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In the first part of this feature we looked at why a successful customer interaction strategy should be at the heart of every field service organisation as well as why companies shouldn’t be afraid of failure.

Now in the concluding part we see why you should think of bringing your customer service department and all other business divisions of the service supply chain, under one roof and why putting the customer first always is the key to ongoing customer satisfaction.  

 

Applying intelligence: the control centre & the service supply chain

Bringing your customer support service under the same roof as the other divisions of your business including field service dispatch, logistics and operations and other elements of the after service supply chain, is essential and needs to become the regular way of working across all industries if companies are to drive brand loyalty forward. This is the belief of Carolyn Wilson, services director of technology support specialist Centrex Services.

Carolyn comments:

“The current approach to after sales is a siloed one, contact centres often pass the customer onto the next silo if they are unable to resolve the problem themselves; washing their hands of the problem at the first opportunity.

“A control centre provides true added value to the customer, utilising a legitimate knowledge-base to not only resolve a high quantity of issues during triage, but controlling each step of the process from opening the call to booking the correct engineer, with the right part or loan product. The result; the SLA failure is eradicated.”

A good example of such a 'controlled service supply chain' approach in action is in the repair centre that Centrex Services provide for Fellowes, a manufacturer and marketer of business machines, shredders and office accessories, with a global presence. The business aim for Fellowes is to enhance the quality, efficiency and productivity of the workplace. Therefore it is key that their own after sales service meets the very highest standards and there service supply chain needs to be efficient and effective.

The Centrex representative responsible for the Fellowes service supply chain oversees calls from clients whose devices are both in and out of warranty. He is responsible from the outset in determining the type of call and then controlling the entire process. From the very beginning of the process he liaises directly with the client, confirming of the level and type of support required, identifying the correct engineer is allocated to the request and ensuring either a new machine (if the client is in warranty) or a loan machine (if the machine is out of warranty) is then available for the next day.

He will then personally telephone the customer to confirm the engineer’s call time and has responsibility for ensuring the engineer is on site at the agreed time. The whole process is only considered complete after a replacement or loan machine has been installed on the customer site and the customer has indicated that the issue has been resolved satisfactorily.

By adopting this type of approach where the customer is at the front of the solution, the entire way that after sales service calls are resolved is completely changed. Fellowes are certainly seeing the benefits of such an approach already, as EU after sales manager, Neil Cosgrove attests:

“Our partnership with Centrex Services ensures our consumers receive a seamless experience from the second a Fellowes shredder is purchased, and offers them total peace of mind through industry leading support service in the unlikely event they should require hassle free in and out of warranty support,” he says.

“On the occasions when it is not possible to source a replacement part the next day, Centrex has implemented a system which enables loan equipment to be made available the next day.”

 

The customer must truly come first in the service supply chain

By thinking out of the box and offering a loan service that is combined with dedicated control centre representative, Centrex and Fellowes are together treading a new path and it is this new way of thinking and approach to the service supply chain and service delivery that is yielding such positive results. By asking the right questions, the control centre is able to give  clients realistic expectations, while guaranteeing that whatever the problem is, the consumer will not be left stranded without an important piece of hardware overnight which could impact their business continuity.

Carolyn adds:

 “The loan service we offer shows the importance of listening to the needs of our customers. After an issue has been resolved following the deployment of a field engineer, the control centre sends a short questionnaire to gain an insight into how service can be improved.

“We found that supplying loan machinery during those periods where the malfunctioning machine is in need of in-depth maintenance was a highly sought after service. We have improved our after sales service due to the intelligence of the control centre and there is no reason why other businesses can not follow suit.”

 

Creating ongoing customer satisfaction

By creating a system where the customer’s needs are viewed as the most important factor of after sales support, it is clear that control centres can continue to offer high customer service levels on an on-going basis.

Ensuring triage is effective and efficient allows for the issue to be resolved as swiftly as possible, and by offering short-term hardware loans where required, a supply chain is created in which the customer’s satisfaction is assured and as a result both brand loyalty and reputation continue to be enhanced.

 

 

No matter which industry you are involved in, it is almost certain that at the very forefront of your business strategy is the goal to guarantee the very best levels of customer satisfaction.

