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Paul Whitelam, VP Product Marketing, ClickSoftware, outlines five key technologies he believes will soon be shaping our industry...

The field service industry continued its rapid transformation in 2016, with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and predictive analytics increasingly changing how field service suppliers manage their workforce.

Service-centric businesses are constantly looking for new ways to meet customers’ growing demand for convenient and communicative customer service.

2017 is likely to bring continued change and innovation, with new technologies reshaping service operations and delivery. It’s a great time to examine what’s in store for the industry this year, and what field service leaders might want to have on their radar. Here are five technologies set to improve the field service industry in 2017:

1) Machine learning and AI

Machine learning (when algorithms evolve and improve over time) and artificial intelligence (AI) also drove new changes in 2016.

With the ability to better process, interpret, and learn from data, more services suppliers can be predictive instead of reactive, and will be able to automate the tasks that don’t need human input. Increasingly sophisticated forecasting driven by machine learning will drive efficiency increases and cost savings.

2) Reaping the rewards of new realities

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) were a major force last year. Even though virtual and augmented reality are predominantly used in games such as Pokémon Go and The Lab, both are being adopted more widely in a workplace context to enhance employee productivity and customer experiences.

In 2017, an increasing number of field service engineers will start to see VR and AR initiatives being introduced to support their training and day-to-day work.

 

As experienced engineers age out of the workforce and businesses try to maximise existing resources, VR and AR will increasingly play a role in enabling training, remote coaching, and viewing more information on each task via wearables.

3) Connected customers

As our recent research showed, customer expectations are growing rapidly around the world. The demand for fast, friendly and high quality service that also fits with customers’ busy and varying schedules is becoming the norm. And, aware of the mobile-led technologies that now exist to support a higher level of service delivery, field service customers are voicing demand for engineer location tracking and up-to-the-minute communications.

This communication between the customers and engineers will give customers the ability to share photos, preferences and job information with technicians before their visit, sharing important information that will expedite the service delivery. Customers will also be able to share their customer experience with their provider after the visit, offering feedback that can inform future service decisions.

Field service suppliers that do not start to think seriously about modernizing their operations in 2017 in this way will see an impact on their ability to compete.

4) A smarter field service

A device is labelled ‘smart’ if it can connect to other devices through the Internet of Things.

This year, smart will become smarter and advancements in machine learning will create new opportunities for the field service industry.

There will be improved inter-connectivity of smart devices, which will enable field service engineers to use their smart devices to contact more experienced engineers when they need guidance.

 

This will improve engineers’ knowledge and skills, and also deliver better customer experiences through increased ‘first-time-fix’ resolutions.

Smart technology will also accelerate preventative maintenance, alerting the customer and technician when there is an issue with a piece of equipment before the customer needs to make the call.

Usage patterns and failures are therefore easier to recognise and plan for, minimising interruptions and failures when a device is connected through smart technology.

5) Autonomous vehicles will drive innovation

Autonomous vehicles are already being trialled in some parts of the world, but 2017 will be the year when the business masses start to investigate their potential in the context of business gain.

This goes a step beyond assisted driving, which is already allowing field service engineers to predict traffic and avoid routes that will slow down their journey. Autonomous vehicles can also reduce the number of multiple visits from engineers by delivering the necessary tools to the engineer onsite, or providing the required tools to the customer if the machine can be self-fixed.

 

In short, self-driving cars or drones could present a field service industry game changer and as autonomous vehicle technology improves—and in-country legislation relating to their use is put in place —discussions around the benefits these offer to industry suppliers will gather pace amidst the race to innovate.

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Trimble
Title: A Quick to Field Service Metrics

 

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Synopsis:

Field Service Managers face a big challenge balancing customer service with operational efficiency. It can be often hard to know how each important aspect is performing; and making changes in one area can affect the other. A successful Service Manager will leverage KPIs to gain visibility into their operations; helping them to manage both aspects of their business.

This White Paper published by Trimble Pulse takes a look at the some of the key considerations as to what metrics field service managers should be focussing on.

