ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘customer-satisfaction-and-expectations’ CATEGORY

What is the value of a customer relationship? Is it worth it to over-deliver on SLAs just to keep a paying client? What role does field service have in keeping customers happy? Aly Pinder, senior research analyst analyst, Service Management, Aberdeen Group,  shares his views.

These are all questions which have put a microscope on service technicians and field engineers. Historically, the field service team was solely looked to in order to show up on time based on a 4-8 hour service window and fix a failure. But in this age of empowered customers, the field service team is expected to deliver real value to each customer interaction (while also, of course, fixing the failure).

But with this demand for increased value comes the opportunity to find new products and services that customers need and want to buy. As seen in Aberdeen’s Service Revenue: Unearth an Untapped Stream of Dollars research, eight out of ten top performers (81%) were able to attain their service revenue goals in 2014 and they also cultivate an environment of innovation for their service offerings to meet the needs of their customers. But how did these service organizations and manufacturers achieve these results? Did the money just fall from the trees? Of course not, these companies helped the field team excel at service and wow their customers into new opportunities.

The path to this level of engagement is outlined below and should be the centerpiece of any strategy to drive profitability from the field:

• The carrot is often more successful than the stick in business. Incentives, if targeted the right way, have the ability to drive the behaviors which can transform an organization.[quote float="left"]The carrot is often more successful than the stick in business. 

   

  This is true for the field team. If your organization only monitors or incents doing more jobs as quickly as possible, your technicians will neglect aspects of the service experience which could prove valuable to customers. Savvy service leaders implement incentives and performance goals which tackle both short-term operational objectives and long-term relationship goals like profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction.
• Give the sales team a view into the field. The sales team has a difficult job (and no, I am not pandering to the sales executives out there). They “always must be closing” new business. And one of their top challenges is having enough leads to close. This is where the field service team can help out. Service technicians are in front of customers every day, they’re in front of the equipment on site, and they even have access to the competition’s assets. But in order to connect customer insight with the sales team, the field needs the mobile tools AND the training to pass along the right information. Technicians need to ask the right questions while on site with customers and have their eyes / ears open to gaps in the current products and services being used. Passing these leads on to sales can drive the top line for the entire organization.
• Don’t give service away for free.

   

  Don’t give service away for free. Too often organizations send technicians out to customers to service equipment and assets which are no longer under warranty or within a service contract. This is a missed opportunity. Top performing organizations ensure their service team delivers service which is being paid for. And when contracts expire or are close to, technicians don’t have to refuse service but they will have the knowledge to give the customer a small nudge reminding them their bill is due.

The field service team has a special place in the hearts and minds of customers. Technicians show up when there is a problem (or before), fix it, and leave with a smile. But this relationship has the opportunity to garner insights that can turn into new revenue opportunities. I don’t think technicians should be salespeople, but they understand customers, equipment, and assets. And this insight makes them invaluable in finding the next dollar while ensuring customers remain happy.

 

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M2M managed services provider Wireless Logic has achieved impressive annual growth of over 30% in the past eight years and in 2015 reached the landmark figure of over 2 million SIM subscriptions. Following a root-and-branch review of its customer service capabilities, expectations and experience, the company is now embarking on a major customer service enhancement programme to sure its delivers quality service right, first time.

With a customer base now exceeding 1,000 solution providers across Europe, the need for quality customer services has never been greater yet the sheer mass of business being processed meant the company has always been in catch-up mode in the drive for service excellence, acknowledges Director of Operations, Matthew Tate, who joined the company from Research in Motion 14 months ago.

“We have been surprisingly good in our service delivery given the dynamics of the market and our make-up, but to ensure sustainability in excellence I wanted to look at ourselves in greater depth,” he explains. A group-wide audit was undertaken with Wireless Logic investing in a broad customer insight campaign that included customer interviews, mystery shopping and a review of operational platforms.

 

Wireless Logic is horizontally positioned and works with hundreds of vertical applications - these include asset and vehicle tracking, telematics, metering, security, electronic payment, m-healthcare and a range of enterprise solutions. All services operate across a single unified technology platform and are designed to meet the specific needs of connected assets within the global markets of M2M and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Continuous investment in technology has enabled Wireless Logic to provide an increasing range of value-added services which include specialist mapping solutions from Google and HERE, device management platforms and end-to-end security encryption services.