It absolutely needs to be as in todays climate, where access to a huge array of information about you and your competitors is readily available, customer satisfaction plays an enormous role in the way consumers choose which companies get their business. 

For customers requiring after sales service, more often than not the first port of call is of course a contact centre.  Here, the initial call is logged and whenever possible, resolved.

But do service calls really provide customer satisfaction?  What happens when the problem is not rectified within the agreed time or if the service supply chain is too disjointed to efficiently resolve the problem? What impact can this have on your customers overall satisfaction with your company's ability to deliver the product or service they expect?

Successful customer interaction is vital

Carolyn Wilson, services director of technology support specialist Centrex Services, believes the contact centre process is becoming both outdated and ineffective for today’s technology support.

“It is clear that the role of the contact centre within the service supply chain has evolved rapidly; moving from simply offering support to becoming the driving force behind customer satisfaction. There must be control over the entire journey of the repair, not just an automated process to raise a service ticket. Service companies are now at the forefront of customer service, this unrequited lip-service is no longer just an afterthought.” she comments

She is certainly not alone in this view either. In fact a recent study by the Aberdeen Group showed that an incredible 96% of businesses viewed improving customer service results as their primary goal[1].

Carolyn explains further, “There are two major factors which directly affect the success of customer interactions, namely triage (problem identification) and the ability of the control team to resolve any issues as efficiently as possible.

“Equipping the staff to intelligently diagnose hardware problems over the phone and enabling them to take responsibility for the entire service process results in a huge increase in satisfaction levels, as invariably customers are contacting businesses to gain resolution as quickly as possible.”

This begins with the control representative understanding not only the nature of the call, but being able to identify where the part is located and accurately outline when a correctly skilled engineer can be sent to remedy the problem. In short, they need complete visibility of the service supply chain.

An inefficient control centre, can have a knock on effect across the whole of the service supply chain and will always result ultimately in dissatisfied customers.

An alarming statistic uncovered recently by The Service Council was that less than ten percent of field engineers dispatched had the part required to fix the hardware[2]. Clear evidence of a disjointed, fragmented and simply inefficient service supply chain. Instead, businesses favoured a system where engineers operate in territories and will therefore immediately be called out if the customer’s address falls within their patch; regardless of the parts they have to hand, or the personal skill-sets at their disposal.

Addressing this issue Carolyn added, “If a customer’s problem revolves around a part being sourced and fitted by an engineer, for the traditional contact centre to dispatch an engineer closer to the customer because it is more convenient, is unacceptable. This just shows it’s vital that changes are made to the way businesses view their own contact centres and move to adopt better control throughout the process.”

Why accept failure in your service supply chain?

Technology is evolving every year, indeed at an often bewildering rate. So it comes as a huge surprise and disappointment to learn that the vast majority of organisation are failing to apply the available and required layers of intelligence and responsibility to their contact centres. Layers which can provide the level of insight into the service supply chain that is so badly needed. Instead, we see that outsourcing this process remains a highly popular solution, even though as Carolyn points out, this is an ineffective method that is all too often cited as being the major factor in why poor service is being delivered.

“When contact centres are outsourced, businesses always run the risk of providing a service where staff processing customer calls have little knowledge related to the logistics of the service supply chain. Unsurprisingly, triage is inefficient and service level agreements (SLA) are often missed.

“I remain astonished that businesses continue to offer contracts which allow for a certain level of failure when it comes to meeting SLA’s, which is often the bar used to measure customer satisfaction.

“The current systems in place across the after sales service supply chain are not fit for purpose and the time for change is upon us. There will of course be resistance from those who believe the traditionalist approach works, but accepting failure is intolerable and should not be accepted by business leaders or their customers.” she concludes. 

Centrex, who have redesigned their service processes, began with increasing responsibility within its ‘control’ centre to create a service which is both valuable to the company while offering best practice to the consumer. It put's the 'control' centre at the heart of the service supply chain not a distant cousin looking on from afar. It is a sensible yet breathtakingly simple concept that hopefully others may follow.

Look out for the second part of this feature where we look at why bringing all elements of the service supply chain , including customer support centres, all under one roof is an essential aspect of the Centrex philosophy. 

In the first part of this two part feature Glyn Dodd, Managing director of Centrex Services discussed how with the current economic business pressure, reducing costs in the service management supply chain without compromising customer satisfaction is a challenge which must be faced head on...

