Service delivery in business to business relationships is as important as the service itself. This is also true in consumer sales but activity is magnified and the perspective of a business is different. So employing the same methods of service delivery for both consumer and business clients may not be optimal. It’s important to understand business client needs and clearly define service delivery goals and methods. With business clients the delivery of service can be as important as the service itself. Following are steps to delivering quality service to businesses:
- Identify Client Needs – Knowing the perspective of the client is critical to the delivery of high quality service. Business managers share similar concerns when it comes to service providers so general issues should be readily identifiable. More factors may be applicable based on the definition of the target business market.
- Define Service Delivery Goals – As in any endeavor it’s important to define realistic achievable goals. In service delivery some of the components to consider are timeliness, quality, price, etc. Establishing these parameters will support optimal service delivery.
- Include Forecasting and Planning – A critical part of business service delivery is the incorporation of service into business operations. When service delivery is disruptive in any way quality is diminished. This same factor exists with consumers but in business service delivery it’s magnified and often includes different influencing factors.
- Develop a Service Delivery Model – It’s important to define the procedures by which services will be delivered to client businesses. They’re likely to differ from the processes employed when providing consumer services. Defining this will make for better quality delivery.
- Construct a Service Delivery Agreement – Explicitly defining the terms of service delivery will have a huge impact on customer satisfaction. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a signed formal document. But the means by which service will be delivered should be documented as there will most likely be variations from one client to the next.
- Optimize Service Delivery Processes – There’s always room for improvement in any process. Streamlining processes will result in cost savings for both the customer and the shop. Business managers are always interested in saving money.
- Evaluate Service Delivery Performance – Develop key performance indicators such as on time delivery, vehicle down time and maintenance costs. Set benchmarks and measure results. If performance is degrading over time the customer will notice it if you don’t.
