AUTHOR ARCHIVES: John Cameron

John Cameron outline some key areas of focus for organisations looking to improve the cash flow of their field service division...

 

---

Is your Service to Cash Cycle a key topic for you?! There is a detailed white paper on this topic which is available for fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

---

Sponsored by:

 

---

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.  

---

 

For equipment dealers and companies that manage large service operations, service-to-cash cycles can be a headache. Indeed, the gap between when a technician is assigned a job to when accounting receives payment and recognises the revenue, can turn out to be one of the most stressful tasks if it is prolonged. Why? Because it can put a squeeze on your cash flow and profits.

Aberdeen Group reports that the average service-to-cash cycle is 34 days, with the best performers able to reduce this to around 26 days.

 

What Causes Long Service to Cash Cycles? 

A recent Trimble study1 amongst equipment dealers and service organisations found that most payment delays will often lie in the service-to-invoice process.

The main reasons for this being:

1. Paper forms are still being used by technicians to capture job details

40 per cent of those surveyed either do not use mobile devices to capture data in the field or are still in the process of rolling it out. If technicians must wait until the end of the day to enter job information, or if back office staff must manually enter job data into a separate billing application, the closing of work orders will be delayed.

2. A lack of visibility into customer data 

When a work order is closed, not having instant access to view customer data, such as discounts, service contracts, warranty info and equipment data may delay the work order process in the back-office.

3. A lack of process automation

When an invoice is generated and sent to the customer, there is a lack of process automation that would otherwise enable invoice creation and email upon work completion. Automated workflows also lack when exceptions occur eg: if additional parts are needed during a repair. 39% of those surveyed admitted that it takes 14-30 days to get an invoice to a customer once the job has been completed.

4. A lack of visibility into job details for the customer

When a customer receives an invoice, there may be little or inconsistent job details added, so the customer disputes it. There may also be no process automation or easy-pay options causing the customer to be dissatisfied and payment is delayed. 48% of those surveyed had no process in place for their customers to pay online.

 

What is the Impact to the Business?

Long service-to-cash cycles tie up excessive amounts of cash for working capital, instead of using that money to grow the business. When the service workflow and cross-departments are not connected, there is no real-time view of what’s going on in the field. What’s more, if paper-based forms are being relied upon to inform billing departments, the service organisation can suffer from both delayed and missed revenue.

For example, all too often, a technician will arrive at a job to find out that there are multiple items that require a fix. He may perform these fixes, run over his allocated time for the job and forgets to jot his extra hours down as he urgently moves on to the next job. This may end up in customers not being billed for all relevant hours, resulting in missed service revenue.

 

How Can You Improve Your Service to Cash Cycles?

Turning service-to-cash starts with identifying obstructions that are holding you back from receiving payment quickly and accurately. These can be identified by mapping out your service workflow, from the back office, through schedule and dispatch, to those out in the field.

Since each customer has different service requirements and service delivery can be complex, connecting your entire service workflow with a flexible and automated solution and following a three-step “manage, mobilise, monitor” process, is vital to making sure that no money is left behind.

Manage

An advanced service workflow solution automates workflows and completely removes the unnecessary and error-prone task of having to manually enter the same information, multiple times, into different systems and duplicating work. Being able to pull up work orders, billing information, parts inventory, service contract information and customer data in real-time, from a single source, gives the customer a more tailored experience in a consistent, professional and timely manner.

It is important to ensure that the service workflow solution is fully integrated with other systems, such as ERP solutions, telematics devices and CRM platforms.

This should include a workflow that communicates in real-time with every other part of the business and allows for streamlined business processes that are repeatable, predictable and instantaneous. When done right, companies get service revenue into their business as quickly as possible.

Mobilise

Equipping technicians with a mobile device out in the field enables them to connect and share real-time information with the back office, customers and equipment. They can capture the exact parts used on a job and change work orders to accurately reflect what services were performed onsite, which means that no profit is left on the table. Additionally, if the technician was able to perform some preventative maintenance at the same time, they wouldn’t need to plan a return trip. Mobile service apps give the technician flexibility to pass this information back to the office at the push of a button.

Monitor

Adding GPS into the equation means that you can verify that technicians are at the job when they say they are. Tracking your technicians through their smart device or vehicle telematics allows you to accurately bill for the amount of time the technician was actually onsite. If a task overruns because its actual complexity wasn’t originally planned for, not only are you able to reschedule the following tasks, but you will also be able to recognise that additional time in the billing process.

The back office can be instantly alerted of job completion through both signature capture on the service app and geofencing to notify that the technician has left the area. This process enables invoice generation automatically, reducing the billing cycle.

---

John Cameron, is General Manager, Trimble Field Service Management 

 

---

Want to know more?! There is a detailed white paper on this topic which is available for fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

---

Sponsored by:

 

---

Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.  

---

 

Be social and share

What are the trends that will have the most impact on field service in 2016? John Cameron, general manager, Trimble Field Service Management,  reveals his top six.

Field service organisations have reached an unprecedented transformative stage, as an array of advanced tools continue to storm the market helping businesses to transform the way that their field service organisation operates.