Now in the concluding part of this feature Glyn outlines why Big Data isn’t the answer to solve all the service management industries issues, why failure is a good thing, and why true Business Intelligence is perhaps the key to unlocking a successful future for service management…

Big data is not the answer

The final element of deriving complete business intelligence is the data. The arrival of complex data analytics may seem to be the answer to such issues, but I believe that the data alone is not enough to improve the current state of the service supply chain.

There is a widely held belief that generating ever increasing amounts of data is the answer to all our service supply chain needs, but alone it is irrelevant if not turned into useful information. It’s the business intelligence transforming this into relevant information which is vital for the creation of an efficient, integrated service supply chain, abolishing the silos that plague the current model.

Companies such as Centrex Services source business intelligence from reason code data and apply a layer of diagnostics. The codes detail the circumstances that have caused the code to be raised and the associated completion code. Rather than just documenting each code and applying the same reasoning to each circumstance, the business identifies repetitive causes and designs a solution to resolve the issue, without it reoccurring.

This intelligence was applied when we identified a recurring problem on the point of sale system at a fast food outlet. A plastic part of the POS hardware was continuing to break, causing the same reason code in the majority of the support calls. When the business analysed the fault, they found the operators were leaning on the part of this hardware during use. The plastic was simply not robust enough. By tooling a metal replacement part, the problem was resolved permanently.

Delivering customer satisfaction is a critical part of any business and deriving intelligence plays a large part in the experience. Diagnostics of reason codes is therefore vital, yet many do not see the long term benefits which have an adverse affect on customer satisfaction within the service supply chain.

If businesses diagnose the reason codes, business intelligence can be created, which in turn can be used to offer improved SLA’s, rather than accepting a failure rate.

Why should we plan to fail?

In addition to the people, processes and data, the service supply chain is heavily reliant on service level agreements. We need to  question the current ethos in place throughout the service supply chain, claiming some companies are in fact preparing for failure.

There are circumstances where SLA’s are not being met as a direct result of people and processes being deployed without applying context to the data which has been sourced. I also question why SLA agreements are being signed allowing up to a 15 per cent failure rate when the deployment of business intelligence can realistically create a network in which success is inevitable.

The need for such change was identified in a business intelligence not utilising business intelligence, which resulted in an SLA being missed.

A client of ours works closely with a very well known American diner chain and have in place an agreement which states once a call has been made to report a technical fault, there must be a field-service engineer on-site to resolve the issue within four hours.

The issue here was, these calls can come in at any time of the day and the mentality was that the SLA must be met at all costs. So, when a call reporting faulty point of sales systems was placed at 1.00pm, processes were set in motion to guarantee an engineer was on-site by 5.00pm.

However, once they arrived, they were turned away, as the restaurant was unable to accommodate the work during their busiest period as this would result in a decline in productivity which in turn can lead to a loss of custom. Ultimately, the SLA was not met.

This demonstrates just how vital it is that the service supply chain changes, as had business intelligence been utilised, there is no way an engineer would have been sent to a restaurant during such a busy time.

Business intelligence is the future

Efficient communication, processes and correct analytics provides the business intelligence needed to simplify the fragmented supply chain. Simplification leads to more efficient service delivery, guaranteed SLA’s, greater customer satisfaction and ultimately transforms the service supply chain for competitive advantage.

Now is the time for senior decision makers to challenge all elements of the chain; without constant innovation and new thinking the industry will continue to be perceived as a laggard – a disparate set of fragmented, commoditised services that fail to meet the required standard.

 

 

 

With the current economic business pressure, reducing costs in the service management supply chain without compromising customer satisfaction is a challenge which must be faced head on. Glyn Dodd, Managing Director of Centrex Services explains why...

Facing the challenge...

Managing this balancing act requires business intelligence, which refers to the applications, tools, infrastructure and best practices which enable raw data to be transformed into significant information, and as such can be utilised to improve outdated processes in the service management arena.

Sadly, the current service supply chain model does not use business intelligence, but relies on a silo system, in which each area of the network, namely diagnostics and scheduling, parts, logistics, field service and repair, is run by a separate company.