The white paper includes sections on:

• The importance of KPIs
• The top 5 field service KPIs
• A guide to benchmarking your own KPIs against best in-class field service organisations.

Overview:

Historically, field service organisations measured their success based upon the cost of service delivery and revenue generation. However, as competition in the industry heats up and customer expectations reach an all-time high, measuring additional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) has become critical to success.

Field service companies need to know what is working and what isn’t in their operations in order to make improvements. This is easier said than done.

With so much data flowing in from multiple sources, in various formats and through an array of tools, determining what is useful can be a minefield for service organisations. Nearly 30 per cent of field service managers believe their organisation is ineffective at using the data they collect and just 1 in 5 believe they get the information they need from field service data to help do their job.

 

Field Service Managers need to extract data from their operations in two ways.

Firstly, they need instant, accurate information on which they can make on-the-spot decisions and secondly, performance management analytics should also be gathered so they can benchmark performance trends and learn from  experiences.

Ultimately, you cannot improve on what is not already being measured.

Identifying KPIs, measuring them and setting goals for improving them will reap rewards for any service operation.

Importance of KPIs

In order for field service organisations to obtain and retain customers, they must have a solid understanding of how their field operations are performing at all times. When utilised well, KPIs keep the service team focused and, most importantly, identify where improvements in the business are needed.

The business dynamics of delivering field service have changed, and customers are demanding higher levels of service. Field service organisations need to adapt accordingly which often means empowering their technicians with the tools and knowledge to fix things the first time – every time.

KPIs can help measure how well an organisation is meeting this objective as well as provide data that will help improve the effectiveness of each technician in completing their job.

Top 5 field service KPIs

The white paper takes an in-depth look at the following KPIs

• Customer Satisfaction
• SLA compliance
• Technician Productivity
• Technician Utilisation
• First-time-fix rate

How do you compare

The white paper explores research by Trimble Pulse which highlights that there is a lot of room for field service organisations to improve upon when it comes to using field service data. The research surveyed field service managers to find how their organisations use KPIs and whether they are successful at leveraging KPIs to improve business productivity and efficiency.

Trimble asked a range of questions looking to establish what field service organisations perceive to be the top most important KPIs to how they use KPIs to inform business decision making, that’s if they use KPIs at all. Without this insight, how can you make decisions which enhance business productivity, cost efficiency and create loyal customers? Essentially, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

 

The final section of this white paper explores the findings of this research and outlines best-practice approaches to field service metrics.

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Numerous research from varying sources, including our own studies, have revealed that there is increasingly becoming two separate types of field service organisation. Those that have embraced field service management technology and those that have not. We spoke exclusively to Jonathan Best, SVP & GM Europe with Kony to get his insight on this divide...

As we catch up for a morning coffee in an upmarket cafe in the centre of Amsterdam it is interesting to cast our minds back to the last time we met, some months further back in London. At that point, Best and his team at Kony were just beginning to step into the world of field service and much of the reasoning, whilst based on solid suppositions, remained largely untested in the real world.

Now, however, many of those suppositions are being proven to be true, which is always a gratifying, but more importantly it confirms to Best, that they are on the right path.

Pretty much the entire underlying premise of Kony’s approach to developing field service management tools is that there are two distinct types of field service companies.

 

The haves and the have nots. Those with FSM technology and those without.

And whilst the latter are traditionally the low hanging fruit for any FSM system provider, it is the first group who are likely to benefit most from the approach Kony are taking.

“The thing that has been interesting for us is that talking to our product guys their view was that we would produce this set of components and we would see an increase in the number of people who implemented them as is. We’ve seen a few examples like that but typically they tend to be quite simplistic cases - typically companies that haven’t got any technology supporting their field service people at all,” Best begins.

“The much more common cases are where we find organisations who have already got some type of field service technology and what they’re interested in is how they can either augment or replace those existing systems with something more refined to their needs.”

“To put things very, very simplistically there are two types of field service company, those who have no technology at all - who are still using pen and paper etc. They are very interesting to talk to as they are very open minded, but still they don’t know what they don’t know.”

“Then there are those who are already using some technology with their field service operations but are finding it sub-optimal in some way.”