Implementing improvements

The service implementation programme is already underway with a number of initiatives already in place, including certification to ISO 9001 Quality Management - vitally important to customers whose own quality programmes expect such standards, says Tate.  “Achieving ISO 9001 has been a journey that has really explored every corner of our operational service and delivery. With this standard in place, there is a real spirit of confidence knowing that our processes have been scrutinised and passed fit for purpose.”

 

A new customer engagement and information platform from Zendesk has been introduced which is creating a new approach to how the organisation manages and interacts with customers. A root and branch change to staff training will see team members receive ongoing development and support across all facets of the business as it evolves to meet the needs of current and future users of its M2M services.

Zendesk has enabled Wireless Logic to integrate customer intelligence, dialogue and communication channels seamlessly – a major step towards delivering service excellence, says Tate.

Further investment is being made across SIMPro, the company’s SIM management platform now used by over 95% of its solution provider customers. It now has a SIMPro easy-to-use cloud interface. Over the coming months, Wireless Logic plans to roll-out more self-service modules to empower customers to order, provision and manage entire SIM bases across multiple mobile networks, all in real-time.

 

“With ambitious sales targets across the next three years, ensuring our own store is in order has been a major driver as we progress through our first year with our new private equity partners CVC Capital Partners on board,” concludes Tate. “We have service front of mind in the operation which will mean more contented customers, an entirely better user journey, and an ability to continue our growth curve with assurance.”

Oliver Tucker, CEO and Co-founder, Wireless Logic said: “With the M2M and IoT market in its ascendancy, the sector has to tailor its services to be more responsive and flexible. Our own experiences across the UK and in Europe suggest that customers expect a ‘right first time, every time’ mind-set; there is little room for error. We are pleased with progress made so far as we reshape the way we work with customers, and will continue to analyse feedback as we aim for excellence across the group.”

In an exclusive interview with Field Service News, Alex Bill, Alstom Power explains to Kris Oldland how the servitization model works in the power generation industry.

For many the concept of servitization is both a new and challenging concept. Even the language around the movement can be confusing. Advanced Services, Outcome Based Solutions, Industrie 4.0 are all on the surface similar terms for the same thing.

At its bare bones it's a movement away from a one-off transaction based revenue stream to a more prolonged, long-tail service-focused revenue stream. Servitization is getting traction across the globe but for many it’s still in its infancy.

However, for a few companies it’s just the way they do business and has been for some time. One of those companies is across a number of their divisions including power generation and one man who has been right at the heart of this sector for some time is Alex Bill.

 

“For Alstom Power we have been doing these outcome-based services, or long-term service agreements since the early nineties and we’ve been very successful with these long-terms agreements, which we call operational service contracts. It’s something that we tie in with our upgrade packages,” Bill explains.

Of course the first challenge for a company trying to move towards such a solution is to answer what is often the customer's most important and usually most pressing question ‘What is in it for me?”

Continuous improvement

The way Alstom approach this equation is by continuously improving the service levels and outputs that they deliver to their client base.

“We do a lot of R&D and service R&D on improving the performance of our install- base products and then retrofitting that onto the install base” Bill explains.

Of course this R&D can feed not only the service division but also production of new solutions as well, Bill points out. “By doing this we are also making our new products better and then again tying that all together with long-term contracts which you could call outcome-based contracts.”

So from a customer perspective there could be a very compelling argument for moving to such a relationship. Rolls Royce, for example, is one of the other often-cited examples of a company pioneering an outcome-based solutions model, but it was driven by their customer American Airlines.

 

But what about from the service company's outlook?

“From my own personal perspective one of the key benefits is securing long-term business,” Bill asserts. “With an outcome-based contract you can secure business with a customer or a range of customers for ten to fifteen years.”

Such long-term financial security is of course the answer at the heart of the servitization argument. The aim is to move away from the one-hit transaction and by doing so both spreading and increasing profits over a longer period but, as Bill reveals, the beauty of such an approach is that it can become practically self-perpetuating.

“In exchange for that long-term security you have, of course, to guarantee certain outcomes but it’s thanks to that long-term security that you can invest in your service R&D. Suddenly you’ve got a business case to make which is in fact quite a profound one. By investing in those upgrades and bringing them to market essentially it becomes self-fulfilling,” Bill explains.

With his relaxed and conversational manner, the way Bill explains it makes it seem like child’s play. Of course the opposite is true. Establishing such a close relationship with your clients is key if you are going to be able to make such an approach work.

