Three Trends Boosting Service Productivity     

The modern world is changing the way consumers gather information, purchase products, and socially engage with brands. Mobile technologies provide intelligence at your fingertips while open platforms connect more people than ever. Brand loyalty has grown to expect companies provide real-time responses, personalized interactions and better customer services. 

For leading manufactures, this means adopting new technologies to maximize productivity and boost the operational capabilities of their service teams. Companies everywhere are rising to the challenge to improve their overall customer experience by increasing budgets in 2018 to harness three major tech trends…

#1: Mobile Apps 

Nothing boosts productivity like giving service teams up-to-date mobile access to every customer, every vehicle, and their service history. If providing fast answers and real-time insight to your customers is a priority, then connecting your service department with mobile service apps is the only way. Those that do claim to see a clear impact on productivity and accelerated service resolutions.

Cloud-based computing has already been adopted by many age-old industries. Proven to be trusted and reliable, successful dealer groups have already implemented comprehensive mobile apps to empower sales teams. Look for dealerships to push the boundaries of their current management systems in 2018 as they demand better mobile applications for the service department.  

#2: AI (Artificial Intelligence)

Good predictions about your customers’ likely behavior means you're ready to respond. Many websites already offer chat bots to interact with prospects. Artificial intelligence at your dealership can predict when customers are likely to engage by analyzing the speech patterns of digital phone calls and emails. It can accurately rank leads by compiling valuable data around page views, click paths and related web activity.    

Applications of AI and facial recognition will also find its way to the dealership. Imagine if your current CRM connected with security cameras and could identify customers as they arrived. You would know exactly who walked on the lot before anyone could remember their name. Even more valuable than a warm greeting, you're always prepared to offer a great experience.           

When everyone's busy, delegating tasks can be a real challenge.  AI will help solve that problem by allowing services teams to delegate to machines. From vehicle diagnostics, to service scheduling and accurate shop loading, there’s a host of ways in which AI can help customer service teams move faster and smarter. Dealerships need to work harder than ever to update core technologies and align management systems to leverage the coming age of artificial intelligence.    

#3: IoT (Internet of Things)

Connected vehicles that communicate directly with service departments are no longer science fiction. Most vehicles manufactured today have the technology on board to connect to the web. Automotive Platforms with Open API's will allow vehicles to self-diagnose mechanical issues and alert the owner with automated messages. Soon enough the car will even drive itself to the service appointment.  When used right, the internet of things can be a productivity win for mobility. Your customers barely feel product disruption, while your service technicians see quicker fixes and move on to the next job well informed. 

It’s not surprising that more manufacturers are deploying connected devices, and embracing more predictive, proactive service. The trend is clear:

• 27% of manufacturing services teams used IoT in 2015
• 58% used IoT in 2016

In just 12 months a 119% growth has to be acknowledge. And when you look at the results manufacturing services teams are seeing, the rapid adoption is easy to understand. At least two thirds of teams using IoT say it’s very beneficial to predict customer needs and offer proactive service.

Learn more about how Sales and Service teams are joining forces to deliver unified, personalized experiences. For a deeper look into how these trends have helped influence leading service teams around the world, reference the article published by Salesforce, Mobile, AI and IoT: The Big Trends Driving Manufacturing Service Teams.