Copperberg’s editor Adrian Cirlig and content writer Radiana Pit discuss the importance of warehousing and your logistical networking and how ecommerce is changing what was once a straight-forward channel. 

Getting the right parts on time has always been critical for field service technicians, and for that purpose, warehouse and logistics design is essential. But many industry players are struggling to meet customer demands in the era of digital commerce. New delivery standards may require significant investments in staffing, facilities, and technology—and such an endeavor is not always an option for most businesses.

The Importance of Service Logistics

The rapid development of e-commerce has taken many organizations by surprise. Now, logistics companies are largely unprepared to adapt their operations to meet expectations in terms of quality, capacity, and speed.  

However, there is a solution to meeting delivery expectations at the lowest cost possible: optimal network and warehouse design. 

Logistics network and warehouse design is mainly concerned with delivering goods to customers and satisfying their needs with limited resources. This is why coming up with an optimal design holds great strategic value. But devising an optimal model is no easy feat, especially since most models stop short at minimizing costs. However, logistics professionals aim at optimizing their networks in a way that maximizes not only profit but also speed and sustainability. In order to achieve such objectives, comprehensive designs must take into account the number, location, role, and size of your facilities, which plant/vendor should produce which product, the raw materials and finished products that flow between facilities, and more. 

 

Location—the key issue in facilitating optimal design 

Determining the right number and size of your warehouses and/or plants is challenging enough, but getting the location wrong can be extremely detrimental. 

However, the secret to getting the location right is to think of it as the only way to close the gap between your company and your customers. The closer the location is to your clients, the faster your goods will be delivered—and that's what today's impatient society expects from you. 

So, start your design process by considering your location objectives and then identify the key factors that can make or break your network. 

 

So, what makes a warehouse great? 

 According to Rudolf Leuschner, Associate Professor at Rutgers Business School, what makes a warehouse great is: 

• Speed or the ability to ship out as much product as possible by ensuring the shortest distance between the product and the shipping dock; 
• Redundancy, which consists of multiple checks built into your distribution system to ensure that the right products are delivered to your customers; 
• Productivity or the ability to push out as much product as possible out of your distribution network. 

With these goals in mind, you can create a seamless warehouse flow process that consists of the following essential steps: 

Unloading → Storing → Picking → Packing → Staging → Loading  

Each step should be accurately timed with the help of a reliable warehouse management system. 

But beyond warehouse management software, you should also think FAST. If you're not already familiar with it, the FAST concept is a layout design solution that will help you to ensure that your locations are close enough to each other to enable seamless workflows. However, placing your activity-locations too closely can clutter your processes and result in highly inefficient outcomes. 

So, when it comes to FAST, you should focus on: 

• Flow to ensure a logical sequence of operations within your warehouse based on the location of each of your activities; 
• Accessibility to be able to receive and issue products in pallets, batches, or truckloads; 
• Space to make optimum use of the cubic capacity within your warehouse; 
• Throughput to reduce inventory risks such as bulk, security, compatibility, and more. 

These best practices for warehouse design will definitely help you come up with a proper layout that enables the rapid and seamless handling of products. But when it comes to network design, what are the most important aspects that ensure perfect order and superior performance? 

In other words, what makes a logistics network great? 

According to Edward Frazelle, President and CEO at RightChain Incorporated, an optimal network design/redesign process should consist of the following 10 steps: 

1. Evaluate your current network 
2. Design and populate your network optimization database;
3. Create network design alternatives, such as more or fewer hierarchies, multi-commodity flows, pooling opportunities, merge-in-transit, direct shipping, cross docking, and supply-flow optimization concepts; 
4. Develop your network optimization model; 
5. Choose the right network optimization tool; 
6. Implement your network model in the chosen tool; 
7. Consider alternative network designs; 
8. “Practicalize” recommended network structures; 
9. Compute reconfiguration costs; 
10. Make go/no-go decisions. 

To make the most out of this process, you should engage all stakeholders so that everyone is on the same page when you decide to jump-start your design initiatives. You should also enlist your stakeholders' help when looking for alternative network solutions, modeling transportation, comparing services and costs, and analyzing risks. 

Combining the efforts of those involved with data insights will help you accurately review model outputs and look at your options from a fresh perspective. 

Creating the perfect logistics network 

It goes without saying, but creating the perfect logistics network takes time and effort. However, you can set yourself up for success by aligning your logistics network with your business model and focusing on answering the following questions in a way that makes the most sense for your company: 

• How will a more responsive network enable growth? 
• Will network investments lower operating costs? 
• If operating costs increase, will the sales volume warrant the investment? 

By taking your time to reach the right conclusions, you will be able to find the ideal strategy to derive the greatest business value from your design initiatives. 

Last but not least, you will also need accurate data to kick-start your initiative. So, before you start designing or redesigning your network, list all of your products, stock points and sources regarding customer locations, set customer service goals, order processing costs and patterns by frequency, size, season, and content, and establish transportation rates and warehousing expenses. 

Are you ready to kick-start the design process? 