Last year saw the expansion of the Internet of Things and the widespread introduction of advanced analytics tools to tackle Big Data. These trends will continue into 2016 along with the need for greater integration. Furthermore, with technology development moving so quickly and companies continually having to modernise their solutions to keep up with the competition, 2016 will see an increase in businesses entrusting one provider to deliver all the functionality and modularity they require to manage their work, workers and assets out in the field.

1. The Internet of Everything - The IoT has been on service businesses’ radar for a while, so the trend isn’t exactly new heading into 2016, but as more businesses invest in connected technology, we’ll see it become an established industry best practice. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 26-billion devices other than smartphones, tablets and computers to be connected via the Internet of Things. For field service organisations, connecting equipment with technicians’ mobile devices and the back office in real time is a necessity. Information captured in the field provides diagnostics and performance metrics that mitigate certain issues as well as tracks patterns and trends for long-range planning. The goal is to ensure an intelligent and preventive—not reactive—approach.
2. Predictive Maintenance Will Fuel Field Service Automation - With the predictive power of connected devices, the field service industry will not only take a more predictive/ proactive approach to service, they’ll begin to automate the field service process. For example, sensors in a piece of equipment could automatically trigger a service call when it needs something repaired or it’s due for regular maintenance. Connected devices take the idea of proactive service work — the service business has enough insight to let the customer know when a machine needs a repair before it fails — and automates the process.
3. Making sense of data for improved intelligence - With the majority of field service organisations deploying a vast range of different technologies out in the field, from GPS and vehicle tracking systems to fleet and work management solutions, many are challenged by the vast amount of data they’re collecting back. The ability to analyse and act on this data will continue to trend in the evolution of field services technology. [quote float="left"]Advanced analytics capabilities will allow organisations to execute on information generated from the field to become more efficient and productive.

    

   Advanced analytics capabilities will allow organisations to execute on information generated from the field to become more efficient and productive. Deploying workforce management solutions with sophisticated analytics tools will enable managers to improve operations with real-time visibility into their operations. Data gathered from smarter mobile apps and equipment sensors will provide insights on performance, tasks, service quality, and new products that will enable field service managers to not only keep up with the competition but to step ahead. Analytics will be embedded and pervasive. After all, the value of analytics is in the answers, not the data.
4. Greater Integration - As back office, telematics and workforce management solutions become more integrated with mobile devices, the opportunities to increase efficiency and productivity are growing exponentially. Field service managers can make real-time decisions remotely by accessing vehicle tracking, scheduling and routing on their mobile devices. This allows organisations to mitigate reckless driving incidents, control wear and tear on their fleet and decrease maintenance costs, all from a handheld. Mobile apps will continue to provide critical information such as daily tasks, customer histories, billing, and the locations of nearby teammates on demand for field service technicians. This access to real-time information empowers the technician to make strategic decisions, recruit help from teammates, and complete jobs on-time the first time, resulting in lower operational costs and higher customer satisfaction.
5. The Power of Mobility - The right mobile architecture can solve many of the tactical challenges field service organisations face today: latent customer needs, increased competition, unmitigated churn and worker productivity. To be successful with any mobility deployment, organisations must choose the best field service solution and adopt the implementation best suited for their operation. Gartner has made the following predictions for the state of mobile in field service by 2016:
   • 2/3rds  of the mobile workforce will own a smartphone
   • 40 per cent of the workforce will be mobile
   • Field service organisations will purchase 53 million tablets in 2016
   • Approximately 56 per cent of smartphones purchased by businesses in North America and Europe will be Android devices
   • As more and more organisations use mobile to automate the service process and eliminate duplicate data entry, those who stick with paper methods will get further and further behind
6. One solution, one provider - With technology development moving so quickly and companies continually having to modernise their solutions to keep up with the competition, 2016 will see an increase in businesses entrusting one provider to deliver all the functionality and modularity they require to manage their work, workers and assets. To achieve that, they need robust and flexible end-to-end platforms backed by a reliable provider.

 

---

 

Be social and share this article

Gamification is helping fleet and field service organisations to engage and incentivise their drivers to become more safe and efficient on the roads, says John Cameron, general manager of Trimble Field Service Management.

Careless driving can cost fleet and field service companies thousands or even millions of pounds each year. The UK's Institute of Advanced Motorists’ Drive & Survive division report that 86 per cent of UK fleets have experienced an accident in the past 12 months, and that every fleet has had an accident where one of their drivers was ‘at fault’.

Many organisations look to improve driving behaviour by deploying telematics technology across their vehicle fleets. Whilst the technology has proven benefits, organisations often struggle to reap its full rewards as drivers may not always be fully engaged and motivated to improve their driving performance, mainly due to a lack of interest or incentive.

Demotivation is something many organisations struggle with, not just with initiatives for improving driver safety, but with all business aspects. In order to avoid the pitfalls of demotivation providing employees with recognition at work, regular rewards and a sense of competition amongst peers are all strong motivators.

In recent years, Gamification has come to the fore as a solution able to tap into an employee’s key motivators and sustain them. Indeed, organisations are increasingly calling upon the skills of software developers to apply the appealing traits of computer gaming into their business applications as a way to increase employee participation, engagement and accelerated learning in a business programme or initiative.