“Who I have yet to meet is somebody who has said we have all the technology we need perfectly at the fingertips of our field service technicians. I’m not saying that they don’t exist but from where I’m sitting I don’t think there seem to be too many of them,” he adds

 

In many senses, it feels that the approach Kony are taking is putting the onus of design back on field service organisations themselves. For those who have been around the block a few times this can have significant benefits, empowering them to iron out the imperfections of other tools that have been utilised in the past.

However, for those who have yet to spend time with another solution to identify what those imperfections would look like in their own business, such a solution may be a overly complicated. No so much running before they can walk exactly, more like buying a baby an expensive set of Nike running shoes.

“For those companies who don’t have any technology the challenge for them is should they go and buy an off the shelf FSM solution, which they can take out of the box, plug it in, set themselves up and it is going to give them a capability that they didn’t have,” Best explains.

“And they can typically do that faster and quicker than they could if they took a tool set approach - like what we offer, and then build things up themselves.”

“The people who like our approach are the ones who want to step iteratively into something or those who look at the quite formulaic approach to traditional field service solutions and find it sub-optimal.”

 

“If you can go into a shop and buy exactly what you want, or you can buy the bits to build something that can do exactly what you want - most people will buy the product not the components. Nobody goes into a shop and buys the parts to make a microwave oven, when you can just go out and buy one and it will do what you want a microwave oven to do,” Best quips.

“But the kinds of organisations who are interested in having some sort of approach to field service that isn’t supported by the typical solutions, these are the ones interested in building something themselves and that’s where the tool set we provide can often help them. The advantage being that what they end up with then is built bespoke to their needs, and is designed specifically to enhance their own unique workflows.”

 

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief Field Service News asks isn’t it about time we learnt to manage spare parts as well as we can manage the mobile workforce?

When looking through the list of topics discussed in most field service conferences it seems that there is one area that is often heavily overlooked - which is namely the topic of parts distribution. So often we talk about the importance of getting the right engineer, with the right skills to the right job and getting them there on time.

Of course it’s all a moot point if they don’t have the right parts needed to complete the job.

Yet head to any industry event, or look through the pages of any industry journal (including even our own humble offering) and you will find far more content that is weighted towards managing the dispatch of engineers than you will see focussed on the dispatching the parts that they need to do their job.

In our defence it’s an easy trap to fall into - there are just so many more voices shouting about mobile workforce management than there are shouting about parts management and service logistics.

The challenge is that whilst the service that logistics providers can provide to field service organisations is absolutely crucial (and can offer very tangible performance benefits), in the wider scheme of things we must remember two key factors.

 

Firstly, the number of companies that can offer the ability to deliver across international borders and to the type of time scales that field service organisations require are very few and far between. Secondly, within such organisations, field service and parts management is really just a very small component of their wider operations, so perhaps gets a touch overlooked.

Yet, slowly that is beginning to change.

Companies such as FedEx, Keuhne Nagel and UPS have all stepped up to the plate to try and help resolve some of the pain points felt by field service organisations in relation to their parts delivery. Also we are beginning to see more and more senior logistics professionals become focussed on field service as a sector.

One such individual is Tim Helsen, Netherlands Country Manager, UPS who was speaking recently at the Field Service Europe conference held in Amsterdam, and I was pleased to receive his invite to connect over a coffee at the event to gain his perspective of how companies such as UPS can help field service companies overcome the perennial challenge of cumbersome and ineffective parts management and logistics.

“There are a couple of key trends as we see it,” Helsen commented when asked on why so many companies seemed to struggle getting spare parts into the hands of their engineers, or even in some cases just delivering parts to their customers.

“Firstly, we are seeing a large number of companies telling us that their customers are demanding better aftermarket solutions from them, yet when we spoke to those exact same companies they were not treating the aftermarket side of their business as a priority.”

“In fact, 78% of companies stated that effective spare parts management and delivery was highly sought after by their customers but only 12% were treating this area as a priority, so there is clearly a disconnect,” he adds.