Although your old logistics network design might still be reliable, over time, it will become fragmented. This usually happens because territories change and ordering patterns alternate, which causes the network to lose its efficiency. 

So, it's vital for your company to review your network periodically and ensure maximum service in the most cost-efficient manner.

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Further Reading: 

• Read more articles by Adrian Cirlig @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/adrian+cirlig
• Read more about spare parts and logistics in service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/Spare+parts+and+logistics
• Read Edward Frazelle's article on an optimal network re-design/design process @ https://www.mhlnews.com/global-supply chain/article/22039647/how-to-design-a-logistics-network-in-10-steps
• Read Rudolf Leuschner's article on what makes the perfect warehouse @ https://www.coursera.org/lecture/supply-chain-logistics/how-much-inventory-do-we-need-eJIeU
• Read more about FAST from the Logistics Bureau @ https://www.logisticsbureau.com/warehouse-design-key-factors-to-consider/
• Read more about Copperberg and their events @ https://www.copperberg.com/field-service/

Following an appearance on the Field Service Podcast discussing digital transformation Michael Blumberg from Mize outlines some of the reasons why service leaders should be implementing their own digital journey, particularly in these unprecedented times.

 

Digital transformation (DX) is the process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes., culture and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements.

Digital Transformation in service

DX has gained increased attention among Field Service Leaders because it results in many benefits, including but not limited to:

Improved process efficiencies:

For example, DX initiatives have led to a reduction in paperwork by Field Service Engineers (FSEs) and an elimination of telephone calls to technical support personnel.

Increased productivity

DX automates manual activities and brings data and information to the hands of FSEs.  As a result, FSEs are more productive. Less time searching for data and completing forms means more time in the field, and more call completed per day.

Real-time data-driven decisions

DX initiatives make it possible for Field Service Organization (FSOs) to forecast demand, predict and anticipate service events accurately.

Stakeholder enablement

Through DX, companies can extend the reach of corporate systems and infrastructure to business partners, dealer channels, and service provider networks so they can optimize service delivery and maximize Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).  Employees can have tools they need to manage their day, improve performance, and generate additional revenue.

New business models

IoT enabled services, and Servitization models could not be possible without DX.

Ultimately, these benefits result in higher-margin revenue, and improved Customer Experience (CX) will, in turn, leads to a larger market share and improve customer retention for FSOs.

 

Stakeholders Driving DX

There are two groups of stakeholders that are driving DX.  The first group is end-user customers. We now live in always-on, always-connected, "let's do business now" economy.   Customers see the impact of DX in other industries and expect the same in Field Service.  Also, customers have no tolerance for uncertainty or surprises.   At issue, Field Service is full of uncertainties and surprises. DX helps mitigate these issues.  For example, DX enables the Uberization of Field Service, making it possible for the customer to obtain real-time notification of when the FSE will arrive at the customer site and the route the FSEs are taking to the site.

The second group of stakeholders is business partners such as the resellers/dealers, service provider networks, and suppliers. These parties operate as independent entities. However,  the Manufacturer relies on them to provide to deliver exceptional service, maintain customer loyalty, and generate high margin revenue.  By implementing DX initiatives that support these stakeholders, the Manufacturer helps itself protect its brand.   For example, providing resellers with online access to parts catalogs, inventory availability, and knowledge resources ensures their technician achieve a high first-time fix rate when they are providing service on the Manufacturer's brand.  

 

Level of DX Adoption in Field Service

DX implementations within the Field Service Industry aligns with overall technology trends we are observing across all industries. According to a recent study by Dell Technologies, 78% of participants say DX should be more widespread within their organization. Despite the vast potential of DX, most companies are just scratching the surface in terms of what they can achieve through DX.  Many businesspeople have concerns about whether their companies can effectively execute DX on time.  They believe there is a limited window of opportunity before their companies may become irrelevant.  Roughly half (51%) of the respondents in the Dell Technologies study indicate their companies will struggle to meet customer demands, and 49% worry their organization won't prove trustworthy in the next five years if they don't fully implement DX initiatives.

 

Underserved Segments

Quite often, when we hear about DX projects, the focus is often on use cases associated with concepts like Uberization of Service, Predictive, and Proactive Service enabled by IoT. These projects are significant and represent the future. However, they require a substantial investment in time and capital. Not every company is ready or able to pursue these types of strategies, and as evidenced by the market research, we shared in this article.   On the other hand, there are a couple of low hanging opportunities that companies can pursue that can be implemented relatively quickly and provide a "good bang for the buck," For example:

Online portals for customers, channel partners, and suppliers to initiate or respond to requests (e.g., work orders, support tickets, RMAs), observe the status of activities and track financial and operational KPIs 

 

• Electronic Forms to automate and streamline data capture
• Electronic Parts Catalogs to look-up, find, and order parts
• Unified Knowledge Platforms that make it easier for technicians and channel parts to find knowledge artifacts that may  found in disparate applications and databases

FSOs should not take these types of solutions for granted as they can result in significant ROI, a better service experience, and higher customer retention.

 

Why is now the right time?

