In the first article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the importance of providing exceptional customer experience in the post-pandemic world.
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Jul 15, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • Aquant • Covid-19 • customer experience
In the first article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the importance of providing exceptional customer experience in the post-pandemic world.
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
The acceleration of digital technologies in every sector from grocery delivery to banking created customer expectations that are higher than ever. And there’s every indication that it will remain this way.
Customers want effortless service interactions. To win hearts and wallets, you have to provide interactions that go beyond “good.” Every interaction should feel personalized while also aiming to wow. For service organizations, the expectation is that you’ve joined all the dots before a service ticket is placed.
For many organizations who are already in the midst of transformation projects, the question is how to pivot technology adoption and service delivery to achieve those goals. For some, Net Promoter Score (NPS) has been the best way to do that. They monitor loyalty and metrics and give companies intel on how users feel about services — but in the current landscape, where time is money, there are a few drawbacks. Often, the feedback is too ambiguous, arrives too late, and lacks full context, rendering companies powerless to change outcomes.
NPS can’t tell you why a customer left a particular rating, doesn’t explain why clients are loyal, and doesn’t provide guidance on how to improve your services. When measured alone, NPS leaves a lot of room for interpretation and little for prevention.
Additionally, NPS won’t help service leaders innovate, nor can it help teams achieve opposing business goals. There is a need to improve customer experiences, but it’s likely you’ve also been tasked with hitting other goals including cost savings and service efficiencies.
A better way to deliver exceptional experiences, manage relationships, and work towards larger company goals is to use preexisting service data as a guide. Innovative organizations are looking at artificial intelligence’s (AI) capabilities to surface critical data and bring insights and knowledge to the forefront. Organizations are realizing that it can take twice as much effort to repair a broken customer relationship than maintain a healthy one. To start predicting customer issues before client relationships sour, use data to contextualize your current offerings and relationships.
Strenghten Relationship by Defining Them
Modern technology is convenient: clients can research and decide to go with another manufacturer or provider at any given point. Therefore, you need to do everything in your power to earn and keep your customers’ loyalty. A good way to start is by making sure that you are differentiating your products and services.
Yet isolated answers can’t provide the big picture, even with the help of KPI data. It can still be a challenge to see the underlying health of your organization or customer relationships.
Seemingly-healthy dashboards may be one issue away from bubbling over, making it more crucial than ever to adopt the right tools to unearth and manage your metrics.
Consider the Following:-
If you were the customer, why would you choose your company’s product or service?
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Do your goals align with your clients’?
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How are you ensuring that you’re meeting customer expectations?
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Are you measuring your clients’ loyalty beyond NPS?
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Are you at risk of losing any customers?
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If your largest client decided to choose another product or service, how would this impact your business?
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Leadership & Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com//leadership-and-strategy
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Jul 13, 2021 • Features • Artificial intelligence • Digital Transformation • technology • Aquant • GLOBAL
The platform converts messy service data into detailed insights for service executives, providing visibility into customers at risk of churn and workforce training opportunities.
The platform converts messy service data into detailed insights for service executives, providing visibility into customers at risk of churn and workforce training opportunities.
Service executives, do you want to see into the future and prevent customer disasters ahead of a negative Net Promoter Score (NPS) or service escalation? Aquant’s Service Insights makes that possible by doing all the complex data analysis for you.
“Historically, service decisions have been made using only a fraction of available service data. That causes blind spots into customer satisfaction and creates an environment of reactive problem-solving. If you wait until you receive a negative NPS, it’s too late,” says Shahar Chen, CEO and co-founder, Aquant. “The new normal in service requires providers to approach customers with solutions before a customer comes to a provider with a complaint.”
That kind of data-driven decision-making fosters better customer experiences and improves service outcomes. But before you can make informed decisions, you need a clear picture of what story the data is telling — and that’s been a roadblock for many organizations.Service Insights Curates and Analyzes Disparate Data and Provides Actionable Recommendations
“We’ve worked with leading service organizations to build a powerful analytics tool that is designed for business users,” adds Assaf Melochna, president and co-founder, Aquant. “Service Insights provides targeted information in the language that service leaders understand, and it does so in days, without the need for a multi-department deployment.”