 

Having spent time further investigating this disconnect Helsen believes that the causes are the pragmatic results of a number external pressures on field service organisations.

He identifies the challenges of recruiting, training and maintaining field engineers, who are themselves working on ever more complicated devices, as a key reason why companies naturally tend to push their focus, and indeed their infrastructure towards what he describes as ‘simply getting their guys out on the road.’ As such, parts management is often the neglected cousin.

However, this approach, whilst clearly being endemic to our industry is one of purest folly. In his presentation, given a little earlier in the day, Helsen went through a number of case studies highlighting how paying such little heed to the delivery of parts coukld have a dramatic knock on effect when it comes to the performance of field engineers.

Discussing how they had worked with Snap-On in the UK he explained; “They had 400 engineers and up until we began working with them those engineers would get their goods delivered at home. So whilst they were scheduled to start work at 8am, they would be waiting in between 8 and 10am.”

“The solution that we offered them was ‘you know which customers in the day you know you are going to help so we can redirect those packages so you don’t have to wait at home’. The packages will then be delivered to the closest proximity of that customer - which is typically between 5 and 10 km away maximum.”

The UPS solution also allows the technicians to pick up from locations such as petrol stations and newsagents which expands the available working hours adding additional flexibility (which can be a big benefit to customers and engineers alike) plus UPS also provide a dedicated app which allows for parts tracking but also allows engineers to redirect packages in real time.

One of the whole premises of modern day mobile workforce scheduling is that delays are always likely to happen so changes need to be made dynamically to re-optimise the day. By giving field technicians a means to also adapt the collection of any parts they need in reflection of such changes is a vital tool that should be welcomed with open arms by field service companies.

 

In fact, it could even be argued that seeing as parts should really be more easily managed than people, it’s incredible that such solutions are only now beginning to become part of the fabric of field service management.

For me, it seems that the biggest failing we have all undertaken - practitioners, vendors and media alike, is to treat parts management and service logistics as a separate entity to workforce management. Admittedly there are software platforms that incorporate parts management alongside FSM tools, Astea comes to mind as one solution that offers such a solution, but even then how closely aligned is it to the actual delivery of parts?

How many field service companies have fully integrated parts handling and delivery into their mobile workforce management systems?

Yet the benefits of doing so are clearly vast.

As Holden explains “If you look at the time savings in the magnitude of saving 80 minutes a day and multiply it by the number of engineers they have, this is a saving of anywhere between 2 and 6% of the total staffing of their engineers.”

“Linking back to the fact that many companies have a shortage of engineers [due to the issues around recruitment, training and retention mentioned earlier] then such a saving can go some way to overcoming that because they are able to do more with the same amount of engineers.”

 

Indeed, as I talk to Helsen, I find myself nodding in agreement as not only does his argument very easily stack up, but it’s almost a word for word a repetition of the arguments put forward by the scheduling engine providers.

Arguments which by now most in the field service industry are very well versed in to the point that they’re universally accepted as common sense.

The technology is available, and essentially the argument has already been won by the workforce scheduling vendors - even many SMBs now utilise some form of workforce optimisation, because the R.O.I is clear to see.

It seems the next easy win for field service companies looking to improve efficiency margins is quite simple - revisit your parts management and service logistics chain and put the same emphasis on getting the right parts to the right place at the right time as you do getting engineers - surely it’s about time we were able to get parts in the right place as well as we can people?

 

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Sumair Dutta, Chief Customer Officer, Service Council takes a look at some of the key areas of focus field service organisations need to consider in order to deliver success in 2017...

Annual predictions and forecasts are an interesting activity/discipline. I like to think of them as annual affirmations as strategic investments don’t necessarily change year-over-year.

In some instances, organisations are looking to expand on what they’ve been doing.

I believe the four primary areas of focus that will yield success in 2017 will be:

1. Increasing Predictability
2. Enhancing Efficiency
3. Identifying New Opportunities
4. Empowering Customers with Access and Information

The internal investments in data, automation, talent development, and engagement process realignment must be aligned with these objectives .

In each of the four focus areas, I’d like to share an activity or investment that’s likely to be top of mind.