Although the majority of companies working within the service supply chain use this silo model, there are major pitfalls to doing so which seem to be overlooked by the decision makers which strategically drive the agenda.

Quite simply, these are issues that cannot be overlooked in modern service management.

We know the service supply chain model has been working inefficiently, with separate entities running each sector of the network. Unsurprisingly, the communication between these areas is often found lacking, as an issue which the diagnostics team are unable to resolve is simply passed on to the next stage, when in reality it may not have been necessary to do so.

The current model invariably results in the deployment of field service engineers, regardless of the scale of the problem, due to a lack of business intelligence. The cost-effectiveness of such a system must therefore be scrutinised.

There are three key elements to the service supply chain which transcend each of the five silos. By studying the people, processes and data which unite to create the service supply chain, while simultaneously identifying the inefficiencies within these silos, each element can be challenged. Ultimately, this will culminate in a far more efficient network.

Correctly skilled representatives create cost-effectiveness in service management

The three key elements which are vital to the functionality of the service supply chain must be dissected to create the most effective model available. The first of these are the people who represent businesses in the service supply chain. This is the element which is easiest to directly challenge, as this can be controlled through efficient management of correctly skilled representatives.

Personally, I believe that the current silo model within the service supply chain is in fact impeding such change.

Communication is of paramount importance in all businesses, and this applies to those working in the service management, where we live and die by the level of customer service we are able to offer.

It is therefore unacceptable that the communication silos which the majority of businesses seem to rely upon result in a system where cross-silo communication is so poor. This is especially poignant when it is the customers who pay the price. It is hard to believe, when some businesses utilise an integrated service network which improves communication, that the silo structure continues.

A recent study by the Aberdeen Group shows service supply chain customers agree with this sentiment. 58 per cent of respondents state they want to see an improvement of diagnosis of triage at the initial call level. With further statistics showing there is a 24 per cent increase in first-time fix performance, from 62-86 per cent, when all calls are routed via triage, it is clear that such intelligent communication can increase service level agreements (SLA) and in turn, customer satisfaction levels.

Inefficient processes must be challenged

Customer satisfaction levels cannot be increased solely through challenging the service supply chain businesses representatives. Alongside this, processes must also be scrutinised to construct an efficient service in which business intelligence can be utilised.

With business needs evolving continuously, the processes which are currently commonplace within the network cannot be sustained in the long term.

Although this is a vital step in the evolution of the service supply chain, this message is not reaching the relevant decision makers.

Those decision-makers who strategically alter the function within the service supply chain do not necessarily have the knowledge required to alter the inefficient processes which currently plague the system.

With businesses worried about maintaining their profit margins in these difficult times, altering the processes they use can seem like an unnecessary burden, which is then wrongly linked to excess spending. If they used a leansource approach to integrate the service supply chain rather than tactically selecting separate companies, efficiency levels would increase, while spending decreases and complex issues are transformed into competitive advantage.

A study by research organisation McKinsey looking into the priorities in the global supply chain support this. 61 per cent of respondents cited reducing operating costs as a priority over the past three years, which is a task manageable through creating more efficient processes within the service supply chain. Once achieved, the percentage of SLA’s which are successfully achieved will increase without any additional pressure being applied on the deployed field service engineers.

Read the second part of this  feature here where Glyn outlines why Big Data isn’t the answer to solve all the service management industries issues, why failure is a good thing, and why true Business Intelligence is perhaps the key to unlocking a successful future for service management...

 

 

The field service engineer fulfils a unique role in an organisation – directly interacting with customers more than most people within the company. However, the need to reduce overheads is a driver impacting organisations. Reducing the cost of service technicians, by recruiting less trained individuals for example, can enable the business to provide service at a lower price.

Over the last few years this approach has been adopted by many after sales support organisations, but as a result questions have been raised over the quality of service provision. For example, a recent study reveals that just 42 per cent of service organisations have consistent SLA processes in place^[1]. One concern being raised against the quality of service provision is the lack of business intelligence being in the field. A recent report found that just 33 per cent of organisations have a business intelligence initiative which has been in place for more than two years^[2].

One track mind in the field

Martin Rulton, technical operations director at Centrex Services explains the disparity shown when it comes to intelligence being demonstrated in the field, “When a system goes wrong, often the fix will go as it should. Problems arise however when the issue is non standard, such as an unpredictable error that an engineer is unfamiliar with.