What is Gamification and how does it work?
Owning a smart phone or a tablet is a staple in many of our lives today and downloading apps, particularly gaming apps, is becoming ever more frequent. The power of popular games such as Candy Crush and Flappy Bird recently captured the lives of people from all walks of life. Students, businessmen, parents all became addicted to breaking the latest high score at any spare moment they could get. This inherent desire to compete, either with ourselves or others, is embedded within all of us.

In 2010, venture capitalists identified the potential for Gamification to incorporate the social/reward aspects of gaming into business software. This would not just make daily business tasks more enjoyable for employees, but would increase their collaboration and motivation at work to directly benefit the business and achieve company-wide goals.

Gamification and Driver Safety
A significant industry where Gamification has proven successful is in helping fleet and field service organisations to manage driver safety and risk. Being able to operate a safe and efficient fleet of drivers directly impacts the productivity and bottom line of a field operation. However, when it comes to adopting new processes, engaging employees is a notoriously difficult thing to do, especially when it is something as sensitive as monitoring their driver behaviour. Many businesses have therefore begun to implement gaming techniques into driver safety mobile apps to encourage drivers to perform better on the roads.

 

A driver safety mobile app typically records any extreme manoeuvres such as harsh acceleration, braking, turns and speed, the data of which is provided directly to the driver and sent to the back office for analysis. Gamification is integrated in the form of a scorecard that employees can use to record their driving performance. Although the recordings can be both personal and impartial it is the direct feedback that incentivises drivers to compete against themselves, and each other, for the best scores.

It often happens that employees are resistant to new initiatives because they don’t see any personal benefit in adopting them. Organisations therefore emphasise the gaming element of driver safety mobile apps to motivate their drivers, offering them positive recognition and rewards for good driving behaviour. Driver conversations inside an organisation therefore changes from gripes about the new technology to new excitement and collaboration around which team and individual has ranked top for the week and which areas they have improved in.

In order to reinforce focus over the long term, many apps also incorporate daily improvement tips based on an individual’s driving performance. For example, if speeding is proving to be a problem, the app will explain that higher speeds will result in longer stopping distances and excess fuel use, therefore negatively impacting their overall driver safety score.

Gamification ultimately offers a plethora of opportunities to fleet and field service organisations in helping them to motivate their drivers to change behaviours and develop their skills. However, the potential for Gamification doesn’t stop at driver safety. Gaming techniques can be incorporated into business applications both business and industry-wide. The pace at which gaming techniques is being adopted is gaining in momentum and market growth is expected to reach $5,500 billion by 2018.

Whether a company is looking to improve customer engagement, employee performance, training and education, innovation management, personal development, sustainability or health and wellness, organisations can integrate Gamification to help guarantee employees stay fully motivated and committed to achieve business goals.

 

---

 

Be social and share this article

Social media is no longer a simple channel for marketing your products and services it is now very much a recognised and legitmate communication channel for businesses to connect with their customers. John Cameron, General Manager of Trimble Field Service Management explores how and why field service companies should be using social media as part of their customer service strategies...

Over the past few years, the rise of social media platforms has provided consumers with more power than ever and many now take to the mass audiences of Facebook and Twitter to share their opinions on a company’s product or customer service performance. Indeed, the Institute of Customer Service report that there are 38 million active social media profiles in the UK and 1 in 5 social media users have admitted to using a social media channel to communicate with or comment on an organisation.

The increase in online communication has helped to fuel a rise in expectations for service excellence, with consumers increasingly expecting their field service provider to listen to and engage with them immediately over social media or risk damaging their brand reputation.

 

For organisations operating a field service operation, customer service is widely recognised as being the number one business priority with a proven link between customer satisfaction, retention and profitability. In order to meet customer expectations, the need for businesses to include social media as part of their customer service strategies is therefore becoming increasingly essential. Organisations are justified in approaching their social media strategy with some caution, however. Numerous high-profile cases have shown that the public nature of social media can bring risks to corporate reputation, if not managed appropriately and consistently as part of a coherent communications strategy.

The strategic importance of social media

A study recently commissioned by Trimble found that 51% of field service organisations think social media is an effective tool for helping them to manage customer relationships. However, its function is still misunderstood by a number of field service organisations whilst others aren’t as convinced of the potential upside of an online communications program.

The study revealed that 28% of organisations did not know if social media could be an effective tool for helping them to manage customer relationships whilst 21% regarded it to be ineffective. A major reason behind the conflict in opinion lies in how exactly field service organisations leverage social media as part of an online customer service strategy, as there are more effective ways than others to use it for business success.

Using social media for success

The Institute of Customer Service confirms that social media presents a great opportunity for organisations to listen to and engage with their customers on a one-to-one level, but organisations must ensure that they can manage and measure customer interactions seamlessly across a multitude of channels, as customers now expect to be able to communicate with field service organisations through a variety of social media sites of their choosing.

Whilst some organisations are doing a good job at leveraging social media; others are underestimating it and applying the old school approach of ‘marketing at’ customers instead of engaging in conversations that will enhance relationships with them. In order to influence how an organisation is seen by its customers in the social sphere, it must participate in conversations.

