Ideal service.
At the «round table» «TZ» with you:
Anatoly CHICHERIN, Deputy General Director of NPF «Romb + K4»
Timofey RODIONOV, Head of Sales Department of ZAO «GOLFSTREAM Security Systems»
Pavel OSTASHEV, Head of EAS Department of the company «Crystal Service»
Artem OSOKIN, Technical Specialist of the company WIZEBOX
Dmitry STRELTSOV, Regional Manager (Russia and CIS)
Mitsubishi Electric Europe B.V., Moscow Representative Office
Victor ANISIMOV, Deputy Director of New Technologies
Question for discussion
— Of course, nothing is ideal, but we must strive for it. What do you think of the ideal customer service for the TSB market?
Anatoly CHICHERIN:
In my opinion, ideal service is possible only when the customer himself realizes its necessity. Namely, himself. I will give as an example a very common situation when the owners of the building install fire alarms solely because without these systems the facility cannot be put into operation. The second component of high quality service is the contractor's readiness and ability to carry out technical maintenance on any fire alarm system in a timely manner and in full.
Timofey RODIONOV:
Ideal service should be, first of all, timely. After all, the speed and correctness of response to alarm signals depend on this. For example, leading companies in the market provide their clients with equipment malfunction correction within 24 hours, remote control of technical serviceability of the equipment.
Pavel OSTASHEV:
It is difficult to talk about perfection in this matter. I do not think that the level of service we offer does not satisfy the requirements of the customer or the contractor, although, of course, something else can always be added to the range of services provided. Much depends on the customer and his requirements. For some, it is enough for “everything to work”, while others require something that is technically impossible to implement within the framework of a given project. Of course, we need to constantly develop: offer new services within the framework of current agreements, expand the scope of activities. Fulfilling these conditions will help to cover a significant part of the services market in a particular area of activity over time.
Artem OSOKIN:
I would like to point out right away that the level and quality of services provided in the TSB market are constantly growing. It cannot be otherwise, because in market conditions only the strongest players survive, capable of providing a full range of services. Ideal service cannot be formed on its own, but is the result of a long process, the effectiveness of which largely depends not only on the material and technical aspects of the activity, but, first of all, on the culture of the industry environment as a whole. In the field of service, it is necessary to constantly strive for a high level in everything: in the timeliness of response to the client's request, in the quality of materials and work performed, in the long-term guarantee of the result. The optimal situation is when, when the need for service arises, all the necessary resources are available for this: material, human, as well as the possibility of their effective use in specific conditions determined by the customer.
Dmitry STRELTSOV:
First of all, let's define what we mean by «service». I would highlight three components, which in English are combined into the term after sales support:
- Warranty service.
- Post-warranty service.
- Technical support.
Frankly speaking, each of the listed components has significant weight and cannot be ignored if the manufacturer is really determined to promote its products and wants to be present on the market for a long period of time. Thus, in my opinion, the ideal service is built as follows: technical support allows you to identify errors at an early stage and help the user solve them remotely. If remote setup cannot help, the client goes to the service center to find out the malfunction, determine the warranty and direct repair. An important factor is post-warranty service. Although the electronic products market is very dynamic, the average lifespan of professional security equipment exceeds the warranty period. Therefore, it is important to provide the client with the opportunity to repair products after the warranty period has expired. It is no coincidence that the world's leading manufacturers supply spare parts for all models for several years after the end of product release.
Victor ANISIMOV:
The market for technical security equipment can be represented as follows: in the sequential chain between the manufacturer and the end customer, there is a connecting link, represented by trading and installation organizations. All links are connected to each other by feedback links that arise during the life of this entire chain. Feedback links are either new purchases or problems that arise. And in order for the chain to exist for a long time, each link must quickly respond to any disturbances that arise in the existing chain. In my opinion, such interaction can be called ideal service.
Question for discussion
— What factors influence the quality of the service provided?
Anatoly CHICHERIN:
The presence of a separate department for servicing the TSB at the enterprise, the professionalism of specialists and their technical equipment, remoteness and dispersion of facilities across the territory.:
Timofey RODIONOV:
The first and most important factor affecting the quality of service is the ability to determine the malfunction before leaving for the site. The next factor is competent personnel. It is also worth noting the factor of proper service management — the development of logistics will save time and effort of service teams, and therefore directly affects the quality of service provided to customers.
