Skip to main content

months to aquire, moments to lose


It is just hard to imagine that one of the most common reasons maintenance contracts are lost is because people don't show up and don't pay attention to the details.  In many cases maintenance is an investment to keep the life of your asset running for a protracted period of time. However the length on many maintenance contracts is not even close to the life expectancy of that equipment, so if you don't really have any idea what maintenance is being performed then how do you really know if it's being done to your specification? Thus, it really boils down to business elements, assuming that you are actually performing the work, our focus needs to be on how you are differentiated.



Let's take a look at a couple of the most common business-related reasons why people lose maintenance contracts.

  1. Not showing up; managing contracts can be complicated between the sites, number of assets, and the frequencies at which items need to be maintained, can all add up to a scheduling nightmare.  Even if everything is firing on all cylinders a problem can still exist related to unscheduled activity deferring scheduled activity depending upon the depth of your workforce. There is light at the end of this tunnel, with the cost dropping significantly on IoT, we will see the time in the not so distant future when the equipment is dictating its maintenance schedule. The challenge of course will be interpreting this information and making it as effective a process as possible.
  2. The second most common reason for losing maintenance contracts is really wrapped around all of the little things. To mention a few examples; make sure that you see Sally when you arrive, don't park in front of the building, we can only maintain this equipment and a.m. hours. While these little idiosyncrasies of a site or a client seem insignificant by themselves when they are grouped together they can create the perception with the client that you just don't care.  Competitively priced markets raise the mark and you should be aware of everything that makes that client happy and strive to satisfy even the littlest of requests.  Imagine alerting a worker via GPS when they arrive on-site of these idiosyncrasies.



So in many instances, losing a maintenance contract has little to do with the way that you are performing maintenance, instead it has to do with the way that you are approaching and managing your business. Paying closer attention to the details and leveraging emerging technologies you should be a master at retaining the lifeblood of any service business.



-----

Next post:  where is customer service?

-----
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more

expert at everything...not a problem

Well... I would say sometimes there certainly is a perceived notion that one person is an expert at everything. For the worker "everything" may be defined as the specific area in which you were hired or are constantly scheduled. Our opinions are frequently influenced off of past experience, or information we've received from their coworkers. Unfortunately this only gives us partial insight to that workers expertise and often is limited to their most recent history. Narrowly focused accounting is made of the skills that this individual possess. Come on, can't we figure out a way to leverage all of the skills of a particular worker? One of the challenges has always been that relationship between the activities which need to be accomplished and the myriad skills of individuals within your workforce. In addition, even if you could inventory and get a pretty good handle on the skill sets, they are constantly changing (with any luck) and thus the ineffective process of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who owns the data?

Finally the capital budget allows you to replace some very old equipment.    You can't open a trade magazine without seeing the latest news regarding the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).   Lucky for you the equipment manufacturers are offering an IIoT ready solution packaged with your equipment.   Suddenly your enthusiasm turns to confusion as you review the details of the quote.   What the hell is that subscription fee?   Isn't this equipment mine; lock, stock and barrel?   You mean to tell me that I need to pay the manufacturer, every month,   to give me the luxury of accessing data produced by the equipment I just purchased?   The only explanation has to be new math, at least as a child this is what my parents told me when I asked hard to answer questions. It's amazing how history repeats itself, we are starting to see manufacturer specific data languages appearing in their "smart" equipment.   Didn't we learn our lesson ...
Post a Comment
Read more