The service industry in the US has been growing and changing. This industry is very broad in its scope of types of businesses it encompasses. Some segments that are a part of the service industry include transportation, salons, restaurants, retail stores, and maintenance. But across all these segments they have commonalities. Some of those commonalities include human resources, employee training and management, employee relations, marketing, customer service, accounting, and reporting.
Keeping up with trends in each industry can be difficult, along with changes in the technology sector. A factor that matters most is integrating automation into your service company. Automation can impact customer service and customer experience, it can free up your employees’ time, and it also has the power to increase your contact with clients. The commonalities mentioned above can be improved across segments by automating some of these processes.
Automation is the transition from manual time-consuming activities to technologies that allow employees to become resources to clients and be more productive while working their shifts. Products, such as service industry scheduling software, and field services contract management software, can greatly shorten the time spent on manual processes such as creating employee shift schedules, or decreasing response time to a customers’ maintenance request. Automation of back-end services decreases or eliminates the paper processes. This can ultimately lead to decreased operational costs benefiting your business’ bottom line.
Another great aspect to automation is that it can help prioritize keeping in touch with customers. Automated email programs can be set up to continue engagement, gather more information about customers’ needs or desires, increase sales or upsell customers, and it help you educate your clients.
Much automation can be handled through mobile applications as well. Being mobile friendly is a necessity, and many customers are using mobile platforms to complete requests, book appointments, handle transactions, and more. It is imperative for businesses to continue to invest in their mobile accessibility, mobile options for clients, and mobile platforms for employees.
Keeping employees happy is increasingly important in the services industry. Finding and holding on to employees that provide great customer service can be difficult. Ensuring they have technology that supports their job and makes interacting with customers pleasurable is important. If employees are constantly fighting technical difficulties it can cause customers to become impatient and ultimately lead to dealing with disgruntled clients regularly. This can increase strain on even the greatest customer service employees.
In conclusion, the service industry is vast and covers many segments. So whether your company provides salon services, maintenance, transportation, retail services, support, or spa treatments there are still many technologies that span these businesses that can assist in keeping your company up-to-date. By focusing on backend automation, processes such as reporting, scheduling, communicating, and more can decrease operational costs, improve productivity, and increase client satisfaction. One thing to always remember is contact with clients, and improving upon mobile elements. Remaining fresh in customers’ minds helps with retention, and you can use this engagement to improve services, gather information to increase offerings, and upsell. Not only does technology assist with customers, but it can also help retain great employees as well.