Pavel OSTASHEV:
There are quite a few such factors: starting with the situation on the roads of the city/country and ending with the working conditions provided to the personnel. But, in my opinion, it is not so much the factors influencing the quality of the service provided that are important, but the ability to predict and effectively overcome such unfavorable conditions — in this case, the level of services provided will constantly increase.
Artem OSOKIN:
When providing service to a client by a company, all details must be taken into account, and all efforts of the company's specialists, both those who personally contact the client and those who directly participate in the work, must be aimed at achieving the maximum result. The quality of the service provided depends on many criteria, the main ones of which, in my opinion, are the level of qualification and professionalism of the staff, their interest in the final result, the quality of the materials and components used in the work, completion of work within the established deadlines and the willingness to bear responsibility for the result to the customer.
Dmitry STRELTSOV:
The fundamental factors here are: the quality of the supplied products and the professionalism of the service and technical service staff. The first factor affects the number of calls to the service. The relationship here is inverse: the better the quality of the equipment, the fewer opportunities customers have to get acquainted with the ideal service. And here we are not only talking about equipment breakdowns, it is also necessary to take into account the convenience of instructions, ease of setup, etc. But the professionalism of the staff, and, first of all, the technical support service, is no less important. I myself have witnessed a situation when different people gave opposite answers to the same question. But the technical support service is, in fact, the company's interface with the end user, the wrong answer can not only cause customer dissatisfaction, but also lead to losses for the company in the short term (unjustified replacement of spare parts) and long term (loss of a client).
Victor ANISIMOV:
The concept of «service» is inextricably linked with the concept of «professionalism». Therefore, the main factor influencing the quality of service is the ability of the responding party to solve the problem set by the customer in a short time.
Question for discussion
— In your opinion, how popular are the services offered by installers today (warranty service, post-warranty service, etc.)? What types of service does the customer try to save on, and what is the reason for this phenomenon?
Anatoly CHICHERIN:
In demand, first of all, is warranty service, but even here the customer sometimes saves, limiting himself to only monthly or quarterly service, violating the planned preventive maintenance of failures in the operation of the TSB.
Timofey RODIONOV:
Fortunately, we work with leading global manufacturers for whom equipment quality is a priority. And for our part, we constantly monitor the technical serviceability of the equipment. And this instills confidence in our clients in its reliability. We provide warranty service within the framework of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights. We conclude a mandatory service contract with legal entities. In some cases, legal entities try to save on service, but they generally understand that they themselves are interested in the equipment working properly, since a failed sensor or battery that is not replaced on time can lead to trouble. There is a service request form on our website, and you can place an order very quickly.
Pavel OSTASHEV:
From the customer's point of view, such services are absolutely necessary, especially if the costs are minimal, and often the customer is ready to save on literally everything. The reason is clear: no one wants to overpay; and, even more so, overpay for something that, in the customer's opinion, will not bring any income at all. But, nevertheless, many understand the need for additional work and willingly agree to post-warranty service.
Artem OSOKIN:
I am sure that the service offered by installers is in full demand by customers. For example, our company's specialists provide constant information support from selecting the necessary equipment to consulting on maintenance at different stages of its operation. In my opinion, the manufacturer's willingness to provide information support to both end customers and dealers is one of its main advantages.
Dmitry STRELTSOV:
I agree with my colleagues: any customer wants to save money. The nature of this phenomenon is clear, and it is useless to fight it. Our task is only to help the client do it correctly. After all, the goal of correct (ideal) service is to save the customer's time (read — money) when difficulties arise with setting up or operating equipment. Another issue is that in a rapidly growing market, many companies forget that it is necessary to pay attention not only to sales, but also to subsequent service. But it is no secret that retaining an existing client is many times cheaper than acquiring a new one. And in this case, ideal after sales support is the best tool for increasing customer loyalty.
Victor ANISIMOV:
Warranty and post-warranty service, training opportunities are some of the decisive factors when choosing a particular installation organization when creating a system that ensures safety at a facility. If the customer understands that the funds spent on creating a security system are not an «expensive» but an investment item in the budget, then, as a rule, they do not save on safety. But, unfortunately, this is not always the case. Most often, they save on training. After commissioning, responsible employees are instructed to independently familiarize themselves with the attached instructions and that's it. This is where the training ends. All issues that arise during the work are resolved either independently or through telephone consultations. The next type of service on which they «save» is post-warranty service. The principle is simple: «While it works, there is nothing to service. And if something suddenly breaks down, we'll call a repairman.»
