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Manuel Grenacher, CEO, Coresystems explains the Crowd Service concept...

There has been a rapid increase in technological advancements designed to enhance our quality of life and a consistent trend towards gadgets that save us time. From checking in for flights on our smartphones to having our food home-delivered, we have become accustomed to getting things and accomplishing things as quickly as possible.

Where we stand now 

Recent surveys conducted across a broad spectrum of people located in numerous countries determined that 60% of consumers defined a bad customer experience as one that involves waiting a long time for service after booking an appointment. Customers want reliable and fast service, and they want it in real-time. They are looking for convenience:

Time is Precious: Every moment spent waiting for a technician is one spent away from other important activities. Consumers do not want their time taken for granted. They expect service in real-time.

Keep It Simple: Complex booking systems that involve multiple steps or unnecessary time investment (e.g. being on hold with call centres) are a big turn off.

Freedom to choose: Customers do not want to have to fit their lives to the suppliers’ schedules.

They want the flexibility to decide which service appointment best accommodates their day.

Room for Improvement

The problem: many of the gadgets produced for our consumers, though intended to buy them a few precious moments a day, are in fact costing them even more time. Minutes lost on hold with customer representatives. Hours spent waiting for technicians to arrive. Days lost because machines have broken down and can not be repaired immediately.

According to studies, “61% of all field service suppliers cited ‘customer satisfaction’ as their top measure for success”. However, they simultaneously ranked ‘response time’ (3%) and ‘customer complaints’ (5%) as substantially less significant priorities.

When taking into account what customers really value – real-time service and their time – the current supplier ranking of priorities needs to be adjusted to reflect what would actually keep customers satisfied. Emphasis needs to be placed on optimising field service and reducing the amount of time it takes to meet service demands.

The Surmountable Roadblock

Though it is easy to isolate the best way to improve customer satisfaction, many field service suppliers still face a serious obstacle when it comes to addressing this need. Real-time service requires access to an extensive, widespread and qualified workforce. Access that many suppliers do not have.

A lack of trained and readily available personnel has always led to longer wait times and unsatisfied customers. However, the dawn of IoT is making the problem more pronounced. More and more devices are interconnected. Predictive technology is making it possible to accurately foresee technical malfunctions and breakdowns before they occur. There is a greater demand for service than ever. And yet the number of technicians that most service providers has on hand has remained the same.

The reason for this is mainly the cost factor. Hiring full-time technicians is expensive. Particularly when they are needed for short-term projects. In addition, hiring full-time service employees does not guarantee that they will be where they are most in demand. Having a full-time team member in a remote corner of the globe is not a viable business model.

However, having access to a skilled worker who could provide these same services in remote areas is. What is the solution?

The Solution Is Crowd Services

This is where the Uber-like on demand model prevails. The company created a business model that utilises untapped resources to meet an unfilled demand Receptiveness to this concept of the shared economy has given rise to the crowd service model. And it is being applied to field service management.

The creation of a crowd – a group of competent and certified technicians, partners or freelancers available upon request – to accommodate the growing need for real-time service is a game changer in field service management. Companies have all the benefits of skilled labor, at a fraction of the price. It saves companies enormous overhead costs and end customers the most valuable commodity: time.

Revolutionise the Way You Do Service Before It’s Too Late!

Coresystems, with its ample experience in platform implementation and extensive knowledge of all legal aspects, is pressing this revolution forwards by providing the software that makes crowd service implementation possible.

We are on the cusp of a significant shift. If one supplier does not start adapting to real-time demands, consumers will find a supplier that does.

Now is the time to adopt the measures necessary to keep pace with IoT and the direction it is taking us. Make your service model about real-time convenience served up quick and hassle free.

When customers feel that you value their time, they will value your products. Only crowd service can deliver in real-time. Empower your ecosystem today

 

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