Service transformation doesn’t start with tools. It starts with how people think.
Author Nick Saraev
Photo: Freepik
That was the core message of Lars Möller’s keynote, in which he laid out a practical, proven path for turning service from a reactive obligation into a proactive value driver.
Möller’s team focused on mindset, structure, and clarity. What emerged was a repeatable and scalable approach to changing how service is delivered and how it’s perceived.
A Shift in Identity: From Fixers to Value Creators
Too often, service is seen as backup. Something that kicks in after a product fails or a customer complains. But Möller urged leaders to rethink this model entirely.
His organisation challenged that outdated view by asking simple but powerful questions:
- What role does service play in the overall customer experience?
- How can it contribute to product development?
- And what does “good” look like for a service team?
Answering those questions meant redefining service as something that prevents problems rather than reacts to them. It also meant empowering teams to own outcomes, not just complete tasks.
Step One: Clean It Up
Möller opened with the idea that successful service transformation begins with structure. If data is scattered, processes are inconsistent, or inspections are treated as afterthoughts, no amount of technology will help.
So the first step was to clean things up. That included:
- Standardising inspection routines
- Defining clear reporting formats
- Eliminating outdated or inconsistent practices
This wasn’t just housekeeping. It created the foundation for meaningful change. Teams could now compare results across markets, spot patterns, and share findings with confidence.
Möller’s message was clear: structure doesn’t kill agility. It enables it.
Step Two: Fill It Up
Once reporting and inspection workflows were cleaned up, it was time to put that system to use.
That meant training technicians to capture insights during warranty periods. Not just ticking boxes, but observing, recording, and escalating issues that could become larger problems later.
These insights were routed back to product teams and engineering. This kind of upstream feedback helped:
- Reduce unnecessary warranty costs
- Prevent repeat failures
- Influence product improvements based on real usage
Service was no longer just fulfilling obligations but shaping what came next.
Step Three: Speed It Up
With a clear system in place and valuable data flowing through it, Möller’s team moved to improve speed and responsiveness.
That didn’t mean rushing. It meant eliminating delays caused by ambiguity or silos.
Regular reviews were set up to ensure learnings from inspections were acted upon. Frontline teams were given clearer guidelines and more autonomy to act on what they saw.
Instead of fixing the same issue over and over, teams were empowered to address root causes and push those insights forward.
The three-step framework of clean it up, fill it up, speed it up, became the engine of their transformation.
Raising the Bar on Inspections
Möller spent time explaining how inspections had been undervalued for too long.
They were often treated as formalities or insurance requirements. But his organisation viewed them as early-warning systems and learning tools.
By redesigning inspection routines to focus on real-world risks, Möller’s team turned them into assets. Technicians were trained to spot early signs of wear, misuse, or design issues and report them using defined digital formats.
These reports were then integrated with installed base data and analysed for patterns.
What emerged wasn’t just a better inspection process but a reliable flow of insight across teams.
Feedback That Goes Somewhere
One of the biggest problems in most service organisations is the gap between what’s happening in the field and what leaders see.
Technicians flag the same issues repeatedly, and customers complain about recurring problems. But unless that information is captured and escalated in a structured way, it rarely leads to change.
Möller addressed this directly.
He described how his organisation built a system to close the loop. That included:
- Digital reporting tools that ensured consistency
- Review meetings across functions to share findings
- Tagging and sorting issues in ways that made trend detection easier
The result was a feedback system that stored information and also activated it.
And because this information came from real-world service events, it carried weight.
Service as a Cultural Lever
Möller clearly delivered the message that that none of this works unless culture supports it.
Tools are useful and processes matter, but the identity of the service team is what shapes outcomes.
So his team invested in culture with the same seriousness they gave to data or KPIs. That meant:
- Celebrating service successes internally
- Giving technicians more decision-making responsibility
- Training new hires with a customer-first mindset
Importantly, Möller didn’t frame culture as an HR issue. He treated it as a leadership responsibility and one that directly impacted performance, engagement, and results.
When people see service as a source of pride, not just a series of tasks, everything changes.
What the Rest of the Organisation Can Learn
This wasn’t just a service story. Möller’s keynote offered lessons that apply across the organisation.
- Aligning around a clear purpose drives better decisions
- Empowered people deliver better experiences
- Structured feedback loops improve products faster
He showed that when service processes are clearly defined, when training reinforces expectations, and when feedback is used to improve, every function benefits.
Final Thought: Practical Over Flashy
There was no hype in Möller’s presentation and no grand platform announcements.
Instead, there was a structured and grounded approach to making service work better for everyone involved. Focusing on mindset and reinforcing culture allowed his organisation to prove that service transformation doesn’t need to be flashy; it just needs to be real.
And in a time when many companies are looking for the next big thing, Möller’s message stood out. Start with the basics, then build.