“If you look from contract to contract, you really have to be pretty good with customer intimacy and build the relationship with the customer at quite a few levels,” adds Bill.

 

“That relationship is a key differentiator for us. It begins when we sell the new product and from there we are with the customer from day one. We then need to build on it and improve it through the services we deliver.”

Having worked both on the manufacturing and services side of the fence Bill is also well placed to see the difference between the two sides of the customer relationship.

“The interesting part from coming from the manufacturing side of the business is the customer you don’t really see until you are coming to the end of the process,” Bill explains when asked about the difference in approaching both the new-build and then the long-term service contracts.

“In service the customer is there at the beginning, the middle, and the end. The variability between customers is also more apparent: in their processes, for example, and understanding their individual needs and so forth. It really does take a different mindset as that variability and the needs of customers can be quite different. That’s always an exciting challenge,” he concludes.

 

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Does your field service business need a customer portal? Yes, says Jenna Puckett, associate technology analyst at TechnologyAdvice.

Great field service management is the backbone of many businesses but in an increasingly connected and impatient world, it’s becoming harder to delight customers.

Consumers expect visibility and control when they interact with businesses, particularly when field service is involved. After all, in an age when customers can track the status of their pizza delivery from their smartphone, they expect to know when a technician will arrive at their home and how long they’ll be there.

Service companies must keep up with tech-savvy consumers in order to meet their ever changing demands. To keep pace with customer expectations, more and more businesses are adopting modern field service management software solutions.

 

Since FSM software varies greatly from vendor to vendor, it’s difficult to pinpoint which functionality can help your business the most. To many businesses, a customer portal may seem extraneous. But companies can experience myriad benefits by putting everything at the customer’s fingertips.

Let's examine why this FSM software feature is not just an extra but a necessity.[ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. Increase customer satisfaction
   Successful field service management operations play a critical role in customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customer portals can help increase customer satisfaction.
2. Add convenience
   A self-service portal allows customers to manage their account with your company. By logging into your website, consumers can perform a variety of tasks, such as:[unordered_list style="bullet"]
   • Request service and schedule appointments 24/7
   • Track repairs, as well as appointment details and status
   • Send messages directly to a technician
   • Review their service history
   • Find maintenance tips
   • Learn about product upgrades
   • View account info and manage payments
   • Get support for sales and product questionsPlace your list items here

   As traditional business hours become increasingly inopportune for communications, a self-service portal provides added convenience for customers. In fact, a CSG International study revealed that 86 percent of consumers would pay a premium off up to $25 for enhanced scheduling options, including the ability to choose a specific technician arrival time. By allowing customers to choose a time that fits their preferences you can distinguish your service from competitors.

3. Provide transparency
   Many customers have trouble staying apprised of FSM job details such as technician whereabouts. Providing consumers with a three to four hour arrival time window is becoming less and less acceptable.[quote float="right"]A portal that allows customers to see their technician can build trust.

    

   The same CSG study found that an overwhelming 89 percent of respondents prefer a tool that provides technician location and continually updated estimated arrival times. Over 70 percent also wanted the ability to see the technician's name and photo. A portal that allows customers to see their technician can build trust and provide transparency into your operations. And if technicians are running late, a courtesy call, email, or mobile alert shows your customers that you value their time.
4. Reduce confusion
   TechnologyAdvice’s recent field service customer satisfaction survey revealed 23 percent of respondents that had to pay for a visit were not told the amount during the visit. This can lead to confusion and frustration among consumers, who may feel inadequately informed or purposefully kept in the dark.To eliminate this confusion, businesses should focus on providing customers with any costs upfront through an online portal, or at least giving technicians access to back-office systems and customer account information. This avoids any surprise over the final amount due.
5. Improve resource allocation
   In addition to increasing customer satisfaction, a self-service portal can also help improve your business’s resource allocation. When a consumer request service or schedules an appointment, they fill out all the details online, which outlines the necessary skills and equipment for the job. These details can be used to determine the best technician for an onsite visit. Additionally, when customers choose their own appointment time, this information can be used to automatically schedule the rest of the technician’s route.
6. Reduce costs
   Best in class organizations are more likely than their peers to provide customers with the ability to accomplish the following via self-service portals:[unordered_list style="bullet"]
   • Create service tickets
   • Order service parts
   • Reschedule technician visit
   • Leave post-session feedback

   Not only do these self-service options increase customer engagement and loyalty, but they reduce administrative and overhead costs as well. When customers can manage their own account, your customer service department benefits from further reductions in routine tasks. Additionally, contact center inquiries regarding technician arrival time is decreased since
   customers are able to track the job each step of the way.

