Service team leaders looking to implement new tools and solutions should first assess cost-effectiveness. It’s critical to evaluate the potential impact not only for your service team, but also the customer experience. It’s important to examine the cost saving aspects and assess which apply within your team.
We are going to breakdown the obvious and unique ways in which AIRe Link’s remote visual support tool is cost-effective. Service teams have the potential to pay off the solutions cost through savings made from usage.
The cost savings expected from remote visual support usage
Time savings: Customer issues resolved faster remotely
One major cost-effectiveness factor service team leaders might overlook is that of time savings. Take into consideration the amount of time each employee spends traveling to customer locations. How long are they out of the office for and how much is their hourly rate?
If your employee instead of traveling two hours, can resolve the customer issue remotely in 10 minutes. How much time is saved? How many more issues could the employee resolve remotely within the same two-hour period? AIRe Link saves time, which is money, by enabling service teams to support customers remotely, decreasing the need for in-person visits.
Travel expenses: Fuel, accommodation, maintenance and time
Travel expenses including fuel, vehicle maintenance, accommodation and time make up a significant part of a service teams operational costs. These expenses need to be taken into consideration when budgeting and evaluating new solutions.
As mentioned above, AIRe Link’s remote visual support tool reduces the need for on-site visits which directly saves on travel expenses. Service teams that resolve more issues remotely will see a direct impact on their current travel expenses and might even be able to adjust their future travel budget.
Callout costs: Decrease total visits per callout
Remote visual support offers valuable cost saving advantages even in situations customer issues cannot be resolved remotely. The primary cost-cutting benefit here to consider is decreasing the total trips required per callout with the remote diagnoses first approach.
Consider this scenario: A customer requires assistance so an engineer is dispatched on-site. They discover broken components requiring replacement. The engineer then returns to the office and orders the required spare parts. Once delivered another journey is made to the customer location to carry out repairs.
However, utilizing AIRe Link’s remote diagnoses first approach, the scenario plays out differently: Customers seeking assistance are immediately connected with your technician. The technician should attempt to resolve the issue remotely and through this process will notice the broken component. Your technician can inform the customer an on-site visit is required and right away orders the spare part. Upon delivery your engineer is dispatched to make the repair on the first visit.
Beyond cost saving factors
Use AIRe Link internally: More than just remote visual support
Although AIRe Link is primarily designed for the purpose of remote visual support, service teams can explore other business areas its implantation might be cost-effective. Teams can remotely train staff through AIRe Link instead of holding in-person sessions which is costly for global teams. Remote inspections are also possible to quickly assess internal or customer equipment to identify issues before they become problems.
There are many unique ways AIRe Link’s solution can be used past remote support. It’s recommended each service team assess different business areas to see if costs can be reduced further with the solution.
Happy customers equals repeat business: Reputation factors should be considered
While not directly related to cost savings, the speed of service your team provides thanks to the remote approach has a significant impact on reputation and repeat customers. Customers receiving fast remote resolutions tend to be more satisfied than those having to wait for an on-site visit.
Customer experiencing fast levels of service know when future issues occur, your team can quickly assist, minimizing the impact of downtime. These customers are more likely to work with your team again and might even recommend your team to associates.
New SLA Potentials: Remote focused support services
With remote visual support, your team can introduce remote focused service level agreements (SLA’s). Offer customers service level agreements with a focus on remote diagnoses and resolution as the first approach. This way customers receive faster solutions to problems they face while you reduce the cost of in-person visits directly within contract agreements. It’s a win-win for both parties.
Is an AIRe Link subscription cost-effective?
To determine if AIRe Link is a cost-effective option, consider the factors mentioned above in relation to the solutions price and impact on your team.
How much does AIRe Link cost?
AIRe Link operates on a cost-effective user-based subscription model where service teams only pay for the access they require. User subscriptions cost 50 euros monthly or 490 euros when purchased yearly. This model ensures services teams of all sizes can take advantage of remote visual support, even on limited budgets.
Service teams can guarantee they won’t pay extra for access they don’t require. Total costs vary depending on the team size and how many subscriptions are actually necessary.
AIRe Link vs Employee salary
Take into account the total cost per employee over a one-year period. Consider their salary, the time spent traveling, the associated travel expenses and revenue generated through issue resolution. Let’s estimate this figure to be 40,000 euro yearly for the average employee.
If we compare this figure to the total annual cost of 10 AIRe Link subscriptions (4,900 euro yearly), and calculate with the above-mentioned cost saving factors. It’s possible the time, money and additional revenue generated by just one employee outweighs by far the cost for 10 user subscriptions. Not only has the usage of AIRe Link been paid for, additional costs are reduced potentially increasing profits to be re-invested elsewhere.
Could your team expand?
Now let’s take into account the amount of time each employee saves on travelling. Does the team now have spare time throughout their day? Can this be used for expansion? Services teams could onboard new customers to “fill the time” increasing their revenues without incurring additional costs from expanding the team’s size. Now that’s cost-effective remote visual support!
The snowball effect
The snowball effect refers to a process that, in the beginning is slow however once started can build upon itself in a feedback loop having a larger impact than initially anticipated. Cost savings associated with AIRe Link have the potential to snowball past expectation.
Service teams can build upon the effect by identifying common problems customers face. Plan strategies to resolve these common issues remotely. In turn, the resources saved by no longer attending in person for these jobs can be re-invested into identifying additional issues to resolve remotely.
Try AIRe Link for free
Want to test the cost-effectiveness of AIRe Link’s remote visual support tool for yourself? Try our 30-day free trial, no credit card required and fully test our pro features. Service teams requiring more time after the 30-day trial will be downgraded to our free basic version allowing you to continue providing support.
