AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Kris Oldland

Ron Bucher, Director Worldwide Customer Support, AccuVein has been managing customer support for over 30 years in a wide variety of hi-tech companies in organisations both with and without field service and as such has an extensive and broad experience – so his forthcoming presentation at Field Service USA speaking on the challenge of separating product sales and post sales service is a session set to be full of deep insight.

Looking ahead of the conference Kris Oldland spoke with him about the challenges he will be addressing…

“What I have observed over the years is that for a lot of companies in any high-tech sector there is a certain amount of post sales account management required as all products have problems.” Bucher begins as we discuss why he has chosen to focus on the importance of ensuring product sales representatives don’t get absorbed into the post sales support process.

“In many companies the product sales representatives can get very consumed in managing post sales product issues and I believe almost all companies hire sales people to sell product and not to act as customer support managers.”

“So there is a hidden cost to every sales organisation if the service organisation is not managing all of those post-sales product support issues,” he explains.

Of course this issue, which is indeed a prevalent one, not only impacts the sales division’s efficiency but also can somewhat counter-intuitively negatively impact on the service department as well.

“Sales people tend not to be that experienced or effective in managing post-sales product support issues in a way that is optimal for the company – if they don’t understand the service process or the product, they can actually make the situation worse when they are involved in this process,” Bucher continues.

“The theme here really is if you can improve your customer support organisation  so that sales people don’t have to get involved in post-sales product support issues it is a win-win for the sales organisation, the service organisation and the company.”

One school of thought is that extended warranties and service contracts should be sold at that point of sale with the product as a solution, so once that is all in place it is easier for the post-sales customer service teams and the account management teams to make sure that everything does run smoothly for the customer. This is an approach that Bucher firmly supports.

“The best contribution any product sales rep can make to ensuring their customers are happy and ensuring their customers get the best post-sales support is to sell them a service agreement up front with the product,” he explains.

 

“Customers who have service support agreements are happier customers,” he adds.

“The reason is that when they do have problems it’s much less hassle for them. If a product is out of warranty, virtually all product companies will charge very high prices to fix an out of warranty product and the service level will be akin to ‘we will get to it when we can.’”

“It’s a world of difference to a customer, if they have that service agreement or   if they don’t. Customers don’t expect any product to be perfect, they expect every  product to fail at some time. What they really get disappointed at is how the problem is handled once the product has failed.”

“It is very easy for a customer up front to say ‘oh I don’t need a service agreement we’ll take our chances’ but that is the customer shooting themselves in the foot. A really good sales rep will explain to their customer what their experience will look like after the warranty expires if they don’t buy a service agreement and what their experience will be if they do buy a service agreement.”

“Customers buy a service agreement to eliminate and prevent pain.  It is not just an insurance policy – it is a higher level of service that you will get,” he concludes.

However, perhaps one significant barrier to adopting an approach that marries product and service sales is ingrained in the mind sets of many product sales reps.

Whilst, as Bucher explains customers do expect a device to fail, could it be that in building up the value of their product many product sales people just don’t want to admit that this is the case?

In focussing on talking up the reliability of a device as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or differentiator against the competition, do some product sales reps lead themselves up a blind alley from which they can’t back down at the last minute and say … but when it does actually break we have a service package…  is a reluctance by product sales reps to acknowledge that the device they are selling can fail part of the problem?

“They don’t want the customer thinking anything negative about the product while they are waiting for the customer to send them a PO for a purchase,” Bucher agrees.

“One way around that is to sell them the product and then come back to them again within 90 days to sell them a service agreement. A lot of high-tech companies will consider that to be a service agreement sold at the time of product sales if it‘s within 90 days of the product sale. So the sales rep still gets the commission as long as it’s within that period.”

 

However, an alternative approach is for product and service should be sold by separate teams, which Bucher sees as the optimum approach.

“Selling service is very different to selling product, as one of my colleagues used to say selling service is like selling the invisible,” he begins.

“The most successful model that I’ve personally had experience with is where the product sales and service sales are owned by separate teams. We hired an experienced commission sales rep, who was dedicated to telesales for service sales only and he worked with the individual territory reps who sold the product and that was by far the most successful model I’ve ever seen.”