At the time of writing this article, COVID-19 has forced companies to implement contingency plans to keep their customers and employees safe and ensure their products and services get delivered on time.  Companies who have implemented DX are likely to be nimbler in adapting to new realities created by the virus.   Remote Support, Proactive Service, Same Day/Next Day delivery…all made possible through DX, have now become the standard model of service during these times of social distancing and self-quarantine.   

There are, of course, many other reasons why FSOs might want to accelerate their DX initiatives.  First and foremost is the technology is readily available and doesn't require a large capital outlay because it is available on a subscription basis.  Second, the economics are favorable.  DX initiatives have proven to have a high ROI and rapid payback.  Third, DX initiatives have a positive impact on customer retention and loyalty.   Fourth, competitive forces and consumer preferences will dictate it.  Fifth, it is a good hedge against economic uncertainty. 

DX is a journey that all service professionals should be contemplating if they haven't already.

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Further Reading:

• Listen to the Field Service Podcast with Michael Blumberg on digital transformation @ hwww.fieldservicenews.com/blog/digital-transformation
• Read more articles by Michael Blumnerg @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michaelblumberg
• Read more articles on digital transformation in service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital+transformation
• Read more articles on the Uberization of service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/uberization
• Read more about Mize @ https://m-ize.com/

In the first of our series of features looking towards building a new normal that was better than what we had before,  with the insights collated from the many panel sessions hosted by Kris Oldland throughout the pandemic, we begin with establishing an understanding of what leadership looks like in a post-pandemic world... 

The challenges of coping with the sudden on rush of a series of global lockdowns as governments across the globe reacted to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic meant that many organisations who were in the midst of planning how they could evolve their service offerings were suddenly faced with a much more pressing concern – how could they stay operational.

One man who was involved in a number of such situations was Harald Wasserman, Co-Managing Director Si2 Partners.

 

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Field Service News has produced an eBook '10 Thoughts for Service Leaders Planning Recovery' for our subscribers based on the many hours of live streams we hosted to support field service organisations.

 

If you are already on either our Access All Areas or VIP subscription tiers you can access this on the button below now. If you have yet to subscribe or are on our complimentary subscription tier then click the button to upgrade or subscribe now

 

 

 

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The FIeld Service Centre is a Key Asset in Today's new world

“Only a few weeks ago I was working with a number of companies and we were talking about how to transform the company into a pro-active service organisation. Then as the onset of the coronavirus and the global lockdowns arrived, the situation changed rapidly and totally. We were no longer talking about high level strategies, but instead our focus was now centred on immediate challenges. Where do we get the workload for our service technicians tomorrow?” Wasserman explained.

“It soon became clear that the service centre was one of our key assets in this discussion, as they are in contact with the customers and so were fundamental in establishing where the work could be for our service technicians. What we discovered very rapidly was that having this customer contact would be key to our survival and that the service centre would be instrumental in establishing that contact.

Another early discovery that was crucial that Wasserman believes played a pivotal role in companies being able to adapt to the new world that we all suddenly found ourselves in as the pandemic spread was the importance of an orderly approach to initiating customer contact.

“I noticed that it was important that we have a structure which is effective and allowed for fast contact with our customers,” he recounts “it was absolutely this customer communication that has allowed us to continue with a workload that has remained at 80% to 100% of our capacity - which was excellent at such a challenging time.

 

"We have also started an initiative to contact customers who we may not have been in contact with for a number of years, and this proactive approach has been very much welcomed by these customers..."

 - Harald Wasserman, Si2 Partners. 

 

“We have been able to adapt our organisation to a more customer focused organisation now,” he says reflecting on the work that has been put in place since the onset of the lockdowns. “Instead of waiting for the customer to make contact with us we have pivoted to become much, much more proactive in reaching out to them and this has meant that we are still able to generate the work required to keep our business operational.

“We have also started an initiative to contact customers who we may not have been in contact with for a number of years, and this proactive approach has been very much welcomed by these customers. So, we have implemented both new engagements with our lapsed customers and also a more proactive approach to our existing customer base and this has been the positive approach we have taken to guide us through this crisis.

It has meant getting some of our people out of their comfort zones - we have changed the status quo in that whereas before we would have waited for the customer to initiate the conversation, now our team are contacting the customers themselves and kicking off the conversation. It is not easy, in some cases it is like searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack, however, it has been an endeavour that has been essential.”

Another aspect that has changed radically as a result of the crisis is how the role of management has changed and this is another area that Wasserman feels has been under increasing scrutiny.

“The management role within field service has become increasingly important during this time. Perhaps at the top of their responsibilities is the ongoing communications with their team. This is vital because our field service engineers and technicians, those in the front line are often operating more or less alone at the moment and they of course have many questions at this time.

“For example, what are the guidelines for them if the customer isn’t taking the necessary precautions that can ensure that our engineers are working within a safe environment given the current conditions? Our approach has been to issue clear advice to give our field workers firm support in their decision making. In this situation for example, if the customer is not willing to provide an environment in which our people can work safely then they must respect that the importance of our staff is our most fundamental priority. This had to be a management decision and had to be communicated strongly to give our staff the confidence to act when they are isolated in the field, and to know that they had our full backing.