Increasing Predictability

Focus Initiative: Executing on Predictive Models.

In our research, we’ve found that most organisations have used investments in IoT or analytics to increase their efficiency.

They are finally turning an eye to the predictive power of this information and in building delivery models to support predictive service. Effective delivery models (over-the-air, self-service, remote assistance, partner-based support, field support) of predictive support can be built on the existing reactive infrastructure, but do require an investment in training, communication, and change management. To that end, the service organisation needs the support of other business groups, mainly R&D, IT, and Sales and Marketing.

Emerging Initiative: Going deeper into customer feedback data to predict future events and avert negative outcomes.

Enhancing Efficiency

Focus Initiative: Better Use of Better Information.

Over the past five years, service organisations have made significant investments in mobility to empower the field service staff and in unified desktops to empower contact center staff.

In these investments, organisations have focused on making sure that all information necessary was available at the front-lines. The problem was that the information wasn’t available in context, making it difficult for front-line staff to use this information.

To tackle the glut of information on the front-end, we do see organisations re-evaluate technology investments to ensure that the right information is prioritised for front-line staff. Outside of technology, we actually see a great deal of investment into the structure and design of training programs and content to ensure that front-line agents are able to act on information that is made available to them.

Emerging Initiative: Evaluating Augmented or merged reality in field service and in training as it enhances the reach and scale of a centralised expert model and drives more from available and experienced talent.

Identifying New Opportunities

Focus Initiative: Diving into Installed Base Management.

While organisations are always on the lookout for new customers and new services to sell to those customers, there is an increasing recognition of the need to accomplish more with the existing installed base. In this, organisations are focusing their analytical minds on the portfolio of existing customers and the products and services that might be needed to improve retention and increase customer value.

Emerging Initiative: The development of customer care (customer success) teams that enable a consistent communication with customers to uncover pain points, challenges, and opportunities.

Empowering Customers with Information and Access

Focus Initiative: Improving Ease and Reducing Effort.

Motivational speakers often state that a differentiated experience comes from the ability of an organisation to surprise and delight its customers. In equipment-centric service the word surprise isn’t looked at as a positive.

Yet, there is a greater push from equipment manufacturers (and other organisations) to improve the experience that’s delivered to customers. Some of this can be attributed to consumerised experiences delivered by the likes of Uber and Amazon. Organisations we work with are looking to make it easier for customers to do business with them and this correlates with reducing customer angst and effort in seeking and acting on information.

Emerging Initiative: The use of messaging as a communication channel in on overall interaction portfolio to offer customers a greater degree of choice and convenience.

2017 is going to be anything but predictable. Yet the recipe for service success doesn’t change much.

Customers continue to take charge with increasing demands and expectations and organisations must respond with clinical efficiency internally and value filled interactions and touch points with customers.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Astea
Title: Outsourcing Field Service

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Synopsis:

Outsourcing part (or all) of a company’s field service operations is not a new concept; service organisations have frequently turned to third-party providers or independent contractors to help meet seasonal demand or provide coverage in far-flung geographic areas.

But the conversation around outsourcing is changing. Instead of simply handing off work that a company can’t perform (or doesn’t want to perform), organisations are approaching the process from a partnership perspective, and searching for partners that can help meet or exceed customer experience expectations.

This White Paper published by Astea takes a look at the key points for consideration for companies looking to get the most out of their outsourced service delivery. The white paper includes sections on:

• What’s driving the need for outsourcing?
• Why technology is the key to successful outsourcing
• What is the changing mix of outsourcing partners field service companies need to be aware of?

Overview:

This evolving view of outsourcing has also made it critical for service organisations to maintain more control over the customer experience and increase their visibility into outsourced service processes. Extending the service chain to outside providers doesn’t have to result in a loss of visibility into technician and customer activities.

Providing technicians and partners with the right technology to capture customer, product, equipment, and work order information—along with the ability to transfer that data to the primary service organisation—can result in a better connected service network. Field service organisations (FSOs) also have more options available when it comes to structuring their outsourcing relationships, from traditional agreements where third parties agree to complete a set number of work orders, to more integrated scenarios where the third-party provider becomes a true extension of the service organisation and its’ brand

What’s Driving the Need for Outsourcing?