“You do need someone selling service that a) enjoys commission sales and b) really does understand the service proposition and 80 to 90% of product sales people don’t really have the time to understand the value proposition of a service agreement and if you don’t understand it you can’t sell it.”

Although, whilst organisations can take steps to separate the sales and support functions, it is another challenge to get customers to follow suit.

One of the challenges which leads to sales reps being dragged into the support process, is that a good sales rep will take pride in building his relationships and won’t want post-sales product issues to put those relationships at risk. This can often result with the sales rep being positioned as the go to guy for the customer.

But if the service support structure isn’t strong enough that can lead to the sales rep having their focus directed in an unproductive place.

“You can’t blame the sales rep for getting involved if the service organisation is not strong enough to solve these problems on their own,” Bucher comments.

“I walked into a situation like at that at one point in my career where the top sales guy was spending 80% of his time managing post-sales product issues when I came in.”

“I started in a company where the company really understood the value in post-sales product support and really invested heavily in it. The sales reps never had to be involved after the product sale, and that was the school that I learned in and I took that learning to practically every company afterwards.”

 

“Sales people really don’t want to manage post-sales issues but if they feel like that are forced to they’ll do it because they have relationships with these customers, sometimes long lasting personal relationships and they’re going to do what they’ve got to do to make sure the customer is happy, so this is a two way street between service and sales.”

“My message to service managers is ‘if you think sales people aren’t very good at managing post sales product issues and sometimes make things worse, it is incumbent on you to make your service organisation strong enough so they don’t have to get involved.”

“The key take-away here is that your company could sell a lot more product if the sales reps are not involved in post sales service issues. And that’s a take-away not just for service managers but also for CEOs. Sadly, a lot of CEOs are spending sales resources on post-sales product support when they don’t even know it,” Bucher asserts.

However, whilst the issue is a considerable challenge, it can be overcome insists Bucher.

“It really is possible to run your customer support organisation in a manner where the customer would rather come to your group rather than the product sales guy - it takes a lot of work, first of all you’ve got to recognise the value of doing it,” he explains.

“You can’t just hire technicians. You’ve got to hire people who are not only good at fixing the product but are even better at fixing the customers. You’ve got to have people who have exceptional communication skills, they have to have exceptional personal relationship skills and they’ve got to be able to talk with vice presidents as well as they can technicians.”

“If you can hire those kind of people then you will be hiring people that will be doing the post-sales account management that consumes so many sales people.”

And while it sounds like a tough ask, Bucher clearly stresses that it is still possible.

“I run into customer support leaders who say you can’t find people who have all that. I’ve done it, in fact I’ve done that my whole career, I even lived that as a field service technician myself.”

“Tell me it’s difficult, I’ll agree with you, tell me it’s really difficult, I’ll agree with you, but tell me it’s impossible? I’ll show you it's not.”

 

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Kris Oldland speaks exclusively to Marne Martin, CEO ServicePower on the recent sale of the business to Diversis and ask her what does this mean for the future direction of her company...

KO: It’s been a real period of innovation and growth for you over the last couple of years, with the launch of NexusTM plus the investment on patents such as the work you’ve done in quantum annealing. So what was it that attracted Diversis to invest in you - was it a case of they just wanted access to the growing field service sector or was it more about being in line with the direction in which you were already headed?

MM: Firstly, it was an interesting financial opportunity for them because there is a disconnect between the valuations in the US for companies that are innovating and growing, those that have a national presence, versus what we were seeing on the A market - so there was a financial rationale.

But the real thing that they ultimately believe in, is in companies that have great products, companies that have core differentiators in their market.

They’d been interested in field service for some time - as you know it’s a hot sector and when they saw the use case of what we’d been able to do with Nexus and the wider service management tools...  plus also quantum annealing and taking that towards predictive maintenance, and then spare parts forecasting in the future and thinking about the journey we’ve been on in starting our intelligent customer portal as well... it was really just too good for them to pass up. 

They’ve been really passionate about investing in us, and in pushing us to continue to develop truly great products and as such they’ve brought in operational technical advisors as well as some other consultants, who are helping us to look further and have more functions in the next generation UX/user experiences and then tying the platform functions together more seamlessly, so the user experience is better and more automated.