Service Insights is Not a BI Tool. It’s an Entire Data Science Team at Your Fingertips
Aquant delivers a 360-degree view of the service lifecycle. Unlike traditional BI tools, Service Insights is able to access more of your data, and then analyze and interpret it — without the need for a team of data scientists. Users will see immediate value following a simple deployment process. Isolated data points become descriptive and predictive intelligence presented through auto-generated reports and easy-to-access graphical dashboards. Here’s what’s possible with Service Insights:
- Mine insights out of your (un)structured service data - Gain a deeper dimension of insight into your unstructured data with Aquant’s Service Intelligence Engine by identifying key symptom and solution data directly from customer comments, call center agent notes, field technician debriefs, and machine log files. Formerly hidden data becomes a powerful decision-making tool.
- Generate service performance and risk models - Service Insights automatically generates trends, recommendations, industry benchmarks, and predictions based on more than 5 million service tickets from manufacturers and service providers. Leverage Aquant’s predictive modeling to create customer risk scorecards, and manage workforce performance, and training strategies.
- Get the right insight at the right time - Need a quick summary of your business, a snapshot of customers, or an overview of the workforce before your next meeting? Aquant auto-generates easy-to-read overviews for each customer or service provider, identifying key statistics and important trends. Focus on the most critical service issues without having to dig into dashboards.
To learn more or schedule a demo, get in touch.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Find out more about Aquant's AI Tool Service Insights @ www.aquant.io/platform/service-insights/
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Jul 12, 2021 • Features • service excellence • technology • Aquant • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy • GLOBAL
In this article from Aquant, we look at three tips to scale appliance and food repair businesses rapidly with the help of easy-to-use AI tools.
In this article from Aquant, we look at three tips to scale appliance and food repair businesses rapidly with the help of easy-to-use AI tools.
Service businesses are busy in 2021, and all indicators point to steady — or even above-average demand — lasting for the foreseeable future. Typically, high demand is great for business, but nothing has been typical about service in the last year. Many companies, especially owner-operator repair businesses, are turning away customers and additional revenue because they’re at capacity.
What Challenges Do Service Companies Face?
While industry demand has outstripped technician supply for at least the last decade, most businesses were able to manage — but COVID exacerbated the challenges of a sector already pushed to its limits. Some of the biggest contributing factors include:
● A lack of qualified appliance repair technicians● The need to ramp up service teams quickly due to heavy demand post-Covid
● Increased repairs due to heavy home appliance usage during the pandemic
● Supply chain shortages that resulted in fewer new appliances available for purchase, creating an avalanche effect: consumers and business delayed new purchases, and older equipment required more frequent maintenance and repair
● Preferences for remote resolution options
Service businesses, from home appliance to food equipment repair and maintenance, are experiencing such a high volume of service requests that the search for qualified technicians has reached a tipping point.
“Repair companies are triaging calls, hiring new employees and navigating backlogs from the broken supply chain for parts,” states the Washington Post. That was just one account of many from an in-depth article that details the extent of the gap between service provider availability and customer demand across the country.
But rapid hiring, especially when paired with a scarcity of parts, puts added pressure on service providers who are already maxed out. Sound familiar?
What Challenges Do Service Companies Face?
New, easy-to-use AI tools are available to help service companies of all sizes upskill a new crop of employees quickly. This ultimately makes it possible for your business to take on extra demand while still providing exceptional customer experiences.
1. Upskill the New Workforce Quickly to Slash the Skills Gap
The workforce shortage is not new. Skilled trade positions, particularly technician and engineer roles, have been the hardest to fill. There are other obstacles compounding the issues, too.
The Baby Boomer retirement wave is in full swing. Your most senior techs are leaving and taking all their repair knowledge with them.
Millennials and Gen Z employees approach work differently. The two youngest generations leave jobs nearly twice as often as their older counterparts. This result is an increasing skills gap, and most in the industry don’t have the resources or budget to spend months or years training employees.
A better solution: Hire motivated employees with minimal appliance repair experience and quickly turn them into seasoned experts in weeks instead of years. That’s possible using technology that provides accurate recommendations with as much ease as a Google search.
How Aquant helps: Our service engine has digested and analyzed every major home appliance and food service equipment repair manual, combining them with real-life best practices from veteran, certified technicians. The intelligent tool is easy enough for any member of the workforce to use. That empowers every member of the workforce to perform as well as your longest-tenured employees.
When knowledge is easier to acquire, employees can work on honing soft skills like customer service and relationship building.
2. Increase Your First Time Fix Rate
It’s easier said than done. If everyone on the team could make accurate repairs more quickly, you could take on more clients and bill for more services. Bumping up your team’s first time fix rate is challenging in the face of other demands, especially with a more junior workforce — but it’s possible.
A better solution: Make sure that dispatch diagnoses the problem correctly during the initial customer complaint call. Then provide the technician with all the relevant information before they arrive on the job.