7. Boost revenue
   Customer portals aren’t just for customers. By providing online access to account information, field service business can communicate with customers in new ways. A self-service portal also opens the door for marketing strategies that can increase the bottom line. For example, in addition to bill pay and service help, FSM companies can use a customer portal to automatically alert consumers. These notifications are an opportunity to upsell through product upgrades and cross-selling.
8. Manage expectations
   

   Above all else, a customer portal is a way to set up customer expectations.

    

   The proliferation of the Internet means consumers expect a modern service experience. Simply sending an email is no longer enough. Customers want to login to their account, troubleshoot their own issues, view their warranty, review past services, and read about similar issues in a community forum. Supporting this journey leaves your customers feeling empowered. If they still require help, they can request, schedule, and track the entire process from the same place.Self-service portals benefit both customers and your business. FSM businesses should focus on customer communication preferences and providing visibility into relevant job information, including cost, procedures, and technician status. It’s getting increasingly difficult to meet customer expectations and outperform the competition. By helping customers help themselves, a self-service portal can be your secret weapon.[/ordered_list]

 

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Field service organisations must adapt in a rapidly changing world, says Tom Bowe, Industry Director, Enterprise Service Management, IFS.

Agility and adaptability were the overarching themes at the recent IFS customer conference in Boston.  More than 250 service-focused attendees came to hear user case studies about implementing and using IFS’s service software, watch industry experts apply new trends to real life, and to learn about what IFS is doing to take their service solutions to the next level.

Why? Because the world is changing, rapidly. According to Erik Qualman of Socialnomics fame, 40% of the Fortune 500 will be gone within 10 years. As PJ Jakovljevic of Technology Evaluation tweeted; “You have to be prepared to destroy your own business model before a kid in a dorm room does it for you.”
[quote float="left"]Monolithic legacy systems can no longer keep up with the changing market and customer demand.

So how do you future-proof yourself as a service organisation as the world changes, new technology evolves, and customer demands shift and increase? Addressing customer service vigilantly is vital to a service organisation’s success. Let your consumers drive the trends you adopt to ensure better return on investment. Flexibility and usability matter, especially in a consistently changing environment. Monolithic legacy systems can no longer keep up with the changing market and customer demand. Those organisations that don’t adapt will be replaced.

 

We have developed a sort of nine step program to help service organisations achieve service excellence and help them adapt to an ever-changing environment. Here are some of the things you should keep in mind when you are looking to make your service organisation more adaptable, and more successful:[ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. Know your business
   This may seem a bit obvious, and redundant, but in order to help your organisation streamline processes, maximise service margins, and increase customer satisfaction, you need to have a full understanding of your company’s goals, their future plans, their mission, and the vision. This will allow you to focus your efforts, systems, and processes on the right objectives
2. Excellence through insight
   The power of BI is never-ending. Use your collected data to drive more informed decisions, hone processes and affect change throughout your organisation. This should never be a static, one way function, BI should directly affect your future operations.
3. Accelerate service achievement
   A holistic view of not only your service organisation but your service value chain will accelerate service achievement. Bringing suppliers and other parties you collaborate with into the value chain adds value to them, you and ultimately your customers.
4. “Uberise” your service
   From the minute you order a car on Uber to when you arrive at your destination, Uber provides transparency from identifying the driver and license plate, to showing you on your route, to providing easy, secure payment options. Service businesses can use optimised, automated field service solutions (like IFS Field Service Management) to offer trust, security and reliability to their customers in a similar manner.
5. Delivery that delights you and your customers
   In the past, delivering superior customer service often meant accepting a reduced service margin. Now with powerful technology like M2M sensors, mobility solutions and automated processes, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Let your customers drive your initiatives and reap the benefit at the same time. Better organised internal processes often automatically improve external delivery.
6. Open up to new things
   New trends and technology in the service space can often be overwhelming, but don’t be closed off to what’s new and great in your space. Actively watch the market and evaluate which trends will affect your industry and your business the most. Sometimes this is customer driven. If a new trend can help meet a consumer demand, it is probably more than worthwhile to pursue.
7. Optimise your world
   Today, more people own a mobile device than a toothbrush (Socialnomics, 2014) and over one-third (36%) of consumers prefer using a company website or email to contact a business (2014 American Express Customer Service Barometer). Gone are the days when an excel spreadsheet, white board, or patched together legacy systems can handle customer demands and a mobile workforce effectively. Optimisation and automation allows for a seamless process from call intake to billing, reducing overhead costs, deviations, and errors.
8. Manage your future
   The future doesn’t have to be as unpredictable as it seems. Market research, watching trends, and utilising your business intelligence (and managing your big data effectively) will help give you a crystal ball into what’s coming and allow you to adapt faster, giving you a competitive edge.
9. Agile, ready for change
   If the past decade has shown the business world anything, it is that the most successful organisations are those that are two steps ahead of the game. The best way to future-proof yourself is to function as an agile, flexible operation. With the right systems and vision in place, the changing world will have nothing on you.

