Dealer Support

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 is almost a necessity. Most manufacturers’ systems have only one product that works only on their brand, typically in the residential generator market. This makes it hard for dealers to offer monitoring to all of 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 provider gives dealers the ability to offer flexibility 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 can easily rely on their monitoring service provider to handle the platform details while you focus on 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 meet your customers’ needs and a price that fits their budget.

Myth 2: My customers are not interested in monitoring.

Reality: They are really interested! They need to learn about it and see the value.

The reality behind monitoring is that it’s a smart investment for both the generator owner and dealer. For the owner, it gives them confidence and peace of mind knowing that they will be alerted with real-time updates from their generator. They instantly know when the generator is running for an exercise, running during an outage, or when the machine shuts down for a fault.

For the generator dealer, not only does the customer get alerts for any problems, but you do too. Paired with a live tracking map on your Power Link portal, the dealer can see all of the generators they service to map out a proactive service plan to help their customers. Monitoring more generators means greater visibility into your service business and gives you the flexibility to bring on more customers without adding more technicians.

With both the owner and dealer in sync, the reliability of the generator maintained and the partnership is strong. Don’t be fooled into thinking your customers aren’t interested because the reality is they know how important it is to keep their generator operational. Remember, it costs you nothing to offer it and you gain a lot if they say yes.

Myth 3: Remote monitoring wouldn’t work with my older generator.

Realty: Yes, it can! Most independent solutions are universal and will connect to any generator.

It’s a common myth that newer technology isn’t compatible with older equipment. Remote monitoring is increasingly popular, and most generator manufacturers are only making devices that fit their newer models. There are millions of generators 10 years and older in the U.S. alone. Only being able to monitor new age equipment hurts your service business! However, independent monitoring companies recognized that problem and have developed solutions that can be installed on all generator brands/makes/models regardless of age. Utilizing independent monitoring allows you to reach out to more clients and service all generators.

Don’t get bogged down in the mindset that there isn’t a solution for you. Let us help you find the right products to help your customers.

Myth 4: If there’s a problem with the generator, my customers will call me.

Reality: You’re missing out on a profitable service visit!

Too often we hear from generator dealers that their service business relies solely on their customers calling in when there’s a problem. They sit back and wait for business to come their way. The problem is your customers won’t know there’s a problem until it’s too late. They rely on you to make sure their generator is in working order and when it fails, they’re not going to be happy.

In an ideal world, generators will work 100% of the time with no issues. But the reality is, these machines break down and often because they’re only needed in an emergency or are not properly maintained. But luckily for you, maintenance work becomes profitable service visits.

Now, your time is valuable. You make your rounds three to four times per year to do preventative maintenance visits and if there’s a problem, you fix it. But what happens when a problem occurs right after you leave within a week or two? The generator won’t work and you nor your customer will know until the next visit or worse, when there’s a power outage!

But what if you caught that problem right when it occurred? You get an alert notification that the generator is faulted or failed to exercise. You can call your customer and schedule a trip to come out now rather than a couple months from now. Not only is your customer relieved to know you found the issue, but you made a profitable service visit! Think about this too, what if every visit you make was a profitable one like this? You can grow your service business exponentially in no time! You can do that with generator monitoring!

By monitoring every generator you service, you know instantly which ones need repairs and which ones can wait until the next minor service inspection. You can efficiently manage your technicians and maximize your profits. In fact, you can even expand your serviceable customers without hiring new technicians because you’re efficiently routing them to more profitable jobs. The best service business is to be proactive instead of reactive. Seek out service that’s profitable instead of waiting for the phone to ring.

Myth 5: Using generator monitoring will consume more personnel time.

Reality: Not necessarily! Use monitoring as an alert system instead.

It’s a common misconception that the best way to handle the daily activities of remote monitoring in a business, you need someone in a chair, staring at a screen all day. Today, it’s not necessary! Instead, you can efficiently and accurately stay up to date on all sites using monitoring as an alert notification system.

Almost all monitoring companies today have the ability to set up real time notifications sent via email, text, or even voice call to alert you and your customer when generators fault out, fail to exercise, have a low battery, etc. By setting up these notifications, you save yourself time and even the hassle of having to go back to your computer to see what issue(s) occurred. Using a Power Telematics system gives you visibility into the critical functions of the generator and can customize the alerts sent to you and your customer. All while branding your company keeping Power Telematics transparent.

Do I have to do everything by myself?

What’s surprising is many remote monitoring companies don’t go the extra mile to assist their clients. They don’t offer the customer support to accurately access generator issues or offer service to help maintain and update their online portal. This is where Power Telematics is different. We know your time is valuable and should be spent growing and maintaining your business. Our dedication is to customer service. We strive to help you maximize your service efforts. Whether it’s updating monitor information like engine hours, generator brand, site notes, or setting up user alerts, creating logins or reports, our team can handle this for you. FOR. FREE. It’s how monitoring should be done.

Myth 6: It will cost me a lot of time and money to switch to a new monitoring provider.

Reality: The easiest way is to start transitioning when monitoring contracts expire.

The world of remote monitoring is changing with more service providers entering the market and putting greater emphasis on customizing your monitoring level. At some point there will be a need to either upgrade your current equipment or find a monitoring service that fits all your clients’ applications. But how can you switch without coming out of pocket? Perhaps the simplest answer is a slow transition. Once existing monitoring services expire, service contracts renew, or your existing monitoring equipment needs an upgrade, switch to the new provider. There is no need to cut services early and come out of pocket. Let the old contract expire and build the cost of the new system into the service contract. These can be quick, no-hassle changes that keep your customers happy and prevents cancellation fees or overlaps.