How Aquant helps: With a click of a button, your team can access information from all the major appliance and equipment manufacturers and pinpoint the problem and necessary parts needed with a high degree of accuracy. This increases the chances of your technician arriving with the right knowledge and the right parts to fix the issue on the first try.
3. Offer Clients Remote Resolution Options
How many times have technicians been dispatched to a job site, only to arrive and find that the solution was as simple as hitting the restart button or flipping a switch? Customers don’t want to wait days for a solution that they could have fixed themselves in minutes. And your business can’t maintain wasted truck rolls in the face of a demand avalanche.
A better solution: Train customer support to resolve less complex issues during the initial customer call. Instead of having them flip through manuals or consult decision trees (which takes time and can be frustrating), give them options to triage issues in a matter of minutes using an intelligent, digital tool.
How Aquant can help: We’ve created an intelligent — and evolving — database of service information based on millions of service tickets. Using the smart triage system, your support agent walks through two to four service issue scenarios with the customer, and the tool identifies the most likely solution. If it’s a simple fix, you can guide the customer through remote resolution.
Increase the Number of Brands You Support While Scaling Up
In addition to helping your technicians solve problems faster and more accurately, Aquant is like a cheat sheet for repair and maintenance companies. With data from all the top major home appliance and food service equipment brands, you have access to a pre-populated database with the information any technicians need to get the job done, regardless of the brand.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Service Leadership @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-leadership
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
- Follow Aquant on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/aquant.io
Jun 24, 2021 • News • Artificial intelligence • Digital Transformation • technology • Aquant • GLOBAL
Aquant, the leading service intelligence platform announced Service Insights. The tool, capable of analyzing your data out of the box, provides a detailed window into factors that impact customer experiences. This empowers service leaders with the...
Aquant, the leading service intelligence platform announced Service Insights. The tool, capable of analyzing your data out of the box, provides a detailed window into factors that impact customer experiences. This empowers service leaders with the knowledge to prevent customer disasters ahead of a negative Net Promoter Score (NPS) or service escalation.
“Historically, service decisions have been made using only a fraction of available service data. That causes blind spots into customer satisfaction and creates an environment of reactive problem-solving. If you wait until you receive a negative NPS, it’s too late,” says Shahar Chen, CEO and co-founder, Aquant. “The new normal in service requires providers to approach customers with solutions before a customer comes to a provider with a complaint.”That kind of data-driven decision-making fosters better customer experiences and improves service outcomes. But before you can make informed decisions, you need a clear picture of what story the data is telling — and that’s been a roadblock for many organizations.
Service Insights Curates and Analyzes Disparate Data and Provides Actionable Recommendations
“We’ve worked with leading service organizations to build a powerful analytics tool that is designed for business users,” adds Assaf Melochna, president and co-founder, Aquant. “Service Insights provides targeted information in the language that service leaders understand, and it does so in days, without the need for a multi-department deployment.”
Service Insights is Not a BI Tool. It’s an Entire Data Science Team at Your Fingertips
Aquant delivers a 360-degree view of the service lifecycle. Unlike traditional BI tools, Service Insights is able to access more of your data, and then analyze and interpret it — without the need for a team of data scientists. Users will see immediate value following a simple deployment process. Isolated data points become descriptive and predictive intelligence presented through auto-generated reports and easy-to-access graphical dashboards. Here’s what’s possible with Service Insights:
- Mine insights out of your (un)structured service data - Gain a deeper dimension of insight into your unstructured data with Aquant’s Service Intelligence Engine by identifying key symptom and solution data directly from customer comments, call center agent notes, field technician debriefs, and machine log files. Formerly hidden data becomes a powerful decision-making tool.
- Generate service performance and risk models - Service Insights automatically generates trends, recommendations, industry benchmarks, and predictions based on more than 5 million service tickets from manufacturers and service providers. Leverage Aquant’s predictive modeling to create customer risk scorecards, and manage workforce performance, and training strategies.
- Get the right insight at the right time - Need a quick summary of your business, a snapshot of customers, or an overview of the workforce before your next meeting? Aquant auto-generates easy-to-read overviews for each customer or service provider, identifying key statistics and important trends. Focus on the most critical service issues without having to dig into dashboards.
To learn more or schedule a demo, visit www.aquant.io
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Find out more about Aquant's AI Tool Service Insights @ www.aquant.io/platform/service-insights/
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Jun 09, 2021 • Features • service excellence • technology • Aquant • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy • GLOBAL
In an age of Uberization, customer service expectations are higher than ever in our post- pandemic world. The answer to meeting those expectations lies within the rich data sets we have on each customer. However, the flow of information often...