Companies are leaning harder on their service organisations for decreased costs, increased revenues and competitive advantage. Service organisations have turned to outsourcing to increase geographic coverage, improve profitability, reduce labor costs, and to improve workforce flexibility.

At the same time, there is higher demand for service and a shrinking pool of available technicians.

According to research from The Service Council, 55% of service companies reported an increase in total field service activity in 2015, despite the increase in the use of remote service and self-service capabilities.

A Changing Mix of Outsourcing Partners?

Not surprisingly, the majority of service companies (76% according to The Service Council) are already having work done by third parties. For those that are leveraging outsourcing, third party providers are performing roughly 32% of work assignments on average.

Asked what their top reasons were for outsourcing, 63% of respondents said they wanted to increase their overall coverage, while 56% wanted to increase flexibility in order to meet demand fluctuations. Service organisations also outsource to reduce their labor costs (44%) and increase availability (29%). So while there are cost savings to be had through outsourcing, most service companies are trying to improve their ability to meet customer demand.

Connectivity is King

When choosing an outsourcing partner, service organisations generally look at a number of important factors, including presence in the regions/areas where service is needed; the ability to complete specific types of work (including product or industry certifications); performance in key performance metrics; and customer feedback regarding service work.

Partners should provide consistent, quality service. This can be difficult to maintain if the right controls are not put into place. Service organisations often complaint about a loss of service quality when outsourcing work, so it is critical to establish ways to track processes and controls throughout the service supply chain.

Technology: The Key to Successful Outsourcing

As stated above, successfully managing outsourced service requires visibility and connectivity, and an investment in field service automation technology that can link both internal and external resources in the service network seamlessly. Successful outsourcing also requires a different approach to working with third-party service companies.[/unordered_list]

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Bill Pollock, President, Strategies for GrowthSM guides us through how he sees the future of our industry shaping up in the next few years...

As we enter the uncharted waters of 2017, it becomes increasingly important for Field Service Organisations (FSOs) to understand the specific impact that the next 12 months (and beyond) will have on the quality of their field service operations.

In fact, the future state of Field Service Management (FSM) will depend largely on what strategic actions global FSOs plan to take in the next 12 months or so.

Since these actions will be directly linked to the multitude of drivers that are most likely to influence decision making within the global services community, this would be a good place to start.

 

The results of Strategies For GrowthSM‘s (SFGSM) 2016/17 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey reveal that the top drivers cited as influencing FSOs today may be categorised into three main areas:

1. Customer demand and/or preferences
2. Need to improve service workforce utilisation, productivity and efficiencies
3. Internal mandate to drive increased service revenues

When asked to cite the top three drivers currently influencing their ability to effectively manage field services operations, 56% of respondents cite customer demand for quicker response time, and nearly one-third (32%) cite customer demand for improved asset availability.

However, the need to improve workforce utilisation and productivity is also cited by a majority (51%) of respondents as a top driver, followed by the need to improve service process efficiencies (39%).

An internal mandate to drive increased service revenues is then cited by 31% of respondents as one of their top three drivers.

Once the key market drivers are firmly identified, FSOs need to create – and implement – the most effective strategic planning actions to address them head-on.

As reported in the SFGSM survey, the most commonly implemented strategic actions, currently, are:

• 48% Develop and/or improve KPIs used to measure field service performance
• 40% Invest in mobile tools to support field technicians
• 36% Automate existing manual field service processes and activities
• 31% Integrate new technologies into existing field service operations
• 30% Provide additional training to field service technicians and dispatchers
• 26% Improve planning and forecasting with respect to field operations
• 25% Increase customer involvement in Web-based service process
• 24% Provide enterprise-wide access to important field-collected data

These data strongly suggest that there is a pattern of synergy among the top four cited strategic actions that builds a foundation for all of the other actions that will ultimately be taken by the organisation; that is, that nearly half of the FSOs comprising the global services community already recognise the need to build and/or improve their KPI ¬-measurement program – this is essential!

