For equipment dealers, effective communication is key. With customers, potential customers, partners, resellers, equipment suppliers and parts suppliers. Automation can make that communication and collaboration a lot easier!
MAKE SURE YOU ARE EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND COMMUNICATE PLEASANTLY!
Getting the traditional mode of communication right is a must. Accessibility, speed, expertise and friendliness must be top notch in this regard.
- Office: Your office must be easily accessible. Online, the address must be quick to find. And how is the impression upon arrival? There should be ample parking, the reception should be pleasant and a suitable meeting room is desirable.
- Phone: You must be easily accessible by phone. That means that during office hours there is always someone to answer the phone, transfer should be easy, and if necessary you use a choice menu. Outside office hours, an automatic answering machine is recommended.
- Email: With an info-email address, you can be reached 24/7. Make sure it gets to the right employees and is picked up quickly. Employees' direct email addresses should be set up logically and managed properly.
- Website: Companies are increasingly being found and explored online first, before other means of communication are used. So make sure you are easily accessible online, provide the right information and give visitors every opportunity for a follow-up step that suits them, such as a contact form, phone number, callback request or information request.
"INSTEAD OF CALLING AND EMAILING WHAT PARTS COST AND WHEN THEY CAN BE DELIVERED, CREATE AN INTERFACE TO HAVE THIS INFORMATION CONTINUALLY AVAILABLE INSTANTLY."
SAVE TIME AND THEREFORE MONEY WITH INTERFACING
Interfacing allows you to quickly and easily exchange information with other parties. With interfacing, you make a connection between your system and the system of another party in order to exchange data.
For example, consider an interface with a supplier where you regularly order parts. A possible interface is a check on price & availability; instead of calling and emailing what parts cost and when they can be delivered, create an interface to have this information continuously available instantly. This saves time and money and allows you to serve your customers faster.
To determine whether it makes sense to develop an interface, you can do a cost-benefit analysis. How much does it cost to realize the interface - that depends on the complexity - and how much benefit in the form of daily cost savings - that depends on the amount of operations - does it provide? In doing so, you must keep in mind that changes in your system or the other party's system, e.g., a system upgrade, may affect the operation of the interface.
EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE THROUGH A WEB PORTAL
A web portal is also an interesting way to improve communication and cooperation with other parties. In this portal, you give people outside your organization access to information and allow them to initiate actions themselves.
Consider, for example, a customer portal where customers can access manuals, invoices and information about their machines. Plus where they can order parts, make warranty requests and submit service requests.
The customer portal should not serve as a replacement for other contact with customers, but should be seen as an additional channel. You give customers the opportunity to answer a question or perform an action themselves 24/7, but in addition you continue to serve them through other means. In this way, you can improve customer satisfaction, increase customer loyalty and also save costs.