IFS Enterprise Service Management is continually investing in our solutions to support our goal of providing service organisations with dynamic scalability, mobile solutions, ease of deployment, and cloud and wearables flexibility.
We are future-proofing ourselves by helping you succeed at what you do best; delivering unrivaled service.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Astea
Title: Forging a service and sales partnership
Download: Click here to download the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

The wall between sales and service activities is crumbling within many companies. Once largely viewed as a cost centre, the role of the service organisation has steadily evolved as companies recognize its potential as a source of new revenues and a valuable tool in strengthening customer loyalty.

However, there is often a disconnect between the service and sales organisations. Service technicians often serve as the face of the company, spending much of their time directly interacting with customers. They are potentially a valuable source of new sales leads, able to spot opportunities for new product sales or competitive product replacements, offer service contracts to clients, and even cross-sell/up-sell products or services. Most companies are not fully taking advantage of this potential sales leads stream

This white paper outlines the potential sources of new revenue enabled by better integrating service and sales activities, discuss the challenges of realising this revenue, and provides information on the tools, software,
and strategies that top-performing companies utilise to grow that revenue.

Overview:

The ability to leverage information coming from the field service organisation to drive sales opportunities with new and existing customers will be a critical competitive differentiator moving forward. Companies that leave their sales and service organisations technologically or operationally separated could be leaving substantial revenue on the table.

 

However, according to The Service Council, of the 55% of companies that are not utilising their service teams for sales, most report that this is because the technicians lack training, lack the skill set or incentives to sell, or the companies prefer that they don’t sell at all.  Service organisations also may lack the tools to turn those leads into revenue. The Service Council reports that 17% of service organisations still rely on paper, while another 19% don’t have any tools with which to capture leads.

Two types of service revenue

There are two ways that service creates new revenue. One is through direct sales of service offerings  from existing service contracts, non-contract service, new contract sales, and parts sales. The second is by generating direct revenue via warranty sales and other value-added services.

Breaking down barriers

Many of the chief obstacles to meeting new service revenue objectives are both structural and technological. Many companies are not currently structured properly to foster better collaboration between service and sales.

Technology can also play a role. The Service Council says 53% of companies lack real-time visibility into service performance and potential revenue opportunities: traditional paper-based service management processes make it very difficult to communicate potential sales leads and new opportunities back to the sales teams.[quote float="right"]Many companies are not currently structured properly to foster better collaboration between service and sales.

Service technicians often lack the tools to identify and document these opportunities, or to act on them while they are in front of the customers.

 

Keys to better service/sales collaboration

Linking sales and service requires a mix of operational changes and technology.[ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. The ability to accept payment in the field greatly expands the sales potential for the service force.
2. Companies that do leverage the service teams to generate new sales leads typically have dedicated teams focused on service sales, and create sales quotas for the service organisations.
3. Top performers also train service agents on lead identification and sales management
4. The profile of service technicians is changing: technicians are hired also on their sales skills and experience. Some companies are hiring agents with more sales experience, and then investing their training budget on service/technical skills rather than the other way around.
5.  Should the service team should be selling directly or simply gathering leads? The decision will depend your company’s business, culture, and the type of service agents you currently employ.
6. How do your customers view your service team?  If the service technicians are simply seen as people who arrive, fix problems, and leave, then introducing a sales function may not yield the best results. If the agents are already serving as trusted advisors to the customers, however, they may receive more positive reception to sales activities.
7. Evaluating the skill sets of the service force is also important. Can your technicians sell? Are they interested in doing so? What tools, technology, and infrastructure need to be in place that will help them sell effectively? Asking your technicians to sell without giving them the tools to do the job correctly will not yield new revenues.
8. Don’t let the sales strategy compromise the work your service team is performing. It may still be more appropriate to send leads to a dedicated sales team for follow-up.