KO: Of course, the one question that has to be asked with any acquisition is will it be a case of business as usual under a different name, or will there be a changing of the guard in terms of personnel and direction?

MM: I told them when we were doing our due diligence, I felt that we were 75% and we were really looking for someone to get us to 100% of where we saw the opportunity in the sector not just for the current but in the future.

[quote float="left"]I felt that we were 75% and we were really looking for someone to get us to 100% of where we saw the opportunity in the sector not just for the current but in the future.

There will be perhaps some refinement, we are no longer going to be focussing generally on the smaller end of the market from now on, at least not in the US - we are refining the focus towards the mid-market and enterprise space, but that is already pretty much where we were anyway.

 

With Nexus, we’re going to be rolling that functionality out to the core product and we will be transitioning the branding so rather than have all these product names we are going to have modular functionality that are all basically connected to the Nexus mobility and Service Management platform.

So all of the new UIs will be coded in that look and feel, we’ll tie in the mobile with the angular JS front end and we will still have the robust back-end. We are making it more seamless but also more configurable. The message from Diversis is yes it’s still business as usual but they are helping us to accelerate our own trajectories.

KO: Is the recent amount of investment we have seen in the industry - with yourselves, ServiceMax, ClickSoftware and IFS all having been acquired within a period of 18 months an indication of how important service is becoming in the wider world of global commerce?

MM: Absolutely. I think there are two things, firstly there is a lot of money floating around - the only way people make money is by investing, so you do have a lot of money in private equity that they are trying to put to work and that definitely is a factor here.

[quote float="right"]Field service really is the engine for growth in a business.... If you look at CRM and ERP players they are not really doing that much true innovation

It used to be that a lot of the larger endowments or high-net worth family funds might invest in public equity but because valuations have been somewhat volatile, many of those type of investors have actually become backers of private equity funds. That gives more money to PE investors plus the expectation that they are actually going to invest. So that’s one half of the story... 

 

But the second half is that field service really is the engine for growth in a business.

If you look at CRM and ERP players they are not really doing that much true innovation and that’s where if you had the ability to drive return on investment in terms of productivity plus additional revenue in the service arm and you start looking at what we call the e-commerce opportunity - how you can actually build customer prioritisation into your service model?

 

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TIS are an East Midlands based Fire, Security & Communications Specialist providing system integration, repair and maintenance services to a broad range of clients across the UK.

Following several months of planning and development, in a project led by Andy Kearns of Phoenix Corporate Solutions, TIS successfully launched their new Service system (Service Centre by Tesseract) on the 3rd January.

Phoenix support businesses through a range of commercial projects and have specific expertise in implementing Service Management systems in businesses employing large Field Engineering fleets.

This major implementation, impacting upon the daily working lives of 80+ staff at Total Integrated Solutions, went very smoothly, having no negative impact whatsoever on the company's service delivery throughout the launch period….. 2 months later and the system is fully bedded in, having quickly become the new “normal”.

Their new system undoubtedly elevates the efficiency and professionalism of what was already a highly professional outfit.

• Service and Repair Jobs are now allocated and updated electronically and in real time creating a seamless flow of information between Engineer, Office and Client.
• Working on a combination of iPads and Android phones, TIS engineers capture detailed job information from site, creating full visibility of job progress for office and client staff (… the latter via the Remote Customer Access functionality within Service Centre).
• “On-System” Job pricing is straight forward and accurate, speeding up the financial back end processes once jobs have been completed.
• Tailored client reporting is now easy to produce and Management Information coming out of the system is both highly relevant and readily available. Good data vital to any growing business, allowing the management team to make considered decisions based on real information.

Further developments to the system are planned, however the TIS management team (led by Managing Director James Twigg) have taken a sensible and pragmatic approach to implementation in phases, thereby not overburdening (with change) their front-Line team responsible for delivering property and life critical services to their UK-wide client base.

Rolling out systems so effortlessly can only be achieved in an environment of commitment, cooperation and proactivity, all qualities which TIS possess in spades. These same qualities underpin the whole TIS operation and help to explain why they are fast becoming one of the best Security and Fire System integrators in the country.

 

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For further information about this successful project or any of the other services undertaken by TIS or Phoenix Corporate Solutions, please contact Andy Kearns at Phoenix directly (andy@phoenixcs.biz).”

