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2002 2003

Breakthrough Article

If we're so darn good at service - how come none of us really dominate our market?

By: Tom Walton

How much of the available service maintenance business do you have in your market? 1 percent? 3 percent? 10 percent? More? Less? Do you know? Most large service companies that I have talked to over the years, who have scientifically studied their market, will tell you they have less than 5 % of their market.

Think on this - why is it that few, if any of us, have really ever dominated a market? How come few of us have offered a truly superior form of service or marketed service in a manner that resulted in us having a 10% to 25% market share? Is such a high market share even possible for some of us?

Could it be that our small market share is evidence that our customers do not see any real differences between our competition and us? Could it be that "what we say we are" to our customers and "what our competition says they are" to these same customers is really not that much different? Could this be why we have small and similar market shares?

Here are some additional questions to think on:

- What do you currently do and what more can you do to begin to increase your market share substantially?

- In sales, are you using the similar old sales and marketing approaches (i.e. cost of ownership, company brochures, marketing materials) as your competition? Do you know that these approaches have been around in one form or another since 1958?

- By using the similar sales approaches that your competition uses, could this in part be the reason everyone has a similar small market share?

- Do you actually offer better service value to your customers than that of your competition? How do you know? How do your customers know? Does telling your customers "that you offer better service"" in marketing pieces or by sales people really provide proof to your customers that you do?

- Do you have a method that first communicates to your customer a clear description of the service value you will be delivering, and then communicates to the technician exactly what you have committed to deliver?

- Do you have a service method that accurately plans a fair price for your customers and fair profit for yourself? Every time?

- If neither you nor your competition is able to clearly communicate service value being offered and delivered, how will this impact the price one of you gets for service?

We at ePL feel that since most markets have no dominant service companies present today, there is room for new ideas and improvements in marketing, selling, planning and delivering service.

The final question for you is this - how can you become more effective at marketing, planning, selling and delivering service and thereby grow your market share? One way would be to spend much time and money developing a truly different and superior service offering. Another way is to take advantage of your ePL membership and become familiar and capable with ePL's strategies and programs that address today's service companies and markets.