In order to leverage the service organisation to increase revenue effectively, companies will need to foster collaborative environments that will encourage the service teams to generate leads for the existing sales forces. That can be done by providing technicians with mobile technology that allows them to quickly and easily capture and communicate those leads, developing incentive programs that reward lead generation, and creating business process flows that ensure the leads will be followed up on quickly.

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Click Software
Title: The Cloud: Up where customer service for the field belongs
Download: Click here to download the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

The Harris Interactive Customer Experience Impact report revealed that 86% of consumers have quit doing business with a company because of a poor customer experience—up 59% in four years. Other research has revealed it takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for one negative experience, whilst 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with the same organization again. This white paper discusses how leveraging cloud solutions to optimise mobile workforces can improve the experiences of customers while lowering operational and IT costs. More field service management software is now available in the Cloud making it more accessible for SMEs and an alternative to heavy IT investments for large service organisations

Overview:

Customer complaints: What you hear is only the tip of the Iceberg. Many service companies don’t realize it when service levels are running low. In an increasingly savvy and connected market where information is readily available and easily accessible, customer service is often the only discerning difference between competing businesses. Investing in customer satisfaction is not only important but imperative for the long term survival of businesses especially where commoditisation has taken place

• Process improvement – to ensure prompt customer service and correct resource assignments
• Workforce development – to give the staff the opportunity to learn new skills
• Automation – rather than relying on error-prone and time-consuming manual processes
• Cultural changes – creating a working environment that stimulates the entire staff

Field personnel: you most valuable players

Only with real-time data can everyone shine. Providing real-time data across the entire organization is key to enhancing the customer experience. All levels of the service organization need actionable information to enhance how efficiently the field-service team operates and to improve experiences delivered to customers.

Silver linings within the Cloud

Cloud-based solutions open new doors for field service companies of all sizes by allowing for the quick, flexible adoption of new technologies that previously proved to be too expensive, risky and time-consuming to deploy.

Delivered via the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, cloud solutions provide several advantages over traditional on-premise solutions: inlcluding PAYG, rapid deployment, immediate ROI and free upgrades. In field workforce management, cloud-based solutions typically allow companies to achieve productivity gains of up to 20% and return on their investment within 12 months. The cloud approach gives businesses the opportunity to replace high, up-front capital infrastructure expenses with low, predictable costs, while also delivering other key benefits:

The service delivery chain

Cloud-based mobile workforce management solutions cover every step of the service chain—from planning and forecasting, to real-time intelligent scheduling, shift management, mobility and execution—underpinned by extensive user-defined analytics and dashboards to provide clear and intuitive reports. Optimised scheduling: Advanced resource scheduling and optimisation tools provide the main interface for dispatchers, supervisors and managers. Service companies can increase the efficiency of their workforce with by combining a powerful cloud-based scheduling and optimisation engine with strong decision support tools.

• Multiple scheduling options and policies
• Real-time optimisation immediately responsive to changes
• Optimised scheduling using multiple factors, people, crews, contractors, assets and complexities
• Street-level route optimisation
• Intelligent and flexible appointment booking
• Workflow dispatch and progress updates

[/unordered_list] 

Mobility that connects entire teams. 

Mobile enterprise field execution software should allow both field workers and dispatchers the convenience of real-time communications and full end-to-end visibility. By using real-time mobility, field workers can update dispatchers; they can update customers, thereby benefiting everyone with true connectivity and better productivityReal-time information, when and where you need it. View jobs, service histories, customer information.[unordered_list style="bullet"]

• Mobile solutions should be compatible leading devices and operating systems, through all service workflows, and with 24/7 availability
• Mobility is driven by apps. Don’t reinvent the wheel – build your business process using ready-made apps without having to code or go through a lengthy upgrade process
• The enterprise mobility solution must offer a robust and scalable infrastructure that can adapt to the needs of the business and its users.
• Cutting-edge capabilities include artificial intelligence and automation that anticipate and act proactively upon user’s needs

Real-time and historic service performance

Look at the entire service delivery chain - before, during and after the moment of service - and the collected business metrics that result from each moment. Make key performance metrics delivers strategic value to service organizations by placing graphical, easy-to-understand key performance metrics directly into the hands of executives and service managers. Each user chooses which actionable data to report based on their role and business challenges, from the C-suite to front line supervisors.