 

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Service Management Expo has taken the decision to incorporate Field into their brand, and will now be known as Field Service Management Expo.

The new identity will come into effect immediately in the lead up to their expo on 20-22 June, ExCeL London. The new identity is to reflect research into the industry to make sure that Field Service Management Expo reflects this growing market.

This year’s event will focus on a new theme; it starts and ends with the customer.

"We’ve found from speaking to visitors and exhibitors alike that customer experience is all important in this industry and therefore have concentrated a significant amount of our seminar programme on this topic."says Chris Edwards, Brand Director for Field Service Management Expo

 

“The decision to embrace the field into our brand name is to show that we understand what the sector is evolving into and that we need to evolve with it. We’re showing our audience that they can have confidence in us in delivering the right exhibitors for them”

Field Service Management Expo will include over 12 hours of seminar content over their 3 day expo, exploring the customer journey and RoSPA dedicated workshops and exhibitors from every facet of the industry. Drawing in directors, CEO and senior decision makers, Field Service Management Expo continues to offer its visitor vital networking opportunities to discuss products and solutions.

“FSME will excel by primarily being an expo rather than a conference, so it provides a perfect platform for field service execs to get a look at a number of different solutions and vendors, check out software demonstrations and get their hands on some rugged hardware in one place” said Kris Oldland, Editor-in-chief for Field Service News.

Secure your place at Europe's leading event dedicated to both service management and the field services industry: http://www.servicemanagementexpo.co.uk/rebrand

 

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 Xplore Technologies Corp has recently announced its flagship Android™ rugged tablet, the XSLATE D10, is available with the upgraded Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system. The Intel®-powered XSLATE D10 has long been considered the “fully rugged Android champion” in its 10.1” tablet class. This latest OS improvement provides Xplore customers with even greater return on investment (ROI) thanks to Marshmallow’s security, power management and mobile device management enhancements.

“Companies of all sizes, across all global industries, come to Xplore because they need to mobilize their workforces with highly secure, highly versatile enterprise-grade computing solutions that won’t compromise their sensitive data or the safety of their workers. They know that Xplore consistently builds and refines best-in-class rugged tablet solutions with the customers’ best interests and big picture operational objectives in mind,” explained Ron Harter, senior director of software development at Xplore. “With this latest XSLATE D10 OS upgrade, customers will maintain the Android-defined flexibility they mandate within their mobile IT environments but gain critical new computing functionality that will lead to performance and efficiency gains.”

[quote float="left"]With this latest XSLATE D10 OS upgrade, customers will maintain the Android-defined flexibility they mandate within their mobile IT environments but gain critical new computing functionality that will lead to performance and efficiency gains -Ron Harter, Xplore Technologies

The new Android 6.0.1, Marshmallow OS improves the battery life of the Xplore XSLATE D10 rugged tablet more than 10 percent, extending the use time beyond 8 hours*. Google’s latest battery optimization techniques work in combination with a new Marshmallow-specific application standby feature to prevent workflow applications from draining the battery and causing undue disruptions to the user. A hot-swappable second battery option provides up to 22 hours of continuous work time. The upgraded XSLATE D10 tablets also provide IT managers and users with several enhancements to the Android for Work and Voice Assist APIs, each of which will prove indispensable to organizations seeking greater worker efficiency and, therefore, faster application responsiveness.

 

“Often, when our customers first evaluate today’s mobile computer options, they are shocked to find how many are either incompatible with existing software, unable to meet security standards, or incapable of connecting to existing systems,” noted Josh Austin, CTO of OPEN Inc, the creator of SafetyPAD and an Xplore partner. “Our fire and EMS customers need complete, uninterrupted accessibility to critical data resources in and out of the office, and the Xplore XSLATE D10 rugged tablet is the only platform that enables them to easily leverage the inherent flexibility of Android. Xplore’s overt attention to quality, connectivity, and performance in the engineering of the XSLATE D10 has enabled our customers to easily achieve every one of their mobility goals. The recently expanded OS features will enable us, as a software provider, to further optimize and scale our solutions.”