In an age of Uberization, customer service expectations are higher than ever in our post- pandemic world. The answer to meeting those expectations lies within the rich data sets we have on each customer. However, the flow of information often reaches us too late for intervention. Is Artificial Intelligence the solution that will help us spot service trends before the customer relationship goes sour? Kris Oldland talks to Aquant’s Sidney Lara to find out more about this critical area of modern service excellence...
At the end of 2020, Field Service News Research undertook a major research study that globally spoke to over 240 field service organisations.
The study’s findings reinforced what many of us already knew; our industry was going through radical change. The pandemic was the catalyst, but we had already begun a journey of transformation long ago. Yet, while the technology and even the delivery mechanisms for service may be rapidly evolving, the fundamentals of service delivery remain constant.
In that study, we saw how 70% of field service organizations stated that service excellence remained a key differentiator in winning and retaining business. However, the definition of what service excellence looks like in a post-pandemic world (a world that has embraced digital transformation with both hands in a bid to better meet customer demands) has undoubtedly changed.
In today’s Uberized world, the expectation of effortlessness in service interactions has reached entirely new peaks. Our customers expect us to have joined the dots before we speak to them. They have become accustomed to the companies they choose to work with, having a detailed and intimate knowledge of their interactions. Yet, for many field service organizations, they are driving while looking in the rear-view mirror. That is to say that today too many of us (because of lack of tools, not lack of will) fail to leverage the deep customer data we have until there is a problem.
The systems in place are often adequate, but is it adequate enough when the bar has been raised so high by bleeding-edge data-driven service providers? Is the information your service department receives often simply too little and too late? When that low NPS score comes back, the damage has been done, and it can take twice as much effort to rebuild a broken customer relationship than to maintain a healthy one.
The key question then for field service organizations operating in these dynamic and fast-developing times is how can they get ahead of customer issues before they happen? The answer is by understanding all of your service data.
It is a task easier said than done, but one that can be achieved by leveraging Artificial Intelligence tools that are designed to surface the critical data that brings such insight and knowledge to the fore.
To find out more about this critical area within our sector, Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News, caught up with Sidney Lara, Service Principal, Aquant.
Kris: Customer relationships have always been important, why the urgent need now to reevaluate how well you know your customers?
Sidney: We are in the age where data is readily available almost anywhere and anytime. Customers can make smarter decisions when it comes to choosing a manufacturer or service company. So, while they may be a customer today, what are you doing today to ensure you have their loyalty tomorrow?
Additionally, as technology evolves both for manufacturers and service providers, you need to think about clearly defining your differentiating product or services. Take a step back and ask yourself if you were the customer, why would you choose a particular product or service? Do your goals align with your customer goals and how do you ensure you are meeting those expectations? If you can’t measure your customer loyalty, you may find yourself at risk of losing them. What if one day, your largest customer decided to go with another product or service? How would this impact your business?
Kris: Service leaders have quite a few tools to measure KPIs and/or customer stats, what are they missing?
Sidney: I would agree. At the same time be very careful when talking about using tools and KPIs. I have seen and talked to people throughout my career that embrace technology and KPIs for their business or operations. What can be missing is the criticalness of the measure. Meaning, why are you measuring a particular KPI? Is it the flavor of the month or year? Is it because everyone in the industry measures it? Whatever the case may be, tools can shed light on weaknesses within your organization. However, will those measures improve customer value or benefit? If it doesn’t, maybe you need to rethink and prioritize accordingly. We need to be careful not to confuse data points with insights, just because we have the data, doesn’t always mean we know how to use it in a way that best advances our goals.
Kris: It sounds like you are discussing BI tools. Why does standard BI fail service organizations?
Sidney: Thank you for asking, as this is a critical point - we need to differentiate data points and BI tools from meaningful analysis of that data. Organizations can fall into the trap of adopting BI tools and create wonderful insights to see their business strengths and weaknesses to the level they have never seen or experienced before. While the detailed visibility can be great, this can also lead to a trap of creating too many KPI’s or lead to the potential of “analysis paralysis”.
Those that know me well have heard me say “let’s not boil the ocean.” If we try to solve all issues, (with this wonderful BI Data) we will never effectively solve any of them or at least not in a timely manner.
Next you need to ask, does what I’m highlighting with my BI dashboard actually align to the company’s strategic goals? If it does, then it’s much easier for you to gain organizational buy-in. The next question is, how can we use this data to ensure visibility and timely support to solve those issues? Strategic measures need to become front page news within an organization whether results are good or bad.