‘Day by day we have to make a lot of these types of decisions to support our field workers, but also we have to ensure we are able to adapt our working processes to be able to be more flexible to fulfil the workload we have. 

 

"We see that the companies that are probably dealing with the situation the best are those who have a built-in resilience. It is those companies who have a built-in adaptability and flexibility embedded within their DNA already..."

 - Nick Frank, Si2 Partners

 

“The very way we in which we work has changed fundamentally both in the field but also the way we as management are working. For example, I would normally have four or five meetings a day, now I am having ten or more which are all remotely hosted. The meetings we have now are quicker and more intense, which is of course a part of the current situation, but also, they are more direct."

It is clear that much of the areas which Wasserman outlines as crucial elements shared amongst those companies he has seen adapt best to the challenges of Covid-19 have centred around strong and decisive leadership. This he believes is no coincidence. “There has absolutely been a correlation between those organisations that were able to make quick decisions and show strong leadership and those who were able to adapt easiest to the shifting sands of the operational environment of the pandemic,” he comments.

“The people on the working level they need guidance. They need clear rules. If you don’t give them this, they will struggle. There simply isn’t time for them to be thinking about ‘am I doing the right work?’ ‘Should I do X or Y in this situation?’ or even ‘what do I do?’.

Such questions will have a direct impact on the productivity of your field workers. Therefore, strong leadership and providing strong support for your team is absolutely critical in maintaining efficiency in crisis situations.

“We saw this very early and the importance of ensuring that we were communicating important decisions very quickly to our people and continuing this level of clear, consistent communication with our workforce on an ongoing basis is essential, “ he added.

However, one of the that has arisen as we work under the confines of the current lockdowns, is finding the time for communications that are discussions rather than announcements. For many of us now is a time of action as we continue to constantly adapt and fight to hold onto to the business we have and meet the needs of the customers we serve.

“We are all dealing with a critical situation and it is hard to find time for anything else when we are in the midst of the challenge,” comments Nick Frank, Wasserman’s Co-Managing Director at Si2 Partners.

“However, when we are able to bring our key personnel together there are so many lessons to be learnt. This is because it is so extreme, everything has happened so quickly, and we haven’t really had time to think about it. We see that the companies that are probably dealing with the situation the best are those who have a built-in resilience. It is those companies who have a built-in adaptability and flexibility embedded within their DNA already.

“Those are the companies that we are seeing emerge as those who are ‘most comfortable’, certainly as comfortable as it is possible to be at such a time. They are making decisions; they are showing strong leadership and I think if there is one lesson to be learnt it is the value of strong leadership,” Frank concludes.

 

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Field Service News has produced an eBook '10 Thoughts for Service Leaders Planning Recovery' for our subscribers based on the many hours of live streams we hosted to support field service organisations.

 

If you are already on either our Access All Areas or VIP subscription tiers you can access this on the button below now. If you have yet to subscribe or are on our complimentary subscription tier then click the button to upgrade or subscribe now

 

 

 

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Micheal Kuebel of Salesforce has been working with a number of companies to help them overcome the challenges of the global lockdowns. In this excerpt of the Field Service Podcast Kuebel identifies four key traits that he has seen emerge as common success factors amongst those companies he has seen adapt quickest and most successfully to the Covid-19 challenge.

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Want to hear more? Head over to our podcast library @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts and look for Series Five, Episode Three 'Adaptability, Customer-Centricity and Recovery ft. Lukas Fahnroth & Michael Kuebel'

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Leadership, Customer-Centricity, Empowerment, Agility

There has been a lot of innovation on show of late. Of course, much of it has been born out of necessity as companies have frantically tried to adapt to the realities of a global lockdown as we deal as a planet with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Yet, undoubtedly some companies have taken the challenges of the pandemic far more comfortably in their stride than others. Have there been some shared fundamental tenets of how those who adapted best were able to do so?

Michael Kuebel, Senior Director of Product Management, Salesforce has been working closely with many companies including Koenig and Bauer who were an excellent example of a company that was able to show agility and ingenuity in equal measure as they pivoted and adapted to the new scenario of a Covid-19 infested world. He certainly believes there are some shared attributes amongst those companies who showed the same levels of resilience that Koenig and Bauer did. 

"We see basically four kinds of success factors when we talk to customers and see how they master this most turbulent of markets," Kuebel explained on the Field Service Podcast.

"Number one is strong leadership. We saw that when we talk to our customers and ask, 'how did you cope with the crisis?' We saw a common thread of companies establishing a clear understanding of customers and safety first. It was a time to come up with a complex strategy, it was a time for these simple clear directives.

"For all of the companies that we worked with, there was a focus on making sure their customers remained operational, and making sure that their employees, customers, their families and the society stayed safe. They execute this latest shift through a much more focused visibility. When in the past, they were looking at reporting cycles of a month, now it's more once a day or even intra-daily visibility. They need those KPIs right now, because it's such a volatile situation.