Leveraging customer feedback via social media is also key to a successful online customer service strategy. The Trimble study revealed that 42% of field service organisations use the feedback they receive on social media to improve operations and customer service strategies. An Aberdeen Group report similarly found that 56% of top performing field service organisations are more likely to proactively capture feedback from customers regarding their performance as compared to peers. However, the research also found that nearly 15% of field service organisations don’t know what percentage of requests originate in the social sphere as they aren’t monitoring or engaging in support conversations on social media.

 

By not capturing customer feedback, organisations are missing out on the chance to obtain data on the volume, key topics or general sentiment of the content generated by their customers, which could then be leveraged internally to improve relationships with them through enhancing product quality and developing new offerings to meet their needs and expectations.

Social media and the new skills age

The landscape of customer service has shifted in recent years from a transactional economy to a relationship economy where value lies in one-to-one interactions. According to Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, “A ‘personalised service for many’ and a dialogue approach, as opposed to the traditional monologue, is now desired. This power shift has come about, partly due to customers wanting to be more engaged in the customer experience but also because of technology and the rise of social media.”

Indeed, the open platform for communication that social media provides has empowered consumers more than they have ever been to share their customer experience with a field service provider. We are ultimately living in an age where customer service is incredibly important and there has been a big shift within the industry of employing service technicians based on their people skills, over their technical skills.

 

Trimble’s survey found that 35% of field service organisations believe social media use amongst consumers has influenced the need to train, or hire, field technicians with the desirable attributes to deliver a service which meets customers’ expectations.

Demand for staff who have desirable attitudes and attributes for customer service will therefore increase. In particular, there will be a stronger focus on the importance of being empathetic and emotionally intelligent alongside being methodical and patient to deal with the wide variety of customer service relationships and interactions.

For more key findings, expert third party opinion and real-life business experiences on how field service organisations are leveraging social media as part of their customer service strategies download our latest report here: http://ow.ly/TcCO9

 

---

 

Be social and share this feature

Operating a successful field service operation today is a challenging experience. A study recently commissioned by Trimble revealed the main factors UK consumers look for when selecting a field service provider, their expectations and biggest frustrations. John Cameron, General Manager Trimble Field Service Management explains more...

The findings were extremely insightful, revealing that today’s consumers typically expect more and are not shy of complaining, leading field service companies to have to look at new ways to balance service excellence with cost.

Consumers say fix it the first time

Getting a problem fixed on a first visit is the biggest expectation for UK consumers. Indeed, in Trimble’s study, which surveyed 2000 British adults, over half (52 per cent) considered fixing the problem on the first visit to be the most important factor in determining their satisfaction.

However, field service organisations are struggling to fully achieve this as nearly one in four UK consumers report that a return visit is required. Poor inventory and an inexperienced workforce are the most common reasons for this. 40 per cent of UK consumers complain that their technician did not have the appropriate tools or parts to fix the problem on a first visit whilst 27 per cent said that the technician lacked the skills to complete the job.

 

Problems such as this often transpire for field service organisations that schedule daily tasks based on a technician’s allocated territory. However, it is more effective to select the most knowledgeable technician, or one who has the right tools and parts in their vehicle. Adopting intelligent scheduling engines is therefore crucial as they incorporate technician knowledge, parts availability and capacity into the scheduling process to ensure that the technician arriving on site is actually the person who can resolve the customer issue on the first visit.

Short appointment windows a key factor in customer choice

Today’s consumers increasingly expect field service businesses to provide more convenient appointment options to accommodate their busy schedules. However it is apparent that consumers are failing to receive this, as long appointment windows and wait times are considered to be one of the nation’s biggest frustrations with using a field service provider.

In Trimble’s survey, more than 50 per cent considered 1-3 hours to be an acceptable appointment window, yet 36 per cent report experiencing wait times of far longer, in some cases up to eight hours.

By coupling an intelligent scheduling engine with a self-learner tool, field service businesses can look to improve service delivery times through enhanced schedule accuracy, improved productivity and workforce utilisation. The software tool uses a unique algorithm to learn preferences for each technician and will allocate tasks accordingly. This includes which mobile workers normally service particular areas and what skills technicians have and to what degree they are qualified to do certain types of work. The first step to managing productivity requires field service managers to get the right people with the right skills with the right assets to the right place within a set time, and a self-learner tool significantly helps in achieving this.

Price and customer service equally as important

When selecting a field service provider, customer service and price were revealed as being equally as important to UK consumers. Field service organisations must therefore look to balance these if they are to achieve customer satisfaction, retention and profitability.

Over half of UK consumers (55 per cent) said they would refuse to use a service provider again if they were delivered a poor customer experience and with today’s consumers increasingly tech-savvy, it is very easy for them to complain to the masses. If left unhappy, half of consumers would complain formally to the company, 1 in 5 would complain to their technician and 1 in 10 consumers would take to social media to air their woes.

 

Consumers also find lack of communication with a company or service technician prior to arrival to be a major problem and consider being kept up to date on the day about arrival to be the most important factor when selecting a service provider. It is no longer acceptable to say anytime during the day. In fact almost half of consumers have to take annual, sick or unpaid leave to wait for delivery and service.