Total transparency on key initiatives drives accountability and ideally creates a winning environment when everyone can see improvements month over month. Finally, and most critical, is taking timely action on those measures if you don’t meet your goals.
Teams should strive to review results as often as needed to monitor and celebrate successes. But equally important, swift action to apply timely countermeasures on missed targets is the secret sauce. Done in a very cadenced manner, you will drive effective improvements to your organization. Likewise, if countermeasures are not executed in a cadenced manner consistently, I’d be willing to bet lack of improvement will follow.
But back to the question, “Why do standard BI tools fail service?” Ultimately, BI tools provide a vast amount of information, but little direction on what information is most critical to my business goals. Additionally, they don’t answer the question, “How do I take actionable steps to address service issues?
Kris: How can service leaders make informed decisions today (based on data not hunches)?
Sidney: Service leaders must discipline themselves to step away from the inevitable daily service fires to evaluate if their services are providing customers with value.
Ask the following questions:
What are the ways that you are measuring customer value? How often are you taking the customer’s pulse of satisfaction? Are you leveraging technology to gain immediate access to this critical data?
While we often hear that service is the most important department in an organization in terms of driving customer satisfaction, service leaders need to have the data readily available to effectively navigate and analyze their services.
Even by monitoring certain KPI that on the surface appear good can still lead to customer dissatisfaction. Service leaders must have the ability to look deeply into metrics for true root cause understanding. This is where today’s AI can aid in swift decision making. Service leaders must embrace change and leverage technology to gain the best insights as quickly as possible to effectively steer the organization in the right direction. Those that do will be able to maximize customer satisfaction while improving operations that lead to growth.
Kris: What do those different outcomes look like?
Sidney: Great question - It is essential to understand all the relative data to your initiative or goal. By reacting to a metric, simply because it dipped or missed the mark can often lead to all kinds of assumptions and ineffective countermeasures. You’ll only get a true understanding of the root cause if you look at all the data (the big picture) that led to a final outcome. This leads to effective countermeasures and decision making. This is where you should leverage technology to customize the view you need for your specific needs.
Kris: What tools will ultimately help them turn the corner in their customer relationships?
Sidney: Turning the corner with customers can be easily achieved when you are the driver and/or initiator in communicating asset performance and service performance. Don’t wait for the customer to express dissatisfaction.
When you have the ability and tools to illustrate your service performance, you should want to communicate the results of your services. If your services are doing great, then this provides the platform to remind your customer of why you are a choice provider. Can you leverage these opportunities for upselling more services?
If your services are not going well, you should still take the opportunity to tell your customer what actions you are taking to improve the misses. Effective communication and transparency of your services with your customer will help nurture a relationship where customers will see you as a partner in their business and see you as a vested partner making them successful.
Kris: What’s the best way to get started today?
Sidney: I recommend getting started with AI tools or AI vendors that can understand both your business and your data on day one. Look at technology that can quickly analyze your data AND provide actionable recommendations, instead of a tool that simply visualizes data.
There are many BI technologies that have the ability to compress and summarize data so it can be difficult to decide which one is best for you.
At Aquant not only do we have the ability to compress and summarize your data, but we also differentiate ourselves by applying Natural Language Generation (NLG) and Natural Learning Processing (NLP) to enable dynamic real time feedback. We uniquely aggregate your data into a simple yet meaningful format.
As a result, Service leaders can take swift calls to action like never before. Our technology can be implemented in a matter of a few weeks enabling service leaders a jump start on your abilities to drive change.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Service Leadership @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-leadership
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
- Follow Aquant on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/aquant.io
May 07, 2021 • Features • Augmented Reality • Digital Transformation • Service Leadership • technology • Aquant
In this new article by Aquant, we look at a step-by-step approach that all service leaders should consider to ensure a smooth tech deployment.
In this new article by Aquant, we look at a step-by-step approach that all service leaders should consider to ensure a smooth tech deployment.
Artificial intelligence is a growing force in the service space, but without proper pre-project planning, problems are bound to arise. To ensure a smooth deployment, team leaders should rely on a step-by-step approach to bring the final product over the finish line.