Question for discussion
— A single subscription for service or an individual approach to each customer: what prevails today? What is the future?
Anatoly CHICHERIN:
An individual approach to each customer was, is and will be a priority.
Timofey RODIONOV:
In practice, legal entities are more likely to lean towards a service contract, while individuals prefer an individual approach, i.e. one-time visits. And this division is, in principle, quite logical. But the future, according to our forecasts, is still with service contracts – they can be called subscriptions, since this is an element of insurance with faster troubleshooting.
Pavel OSTASHEV:
As practice shows, the future belongs to a single subscription for service: those who recently considered such an approach inappropriate, after some time change their minds on this issue. And if the proposed conditions meet the customer's expectations, then there is a high probability that he will become a regular customer of the company.
Artem OSOKIN:
It is necessary to strive to provide service taking into account all the requirements put forward by a specific customer within the framework of a specific project. The customer is not very interested in standard procedures and conditions, he is interested in his situation and ways of solving his problems. In this regard, it is appropriate to talk about combining existing opportunities to solve a specific problem set by the customer. The customer's attitude to the progress of the work is also important: the parties agree on all fundamental points, the contractor takes into account the customer's wishes and acts in accordance with them. Thus, it is possible to achieve a result that will satisfy all interested parties and which will serve as a guarantee that the customer will contact this organization next time.
Dmitry STRELTSOV:
This largely depends on the size of the manufacturing company and the number of clients. It is easy to apply an individual approach to each client when you have a few, but what about when we are talking about thousands around the world? Leading foreign manufacturers have a developed structure of service and technical support with high standards of service quality, adapted to local legislation. This creates a «single subscription» for service. On the other hand, they are focused on high training of personnel, and not only technical. After all, the customer's attitude to the company as a whole depends on how specialists communicate with the customer, how they listen to his questions and offer a solution. This is where the individual approach to each specific problem is manifested.
Victor ANISIMOV:
The market for maintenance services for technical security equipment is uniform. But each facility is special in its own way. Therefore, maintenance usually implies an individual approach. I don’t think that anything will change in the future. Only the technical side of interaction can change. Some maintenance processes may become remote in the future – the direct presence of technical specialists at the facility will not be required. Such examples can already be found. For example, automatic software updates.
Question for discussion
— Interaction with the customer: existing problems and ways to solve them
Anatoly CHICHERIN:
The main problem is that the customer does not have a trained user of the TSB, so along with technical maintenance, it is necessary to train users.
Timofey RODIONOV:
Security technologies are developing very rapidly, and the average lifespan of security equipment is about 10 years. The equipment becomes obsolete, and the question arises: how and under what conditions to offer the client its upgrade. We are currently implementing programs to replace obsolete equipment with minimal costs on the part of the client.
Pavel OSTASHEV:
Frankly speaking, there are no global systematic problems in this area yet. And there are always local problems, but they are not so significant as to focus on them. The main thing in this matter is for both parties to comply with the agreements reached, and then possible problems and disagreements can be avoided with a high degree of probability.
Artem OSOKIN:
The main problem is the inability of the parties to immediately come to a solution that will equally satisfy both the customer and the contractor. At the same time, the service organization will be confident in what the customer wants, and the customer, in turn, will be confident that the services will be provided at a high level, taking into account his wishes and that the funds invested in the service will not be wasted. Loyalty of the parties to each other will serve as a guarantee that both the customer and the contractor will be satisfied with the results of a particular project and confident in further effective cooperation.
Dmitry STRELTSOV:
Today, most manufacturers sell their products through distributors. They, in turn, use a dealer network and contacts with installation organizations established over many years, through which the equipment ends up in the hands of end customers. This sometimes long path of the TSB from the manufacturer to the user becomes the determining factor in the event of questions requiring a quick answer. You must agree that this is a problem that requires a specific solution. I will suggest one of them: direct cooperation of the manufacturer or its representative in Russia with a local service center that carries out warranty and post-warranty repairs of the equipment.
Victor ANISIMOV:
The framework of this «round table» does not allow us to fully disclose all aspects of the interaction between two players in the market: the seller and the buyer. Without specifying specific cases, we can say the following. Each of the interested parties must have basic knowledge in the subject area, clearly understand their responsibilities, and be able to negotiate with the opponent. And the most important thing is to have the ability to perceive new information, to be aware of new technologies.