The XSLATE D10 has been lauded for its user-friendly features, including a bright outdoor-viewable multi-touch display; eight standard I/O ports; and 4G LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi technologies. It also comes standard with several collaboration tools that enable hi-res image capture and video conferencing as well as multi-user login. The rugged tablet’s numerous MIL-STD-810G tested, IP65-rated and ATEX/C1Z2-certified Hazardous Location safeguards combine with a 64GB Solid State Drive (SSD) to keep workers productive – and their work protected – in every environment.

The XSLATE D10, named Intel’s 2016 Client Platform of the Year, is also a highly secure and fully managed mobile computing solution. It can easily be deployed, configured, secured, and upgraded using a number of enterprise mobility management (EMM) platforms, including Airwatch, MobileIron and SOTI Mobi Control. And customers benefit from the standard TPM, Kensington Lock option, and expanded security and encryption features now available via the Marshmallow OS.

For more information about the new Xplore XSLATE D10 Android platform, please visit www.xploretech.com/D10.

 

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TomTom Telematics has announced a collaboration with SOTI that will see the company’s popular flagship enterprise mobility management (EMM) software, MobiControl, be made available to manage TomTom PRO 8 series* driver terminals.

SOTI MobiControl gives fleet managers complete remote control of the TomTom PRO 8 series, an open-platform device that is easily customised with apps to meet the needs of specific users and functions. Content and user profiles on devices are managed centrally, so drivers have access to the most appropriate and up-to-date applications for their specific role, without having to return to base.

SOTI MobiControl offers a powerful feature set, enabling managers to dynamically control user groups and policies, allowing access to apps, functionality and content based on a user’s role in the business. Access can also be determined based on geographical location. These features not only help to control app usage, but also to manage data costs, for example by not allowing users to download large files when they are abroad.

 

“SOTI MobiControl allows customers using TomTom PRO 8 series driver terminals to instantly manage and update devices in the field, via one secure interface, so they are always fit for purpose. This takes the complexity out of mobility management and frees up time to focus on core tasks,” said Oscar Rambaldini, Vice President of Product Management at SOTI.

“SOTI is a leader in mobile device management, and by offering MobiControl together with the TomTom PRO 8 series of driver terminals we are helping businesses ensure that their field teams have the tools they need to be effective,” said Taco van der Leij, VP Marketing at TomTom Telematics. “With hundreds of apps available for WEBFLEET and PRO 8 series driver terminals we are committed to helping our customers to achieve more with their businesses.”

The integration will be handled by OrangeSeven BV, a specialist in MDM that SOTI has selected to provide all MobiControl solutions to TomTom worldwide.

 

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Kris Oldland deliver's his editorial leader in issue 16 of Field Service News - the first issue of 2017...

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Field Service News subscribers are entitled to our bi-monthly magazine in both print and digital versions. Subscription is free for field service professionals click here to subscribe now and get a digital copy of issue 16 sent straight to your inbox

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Is anyone else starting to feel like 2016 was already a long, long time ago?

Perhaps it was the late flurry of field service conferences towards the end of last year but the tail end of 2016 felt like we were hurtling along at breakneck speed and it felt like it was never going to end.

Yet as is always the way, once it is over and done with and we move onto the next project what felt like an endless session of conferences and interviews seems like a long time ago.

However, that is where I am lucky in my job. For as we have been putting together both this issue and our annual publication “The Handy Little Book For Field Service Managers” i’ve been able to take my time to review all of the interviews and sessions that I sat in on across the last few months and there were some really thought provoking moments amongst them.

As a result this issue is absolutely jam packed with features - in fact we have more features this time around than in any issue to date.

So if I may, I’ll use my column in this issue to just pick up on a few of the highlights that really caught my attention.

Firstly our cover feature “No Fault Found” which is based on my interview with Dr John Erkoyuncu of Cranfield University. I’d seen John giving a fantastic presentation on the topic at ServiceMax’s Maximize Europe event and he was kind enough to talk me through his presentation a little later on over a coffee.

If I’m completely honest it was the first time I’d ever given No Fault Found any serious consideration, but after listening our conversation I realised not just how big a potential issue this could be for field service organisations today, but also how this issue could be easily magnified in the near future if the servitization trend continues to take root.

Another great interview that I was privileged to conduct towards the end of the year was with Microsoft’s Carsten Groth.

