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As we enter into another year it seems like the speed at which our industry seems to be hurtling forward is showing little signs of slowing down.

 

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If anything it seems to be getting faster.

Across the last year, we saw the Internet of Things shift full throttle from being a concept adopted only by those on the leading edge to something that was very rapidly becoming mainstream within the field service sector. It seems that the technology is finally all beginning to fall into place and the dual rise in prominence of outcome-based services and preventative maintenance means that IoT is at the forefront of most service organisations as we move into 2018.

One of the earliest and major proponents and enablers of IoT within field service was, of course, ServiceMax and when we saw the first fruits of the union between them and GE earlier this year with integration between the ServiceMax solution and GE Digital's Asset Management Performance solution we perhaps saw one of the last major missing parts of the puzzle of how IoT can be embedded within a field service workflow slot right into place.

Indeed, the acquisition of ServiceMax by GE whilst coming perhaps out of leftfield initially appears to be making more and more sense and so far at least it seems that as opposed a technology being lost to the wider market when swallowed up by a behemoth of an organisation such as GE, ServiceMax are set to become an even more prominent player as part of the GE DIgital stable as they push out into hitherto uncharted markets with a message of service excellence for all. The vibe was certainly all positive at the European leg of Maximize towards the end of the year and you can find my exclusive interview with Dave Yarnold, Rei Kasai and Anup Sharma.

At the other end of the evolutionary spectrum, but with just as much potential impact on the field service sector is New York-based startup Nanowear. Wearables have never really hit the heights that they should have so far in the field service sector, but Nanowear's smart cloth has huge potential to be utilised in smart clothing that could reduce the risk for lone workers. These folks are just at the start of their journey but are certainly one to watch and you can read why I think so on.

However, whilst technology is undoubtedly playing a more and more dominant role in our industry, there are certain maxim's that hold true and once again we see the importance of adopting an outside-in viewpoint when it comes to establishing a high level of customer satisfaction being re-iterated by a number of our columnists in this issue.

Both Nick Frank and Jan Van Veen to authors whose opinion and contribution to our humble little magazine I value very highly, raise the importance of understanding the customers wants needs and desires in their articles on this topic here and here respectively.

Interestingly, it is also a key theme in my interview with Matt Boretti, Strategic Director, Teleflex who is just six months into his role establishing a new Customer Experience group of his organisation.

Meanwhile, Alastair Clifford-Jones really brings home the increasing importance of field service when he points out how the focus of field service is shifting towards driving strategy rather than being a recipient of it and Michael Blumberg delivers his usual excellent deep level insight into this issue's lead article exploring how field service companies can deal with digitalisation, uberization and servitization which you can find on page 26.

The field service sector as a whole is moving into 2018 with a swagger, service delivery is more important than ever before and ours is an industry that is now reaping the rewards for embracing emerging technologies.

Long may it continue!

 

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Alastair Clifford-Jones, CEO of Leadent looks at how the focus of field service is shifting towards driving strategy rather than being a recipient of it...

The holy grail for field service managers has been to reduce costs whilst maintaining customer service levels; effectively meeting SLAs at the lowest possible cost. This is still important, but the focus is changing. Field service is moving into a space of key importance, driving strategy rather than being a recipient of it.

All markets are now impacted by this change. Looking at the consumer market there is so much information for consumers; independent websites that not only compare products but also services, and these naturally impact buying decisions.

Research has shown that many customers won’t switch until they have had a bad service experience.It’s now easy in the UK, with the deregulations of the Utilities market, for consumers to switch suppliers. Research has shown that many customers won’t switch until they have had a bad service experience. On the other hand, customers will switch if the price differential is greater than 20%.

The cost of bad service really impacts an organisation’s profits. In a recent Harvard Business Review report; a 5% increase in customer retention results in a 25%-95% increase in profits. This becomes more important to the service organisation as products become less differentiated on functionality.

In light of new technology, and the change in consumer behaviour we at Leadent have developed a maturity model which I introduced in an earlier article for Field Service News. This model (see diagram below) not only measures where organisations are positioned currently, but what they should aim for by demonstrating the key characteristics an organisation needs.

Whilst it’s an organisational model, technology and processes still need to be implemented, and cultural change cannot be underestimated. So let's explore each of the three stages...

Chaotic Survival

This is the embryonic phase, often referred to as JFDI.

Everything is reactionary, heroes in the business are the people that get things done. Someone that fixes a water leak at three in the morning gets the company award. All the processes are desperate, and much of the knowledge about how to do things are in people’s heads.

The level of ‘Chaotic Survival’ can often be measured by the noise in the dispatch office and the number of calls made to the field and customers.

Initially, the workforce is seen as a cost, and any case for change is usually based on a cost reduction program by streamlining processes and the introduction of scheduling, albeit a manual tool.

Whilst many companies have moved beyond this stage, it is surprising how many organisations have not. Moving out of this phase is probably the most challenging in terms of people. Field teams need to be managed and dispatchers need to allow technology to make decisions. The world is littered with organisations that have failed to develop, those who may have implemented a technology solution but not the new processes, organisation and skills required to make this step.

Supply Led

This phase starts building the groundwork for excellence.

The technology both in scheduling and mobility starts to connect the organisation together. Silos, which were in the previous phase are dismantled and the organisation becomes more collaborative. From a business perspective, this is when customer service and field operations often become part of the same entity.

Rather than responding to customer needs in a reactive fashion, the company can start to become more proactive. Planned maintenance, if applicable, gets built into the schedule. Customer service levels can be monitored and informed decisions made in terms of minimising costs but maximising the customer service levels.

