Myth #1: Having more than one monitoring service provider will be confusing!
Reality: It’s a smart thing to do!
In today’s generator service environment, having multiple monitoring solutions are almost a necessity. Most manufacturer’s systems have only one product that only works on their brand, typically in the residential generator market. This makes it hard for dealers to offer monitoring for ALL their customers. Especially dealers that represent multiple brands! There are independent monitoring providers as well that offer a “one size fits all” approach. The problem is this doesn’t allow any flexibility for customers to choose what they really need and what they want to monitor. Every customer is different, and their needs vary depending on the generator they have, the type of application and the level of information they desire. Having only one choice limits their options and YOUR ability to guarantee more service opportunities.
Using an independent monitoring solution provider gives dealers the ability to reach ALL their clients and the flexibility to offer MORE to their customers. Will dealers need to learn multiple monitoring systems? Possibly so, but that is not necessarily a problem. Most monitoring solutions are “alert driven” meaning notifications can be set up via email, text and even voice call. Dealers should rely on their monitoring service provider to handle the platform details while you focus on what your business and get notified when problems occur.
Choosing a monitoring service should be easy and painless. Look for a company that offers a wide variety of monitoring options to fit your customer’s needs and a price that fits their budget.
How does having more than one monitoring service provider benefit the service company?
Having multiple monitoring service providers is a huge benefit to the service company. For starters, it is wise to have at least two vendors for most products or services whenever possible. Having only a single source provider of any product or service puts the company at risk for pricing, delivery and support. By having at least two monitoring service vendors, it adds more value to your company:
- Extends monitoring service to most, if not all of your customers
- Able to offer more to your customers to best meet their needs
- Gain visibility to more generators you service
- Ability to proactively seek profitable service business and expand your service capacity
- Multiple channels eliminate product delivery issues
Will our team have to learn multiple monitoring platforms?
From a service and support perspective, having multiple monitoring service providers means that you need to become familiar with two or more different platforms. However, this is not as difficult of a challenge as one might perceive.
As stated earlier, most monitoring systems are “alert driven” meaning that the end user and the service company rely on the inbound alerts via email and/or text to know the status of the generator and any trouble alerts that arise. The monitoring platform is typically used to evaluate the alert and determine what course of action needs to be taken. Most service companies do not watch the tracking map or platform all day long. They rely on the inbound alerts to trigger a proactive action. Also, when selecting a monitoring company, be sure that they handle the platform details for you as part of their customer service. Many companies will sell you a product and leave the rest up to you to figure out on your own.
Overall, offering and using more than one monitoring solution is not a cumbersome as one might think. The goal is to find the best solution to meet the customer’s needs and having multiple options is simply a smart thing to do.
Should you have any questions or would like to discuss this further with one of our team members, please call Power Telematics at 678-992-5501 or visit our website at www.PowerTelematics.com.