The product is no longer the unique selling point — service is taking the lead. The quality of service not only increases customer satisfaction and loyalty but can also sustain enthusiasm, minimize costs, and drive company success. So, which software solutions help achieve this?

For companies to establish tailored digital service processes, it is essential to understand the phases of service, the challenges businesses face, and how the right tools can mitigate those challenges.

Phase 1: Traditional Customer Service, Such as Ticketing

Traditional customer service includes handling both simple and complex customer inquiries. To achieve the best possible customer experience, the focus should be on the quality and response time — regardless of the channel through which the request is made.

The SAP portfolio offers tools like SAP Service Cloud, SAP Intelligent Service Cloud, and S/4HANA Service to help companies provide a fast, personalized, and unified service experience. While the first two tools are customer-focused and excel primarily in ticketing processes, S/4HANA Service emphasizes integration with backend processes. Therefore, using a combination of a Service Cloud and S/4HANA Service might make sense in some cases.

Phase 2: Service Offerings and After-Sales

To create a holistic and continuous service process, it is crucial to establish an integrated service solution that addresses more touchpoints than just the traditional ones. The solution: A service portal. Such a portal should connect all people involved (customers, field service, service teams, partners, dealers, branches) and provide targeted services to help them succeed in their daily operations. The SAP Commerce Cloud provides everything needed to create such integrated portals.

Customer portals can also be built on the SAP Business Technology Platform, an open data and development platform for the entire SAP ecosystem. Implementing a knowledge management system supports service employees with complex inquiries. SAP offers its own solution here with SAP Knowledge Central by NICE.

Phase 3: Field Service

But what happens when, for example, a technician is needed to repair an electrical appliance? The cloud-based SAP Field Service Management (FSM) is another part of the SAP portfolio and, in combination with SAP Service Cloud and remote support, lays the foundation for efficient technician deployment planning. The software enables real-time scheduling and uses crowd-service technology based on artificial intelligence. This allows both in-house and external service technicians to be efficiently planned, considering expertise, location, and availability.