The field force, hitherto considered as a cost now has more flexibility and starts to drive a competitive advantage. Whilst we see these organisations becoming more collaborative internally they are still not working with customers and suppliers in a truly collaborative manner, and this is a huge missed opportunity.

Demand Led

The holy grail. This is the phase where technology and the right organisation can really disrupt the industry and organisations can leapfrog their competitors. Field service starts to drive the agenda, drive the strategy. The organisation no longer is a recipient of customer demand and fulfils these in an optimum manner. Processes are no longer just contained within the confines of the enterprise but are built to include customers and suppliers.

This is the new ‘battleground’ for field service and technology has made it possible. By putting the customer first, they have control. They can book appointments through multiple channels and based on their preferred choice. They have full visibility of the processes, and in many cases, can actually solve the problem themselves.

The suppliers are able to understand how their products perform in the field and feed this back to the manufacturing processes.

This is the new ‘battleground’ for field service and technology has made it possible.

IoT is a reality and no longer a pipe dream of visionary consultants, and it enables organisations to truly predict failures, determine preventative maintenance schedules and offer a level of service which exceeds customer expectations at a substantially lower cost.

This does, however, require a very different way of thinking and a true cultural shift. To be in this phase you need to have an organisation which thinks differently, embraces technology and one that really understands the customer.

Summary

In summary, the new world is exciting.

It’s even making field service seem ‘sexy’, but most of all digital service (an often misused term) is truly disrupting the industry. It is technology driven, but the companies that will be able to exploit this will think differently. They will think about the end to end processes from manufacturing and the whole customer journey; from making the purchase decision to disposal.

This needs an organisation to not only break down internal barriers but also external ones.

Given that each phase of maturity requires changes in culture, it would be very hard from an organisation to move from being ‘adhoc’ to ‘predict and engage’ in an instant as each phase is a building block for the next. However new entrants to the market can start on the right-hand side, and this is where organisations which don’t develop will lose out.

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Leadent CEO, Alastair Clifford-Jones discusses the fundamental elements that should come together when building a strong request for proposal document...

The purpose of an RFP is to join two or more parties together. One has a need, and the other a product or service to fulfil this need; it’s imperative that companies must never lose sight this objective. To be successful this needs to be met with the right commercial structure.

With a technology requirement, there are many ways of approaching this.

On the one hand, companies can draw up detailed requirements and the vendor can determine how their solution can meet these on a point by point basis. On the other hand, companies can simply put forward a business problem, and the RFP allows maximum flexibility for the vendors to determine how the problem can be solved.

Both have their pros and cons, but with the right approach solution seeking companies can be successful.

Considerations for Success

To produce a successful RFP process there are several things to be considered:

1. The End Goal

Many organisations lose sight of the fact that the RFP is a process, not a document. Many companies, particularly when the RFP is procurement led, focus their efforts on the document and build a very rigid structure. This will work for simple point solutions where the only challenge is a functional fit. As the requirements become more complex organisations must never lose sight of what they are trying to achieve, and not be driven by the initial document. You can never do enough planning.

2. Include Credible Suppliers

It is vital that credible suppliers are included. The process is inevitably very time consuming, and you don’t want to waste time sitting through demos and presentations with suppliers that are not credible.

To determine credible suppliers, it is worth doing your desk research and running an RFI process. There are a number of companies that produce research about the industry’s best suppliers etc. Given that time is limited, it is better to spend this time researching a handful of suppliers than a vast array.

3. Remind Yourself; You’re Buying a Solution, Not a System

Systems need to be implemented to deliver a solution and this part is often forgotten by organisations, namely because it is much easier to evaluate on functional fit rather than implementation skills.

Often organisations will look to split the responsibilities of implementation and software between two vendors. This has its own pros and cons, but if split needs to happen at the same time. Selecting software and then an implementation partner is very disjointed, and whilst you might select the best technical solution it may be the hardest to implement.

4. You’re Building a Partnership

You are building a partnership, and not producing a test or a framework for procurement. Whilst these are important they are not the reason for talking to suppliers. When producing an RFP you’ll want vendors to want to work with you, and the RFP document is a critical window into your organisation. For this reason, it is important that neither procurement or IT write the document.

Their input is, of course, important, but it’s a business challenge you are trying to solve through technology so it’s the business requirements that are critical. A badly written ITT will stop vendors from responding and will be very hard to evaluate.

5. Consider the Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria should not be an afterthought, it must be considered in the planning stage.

Many organisations revisit their evaluation criteria during the processes and this impacts every aspect. This evaluation criteria need to be agreed by all the stakeholders who will be carrying out the evaluation.

Organisations must be very clear about any show stoppers early on and communicate these, with the full criteria to the vendors. There is nothing worse than taking a vendor through the process to realise that their cloud solution is hosted in a country that is not acceptable. The more transparent an organisation can be the more successful the process will be.

6. Make it an Easy Decision

Making a decision is hard but it needn’t be if you have done your planning right, agreed on what you want (evaluation criteria) and have the right level and expertise from the stakeholders. The problems occur when all the vendors meet your requirements, their references are good and you can’t differentiate. This is the point where relationships and cultural fit come into play. These can be determined by the bid team, but often this team is different to the client team and presentations have been led by the sales team and not the people doing the work. If needed, this is the time to do more work. Meet reference clients, insist on meeting the delivery team, understand the vendor strategy and how they will work with you in the future.

Trusting Relationships Will Win Out

Often the RFP process fails due to its transactional nature. This is the start of a partnership between two businesses and as mentioned at the start, you need vendors to think about how this will progress. It is true that in today’s world the start of a relationship is often transactional (meeting a partner via Tinder) but for it to be successful as the relationship progresses there needs to be transparency and honesty, and this no different in business.

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