Enter the mighty checklist, whose power to manage expectations, help stakeholders remain consistent, and guide a project to completion knows no bounds. In our recent Service Leaders Spring Break sessions, we identified four essential steps that all service leaders should consider when implementing AI tools within their organizations.
let's put together the plan
- Define the problem. Hone in on the larger business problem, then tie your service challenges to those broader business initiatives. Begin by diagnosing what the problem actually is — that means trying to solve for the root cause instead of putting bandaids on symptoms. Next, show the C-suite that your proposed service deployment will address those big issues. For example, if increasing customer satisfaction is a top initiative, be clear how technology that increases first time fix, or helps spread technician knowledge will result in boosting those customer service goals. Lastly, break those big goals down into tangible wins that will resonate across departments. For example, IT wins with cleaner data, and managers can rejoice at trackable KPIs.
- Create a stakeholder map: Stakeholders, assemble! From executives to end users, it’s important to determine who has an interest in the outcome, as well as influence over the overall project. A successful team contains a healthy mix of partners with the power to set and modify requirements, as well as others who will be directly impacted by the project's outcome. Once you assemble your dream team, you can determine what they need to succeed and start guiding the project to be as successful as possible. Throughout the duration of the implementation, your stakeholders will give you quick feedback and deeper insights — both necessary for a successful end result. Don’t forget to get back to basics by assigning tasks, due dates, and keeping everyone (equally) informed with regular check-ins. In short, don’t let any one group feel left out.
- Perform a data reality check: There’s no such thing as good or bad data — only existing data and what you make of it. In most companies, IT and business departments will need to work in tandem: the first gathers the data, and the latter interprets it. For a successful implementation, both parties need to have an understanding of what data exists, and how they’d like to use it to achieve results. The AI vendor can further analyze and interpret. One last note here, don’t worry that your data is too messy or that your company doesn’t have enough data. The starting point should be simply assessing what’s available.
- Agree on realistic project expectations: We’ve heard the horror stories when it comes to AI implementations — complexities, escalating timescales, and spiraling costs can run rampant. For these reasons and more, companies tend to label large-scale implementations as confusing and risky. However, keep in mind that artificial intelligence is a “living” tool — one whose capabilities expand and contract as it absorbs more data. You should not expect your AI to work at 100% efficacy right out the gate, but rather, remember that its accuracy will increase as it learns how to utilize your organization’s data. That means that project expectations should start small and grow in relation to the project. Don’t forget, implementation is the first step, then comes full user adoption, and that’s when results will really take off.
Once you hit these pre-project milestones, it will be easier to move forward gaining approvals and rolling out the projects.
need some inspiration?
We built the checklist so you don’t have to.
To accelerate your project, Aquant created The Ultimate Guide to Tech Deployments, a comprehensive list designed to help you fully define the benefits of AI and leverage its power within your organization. We know it can be overwhelming to consider the many puzzle pieces, so you can use our checklist to take your deployment to the next level, or simply use it as a guide.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Watch the Aquant Service Leaders Spring Break sessions @ view.aquant.io/servicespringbreak/
- Download Aquant's Ultimate Guide to Tech Deployments @ www2.aquant.io/ai-deployment-checklist
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
May 06, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • Workforce Managemnet • Aquant • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy
In the third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at four solutions for effectively building the new service workforce...
In the third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at four solutions for effectively building the new service workforce...
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
A little understanding of generational differences goes a long way in building the tech-savvy, customer-centric, and skilled (multigenerational) workforce you need.
The most talented young service workers won’t magically appear at your door simply because post a job online — you need to attract them with the right mix of tools and approaches, empower them with the technology they expect, and enable their learning and professional developmen
Leverage the Latest Technologies Across the Entire Organization
From the initial hiring processes to the provision of everyday work tools, outdated technology is a big turnoff for digital natives like Gen Z and Millennials. If they sense that your technology is stuck in 1999, they’ll take a different job. A 2019 Yello survey found that Gen Z has a baseline expectation that employers use up-to-date technology for the application process and that their platforms be mobile-friendly. A quarter (26%) of Gen Z candidates say that a lack of technology during the hiring process alone would prevent them from accepting a job with the company, so tech matters from the very start of the relationship. Set the right expectations early (and always).
When it comes to using technology for work, Millennials and Gen Z want to use (and master) the latest and greatest digital tools to help them do their jobs more effectively. In a recent webinar with Rodger Smelcer of United Service Technologies, he explained how he’s got one of the youngest service teams in the industry, and how UST’s up-to-date technology is key to keeping younger employees engaged and productive.
Smelcer details how younger service engineers utilize everything from mobile apps and social media to AI tools to capture findings and share new fixes or hacks with the entire UST team. He also notes that junior staff are energized to use the latest technology that empowers them to crush daily service metrics and foster long-term career advancement.