Field service businesses have a real opportunity to leapfrog the competition by providing excellent service to every customer and technology is available today that can help them to achieve this. The key is making and keeping commitments and then ensuring the customer is informed along the way.

To achieve this, more and more organisations are integrating their work management capabilities into mobile applications, which they can then offer to their technicians to allow them to share, store and view job data while out in the field, offering them a virtual link to the back office that helps to inform and empower them.

The range of information offered through a mobile application can include previous work history of jobs and upcoming work details. For example, if a technician is en-route to a customer, a quick look at service history on a mobile phone can inform them that the customer has complained multiple times to the helpdesk about a product/equipment failure.

This is vital information that can help the technician approach the customer with more care, helping to maintain a good customer service. Furthermore, when a technician reviews and accepts a job within a mobile application, the mobile device’s navigation tool can help them find the most efficient route. The technician can then pull up the customer’s details and call them to confirm when they will be arriving on-site.

The power of technology

To conclude, Trimble’s latest research looking into consumer’s biggest expectations and frustrations with field service providers ultimately suggests that success is achieved by managing productivity and ensuring field service managers get the right people, with the right skills with the right assets to the right place within a set time, whilst keeping the customer informed along the way. Having the appropriate technology in place to achieve this is therefore essential and key to helping businesses meet customer expectations and maintain ongoing brand recognition.

Trimble’s independent study was conducted by OnePoll, a worldwide market research agency. For a summary of the report, visit: http://ow.ly/MdyUU

 

---

 

Be social and share this feature

John Cameron, general manager of Trimble Field Service Management, discusses the importance of leveraging flexible fleet options to better serve the needs of an increasingly dynamic field service workforce

There are a plethora of technologies on the market today that enable fleet and field services businesses to measure, record and analyse every aspect of their field operation; from knowing where their drivers are to controlling fuel costs, ensuring drivers' safety and working to keep customers satisfied through intelligent scheduling.

Traditionally, in-vehicle telematics devices have proven successful in helping businesses that operate large vehicle fleets to manage and measure their field operations. However, with ever increasing customer expectations and rising competition in service, the dynamics of today’s field service workforce are changing to adapt to these demands. Contractor workforces are becoming much more of a necessity for organisations, to help keep pace with the speed and quality of service and achieve cost-effective resource management and as such leased or employee owned vehicles are becoming much more prevalent.

 

As a result, the need for more flexible fleet options is required to ensure all workers and vehicles are managed effectively in order to optimise the workflow and meet service commitments. Indeed, Aberdeen Group report that over half of organisations that have a hybrid workforce (both contractor and non-contractor) have prioritised further investment in technology tools which enable better field access information.

Managing a flexible workforce

Service organisations have become more open to diversifying their workforces with contractors because they know, if managed correctly, there will be no drop off in performance. Such a workforce offers field service organisations a myriad of benefits. These include, flexibility for service resources, increased coverage, a reduction in service costs and increased quality as a result of allowing the organisation to focus on core competencies while not being stretched too thin to meet customer needs.

Plug and play solutions are suitable for businesses that often lease vehicles or use contractor workforces. Such a solution can be easily installed and removed, can be moved between vehicles, is low-cost and offers the same benefits as traditional wired-in fleet management solutions. Real-time location information, driver behaviour data, vehicle fault codes and vehicle status can all be recorded offering the real-time visibility and insight organisations need to measure, manage and improve their operations.

 

Many plug and play solutions can also be integrated with work management solutions which can offer optimised scheduling and job dispatch so a business can have complete visibility of their jobs and mobile workers alongside their fleet, all in one solution.

This access to information empowers field workers with the customer and service insight at their fingertips necessary to resolve issues quickly no matter what type of worker they are.

Fostering fleet flexibility through mobility

Aberdeen Group recently found that 82 per cent of field service organisations identified mobility as a strategic initiative for the service operation in the next 12 months, as a tool to empower the field with real-time intelligence to make decisions and resolve issues to better serve the customer.

Indeed, an increasing number of field service businesses are integrating their work management capabilities into mobile applications, which they can then offer to their technicians to allow them to share, store and view job data while out in the field, offering them a virtual link to the back office that helps to inform and empower them. Contractor workers or employees who use their own vehicles can also benefit from the use of mobile apps, if initially provisioned in to the back end system.

The range of information offered through a mobile application can include previous work history of jobs and upcoming work details. For example, if a technician is en-route to a customer, a quick look at service history on a mobile phone can inform them that the customer has complained multiple times to the helpdesk about a product/equipment failure. This is vital information that can help the technician approach the customer with more care, helping to maintain a good customer service. Furthermore, when a technician reviews and accepts a job within a mobile application, the mobile device’s navigation tool can help them find the most efficient route. Helping to reduce fuel consumption and travel time. From a service perspective, the technician can then pull up the customer’s details and call them to confirm when they will be arriving on-site.

