Leverage Service Management Software: Going from “Repair” to “Repair or Replace”

How to Understand the Change in Product Design

Things that companies make have been very different from how they used to be over the past few years. Engineers are now working to lower the cost of production and are making things for “planned obsolescence,” which means that equipment will only last a few years and will cost as much to fix as it would to buy a new one. This will be hard for a service business that is based on the idea of “repair” rather than “repair or replace.”

Why it’s important to use new technology

These three reasons show you why you should use this new technology and how service management software can help your business deal with these changes.

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Is it better to fix or replace the equipment?

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question, so it’s not real. There’s no need to get rid of a good piece of equipment when a cheap part replacement will keep it working for another year or two. But the customer may not have the same business now as they did when they bought it a few years ago. More and more often, new equipment comes with some kind of built-in technology that might make using a new model more appealing than fixing an old one to save a few dollars. If you think that your customer would rather have a repair than an option, you might be wrong.

Have you talked to your customers?

Is a customer’s equipment not working right? It might be, but that doesn’t mean now is the best time to sell your customer the newest and best thing. When you “talk” to customers, you should talk about whether or not equipment needs to be fixed or replaced. This is very important when you are in charge of a lot of machines for a client. As the person who already has the account, this conversation is a win. Should the client insist on fixing everything, then things will stay the same, and you will have at least given them another choice.

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How to Talk to Customers About Replacing Equipment

If your customer does ask you what they should do to make their business better, you can give them a few options. This gives every business what they’ve always wanted: the power to recommend the right equipment for each customer’s needs and get rid of units that don’t work right or are causing problems. This is a simple guide:

a) Get rid of any hardware that is over a certain age. It might be 5 or 6 years before things change.

b) Upgrade or replace any hardware that has been used too much. Picture it as a car. A five-year-old car is fine by itself, but a five-year-old car with 200,000 miles on it might not be worth fixing.

c) Make a choice with your customer, not for them. If they want to replace the same equipment with something better, it’s your job to help them make that choice. They might be using the tool or equipment in a different way now than they did when they first bought it.

You might find it hard to run your business if you don’t have “the talk” but a competitor does.

Simplify Decision-Making for Your Customers

Customers will find it much easier to make a decision if you give them a list of the equipment they should keep, replace, or even get rid of if they aren’t using it anymore. They will trust that you are not only proactive, but also a business partner and not just someone who can fix things when they go wrong.

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Getting the Most Out of Service Management Software

A service management program like Miracle Service can help you handle the fleets of your customers better. There is no way to completely get rid of the need for service, but you can give your customers a great deal on new hardware by using information you already have about service for equipment fleets.

How Miracle Service Can Make Your Company Better

With Miracle Service, it’s easy to see a list of all the devices at each of your accounts, along with a history of when they were serviced. This information is a great place to start talking about how you will service your accounts in the future. Check out how Miracle Service can help your service company. Get in touch with us at sales@miracleservice.com or set up a demo right now.