"Also, we saw that strong leadership must also lift the company through being a role model, creating trust and of course, making fact based decisions," Kuebel added. 

 

"You need to make sure that your people are enabled, that they have the tools and they have the knowledge to make decisions when in the field..."

- Michael Kuebel, Salesforce

 

Indeed, this has been echoed through much of the reporting Field Service News has done on the topic and it does appear that there is a strong correlation between those organisations who were able to act swiftly but from a position of data-driven insight and those organisations that coped best with the lockdown scenario. Another strong link amongst such companies is also the willingness to have open and ongoing customer dialogue. 

"The second aspect I mentioned, customer centricity," concurs Kuebel.

"We see customer engagement very much in focus. For practicality reasons at this time, we all need to enable our customers to help themselves better. That way they were creating a digital journey that the customer actually said, well, that's actually even effortless for me, it works and it's helping me stay productive. That is only possible if you have a 360 degree view on the customer and that you have processes that are centred around the customer.

"Then there is empowerment," Kuebel continues. "You need to make sure that your people are enabled, that they have the tools and they have the knowledge to make decisions when in the field. I think especially this factor of empowerment has been something that I think has received an enormous boost within the last couple of weeks during the crisis, just look at the amount of companies that suddenly have home office as the new normal - that was never a plan and now it works and it will be very difficult to turn this back.

"Once you create that level of trust, and you see that people are effective, even when they are not in the office, this is something that is there to stay. However, you need to have the right tools to enable people to work with them. You need to know if you have an on-premise solution, you have no chance in virtualising a call centre overnight, but with a cloud solution, the right tools, the right knowledge and the right information, it's no big deal to do that. We have a couple of customers that were virtualising their dispatching calls and jobs literally within hours."

The final factor that Kuebel lists is perhaps the secret sauce that separates those companies who are best-in class and the rest of the pack.

"Last but not least, you need this agile mindset and an agile platform that allows you to easily adapt to basically go into these MVP (minimum viable product) situations and roll it out with the view that it's good enough to stay afloat - and then, we see we can develop from there. When I look at Koenig and Bauer for example, when I talk to them, when I talk to their management, there's a very, very clear leadership. The way that they communicate with their customers, the predominant mindset is around customer centricity, agility and empowerment. It was therefore, no surprise to me that Koenig and Bauer were one of the companies that are able to manage through the crisis relatively well."

 

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Further Reading:

• Find the full episode of this interview and the entire back catalogue of The Field Service Podcast @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
• Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on Field Service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
• Connect with Michael Kuebel on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kuebel-fieldservice/
• Follow Michael Kuebel on Twitter @ twitter.com/michaelkuebel
• Find out more about Salesforce Field Service Solutions @ www.salesforce.com/uk/campaign/sem/service-cloud/
• Follow Salesforce on twitter @ twitter.com/salesforce
• Find out more about Koenig & Bauer @ www.koenig-bauer.com
• Follow Koenig and Bauer @ twitter.com/koenigandbauer

We are all living in completely unknown times. The past couple of months has seen so many changes to the way that we work, rest and play; none of which we would have realised would have such profound effects on us all. For people in services, it has been extreme beyond all measure explains Martin Summerhayes...

 

Speaking to customers and partners, it is clear that many do not know why they are feeling the way they are. Some are feeling angry. Many are feeling frightened.  A few are in denial about the current situation. A small minority are feeling that this is only a short term situation and everything will return to “normal”, whatever, they may describe as normal.

 

Managing the mobile workforce during covid-19

It reminded me of the “Change Curve of Loss” that I was taught a number of years ago and have used on many change programmes. So, what is this curve? The theory is based on a model originally developed in the 1960s by a psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, to explain the grieving process. Since then it has been widely developed as a method of helping people understand their reactions to significant change or upheaval.

It is such an extraordinary time; that I took some time to refresh myself on what the model describes. The model, in its simplest form, has four stages associated with it. These stages are:-

• Stage 1 – Immobilisation and Denial
• Stage 2 – Anger and Bargaining
• Stage 3 – Depression and Testing
• Stage 4 - Acceptance

Note: Since writing this article, the HBR – Harvard Business school, has published an article on the same subject, details of which can be found at the end of this article.

So, what do these stages describe? Before we jump in. let me ask you to spend a moment, just a moment, to write down on a piece of paper, the word or phrase of where you are feeling in the current situation. It will help guide you through the detail, for you to know where you are in the “change curve”. Please be aware, there is no right or wrong answers to any of this and this is only a guide. Let, me explain the stages and the details behind them:-

Prior to Stage 1 - Stability

Prior to the onset of Covid-19, we were working, living and experiencing relative stability in our lives, our work and our social surroundings. Yes, there were challenges, but for many; we were living in relative stability. Then came the announcements of virus infections; illnesses; deaths; closure of services; restrictions on movement; social distancing and finally; lockdown in your own home. Within a relatively short timescale, a bow wave of significant changes and upheavals hit us all, all effecting us in different ways. How these have affected us, then follows the four stages….

