Service as a Strategy: How Manufacturers Are Reimaging Success

The manufacturing industry is undergoing a significant transformation. In today’s digital and customer-centric world, manufacturers must evolve to remain competitive and drive growth. 

Many view service as a major opportunity. According to our research, almost all (97%) manufacturers are pursuing strategic changes to their service and aftermarket operations. 

Product alone no longer sets today’s manufacturers apart. Instead, service in manufacturing creates differentiation by providing personalised experiences and the potential to expand service-based revenue models.  

Based on ‌our latest Trends in Manufacturing report, we’ll dive deeper into manufacturing service trends. Learn how manufacturers can incorporate the findings to better differentiate their service and improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

Use customer data to create connected manufacturing service experiences

Customers expect seamless, personalised experiences throughout their journey, from pre-sales to after-sales support. However, customer service performance is average at best according to manufacturing decision makers. For example, of the 75% that track customer satisfaction metrics, such as net promoter score (NPS), only 44% exceed their goals. 

Many still struggle with providing an outstanding customer experience due to limited visibility into customer interactions, which are often confined to just one team and can be inconsistent. This typically leads to ‌extensive back-and-forth with the customer during contact centre calls to identify their issue, which might not be the first time the customer has had to explain their situation.

Additionally, you might need to search through different systems to get more details necessary to fully understand the customer’s situation. Throughout this process, it’s important to make sure that the information is current and aligns with the customer’s account.

The most effective way to elevate customer satisfaction is to have the full picture of their issue in one spot so you can fix it faster. You can do that by unifying your data to get a fuller picture of who they are and how they experience your organisation. With a unified customer relationship management (CRM) platform, you can create connected service experiences at every touchpoint — from the contact centre through service operations to the field technician and the customer. 

How manufacturers differentiate themselves through service

The top factors driving the shift to improved service operations are customer loyalty and satisfaction, competitive differentiation, and brand reputation and customer advocacy. 

Recognising that great service leads to better, expanded customer relationships, manufacturers are focused on delivering the quality experiences their customers expect. This includes providing touchpoints throughout the years following a purchase, since manufacturing service doesn’t end after a purchase is made. 

Your unified CRM platform will be the foundation to transform your manufacturing service experience:

• Contact centre: Service personnel in your contact centre will have all the information they need in one place to quickly and effectively address customer inquiries. You can also automate manual processes and even enable automated agents that can help scale your service so human agents can provide more targeted customer service. 
• Field service: Equipping your technicians with the necessary materials enhances their efficiency in handling service calls. Insight into customer requests allows for better preparation and adaptability to unforeseen changes, reducing the need for rescheduling.
• Self-service channels: Your data can be used to inform digital self-service channels. Knowledge bases record answers to already documented questions, enabling customers to obtain the information they want quickly, at any time. This helps deflect cases by addressing questions before they become a call to your contact centre.

Manufacturers lean into new technologies to improve service

Manufacturers’ data volumes are expected to increase by over 22% in 2024. This is no surprise, with some organisations using multiple enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the average manufacturer has 1,061 apps across their business. Data tends to be inconsistent across these systems. To successfully adopt AI, you need accurate, consistent data that is visible and accessible to everyone in your organisation. 

To address this, industry decision makers are focusing on improving data quality and AI readiness to support efforts around manufacturing service trends. Nearly all manufacturers (95%) are using or evaluating AI. 

Manufacturers can use AI and data-driven tools to bolster their customer service capabilities. These technologies enable you to offer predictive service, proactive maintenance, and personalised recommendations by connecting your asset data with your customer data. 

Connected assets provide manufacturers with comprehensive visibility into your equipment through a digital model of installed items and their components. Asset data coupled with customer data allows you to take action. For example, you can get ahead of service calls with proactive maintenance before a customer calls into your contact centre with an issue or a problem.  

Your customer data can also power other AI tools. Use your data to fuel AI-powered chatbots that offer real-time support. AI empowers next-best-actions or recommendations based on the combined customer historical data and asset data. It can also help agents get the latest service or warranty information at a glance to drive better service revenue. All of this can set you apart from the competition.

Turn manufacturing service trends into action

As we evaluated the responses that make up our latest Trends in Manufacturing report, one thing is clear: manufacturing is changing at a rapid pace, and to remain competitive, you must adapt by upleveling your customer service experience.

Transforming your manufacturing service experience starts with unifying your data in a CRM like Salesforce Manufacturing Cloud. This platform allows you to provide differentiated customer service more efficiently. It also gives you valuable insights through contextualised data, AI, and analytics across your entire value chain.

Read the full report to learn more about the industry’s current trends. You’ll also discover strategies to position your manufacturing business for success in 2024 and beyond.