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Customer service is everywhere: why the service department is the heart of your business

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An efficient helpdesk or customer service is the lifeblood of your company. However, a customer service team can only be successful if it is integrated with the other departments in the organization.

The importance of customer service can hardly be overstated. Customers who experience a pleasant and efficient interaction with customer service are not only satisfied but also remain loyal to the company for longer. And considering that retaining existing customers is much cheaper than acquiring new ones, it becomes clear that customer service is crucial to a company’s survival. Sales may be silver, but customer loyalty is gold.

In fact, in many manufacturing companies, customer service is becoming even more important, as services are playing an increasingly central role in business models. According to a recent study by ABN Amro, large machine manufacturers such as ASML (high-tech), Marel (food), Philips (medical), and Vestas (wind energy) now derive 20 to 40 percent of their revenue from services (ABN Amro, Services as a Revenue Model for Industry, A Roadmap for Servitization). In Belgium too, companies are increasingly embracing servitization, with Atlas Copco, ADPO, and BORGinsole as strong examples.

How do you build a successful customer service department?

One key condition is seamless integration of the service department with the rest of the company. The service team essentially becomes the nerve center of the business, with constant feedback loops to other departments such as sales, marketing, product development, inventory management, and field service.

Here are four essential feedback loops that connect the service department with the rest of your company.

4 Feedback loops between the service department and other teams

Sales and service: a perfect pair

The need for a strong connection between sales and service is a no-brainer. With access to key sales information (purchase history, contract details, contact preferences), a helpdesk can resolve customer issues more quickly and avoid long wait times. The link between sales and service also proves helpful in digital processes. For example, when a customer logs into a portal, a chatbot with access to purchase history can offer more relevant assistance.

Conversely, it’s just as important for the sales team to know what’s happening on the service side. A salesperson needs to maintain a strong relationship with the customer, which includes being aware of any issues and how they were resolved. Service staff often interact with the customer more frequently than salespeople and can be the first to identify upsell or cross-sell opportunities.

Customer operations and field service

Field service teams and maintenance technicians are the hands and feet of the helpdesk, often becoming the heroes who solve problems on-site. A strong connection between the field and the helpdesk is essential.

Helpdesks now offer multiple communication channels for customers to report issues: email, chat, chatbots, virtual agents, and social media. But there’s also a more proactive approach. Smart sensors on machines or production lines can detect temperature, humidity, or other parameters. When certain thresholds are exceeded, alerts can be sent directly to the service team via an IoT platform or service management software. This allows the helpdesk to quickly dispatch the right field technician—possibly triggering the need to order spare parts, making the link to inventory management equally crucial.

A treasure trove of information for marketing

The customer service team holds a wealth of information valuable to marketing. As marketing teams increasingly focus on content marketing, it’s vital to understand what information customers are actually looking for. Content marketers want to create material that answers real customer questions—and who knows those better than customer service?

The reverse is also true: the service team needs to know what marketing is doing. A new marketing campaign could trigger a spike in traffic and service requests. If the service team is informed in advance, they can allocate resources and prepare accordingly.

Feedback for product development

Companies are always looking to capture the “voice of the customer” to improve their products. The service department is the ultimate gateway for this kind of feedback. R&D, product development, and operations teams greatly benefit from closer collaboration with service.

Service staff can uncover customer needs and preferences and observe emerging trends in the market. This insight is incredibly valuable for anyone involved in product development.

Conclusion: service for and with everyone!

Digital transformation and the digital thread running through your business pave the way for collaboration across all departments. Rigid silos no longer serve companies well—instead, synergy is key to success.

Information from different departments and systems reinforces each other, and this is especially true for customer service. By working closely with sales, marketing, inventory, and product development, the service team can find faster solutions and improve customer satisfaction. At the same time, customer service becomes a valuable source of insights for other teams, contributing to a seamless digital thread throughout your organization.

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