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Click here to download the white paper

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Click here to find out more about Click Software in the Field Service Directory

 

 

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Field workforce automation tools such as dynamic resource scheduling and mobile working have had a significant impact on field service, with organisations that have adopted this technology consistently experiencing productivity improvements of 25% or more. However, these tools are not just capable of streamlining the way we currently work, they also provide us with a unique opportunity to do different things. All we need to do is unleash our imagination, says, Laraine Geddes, marketing manager, Kirona

Efficiency drives opportunity

By leveraging the highly sophisticated tools available,  field service organisations have the perfect platform from which to expand. Dynamic resource scheduling enables organisations to improve the way they plan and efficiently allocate resources to field based tasks to maximise capacity and minimise non-productive time. Empowering field workers with mobile technology has not just streamlined the way work is allocated to the field, with real-time updates delivered to centralised functions, but it has also equipped the field worker with the tools that make them more effective in the field.

The result is a far more efficient and effective field workforce. This not only has an impact on bottom line profitability, it also presents an opportunity to grow the breadth of and scale of services delivered in a highly profitable manner.

The customer experience

All of the great efforts on driving efficiencies can be lost if field service organisations lose sight of the customer experience. According to Accenture in 2013, 62% of consumers switched service providers due to a poor customer experience, and although not as extreme, it is a similar picture in the B2B world. Customer retention is vital, according to Emmet and Mark Murphy in their book ‘Leading On The Edge of Chaos’, just a 2% increase in customer retention has the same bottom line impact as a 10% reduction in cost.[quote float="left"]All of the great efforts on driving efficiencies can be lost if field service organisations lose sight of the customer experience.

Looking at ways to leverage technology to differentiate your customer experience should therefore be a focus of any field service organisation.

 

Using Dynamic Scheduling to provide customers with convenient appointments, using email and SMS to keep customers informed of when your field worker will arrive are all ways of delivering a great customer experience. But this can go even further, enabling customers to book appointments online, having deliveries scheduled at the time of purchase either within stores or online and enabling field-based workers to schedule follow-up appointments when they are with the customer all adds to the customer experience.

Driving new revenue opportunities

Happy customers present opportunity. When a customer has just received great service they have a far higher propensity to buy. By leveraging the field worker’s mobile device to prompt them with targeted up-sells for that client or customer, such as extended warranties, additional related products or follow-on services opens up the opportunity in a timely manner.

Being able to efficiently schedule resources enables you to offer premium services and SLA’s to your customers, generating additional revenues that you are confidently able to fulfil within your current capacity. This is where analytics is immensely valuable, enabling you to simulate different service offerings and understand in which regions and across which skills these can be provided.

Proactive service

Field Workforce Automation tools provide a fantastic opportunity for organisations to make that leap from being reactive to being proactive. Whether that be simply scheduling proactive tasks to complement reactive work, pushing real-time information to field-based engineers for preventative maintenance they should perform during a scheduled visit or filling any idle slots with proactive visits to customers.[quote float="right"]Field workforce automation tools provide a fantastic opportunity for organisations to make that leap from being reactive to being proactive.

 

Through driving efficiency in your workforce, you create additional capacity with existing resources, this additional capacity enables you to be proactive, all you need to do is understand how best to utilise this time to have the greatest positive impact on your customers and your business.
Whether you deliver goods, provide a facilities management service, offer field maintenance for business or consumers or deliver field-based professional services such as healthcare, you have an opportunity to be the best in your industry. Creating an efficient field service organisation and providing an exceptional customer experience does not have to be mutually exclusive, in fact, they can be highly complementary.

Ensuring you have the right technology in place to enable you to plan and schedule, to connect your field workers with your centralised systems and to analyse and gain true actionable insight into your operation is key. Using your imagination to use this technology to deliver greater value to customers and create new revenue streams enables you to set your company apart from the competition.

 

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Operating a successful field service operation today is a challenging experience. A study recently commissioned by Trimble revealed the main factors UK consumers look for when selecting a field service provider, their expectations and biggest frustrations. John Cameron, General Manager Trimble Field Service Management explains more...

The findings were extremely insightful, revealing that today’s consumers typically expect more and are not shy of complaining, leading field service companies to have to look at new ways to balance service excellence with cost.

