ServiceNow helps Interstate Batteries power up its service mindset

Interstate Batteries creates visibility across the systems necessary to maintain service to its customer base, linking customer service workflows with application and IT performance.

A powerhouse of the battery market

Interstate Batteries is a powerhouse of the North American battery market, the number one provider of replacement automotive batteries in the US. It operates through a network of 250 wholesale warehouses, more than 200,000 dealers, and 200 All Battery Center franchise stores. It boasts a product range of more than 12,000 types of batteries. The business was founded in 1952, is based in Dallas, Texas, and has 1,400 employees.

Delivering a world-class service experience

Interstate Batteries manages a fast-moving, complex, national operation. The company deals with both customers and trade, across thousands of product lines. The IT function manages more than 180 legacy applications, all geared to supporting the customer—from logistics to procurement to invoicing. It wants to make sense of this complexity to, in the company’s words, “proactively meet and exceed customer expectations by delivering a world class service experience.”

Connecting the service dots 

The adoption of ServiceNow Customer Service Management and ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management links customer service with application and IT performance. It creates visibility across the systems necessary to maintain service to Interstate Batteries’ customer base. It enables Interstate Batteries to establish, for the first time, consistent SLAs around outages and incident management, and to provide an initial response to queries within 48 hours, three times faster than previously. 

Clarity around service engagements

The engagement transforms Interstate Batteries’ ability to pull meaningful data from the system. Where the previous approach, at best, required multiple spreadsheets, ServiceNow establishes a single pane of glass. 

“It allows us to be more detailed and more proactive in our communication with customers,” says Gary Mallett, Senior Production Control Engineer, Interstate Batteries. “Previously, service tickets could disappear into a black hole.”

Accelerating the service excellence journey

Interstate Batteries recognizes service excellence is a journey. The ongoing challenge will be to open up ServiceNow to new parts of the business, and to win new users. “As soon as ServiceNow landed in the enterprise it was our ambition to make greater use of the platform across all areas of the business,” says Rafique. “It provides the tools to modernize paper-based processes—and we have the support of the CIO.”

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