 

Stage 1 – Immobilisation and Denial

This is the “rabbit in the head lights moment” where we go “OMG” what on earth is happening. This stage occurred just prior to and at the point of the lockdown, here in the UK.

• Immobilisation: We suddenly feel immobilised. Full of fear. Confusion sets in. We feel overwhelmed with the news and the social media “storm” that ensued.
• Denial: Next comes denial. We saw that as soon as the government announced restrictions, with some people ignoring them and continuing to meet up and get together. “Its’ not going to happen to me Gov”, was the argument.

 

Stage 2 – Anger and Bargaining

This is where another aspect of our view of the world kicks in. We kick back, feeling anger at the situation. Our “fight or flight” base feelings kick in at this stage.

• Anger: Anger at the loss of freedom. Anger at the loss of liberties, the freedoms we all had. “Why me” is often cited at this point. Often, the anger can be expressed in physical means, striking out, or trying to discharge the emotional turmoil.
• Bargaining: Strangely enough, next comes bargaining. This is where you try to minimise the impact. “If only I do this or that, then the situation will not affect me.”

 

Stage 3 – Depression and Testing

This is the lowest ebb in the change curve. Being aware you are in this stage, is a good starting point to trying to understand, cope and deal with it. None of us are professionals in mental health, so if you feel that you are not coping well, please reach our to friends, colleagues, loved ones, family, or contact the NHS for support.

• Depression: If the change curve of loss is followed in sequence, then this is the next phase. This is where the sense of loss and frustration turn inwards. “Why me” is often spoken of. If you considered before this situation, 1 in 5, yes, 1 in 5 adults in the UK had experienced some form of stress and potential depressive episode, during their working life; you can only imagine the numbers that may enter this stage over the next few weeks.
• Testing: This is where you start to lift out from the depressive phase. It is where you start to test the “new norm”. Where you begin to try new alternatives. Perhaps it is walking. Perhaps it is exercise. Perhaps it is Skyping a friend or relative.

 

Stage 4 - Acceptance

This is where you feel that normality is returning. It is not going to be the same normal as what there was before; but we have a fantastic ability to adapt.

• Acceptance: This final stage is where you respond to the change realistically.
  
  

That acceptance of the new norm is, in fact “normal”.

It is important to recognise that we are all going through this “Change Curve of Loss” over the coming weeks.

Our customers. Our partners. Our field engineers. 

How quickly we go though this change curve and to the depth of curve cycle, is going to be personal for each one of us. How people recognise and understand that it is perfectly natural to feel this way; how well individuals respond to the changes as they occur and how quickly they move into the acceptance phase, is all personal. I would encourage us all to take the time to be thoughtful of others. To take a moment of kindness and reflection in this uncertain time. We will come out of this period of uncertainty. We are, after all, human.

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Martin Summerhayes @ www.fieldservicenews.com/martin+summerhayes
• Read more articles on health, safety and wellbeing in service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/healthsafety
• Read more articles on managing the mobile workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/managing-the-mobile-workforce
• The HBR article referenced in the article can be found @ hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief
• Read NHS Support on mental health @ www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/mental-health-services/ 

Michael Kuebel of Salesforce talks to the Kris Oldland, Field Service News about the massive lens the pandemic has shone on the need for digital transformation in the field service sector and how the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation

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Want to hear more head over to our podcast library @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts and look for Series Five, Episode Three 'Adaptability, Customer-Centricity and Recovery ft. Lukas Fahnroth & Michael Kuebel'

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Digital Transformation - The Silver Lining of Covid-19? 

One of the major upshots and a significant silver lining to all of the hardship we have been through in the last few months is the major acceleration of digital transformation projects across all industries within the field service sector.

But just how much has digital transformation changed in terms of the magnitude and importance of the programs that we were all undertaking in some form prior to the COVID-19 pandemic?

But how have these projects changed? Just how dramatically have they been accelerated and what does that mean for the field service sector?

One man who has a deep level of experience of digital transformation within the field service sector is Michael Kuebel, Senior Director of Product Management, Salesforce. With an impressive career spanning both sides of the field service sector, with various senior field service management roles as well helping other field service organisations with their own digitalisation journey in his role with Salesforce, Kuebel has an ingrained knowledge of the role modern digital solutions can play in enhancing service delivery. 

"The key word here is how do we understand digital transformation”, Kuebel commented on a recent episode of the Field Service Podcast. 

"Where does the digitalisation journey actually start? You know, when we approach our customers, especially on the field service side, very often the predominant setup from the past involves very siloed organisations in terms of applications but also in terms of processes. So you may have  a service call centre that doesn't have too much information about the customer because it might be disconnected to sales. You may have a customer that has one or maximum two channels so you can either call or send an email but hardly any portals or tracking.

 

"I think if COVID-19 told us something, it is that the most important translation of digital transformation is to have the customer in the middle. Essentially, to have customer success as the paramount target behind all digitalisation efforts..."