 

Ultimately, fleet and field service businesses are constantly changing the way that they operate to keep up with the needs of the market. Fostering complete visibility of a workforce will always be a main priority but more flexible fleet options need to be adopted today in order to achieve this across an increasingly dynamic field service workforce. Contractor workforces, leased workers and vehicles and employees that use their own vehicles for work are all becoming prevalent as each offers their own benefits for helping businesses to improve efficiency and boost their bottom line. Building flexibility into a work day and having access to ‘flexible’ technologies that provides the same level of visibility to measure and manage operations as traditional in-vehicle telematics devices are therefore vital to operational success.

 

---

 

Be social and share this story

Today, the ultimate goal of field service excellence is to respond quickly to customer needs, whatever they may be and it takes four criteria to meet this goal: Be on time, allow enough time to do the job, have the right skills and bring the right equipment. Trimble Field Service Management's General Manager John Cameron explains more...

For the mobile technician, an increased importance has been put on their role to the overall success of the organisation, as they are quite often the only interaction a customer will have with the business. This has led to the search for new ways to empower technicians and equip them with the right tools that allow them to excel at their jobs, through improved communication, collaboration, data sharing and integration.

 

Recent research from Aberdeen Group[1] found that 82 per cent of field service organisations identified mobility as a strategic initiative for the service operation in the next 12 months, as a tool to empower the field with real-time intelligence to make decisions and resolve issues to better serve the customer. Companies that understand how to strategically leverage mobility solutions stand to drive efficiencies, improve customer service and benefit from a more profitable bottom line.

 

With field-based work becoming increasingly complex and time-sensitive, more and more businesses are beginning to focus on the proliferation of mobile solutions, integrated with back-end field service solutions, to help manage field operations and provide the mobile workforce with the real-time knowledge needed to make better, more intelligent decisions while in the field.

The Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) has huge potential for the field service industry. It enables devices that are equipped with sensors, hardware and software to be networked together through the internet, where they can communicate with one another and send and receive data. Machine-to-machine (M2M) technology is already helping field service companies to find out about issues before they occur through this development but the IoT is said to go beyond M2M and represents the ‘next generation’ for field service, connecting not just with machines but with systems, people and other things.

For example, IoT allows field service companies to gain greater insight into the status and health of their assets remotely, enabling a smarter approach to proactive and preventive maintenance. Sensors can be integrated into their devices in the field which can yield a huge amount of data on diagnostics, measurements, temperature and overall conditions, all of which is instrumental in preventing equipment failure, scheduling maintenance and improving safety. The same principle applies for condition-based maintenance. Businesses will be able to become better at it as they will have access to more and better information in the first place.

Mobile apps

There are a number of different approaches a business can take in order to create a mobile application strategy, one of the most common being to develop them internally with mobile app development tools. At its core, mobile applications provide technicians with the ability to share, store and view job data while out in the field, offering them a virtual link to the back office that helps to inform and empower them.

 

Having full visibility of a field operation is a key success factor and mobile applications that can offer visibility into the status, location and performance of field assets (technicians, parts, equipment etc) help technicians considerably in getting to the right place at the right time with the information they need to do their job correctly the first time. A number of mobile applications on the market today also provide added value to the field worker by enabling them to easily locate and contact nearby co-workers if they need assistance on a job or require advice on solving a problem. By having the tools to work more collaboratively, resolution is more likely to be reached first-time, helping to increase worker productivity and effectiveness.

 

The plethora of information offered through mobile applications can include previous work history of jobs and upcoming work details. For example, if a technician is en-route to a customer, a quick look at service history on a mobile phone can inform them that the customer has complained multiple times to the helpdesk about a product/equipment failure. This is vital information that can help the technician approach the customer with more care, helping to maintain a good customer service. Furthermore, when a technician reviews and accepts a job within a mobile application, the mobile devices’ navigation tool can help them find the most efficient route. Helping to reduce fuel consumption and travel time. From a service perspective, the technician can then pull up the customer’s details and call them to confirm when they will be arriving on-site.

Mobility solutions: What to choose?

There are a multitude of mobile devices on the market today that help technicians get to the right place on time, fix the customer’s problem the first time, and move on to the next task. The problem field service organisations face is choosing the right technology for their field based workers.

Ruggedised devices continue to evolve as mobile technology improves and have proven successful in helping field workers to complete their daily tasks. Such devices can be used in the harshest of environments and enable scanning packages, diagnostics, checking customer records, invoicing and delivery confirmation, among other tasks.

As the lines between consumer and business technology continue to merge, non-rugged tablets and smartphones have also broken into the field service marketplace. Tablets tend to be larger than smartphones and therefore engineers may find it easier to view and input job details. At the same time, smartphones offer the portability factor.

The ‘Bring Your Own Device’ debate has received much coverage in the service sector and has arguably been dubbed as being the only way forward for businesses looking to compete effectively and offer the most efficient customer service and increased employee satisfaction.

 

Simply, ‘Bring Your Own Device’ refers to employees having the ability to connect their own technical devices, such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, to their company’s network instead of using a device owned by the company. Uptake of BYOD had been relatively slow in the field service industry but recent years have seen an influx of workers bringing their own personal devices into their work environment to use in their everyday jobs and the advantages, both to the organisation and the employee, are significant.