Carsten is one of those fantastic people in industry that don’t quite sit within the confines of your normal grey suited, conservative industry professional.

He’s the kind of guy that has no qualms running over to you and giving you a bear hug in the middle of a busy conference auditorium.

He’s a free thinker and an intelligent thinker and a good guy to boot and it’s always a pleasure interviewing him at the time because the conversation is fluid and easy. That said it’s usually a pain writing up his interviews because it’s tricky trying to cut that conversation down enough to fit on the page.

[quote]“Once again we’ve brought together our panel of advisors and locked them in a dark room until they agreed on 20 people that they think will have an influence on our industry across the next twelve months...”

 

The final feature I’ll pick in my highlights has to be of course the announcement of this year’s FSN20.

Once again we’ve brought together our panel of advisors and locked them in a dark room until they agreed on 20 people that they think will have an influence on our industry across the next twelve months.

There are some familiar faces in the list but some new names too.

What I think is great about the #FSN20 is the discussion it creates.

To be honest if you asked each of member of the panel who put this list together if they thought the list was perfect, they’d probably argue admit that ‘person x’ should replace ‘person y’.

In fact putting the list together was great fun as it always is, because it’s a fantastic exercise in celebrating those in our industry who are driving innovation - and there are certainly more than twenty people doing that for sure!

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Field Service News subscribers are entitled to our bi-monthly magazine in both print and digital versions. Subscription is free for field service professionals click here to subscribe now and get a digital copy of issue 16 sent straight to your inbox

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The next Service Community event will be held at Oracle's Reading Offices on the 24th May 2017.

To register please email info@service-community.uk and their team will register you and send out logistics details nearer the date.

As usual this will be a very informal discussion focused programme aimed to allow you to share ideas over a range of service topics.  And a date for your diary! Our autumn event will be held on the 3rd October at a venue to be determined.

The Service Community is run by service professionals for service professionals, there are no commercial sponsors and literally if you are working in a professional capacity in the service sector then this is your community -  so if you would like to host a future event or want to suggest some discussion topics, then also contact the team on the above email.

The Agenda for the 24th May event is as follows:

•  12.00 - 13.00: Meet at Oracle Reading Offices for light buffet lunch
• 13.00 Welcome and Introduction - Steve Elsham: Oracle
• 13.15 Shift to the Left: Mark King  Service Director UK & Ireland, Pitney Bowes - Mark will share his experiences of how when faced with falling margins, through incorporating a self service model he has been able to increase profitability without reducing customer loyalty
• 14.00 Outsourcing service to 3rd parties - Dave Gibson  Veteran  Service Director with SUN / Oracle - Dave will share the challenge he faced first at SUN Microsystems and then later at Oracle, in outsourcing Customer Support to 3rd party service providers, while still maintaining excellent service on mission critical activities
• 14.45 Coffee & Networking break
• 15.15  Cloud Adoption in Field Service Management Solutions: Kris Oldland  Editor Field Service News - Kris will be reviewing the adoption of Cloud technology by both Suppliers and Clients of Field Service management Solutions, based on a 3 year research programme he recently concluded
• 16.00 Leading Change in After-Sales Support: Ian Cockett Ex Service Director Bosch UK & Cygnet-Texkimp - Shifting from a capital equipment focused business, to one that leads with service support and customer outcomes. The challenges faced and the approaches taken in achieving change.
• 16.45  Open forum & discussion based on the day
• 17.00 Close

We hope to see you there and please spread the word to any of your colleagues who may also find this event of interest - as a non-profit organisation word-of-mouth is incredibly powerful friend for us!

 

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Sub-Zero & Wolf are cooking with gas. The preferred suppliers of kitchen equipment for celebrity chefs James Martin and Heston Blumenthal as well as interior designer/former Dragon’s Den star Kelly Hoppen who are ‘wolfing’ down the rewards of a complete service management revolution. A year ago, they replaced their outmoded, non-web-based software with Tesseract’s Service Centre 5.1 (SC5.1), improving stock control, reducing call times, and cutting out 2 days’ worth of reporting.

The chef’s choice

Sub-Zero & Wolf are longstanding kitchen appliance connoisseurs who supply, install and maintain top-of-the-range cooking and cooling equipment in domestic settings.