-Michael Kuebel, Salesforce

 

"Then on the other side of the equation you have engineers - that in some places until recently even we're still outgoing with pen and paper and with only a very rough understanding what they are supposed to do. By this I mean they would have no information about asset history or even customer background or customer understanding. This is something that has been widely understood and so in many companies [these silos] has been the initiation for saying we need to go into a digital transformation in field service as well.

"Very often we see that field service is one of the last silos to overcome, just because it has been very much seen as a pure technical function. These were the guys that repair something if it's broken. But most companies now understand that field service has a different role. It has the role of creating revenue and profitability and has a super important role on customer experience and the customer journey. In fact, it is developing into one of the main, if not the main USP within an organisation. 

"Service is one of the main reasons customers stay loyal to a brand or a product and that's understood by many organisations. This is why I think the digitalisation journey has started already in most organisations a couple of years ago," Kuebel adds. 

However, while many if not all of us were on the digital transformation journey in one shape or another before the pandemic, the acceleration of such projects has been dramatic as a result of the necessity for new thinking during a period of ongoing uncertainty as global borders came crashing down and the lockdowns ensued. However, Kuebel believes there is another even more important learning we can take away from the last few months. 

"I think if COVID-19 told us something, it is that the most important translation of digital transformation is to have the customer in the middle. Essentially, to have customer success as the paramount target behind all digitalisation efforts," he explained.

"We want to make sure that our customers are in the middle and we have a 360 degree view of them. They can book engineers, track engineers, find the data online through an app or through chat or WhatsApp etc.

“We must have intelligent scheduling optimisation and the customer must have visibility on where the engineer is. Equally, the engineer himself must have visibility on all the customer history, the asset history, and access to information and knowledge. So they also have a 360 degree view around the customer, including being connected via devices and so on.

"This has all been on the long list of strategy before Covid-19 but the virus told us basically to fast forward a couple of years within a couple of weeks, and make all these things happen. I've seen so many examples where customers have been putting something on track that they actually were planning for the long term and just launched it." 

This is an excellent insight as one of the needs for solutions today, has resulted in a shift in mindset so we no longer look for the perfect solution, but the best solution that can help us now and we can refine it as we progress. Perhaps this is the first big learning of the new normal? 

 

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Further Reading:

• Find the full episode of this interview and the entire back catalogue of The Field Service Podcast @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
• Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on Field Service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
• Connect with Michael Kuebel on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kuebel-fieldservice/
• Follow Michael Kuebel on Twitter @ twitter.com/michaelkuebel
• Find out more about Salesforce Field Service Solutions @ www.salesforce.com/uk/products/service-cloud/field-service-lightning/
• Follow Salesforce on twitter @ twitter.com/salesforce

Only a few months ago the concept of zero-touch service was a niche within a niche. Today is has proven critical in ensuring continuous service delivery in the light of Covid-19. Mark Brewer, Vice President Service Industries, IFS looks at what this looks like today and in the future...

 

Over the course of the last five years or so, we’ve seen the steady creep of businesses in a variety of industries moving towards completely contactless service in various ways: fast casual restaurants putting mobile orders on shelves, retailers creating online pickup lockers, self-checkout kiosks, and IoT-enabled fixes for devices like routers and cable boxes.

 

ZERO TOUCH SERVICE

Given the current crisis that we face with COVID-19, I believe that it’s safe to say that the creep will begin to accelerate into an avalanche, and service in many ways will lead that charge. It’s easy to pigeonhole these innovations into one or two technologies, but zero-touch service will likely be achieved through dozens of technologies, sometimes working in tandem, sometimes tied to the specific needs of an industry.

Below, though, are three benchmarks based on what we can accomplish today, and what our current technology decisions can already tell us about what tomorrow will look like. Let’s start with what companies can do right now:

Remote Assistance

We’ve already seen in recent years the prevalence and usability of augmented reality creep forward, and this has become increasingly commoditised and utilised for service functions across a variety of disciplines. I’ve long since promoted it as a means to train up new and contingent employees quickly on company policies, but it’s a clear vector for augmented reality.

When zero-touch is the only way to reach your customer, remote assistance can be a quick and effective way to get you there today. An IFS customer, Munters, was able to deploy a solution in six days. For them, it was an existential decision, and it kept them whole in a time where their contemporaries were melting down.

Obviously this is not always a reasonable replacement for an in-person meeting, as there is often a skills or resource gap between the back office and the field in remote service. But if you’re able to keep 50% of your clients up and running without a truck roll, the trickle-down benefits to your business are substantial. It’ll keep contracts renewed, avoid SLA penalties, and keep employees where they want to be: On the job. This is what we can do today. What about tomorrow?

A New Kind of Parts Management

Triage might be the best use for remote assistance today, but often the process of repair makes that a bit more challenging. It doesn’t have to be, though. If you have a fleet of vans with parts inventory on them that are sitting in a depot, you have a fleet of zero-touch delivery vehicles ready to go.

"Theoretically, the infrastructure is mostly there to make this work today. The most important part is a thorough, consistent, and comprehensive parts management and reverse logistics system..."