 

For the field service organisation, it creates new opportunities for the business by increasing the number of tech-savvy and mobile-application users in the workforce. For the employee, they have taken a personal choice to use the technology and are familiar with it. This in turn will lead to increased satisfaction and productivity whilst eliminating the need for technical support and training costs for the business.

Mobility solutions: Capturing the insight

When a field service organisation deploys a mobile strategy, the wealth of data captured around technician performance, customer data, vehicle location, work order status etc. is not enough to make intelligent business decisions. It is how that data is analysed and turned into usable information that is what will really make a difference. For this reason, data captured through mobile devices must be tied into other systems within the organisation’s technology infrastructure, if not it will get lost. Indeed, Aberdeen Group found the top strategic action for 62 per cent of best-in-class field service organisations to be to improve data integration between the field and back office systems[2].

Aberdeen Group’s research also found that best-in-class field service organisations are 49 per cent more likely than peers to integrate data from mobile devices with back-end systems, such as ERP and CRM[3]. This integration will then allow other departments, such as sales, marketing and engineering to benefit from the field insights captured and maximise its value.

 

For example, customer and equipment data has the ability to spark insights into new products, services and campaigns, which benefit the organisation in revenue opportunities. This interaction also helps customers get access to products and services that will help improve their productivity and business goals. Service is ultimately a partnership between the customer and the organisation and without the use of captured data, the opportunity to evolve will be lost.

 

Ultimately, having a mobility strategy in place allows for better empowerment, data sharing and collaboration out in the field. For the field worker, they are provided with the best possible support and are able, themselves, to make use of the real-time information and knowledge to make the right decisions while on the move. As a result, they are better positioned to resolve issues first-time and deliver the best service they can.

For more information on how to drive an agile, dynamic field service operation through the adoption of mobile solutions, download Aberdeen Group Senior Research Analyst Aly Pinder’s recent report, Empowering the Mobile Worker with Real-Time Insight and Data Integration, here.  The report provides insight into how top performers provide technicians with the right information in the field, integrate data captured in the field with back office systems (via mobile apps) and excel at delivering resolution and not just a response.

[1] Aberdeen Group, Empowering the mobile worker with real-time insight and data integration, 2014

[2] Aberdeen Group: Service Mobility: The right technology for the tech, 2014

[3] Aberdeen Group: Service Mobility: The right technology for the tech, 2014

Managers have access to more performance data than ever before but simply don’t know how to use it to drive operational efficiency. Trimble Field Service Management's John Cameron explains...

A high-performance culture is the heartbeat of any successful organisation however managing business performance levels effectively can be challenging.

As the business adage goes, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” and this has never been truer – especially when it comes to the performance of field service organisations.

A field service operation is extremely dynamic and often unpredictable. Each day, managers are faced with complex issues which require fast action. However lack of real-time visibility into what is actually happening out in the field can result in managers making poor decisions; directly impacting the performance level of their mobile workforce.

In order to develop new strategies which will improve operational decision-making and drive future performance, field service managers must begin to utilise instant and accurate information about key trends occurring in the field. Real-time data about why a service window wasn’t met, how many planned jobs were left incomplete, duration of tasks and which technicians are performing well, can all be used to drive service performance levels. By using in-depth insight, managers are able to effectively transform the way work is planned, allocated, managed, reported and evaluated.

Field service managers have access to more data than ever before. But are they actually using it effectively to measure service levels so they can improve operational performance? The simple answer is no. Often field service managers view big data as simply too big or too fast to manage and analyse. They have large quantities of data but simply don’t know what it means or how to use it to help manage performance.

Fortunately, advancements in performance management analytics technology are taking the complexity out of big data analysis. By providing greater visibility and enhanced analytics capabilities, the technology helps field service managers monitor the productivity of their operations while at the same time analysing key trends in order to optimise the way they operate.

Based on actual location data, technology can generate and customise digestible reports that showcase the key measures including quality of service, statistics for individual workers, actual tasks completed against the total time of the working day, actual against estimated task duration, total tasks completed, total fuel usage and distance travelled.

By adopting performance management analytics technology, the field service manager is able to quickly identify what is preventing their workforce from completing more jobs. Managers can look at regions, teams and even individual workers by job type and performance to gain insight into how to improve the utilisation and productivity of their staff.

Aberdeen Group, a leading analyst firm, has found that best-in-class companies were more than 35 per cent more likely to use workforce management solutions such as performance management tools to optimise resources and workforce processes. Aberdeen Group says laggards need to act now and start to automate the management of their workforce in order to catch up with the efficiency and enhanced response times of best-in-class companies.

 

Driving productivity and performance has been on the top of boardroom agendas for years and this is still certainly the case in the field service industry. A recent survey by the Service Council, a research and advisory company, reaffirms this fact with the study finding performance management and visibility continue to top the list of key business concerns.

Reassuringly, developments in technology have meant that businesses now have a way of addressing these concerns directly. Managers can collect, analyse and report operational performance based on data they can trust and generate real value from the information to make educated decisions that positively impact their businesses bottom line.

This increased insight also means that not only are field service managers provided with the ability to constantly learn from day-to-day experiences, but all the relevant stakeholders across different business units have the salient information they need to manage the daily performance of the organisation. Such performance analysis can also help feed into strategic business planning on targets, budgets and resourcing.