“When faced with these types of problems some field service engineers refuse to present a fix. Sometimes they just don’t have the skills to provide a solution, so shirk the responsibility.”

Some commentators suggest that a throw-away culture, so prevalent in the years leading up to the economic crash, meant that skills to repair electronic items were not in high demand, and so began to diminish.

Martin comments, “One of the major causes of current SLA failure is a result of an environment that did not call for highly skilled engineers and technicians.

“Many industries have de-skilled their workforces as a result and this is hampering the service efficiency of organisations and their ability to provide a differentiated experience, which is crucial to meeting increasing customer expectations from SLAs.”

Action is the measure of intelligence

Recent research suggests that one of the biggest complaints against service companies is the length of time it can take to fix issues from a field service standpoint^[3].

Martin explains, “The length of time repairs can take is a serious industry problem. It can be related to an engineer’s lack of technical know how, or unscrupulous after-sales support companies looking to milk issues for additional revenue, when they could be fixed much more quickly.

“This is the crux of the service failure mentality that blights the industry; for too long businesses have been content to under-perform within an SLA, because they’re maximising the bottom line through this failure. However it’s a short-sighted approach.

“If an organisation cannot deliver upon its service expectations it impacts upon the end customer. For example, if all the tills in one supermarket are out of order, most customers will take their weekly shop elsewhere, and may never return.

“If a problem isn’t fixed quickly by the field service engineers the company can potentially suffer long-term consequences, including lost revenue, custom and reputational damage. In the worst case scenario, it may even put an organisation out of business.

“On the other side of the coin, if a repair firm takes too long to find a fix, and I’ve seen cases where organisations take up to five trips just to get the right part, they may gain a reputation for poor service.

“Multiple repeat visits for a problem that could be fixed first time is unacceptable, and I believe this will lead to more companies taking their business elsewhere, potentially placing repair organisations in a similarly perilous situation.

“The industry needs a wake up call before it’s too late; firms must act to change the perception of service SLAs, or risk commercial underperformance and the real threat of losing customers.”

Intelligence is a solution that didn’t exist before

Successful companies arm their field service professionals with the technology to demonstrate effective intelligence in the field, and are able to perform tasks more quickly, serving customers more proficiently as a result^[4].

Martin believes the need for field-based business intelligence is greater than ever. He comments, “To change the current service mentality within the industry organisations must put more power into field service engineers’ hands. Out of the box thinking is critical for simplifying the complexities of after sales product services. This is key to laying the foundation for long-term business success.”

Paul Barr, a senior engineer at Centrex Services, provides some examples of how intelligence in the field is being applied, “A fast food retailer had problems with its point of sale system. Staff would lean on the screens, causing them to snap off. Rather than simply fix this issue each time at cost to our customer, we produced our own metal bracket, which added support to the screen. Now they no longer break and the retailer has benefited from some major cost savings.

“In another example, a major retailer had some serious problems with the performance of its tills. We recommended a system-wide fix that improved memory. This solution made a huge difference to the business; with its systems operating at full capacity it was able to reduce valuable seconds from each transaction, enabling it to make more sales.

“We also worked with a supermarket chain which had ten damaged point of sale screens because staff were using the wrong wipes to clean them. Rather than fix each unit individually, which would have been costly to the business, we sourced and manufactured our own, which could be inserted into the system at a fraction of the price. In this case, intelligence by field engineers meant that the supermarket was able to save thousands of pounds.”

Thinking ahead to get ahead

Business intelligence appears to be an essential ingredient for the industry if its wishes to continue meeting customer expectations. Martin concludes, “The old rules are changing, customers demands on quality, efficient service, and value are increasing; they will not put up with poor service or quick-fix answers that don’t hold up over time.

“We must move our focus away from short-term gains and analyse where strategic value can be added. This is essential to building long-term relationships with customers.

“Our partners require tailor-made solutions; if one organisation cannot fulfil customer requirements, it is very likely that they’ll turn to one that will. There is an urgent need for a highly skilled workforce with the ability to provide out of the box approaches to problems.

“Organisations must allow their engineers to adopt a business intelligence approach; it can have a profound impact on service level delivery, which is crucial for the long-term prosperity of our industry.”