As restaurants and commercial kitchens continue to adapt to the new normal, there are strategies for service companies looking to adjust as well. Many establishments are using this time during the coronavirus crisis to take stock of their business and explore new opportunities to improve revenue, operations and safety going forward. Below are some simple tips for your service company to adopt during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Ways to Drive Income
- Adapt your service method – Visit during hours where there is a low number of customers and staff. You even can conduct “virtual service calls” where you walk people through quick fixes and troubleshooting via video.
- Planned maintenance – For restaurants reopening their doors, offer planned maintenance programs for restarting equipment and conducting thorough cleaning and sanitizing.
- Consider alternative revenue streams – Explore new types of services and partners to grow the business. Consider expanding to HVAC or plumbing work, installing plexiglass barriers or doing restart and full cleaning and sanitizing services.
- Collect equipment and bring it back to your office for repair – To encourage safety and social distancing, think of offering a service where you bring smaller pieces of equipment back to the office to work on.
- Sell consumables like cleaning and disinfectant supplies – As an additional revenue stream, sell OEM cleaners, sanitizers and other disinfectants that operators can use for daily cleaning procedures.
Ways to Improve Operations
- Organize stock and clean up supply chain data – Now might be the perfect time to evaluate your stockroom and supply chain data. You also can explore new ways to optimize and automate your supply chain.
- Start or update your website and social media channels – Use this time to update your website and social media channels. If you only have a Facebook page, consider starting new social channels on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok.
- Allocate people to focus just on the business – Designate a person to work on only financing or researching and applying for small business programs like the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Another person in the office can explore new revenue-producing services and how to implement them.
- Invest in your technician’s communication and sales skills – Look for training platforms and classes that can help your technicians effectively communicate with customers and sell planned maintenance programs and services.
- Send younger technicians to service call with experienced techs – Think about using PPP funds to help pay for younger technicians in training. Have them shadow and learn from veteran technicians on your staff.
Ways to Adopt Safety Measures
- Create safety checklists for returning technicians – Using CDC guidelines and information from local health officials, make a checklist that shows technicians how they can keep themselves and customers safe on the job.
- Inform customers informed of temporary changes – Whether it’s on your website, with signage or via social media, inform the public of changes in hours, temporary closing and different types of products and services you're offering.
- Modify technician schedules – Try to stagger scheduling so all your technicians aren't coming into the office at once to pick up parts, supplies and other items.