Consumers say fix it the first time

Getting a problem fixed on a first visit is the biggest expectation for UK consumers. Indeed, in Trimble’s study, which surveyed 2000 British adults, over half (52 per cent) considered fixing the problem on the first visit to be the most important factor in determining their satisfaction.

However, field service organisations are struggling to fully achieve this as nearly one in four UK consumers report that a return visit is required. Poor inventory and an inexperienced workforce are the most common reasons for this. 40 per cent of UK consumers complain that their technician did not have the appropriate tools or parts to fix the problem on a first visit whilst 27 per cent said that the technician lacked the skills to complete the job.

 

Problems such as this often transpire for field service organisations that schedule daily tasks based on a technician’s allocated territory. However, it is more effective to select the most knowledgeable technician, or one who has the right tools and parts in their vehicle. Adopting intelligent scheduling engines is therefore crucial as they incorporate technician knowledge, parts availability and capacity into the scheduling process to ensure that the technician arriving on site is actually the person who can resolve the customer issue on the first visit.

Short appointment windows a key factor in customer choice

Today’s consumers increasingly expect field service businesses to provide more convenient appointment options to accommodate their busy schedules. However it is apparent that consumers are failing to receive this, as long appointment windows and wait times are considered to be one of the nation’s biggest frustrations with using a field service provider.

In Trimble’s survey, more than 50 per cent considered 1-3 hours to be an acceptable appointment window, yet 36 per cent report experiencing wait times of far longer, in some cases up to eight hours.

By coupling an intelligent scheduling engine with a self-learner tool, field service businesses can look to improve service delivery times through enhanced schedule accuracy, improved productivity and workforce utilisation. The software tool uses a unique algorithm to learn preferences for each technician and will allocate tasks accordingly. This includes which mobile workers normally service particular areas and what skills technicians have and to what degree they are qualified to do certain types of work. The first step to managing productivity requires field service managers to get the right people with the right skills with the right assets to the right place within a set time, and a self-learner tool significantly helps in achieving this.

Price and customer service equally as important

When selecting a field service provider, customer service and price were revealed as being equally as important to UK consumers. Field service organisations must therefore look to balance these if they are to achieve customer satisfaction, retention and profitability.

Over half of UK consumers (55 per cent) said they would refuse to use a service provider again if they were delivered a poor customer experience and with today’s consumers increasingly tech-savvy, it is very easy for them to complain to the masses. If left unhappy, half of consumers would complain formally to the company, 1 in 5 would complain to their technician and 1 in 10 consumers would take to social media to air their woes.

 

Consumers also find lack of communication with a company or service technician prior to arrival to be a major problem and consider being kept up to date on the day about arrival to be the most important factor when selecting a service provider. It is no longer acceptable to say anytime during the day. In fact almost half of consumers have to take annual, sick or unpaid leave to wait for delivery and service.

Field service businesses have a real opportunity to leapfrog the competition by providing excellent service to every customer and technology is available today that can help them to achieve this. The key is making and keeping commitments and then ensuring the customer is informed along the way.

To achieve this, more and more organisations are integrating their work management capabilities into mobile applications, which they can then offer to their technicians to allow them to share, store and view job data while out in the field, offering them a virtual link to the back office that helps to inform and empower them.

The range of information offered through a mobile application can include previous work history of jobs and upcoming work details. For example, if a technician is en-route to a customer, a quick look at service history on a mobile phone can inform them that the customer has complained multiple times to the helpdesk about a product/equipment failure.

This is vital information that can help the technician approach the customer with more care, helping to maintain a good customer service. Furthermore, when a technician reviews and accepts a job within a mobile application, the mobile device’s navigation tool can help them find the most efficient route. The technician can then pull up the customer’s details and call them to confirm when they will be arriving on-site.

The power of technology

To conclude, Trimble’s latest research looking into consumer’s biggest expectations and frustrations with field service providers ultimately suggests that success is achieved by managing productivity and ensuring field service managers get the right people, with the right skills with the right assets to the right place within a set time, whilst keeping the customer informed along the way. Having the appropriate technology in place to achieve this is therefore essential and key to helping businesses meet customer expectations and maintain ongoing brand recognition.

Trimble’s independent study was conducted by OnePoll, a worldwide market research agency. For a summary of the report, visit: http://ow.ly/MdyUU

 

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