Case Study: Nationwide Retail Brand

“Having the ability to work through the right problem and get it routed to the right provider has been huge for the operations team. They definitely feel empowered to get the work done quickly.“

Facilities Technology Manager
National Retailer

Customer 

One of the nation’s largest retailers with locations in every state. 

With thousands of heavily trafficked locations, it’s essential for the retailer to preserve a strong brand image with clean, functional stores that serve daily consumer needs. Due to challenges with previous facilities management software, the operations team turned to ServiceChannel to help reduce delays in repairs and cut significant spend to achieve budget goals.  

Here are three of many ServiceChannel levers the retailer leveraged that led to significant savings through streamlined work order and vendor management: 

Challenge #1

It takes too long for store staff to request service, with excessive costs to run a call center. 

Before ServiceChannel, the facilities management team would initiate service requests by phoning a centralized call center, and managers didn’t have the option to create a work order on their own via desktop or mobile. This required managing a fully-staffed call center operating 24 hours per week, 365 days per year. Additional steps were also needed to route or escalate issues and add pictures to work orders, leading to delays in service that caused a negative impact on the overall brand experience.  

Solution

Upon implementation, the retailer rolled out the ServiceChannel Mobile app to all store teams, allowing for on-the-spot work order creation. Decision tree workflows further streamlined the process by ensuring the correct trade, category, priority level, and provider were assigned, helping to eliminate unnecessary provider trips.   

Results

Store teams now efficiently create work orders and upload supporting photos, so they can focus on serving customers. With the decision tree workflow in place, work orders are processed more accurately, and the right service provider gets dispatched the first time, leading to quicker resolutions. 

In addition to adding efficiency and speed to workflow submissions, the ServiceChannel Platform allowed the retailer to significantly reduce costs required to maintain a 24/7 call center. They also experienced a 35% reduction in calls from vendors looking for clarification on work order submissions. 

“To operate an efficient and cost-effective facilities program, automation is critical. This retailer is an excellent example of how brands can increase profitability by using ServiceChannel to automate workflows and cost controls.“

Chris Wilson
Vice President of Customer Success,
ServiceChannel

Challenge #2

Wasted spend on unnecessary work orders and extra provider trips. 

When stores contacted the call center for assistance in placing work orders, representatives relied on generic questioning that failed to address the retailer’s specific issues, hindering effective troubleshooting and accurate work order routing. As a result, unnecessary work orders were created, leading to avoidable service calls, trip charges, and additional provider costs. 

Solution

To streamline routing, facility teams used ServiceChannel interactive troubleshooting and decision tree logic to guide accurate work order creation and ensure providers received clear, complete instructions for service calls.  

Results

Empowered store teams now use ServiceChannel to reliably reroute and resolve issues, leading to over 6,000 adjusted work orders per year. This shift allowed for significant cost savings by ensuring service providers had accurate information the first time, avoiding additional charges for extra visits or reassigned providers. 

Challenge #3

Overspending on repairs due to ineffective price control system. 

Lacking detailed historical invoice data to set informed not-to-exceed (NTE) price limits, the retailer frequently overspent on repairs. Limited bandwidth also prevented thorough proposal reviews, further undermining cost control.

“NTE optimization was extremely beneficial with huge savings. We are looking at more trades to optimize.“

System Administrator
National Retailer

Solution

ServiceChannel’s Customer Analytics Solutions team performed a comprehensive analysis of the retailer’s historical invoice data, identifying opportunities to reduce NTE price limits while avoiding excessive proposal reviews for optimal results. 

Results

By setting optimal NTE price limits, the retailer saved over $650 on repair expenses per location annually.