This is the first step!

However, along with the development and/or improvement of a KPI program, nearly as many organisations also recognise the need to invest in state-of-the-art mobile tools to support their technicians in the field, while concurrently, automating their existing manual field service processes and activities to provide an enterprise-wide foundation for collecting data and information, and disseminating this process to field technicians (and, in many cases, to their customers) on an as-needed basis.

Further, about one-third of FSOs recognise the need to integrate new technologies into existing field service operations to make it all come together.

 

This synergy is built on, first, ensuring that there is an effective KPI measurement program in place, and using that program to establish a benchmark, or baseline, for measuring the organisation’s current field service performance.

Second, there needs to be a comprehensive internal effort to bring the technical aspects of services operations into the current (and future) timeframe – this can be done mainly by investing in an effective package of mobile tools to support the field force.

Finally, it will be the integration of these new technologies (e.g., mobility applications, the IoT, wearables, 3D printing, Augmented Reality (AR), etc.) into the overall mix of resources and tools deployed by FSOs that will empower the field force do their jobs more productively and efficiently.

The desired results, of course, would be the improvement of service delivery performance and the resultant improvements in the levels of customer satisfaction (and retention). Even the concept of Servitization, or the “transformation process in which a manufacturer shifts from a product-based business model to a services-based business mode”, could not exist in its present form without the power of the IoT behind it. In fact, it may be argued that there would be no Servitization without the IoT!

Among the many benefits that an IoT-powered Servitization model brings to the table are:

• Provides a competitive advantage with respect to the organisation’s ability to offer a state-of-the-art, differentiated, services offering that may also be “branded”, thereby providing an additional means for marketing and promoting its services to a hungry-for technology services marketplace.
• Yields increased margins for the services organisation, resulting both from improvements made on the supply side (e.g., by cutting the costs of delivering services through remote means) and the demand side (e.g., the ability to charge a premium price for premium services); etc.
• Provides the ability to more evenly forecast, predict and realise revenue streams through the implementation of remote diagnostics and predictive modeling.
• Fosters more meaningful partner relationships with customers through the sharing of equipment service data/ information, and allowing customers to be more proactive in the ultimate service and support of their installed base of equipment (e.g., initiating service calls, ordering parts, tracking problem resolution, etc.).[/unordered_list]

The future looks particularly bright for the global services community! How do we know that?

Because the future is already here – especially among the more progressive – and aggressive – FSOs that will likely lead the rest of us through these uncharted waters in 2017 and beyond.

It just looks like now may be the time for all of us to follow their lead!

 

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US telecoms giant AT&T recently shared that the company has been using drones to inspect conditions of its 65,000 cellular towers across the US.

The challenge is daunting. There are millions of cell towers in the US alone, all of which need to be inspected on a regular basis.

To begin with their is the genuine issue that these cell towers tend to make very attractive birdhourses. In fact cell towers offer convenient and reasonably safe homes for nesting birds. To make even more complicated, according to US federal environmental regulations, if the nesting species happens to be endangered, then teams must leave them be.

No a mast tower inspector’s life is not an easy one.

All this is a headache for telecoms firms and inspection providers alike, simply because current processes are so laborious.

Each tower is typically several hundred feet high requiring technicians to scale the mast via rope rigging. Unsurprisingly, despite best efforts, every year people are hurt in such operations due to weather, equipment and the aforementioned birds.

 

Of course, until a technician can get a close look at the tower, there’s also little indication as to what problem they may need to fix. This means multiple trips, increased downtime and elevated personal risk.

Drones, with their high-resolution cameras, can serve as a unique tool to provide an initial inspection for the technicians.

The majority of inspections are routine and don’t require a technician to scale the tower. The ability to do this remotely with a drone greatly increases the operational efficiency of the service providers, allowing them to identify towers with issues more quickly and minimising the amount of time they spend hanging from ropes from the side of towers.

Cell towers are technically sensitive equipment, with lots of wires, transmitters, and distribution boxes.