Their products are sold through 250 independent dealers across Europe and are the appliances of choice for chefs, designers and celebrities because of their superior performance and exclusive functions. They range from dual fuel ovens to wine storage to coffee machines and many are compatible with home automation systems.

In 2016, Sub-Zero & Wolf marked 70 years of successful trading with a major overhaul of their field service management system.

The old system — too many cooks

Sub-Zero & Wolf’s previous service management system was a case of too many processes, too many people, too many delays, and too little visibility.

The non-web-based software could only manage one stock location at a time and was always a day out; the company could never accurately tell where an item was at any one time. Technicians had no access to live data in the field, only in the office.

This meant they could only get updated callout information and asset data by dialling in to the system, or by speaking to the admin team on the phone or via email. Planned maintenance scheduling was still done using Excel spreadsheets.

“There were a number of factors that led us to replace our service management software,” says Greg O’Sullivan, European Group Service Manager for Sub-Zero & Wolf. “But ultimately it was because our customers expect a first-class service, and we decided that a first-class service management system would help us do that.”

A recipe for success

Sub-Zero & Wolf happened upon Tesseract at the Service Management Expo in Birmingham. They looked at a variety of solutions, but chose Tesseract because it was web-based, cloud-based, and the best fit for their service management needs.

Now, live data is at their fingertips and numerous process delays have been eliminated. If a service call comes in, a suitable technician is dispatched via the Tesseract system rather than a phone call. Planned maintenance work is scheduled using Tesseract’s assisted diary rather than a slew of discrete spreadsheets.

 

While in the field, technicians can log in to the system remotely at any time and view outstanding jobs and parts availability.

They don’t need to rely on a call or email from the office to find out about a site, a customer and the service history of an asset, because all this can be obtained by running simple searches of the Tesseract Customer Assets database.

This smooth, seamless flow of data has cut down both the number and length of calls between the office and Sub-Zero & Wolf’s 114 Europe-wide engineers. It has also improved the engineers’ ability to see patterns of faults with equipment — a crucial facet of good problem management.

Greg O’Sullivan explains, “Tesseract comes with high levels of automation and saves us huge amounts of time. It’s also a much easier process to manage. We had traffic jams on the old system. We’d get job data and parts requests all in one go because it wasn’t live, but now the jobs trickle through at a friendlier pace.”

A major concern for Sub-Zero & Wolf was stock control. Parts are essential to their business and typically very expensive, so keeping track of them is vital. Despite having stock locations all over Europe, their previous system could only monitor one at a time and was always a day out of sync.

With Tesseract’s Parts Centre module, Sub-Zero & Wolf can monitor all stock locations at once, from warehouse to van to customer, with full, real-time visibility of the installation, usage and repair cycle.

One of the biggest efficiency gains for Sub-Zero & Wolf has been in reporting. O’Sullivan says, “Reporting was a laborious manual process at the end of the month and took two days to compile and complete. With Tesseract, we can extract data about assets, parts used and completed jobs at the touch of a button, and complete a report in 30 seconds.”

 

A further benefit for Sub-Zero & Wolf is Tesseract’s ability to integrate with other systems. This is thanks to an application program interface (API) that enables the transfer of information between SC5.1 and any third party software product. “We were already using TomTom WEBFLEET, which tells us where our technicians are,” says O’Sullivan. “Tesseract integrates with this, transmitting address details for service jobs directly to our technicians’ TomToms. Again, this cuts out a manual process and saves us time.”

A taste for more

Sub-Zero & Wolf are looking to add the Remote Customer Access (RCA) function of SC5.1 to their portfolio of service management modules. At present, dealers and end-user customers have to phone Sub-Zero & Wolf if an equipment fault occurs, and cannot see what’s happening when a job is actioned. RCA allows customers to log in to SC5.1 via a web browser and notify Sub-Zero & Wolf of a problem more quickly, easily and simply than a phone call.

Customers can also monitor progress, move assets, raise sales orders and run reports.

“We’re keen to add Remote Customer Access in the near future to make life easier for our customers,” says O’Sullivan. “What’s great about this is that Tesseract can tailor the visibility of the platform at different levels, simply by changing the permissions. This means our dealers can see data for their customers, but our end-user customers will only see the data that is relevant to them.”

 

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