Knowing what is happening in the field and having the ability to measure its effectiveness is crucial to delivering higher levels of service excellence. As a result, business leaders need to start exploring new and cost-effective ways to manage and optimise the performance of their workforce. Investment in technology is the first logical step. Technology has the power to place the right information in the right hands to ensure the right decisions are made which will ultimately foster a high-performance culture that guarantees short- and long-term business success.

Over recent months, recruitment in the field service market has boomed, with a wealth of opportunities now on offer for field service engineers, managers, representatives as well as specialist roles. John Cameron, general manager, Trimble Field Service Management (FSM) looks a little deeper into this trend...

In line with this boom, field service organisations are seeking a new type of worker, one which has the necessary technical ability to carry out skilled and complex work but which also has the interpersonal attributes to deal with, and build a relationship with, the customer.

Trimble recently released a report, ’Transforming Service Delivery 2014 – An Insight Report’, which investigates the most pressing issues affecting fleet and field service organisations today. Interestingly, the report found customer centricity to be at the heart of field service business’ strategies and highlighted an era in field service where customer satisfaction, retention and profitability are intrinsically linked. As a result, organisations are revolutionising their strategies in order to conform to growing customer expectations.

A direct impact of this has been the role of the field service worker, which has shifted from one of operational necessity to strategic importance. Why this shift? Because today’s customer values one-to-one interactions and with the field service worker often being the only contact a customer will have with a company, the quality of service and information the field worker provides can be the only way for customers to measure the integrity, credibility, effectiveness and overall brand promise of the service-based organisation.

The emergence of a ‘new’ field service worker

Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service and third party expert cited in Trimble’s report, has found that having well trained and professional employees who are genuinely empowered to do their jobs is something that customers truly value.

“The biggest change we’ve seen in customer service,” Jo Causon explains, “is the move from a transactional economy to the relationship economy where value lies in one-to-one interactions and service leaders prevail in the marketplace. In a relationship economy companies that excel in customer service are increasingly able to cross into and disrupt marketplaces with a common purpose of changing the rules of engagement with the consumer and the employee, raising expectations of, and commitment to, service.”

With this shift, the skills agenda is becoming increasingly important as customers expect a greater level of engagement and real understanding of their needs. “Those organisations that concentrate on developing relationships rather than transactions will be the ones that are able to drive greater loyalty and commitment,” says Jo. “The types of new skills sets required are the ability to combine strong emotional intelligence, commercial acumen and technological awareness. All of which will be integral in an environment which is increasingly complex. There will be a growing challenge for organisations to bring together the required skills in order to deliver service experiences that are simple and intuitive and run across the organisation.”

Field service organisations therefore need to ask themselves when they are recruiting, are the individuals they are interviewing those who have not only the technical skills to do the field service role but also the  required emotional intelligence to make the connection with the customer.

 

Will Sambrook managing director of The Akenham Partnership and an additional expert cited in Trimble’s report, says of field service organisations, “I think a lot of organisations are often guilty of wanting people, especially young people, to arrive at the workplace ‘ready’ for the work and the culture and it’s not as simple as that.

“Businesses need to do more to engage with the colleges and schools showing students what they can expect from an organisation like theirs. What they can do in terms of getting themselves ready, demonstrate where their career can go in their industry.”[quote float="right"]Aberdeen found best-in-class companies were 35% more likely to use workforce management solutions such as performance management tools to optimise resources and workforce management processes.

 

But it is not just new starters in a company that need to be considered.  It is essential that any changes being implemented to an organisation, whether it is rolling out new technology or processes or ways of working, are communicated thoroughly to the existing workforce. Engagement is essential for a successful outcome. Employees need to be fully prepared so that a culture can be fostered in which they understand the changes, why they are needed and how to embrace them.

Will Sambrook adds, “Board engagement is absolutely essential. But it is important that Boards do not believe they have to be all-seeing, all-doing or all-acting. Their role is much more about creating the line of sight, from the Board strategy to what’s happening in the organisation; the processes, the people, their engagement with the customer – everything is aligned.”

Retaining top performers

In terms of field service workers it is not just about focussing on those being recruited or going through change but also managing those in the business and doing the job every day. Best-in-class organisations understand the ramifications of having an undertrained, underqualified workforce. When a company sends a field service worker on a service call, the worker needs to resolve the issue the first time. According to Aberdeen, however, 26% of cases are not resolved on the first visit, requiring additional follow up visits. While this is not all down to skillset, it nonetheless erodes customer confidence and can reflect the need for worker training.

One way managers of field based workforces can manage performance is through the use of workforce management solutions which provide capabilities to evaluate field worker performance and determine who delivers the best results. Once managers identify best-in-class workers they should do what they can to retain them. Aberdeen found best-in-class companies were 35% more likely to use workforce management solutions such as performance management tools to optimise resources and workforce management processes.

For more information on the transforming landscape of customer service and associated change and skills gap download Trimble’s latest industry report, ‘Transforming Service Delivery: An Insight Report’ via the following link: www.trimble.com/fsm/insightreport