One commonly cited concern related to using drones for inspecting towers is the risk of a collision that cuts wires or damaging equipment. Deploying a drone with obstacle avoidance, such as DJI’s Phantom 4, along with an experienced operator are vital to safe operations.

Interestingly, DJI recently partnered with US service operator Measure Aero, a specialist in technical inspection work.

It will be interesting to see how the telecoms industry will be deploying drones over the next 12 -18 months.

With a variety of use cases and substantial safety and efficiency gains to be had, it is hard not to imagine adoption, and business, will be brisk.

 

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Note: This content first featured on www.dji.com 

 

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Michael Blumberg, President of Blumberg Advisory Group gives us an insiders view of how to ensure our customers understand the true value of extended warranties and service contracts...

Warranty Attachment and Renewal rates are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure how successful a company is in marketing and selling extended warranties and extended service programs. Ideally, a company would want to achieve attachment rate of 50% or higher and renewal rates of 75% or better. This is considered best in class performance.

Only a small percentage of companies have been able to achieve these targets.

Key findings from Blumberg Advisory Group’s recent survey on extended warranty benchmarks and best practices indicate that only 30% of companies have achieved attachment rates of 50% or more. In fact, 16.7% have achieved attachment rates of 70% or better. While the majority (59.5%) of companies experience renewal rates of 75% or more, only 22.5% have achieved renewal rates greater than 90%.

There are several best practices that companies can pursue to achieve best in class performance on KPIs related to marketing and selling extended warranties and extended service program. Most significantly, service portfolio design plays a critical role in influencing attachment and renewal rates. The truth is that customers will purchase these programs if they feel that they will effectively meet their needs. That’s’ why it is important to specify what’s included in the program from the perspective of features, resources, and coverage.

 

It important to include both basic and value-added services as part of the program. The more extensive and focused the services, the more likely the customers will be to buy. Nearly all the companies surveyed (93.2%) provide basic corrective failure as part of their program. Only 50.4% include preventative maintenance. Less than 40% offer a broader array of value added services such as calibration, inspection, recalls, and disaster recovery as part of the portfolio.

Indicating the level of service commitment, the customer can expect to receive is also important when it comes to selling extended warranty and extended service programs. Only 58.1% of companies have defined onsite response times as part of their programs, 39.3% specify parts delivery times, 29.9% and 31.6% respectively commit to the repair time and remote resolution times, and 15.0% will provide a loaner unit if repair time target is not met.

The way in which these programs are promoted can also impacts KPIs. Most companies surveyed rely on direct mail (74.8%) and brochures (68.0%) to sell extended warranty and extended service programs. Most respondents (58.5%) indicate that direct sales have been very effective when it comes to impacting attachment rates while only 26.6% believe that brochures are as effective. Interestingly, survey respondents agree that other tactics are just as effective. For example, 50% of respondents indicate that endorsements and testimonials are very effective as is reputation management (49.1%), telemarketing (32.0%) and public relations (28.9%).

 

Frequency of communication is also a critical driver when it comes to influencing attachment and renewal rates. Almost half (49%) of respondents indicate that they sell extended warranty and extended service programs any time after the original product sale which means the capture revenue at any point in time during the product’s lifecycle.

Only 28.0% notify customers 90 days or more in advance of when their programs are up for renewal and 36.0% provide more than 3 notifications that there contracts are about to expire. More importantly, most (60%) respondents upsell their programs during the warranty entitlement process.

As result, they experience incremental improvements in attachment rates; 36.5% indicate they have experienced a 10% to 25% improvement and 20.1% have experienced a 26% to 50% improvement from pursuing this tactic. In summary, the survey findings suggest that best in class companies follow a structure and disciplined approach to marketing and selling extended warranties and service programs. They do not view sales of these programs as a one-time even to be made only at the product point of sale. Indeed, they sell beyond the original point of purchase and align attachment and renewals with the customer entitlement process.

 

Furthermore, they promote their programs through a wide array of marketing communications tactics and rely on frequent and timely communication to get their message across. Most importantly, they ensure their programs are designed to meet the needs of their customer and are very specific about what the customer can expect to receive in terms of service feature, resources, and coverage.

 

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