Enable Collaboration
Tech-savvy Gen Z workers and Millennials have grown up accustomed to collaborating in real-time in every aspect of their daily life and they bring those same preferences to the workplace. While it’s generally assumed that the youngest members of the workforce rely exclusively on digital tools, Gen Z, and to a lesser extent, Millennials, actually prefer to have a full menu of collaboration options, showing a desire for face-to-face interactions as one option (among many) to stay connected at work. And younger workers also want continuous, face-to-face feedback about their contributions at work.
It isn’t either technology or face-to-face, but preferably all-of-the-above.
What does that mean at a time of social distancing for an industry where field engineers have traditionally worked solo on job sites? Remote collaboration tools have never been more relevant than today to ensure the safety of service employees and their customers. These remote tools enable the workforce to feel (and literally be) connected and access the most accurate information and advice from across the entire organization. The benefit? The ability to resolve service issues with little or no in-person contact with customers.
Especially at a time of remote work and remote service, building collaboration into daily workflows and adopting technology to foster a collective knowledge base is essential for ensuring (contactless) service quality and extending a sense of camaraderie in service teams.
Professional development is among the top priorities for Millennials and Gen Z. When asked why they were dissatisfied with a job or planned to quit a position after less than two years, lack of training and professional development ranked third for both younger generations, just behind pay and a lack of advancement, according to research by Deloitte.
Both groups express eagerness for on-the-job mentoring along with digital tools that let them learn-as-they-go and share their findings with colleagues. Meeting the expectations of this young, motivated workforce is key to adapting to ongoing demographic shifts and a business climate of rapid digital transformation. When your younger workers learn via digital tools, not only do they stay engaged with your organization, but they also drive better service outcomes for your customers (who also expect tech-savvy solutions, by the way.
Set Your Business Up for Post-Covid Success
COVID-19 has served to accelerate digital transformation, for both business organizations and the customers they serve. Customers, in general, turned to more digital solutions, from online grocery shopping to Zoom meetings to streaming entertainment. Businesses were forced to keep pace and “up” their digital game
Those service organizations that had invested in digital transformation prior to the pandemic or have accelerated digital investments during the pandemic have generally outperformed organizations that have been slower to deploy digital-first approaches. In the service industry, for example, remote service provision has become a key success factor at a time of public health concerns and social distancing. Moreover, maintenance of equipment is increasingly becoming predictive and proactive, as sensors transmit continuous streams of real-time performance data that enables service and maintenance teams to intervene even before equipment breaks down
Digital tools that support faster, predictive, or remote service are now even more critical drivers of customer experience. The technology also helps reduce time on site, which is helpful in terms of public health. Whatever the future brings, digital tools can help ensure the continuity of your service operation and enable you to scale service provision.
WHAT'S NEXT
Now’s the time to act before small problems become insurmountable.
Digital tools, like intuitive AI solutions, can help your service team leverage and share service knowledge, which is the key to improving service outcomes — including improving KPIs and enhancing the customer experience. Those same tools will help attract and engage younger service talent by helping them feel both comfortable and more empowered.
Equally important, leveraging digital technology can help you future-proof your service organization in times of crisis, such as during COVID-19.
The service organizations that coped best with social distancing had already invested in digital transformation, which helped them adapt faster to “the new normal.”
Whether it’s a public health crisis or a demographic/workforce shift, you’ll need to remain agile: digital tools offer the best way forward regardless of the challenge.
Your new recruits (and customers) will thank you!
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Leadership & Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com//leadership-and-strategy
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Apr 29, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • Workforce Managemnet • Aquant • Leadership and Strategy
In this second article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at two major service challenges to overcome when it comes to the service workforce...
In this second article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at two major service challenges to overcome when it comes to the service workforce...
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
All service organizations face external challenges around evolving customer demands and internal challenges around developing their capacities to address those evolving customer demands. When it comes to the service workforce, two challenges stand out above the rest.
CHALLENGE #1: The Need to Build a New Workforce for Today and Tomorrow
The shifts described above and the disruptive impacts on service delivery, have been hitting the service industry for a decade now, and are projected to continue for at least the next few years. While many organizations have transition plans in place, you should ask yourself:
“Does my transformation consider ALL aspects of the service cycle?”
That includes:
- People
- Processes
- Technology
- Customer demand and shifting preferences
- Long-term scalability
Here’s why the time to act is now.
- There is a massive demand for highly skilled talent in the service industry, but it’s in short supply.
