Describe service-based business with examples.
Answers
Answer+Explanation:
I used the web in very early 2000 to dramatically change the way that my small business processed auto claims.
Prior to then, we operated a primarily phone and fax-based service to act as the go-between for our corporate customers and a network of auto body shops who repaired their crashed autos under our watchful eyes.
But, after a few years in this business, quadrupling in size yet never making money, I eventually realized that we could never hit our break-even point this way. Every time we added more customers, we had to add even more call center and technical (appraisal) staff.
Luckily our system wasn't Y2K compliant, so we had to do a complete rebuild and stumbled upon the idea of web-enabling our network of auto body shops and licensed independent body appraisers.
Within 3 months the system was built and rolled out, the phone calls and faxes stopped coming in, our headcount reduced by 30%, our customer service metrics went through the roof, and we became very profitable.