The SAP Service Cloud – what it’s really about

Let’s start with a fictitious example: Imagine that the sales department has made a sale, the product has been delivered to the customer and everyone involved is happy. Then, the brand-new machine breaks down. Now, the customer who bought it can no longer reach anyone, and urgent enquiries go unanswered. As a result, they are extremely unhappy.

This worst-case scenario demonstrates that even if the sales process is perfectly executed, this means nothing if the downstream service is not well coordinated.

If there is not enough follow-up after delivery of the products or services you sold to the customer, you risk alienating them and reduce the likelihood that the business relationship will continue to thrive. This has the potential to tarnish the reputation of the brand.

Customers at the heart of it all

Today more than ever, customers want their service provider to have a modern image, offer direct contact and short response times as well as provide flexible options when it comes to the communication channels they can choose from.

Especially in the B2B sector where long-term relationships are the order of the day, it is essential to clearly convey to the customer that their concerns are being heard.

This is where SAP Service Cloud really shines:

• Thanks to omnichannel support, customers are free to choose how they contact their service provider.
• An end-to-end communication history is available for viewing at any time thanks to automatic business partner recognition and the creation of documents as soon as contact is established.
• Fully configurable, comprehensive views display the customers’ key data instantaneously.
• The targeted, rule-based assignment of team or individual service requests reduces the time it takes to determine who is responsible and resolve the issue.

Best practice: service automation

It’s a good general rule that high-quality service goes hand in hand with sales. They both draw on the same data from the same sources and round it all off to create a customer experience that is second to none.

Ideally, it’s not just the customer who feels they’re receiving excellent support. Each individual service employee has to really believe that the platform they are being given to use provides real added value in order for them to fully exploit its potential.

Here are some other ways that SAP Service Cloud manages to wow its users:

• If the navigation is intuitive and logical, it is possible to find navigation targets anywhere in the system without having to look long.
• Configurable widgets give service employees a personalised, up-to-date overview of the work they have to complete, upcoming assignments and the corresponding due dates.
• Personalisation lets users design the system’s look and feel to suit their personal preferences and the way they work.
• Automation of recurring workflows streamlines ticket processing and makes it possible to focus on the customer’s issue.
• Configurable service level agreements and reminder workflows help users ensure that customer-related issues are dealt with promptly.
• A service is created that learns as it grows and promotes collaborative work practices thanks to the accompanying development of a knowledge base.

The basic component needed to deliver flawless customer service

But what’s the use of this all if the system is just one of many systems at your company that is run as a standalone unit? SAP Service Cloud is more than just an add-on to SAP Sales Cloud or within the SAP ecosystem. It fits seamlessly into any system landscape.

SAP Cloud Platform can be linked to any CRM system on the market using numerous predefined scenarios, making it the perfect solution for every possible application regardless of size or complexity.

Will the software you purchase today be obsolete in five years?

When a company buys SAP Service Cloud, they are not getting a solution that is inflexible and may not be able to meet the requirements of tomorrow. Instead, what they receive is a scalable system that can be adapted to a wide range of use cases even after it has gone live.

Forward-looking technologies such as AI and/or machine learning are already part of this mobile solution. Thanks to continuous upgrades and cloud provisioning, SAP Service Cloud is constantly being updated to include new, useful features. All this available for free and entails no added work for the customer.

Reap the benefits of a strong community and actively participate in it by submitting recommendations on how you would like the system to look.

Conclusion

Customers deserve professional service. It is the final piece in the puzzle of a company’s path to success. Thanks to its intuitive user interface, extensive configuration and scaling options and the constant addition of the latest technologies and trends, SAP Service Cloud is the perfect fit for any company.

Do you have any questions about SAP Service Cloud? Then please get in touch. We’ll show you the many paths to cloud-based service and the opportunities this opens up. We’re always there to help you.

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You can find more interesting posts about SAP Cloud and related topics here:

 Marketing automation best practice: How to get to an efficient solution in just three months (Florian Mages)

 Create the perfect shopping experience with the SAP Commerce Cloud (Patrick Meurer)