- A workforce with a wide range of soft and technical skills is required to service today’s mix of equipment and machines. They also need to play the role of front-line brand ambassadors.
- More businesses are competing on service as the differentiator vs price. And the quality of service increasingly represents a major competitive advantage.
- Top younger and tech-savvy talent have more choices, and they’re more likely to leave a workplace that doesn’t meet their expectations for onboarding, training, professional development, and more.
CHALLENGE #2: Today's Growing & Costly Skill Gap
Historically (and today too), the service smarts exemplified by industry veterans came primarily from on-the-job experience and were developed over time. A major challenge for service leaders right now is figuring out how to quickly transfer that knowledge from veterans to the new workforce.
Another factor: these experts are being asked to play two major roles at once — leaders want them to be trainers and mentors, but their deep skillset is needed in the field. Your top service experts simply can’t be in two places at once.
We know you’d love to clone your SMEs and have them on your team forever, but that’s not reality. Here’s what’s happening now as a result of the brain drain.
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Increased service costs
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Decrease in service KPIs, including first time fix rates
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More customer churn
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Lower employee morale
Let’s dive deeper into costs, and for this part, we hope you’re sitting down.
The skills gap is expensive. The bottom performing quarter of the service workforce (challengers) costs organizations 80% more than the top quarter of the workforce (service heroes), according to our Service Intelligence Benchmark report.
When you have a failed first service visit, the costs continue to grow. A failed first service visit leads to, on average:
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2.6 total visits to resolve the service issue
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15 additional days in Mean Time to Resolution
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Customer dissatisfaction and loss of service brand reputation. A failed first visit is especially problematic in light of the pandemic-driven urgency to limit time spent on job sites.
What should service organizations be doing to overcome these issues and build up a dream service team with the know-how to resolve issues efficiently? The first step is attracting, retaining, and empowering members of the two most recent workforce generations, Gen Z and Millennials.
Look out for the next and final excerpt from the white paper "The Service Leader's Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Gen Z & Millennials Employees" next week where we look at 4 solutions for effectively building the new service workforce.
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Leadership & Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com//leadership-and-strategy
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Apr 22, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • Workforce Managemnet • Aquant • Leadership and Strategy
In the first article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the disruption and the challenges presented by he ongoing generational shift for service organizations of all sizes...
In the first article of a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the disruption and the challenges presented by he ongoing generational shift for service organizations of all sizes...
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
How to Close The Skills Gap, Improve Service Outcomes, and Bolster Workforce Morale
Your most seasoned service techs are retiring. Do you have a plan to replace them? And how do you know how to transfer years of experience to junior staff quickly?
Today’s service workforce is undergoing a dramatic generational shift. As Baby Boomers move into retirement and take their hard-earned expertise with them, a wave of younger workers are entering the service industry with a sizable learning curve. The disruption presents ongoing challenges for service organizations of all sizes.
In the midst of this shift, service leaders are also juggling:
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A growing skills gap that impacts service cost and quality
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An imbalance in workloads between service veterans and less-tenured staff
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Employee dissatisfaction and/or high turnover
How can organizations like yours attract, retain, and quickly bring up-to-speed younger workers before your seasoned pros retire? The solutions to these challenges, according to industry experts and leading service leaders, include:
- Leveraging the latest digital technologies that empower less experienced employees to succeed by democratizing knowledge
- Promoting continuous learning and development on your service teams
- Setting your people up for success in a post-pandemic world filled with uncertainty and accelerating change
An Ongoing Generational Shift
The service workforce, for organizations of all sizes and industries, is undergoing a rapid transformation. A large percentage of Baby Boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) have either retired or are transitioning into retirement.
Meanwhile, younger Millennials (aged between 24 and 40) and Gen Z (the newest cohort in today’s workforce, aged 24 and younger) will soon account for the majority of the workforce, according to research from global consultancy PWC.
The impact: the industry is managing a workforce in flux, balancing the demands of attracting the tech-savvy and collaborative younger demographic, while grappling with a service skills gap for the incoming recruits.
What’s at the heart of the skills gap? As Baby Boomers take their institutional knowledge into retirement, the new recruits (Millennials and Gen Z) don’t have the years of experience and practical, on-the-job know-how needed for success in the field. In addition, as the world moves to more complex machinery and advanced technologies, a highly skilled workforce is more important than ever for success.
Look out for the next feature from the white paper "The Service Leader's Guide to Recruiting and Retaining Gen Z & Millennials Employees" next week where we look at two major service challenges to overcome when it comes to the service workforce.
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
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 Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Leadership & Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com//leadership-and-strategy
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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