Imagine a scenario where a customer initiates a remote repair call, and the technician identifies a part that needs to be replaced based on a combination of IoT data and visual inspection. Rather than dispatch a technician, you could dispatch the part itself—often within a reasonably small window—then provide step-by-step replacement or repair instructions via the augmented reality array. It could be done live, with an actual person, or, increasingly, step-by-step instructions could be prerecorded and validated using the AR screen.

Theoretically, the infrastructure is mostly there to make this work today. The most important part is a thorough, consistent, and comprehensive parts management and reverse logistics system. You need to know inventory on every truck, at every warehouse, where each piece is in the depot repair process, and where and how remittance, reissue, or scrapping occurs.

With these two pieces in place, companies will be well-suited for today’s challenges. Remote assistance is available today, zero-touch parts allocation will take time to map out. The third phase takes it a step towards science fiction, though it’s a sci-fi that’s well within the realm of possibility over the next few years.

Assisted Repair

Imagine a scenario where, when a break occurs or is expected, a Roomba-like robot is dispatched, and through a drone-like interface is able to eliminate an issue without involving any humans. This may seem outside the realm of possibility today, but many industrial manufacturers are deploying fleets of robots specially designed to assist with simple repairs. From lifting and handling heavy parts to replacing faulty ones, to running routine security checks and providing a photo log that is attached to the customer account.

There’s obviously a huge amount of hardware infrastructure that needs to be considered here, and this is completely impossible in a number of industries, but think about the degree of customer attrition you’ll mitigate by having your customer add your robot to their family. Combine these capabilities with remote parts remittance and shared view repairs, and you’ll see the cost per truck roll plummet, and customer satisfaction skyrocket.

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Mark Brewer @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/markbrewer
• Find out more about ServiceMax @ www.servicemax.com
• Read more about remote service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/remoteservice
• Read more about spare parts management @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/spareparts
• Read more about Covid-19 in service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19

Professor Shaun West of Luzern University uncovers some of the fundamental barriers manufacturers face when trying to implement a servitization strategy.

The development of new services is not like new product development and here starts the problem in many manufacturing firms (Figure 1). It creates a significant disruptive change to the business – it is a change management process, and it is a journey.

Servitization may be a 'good move', But it is a complex undertaking...

Strategically, management generally likes the idea of service because customers ask for it and because margins are higher than in traditional product sales business. Given that customers want it and it has good margins, “senior management’ generally considers servitization a good move, without first understanding the challenges and the underlying barriers that could slow the journey into service. 

(Figure1: Differences between service- and product-based business)

 

The journey to services is often bumpy, and we have seen that services are not the same as products. Most of the value is created from the intangible aspects of the service, making it hard to identify and measure. Manufacturing firms often find it harder to deal with the intangible elements of services. For them, it is easier to measure metrics such as “on-time delivery” rather than “customer satisfaction” as they value hard facts more than soft facts (Table 1). Andy Neely and his research term provided a framework that helps us to identify the barriers that stop us from making the switch to services and categorized servitization barriers into seven categories.

 

(Table 1: Differences between technology- and service-based firms)

 

We dug deeper to understand the specific challenges and learnt more via a series of surveys and interviews. We found there were common challenges that leaders had faced within each of the barriers. The good news is that that, in general, you are not alone. The downside is that contextual issues mean most transitions are unique as they have different starting points and different visions. Assuming that the firm has made the strategic decision to deliver services, then you need to understand the market readiness, the strategic fit, and the firm’s cultural context. Building the longer-term business structures (e.g., a business unit with its own P&L) is critical, and without this, there is limited long-term sustainability.

Resources need to be freed up for both service innovation and delivery; without budgets, nothing will ever happen. This also means that you need to develop and embed service processes, these are likely to be very different in detail to the processes that your manufacturing colleagues use, and this will create conflict, often because with services you work on a customer’s site together with the customer. Given that services are co-created and delivered with customers, engagement has to be proactively managed, and trust built so that you can continually innovate with your customers and improve customer experience. 

 

Observation of the implementation-based barriers to servitization

Based on 40+ interviews and survey data from over 150 individuals, we tried to clearly describe the observations that slow or prevent the implementation of a servitization strategy. We start by providing some quotes (Table 2) from people who have been directly involved in a transition before giving a summary of the best practice as we view it at this time. In our servitization study, we quantified and ranked them the barriers in order of importance based on the input from the surveys.

Based on 40+ interviews and survey data from over 150 individuals, we tried to clearly describe the observations that slow or prevent the implementation of a servitization strategy. We start by providing some quotes (Table 2) from people who have been directly involved in a transition before giving a summary of the best practice as we view it at this time. In our servitization study, we quantified and ranked them the barriers in order of importance based on the input from the surveys.

 

(Table 2: Main barriers to servitization)

 

The move to ecosystem innovation is essential for the servitization journey when we consider the competition, suppliers, and partners. This is a significant change for firms as customers and agents can become important partners, and in some cases, competitors may become customers. Localization aspects are essential, and this depends on the size of the company – a large firm is different from a small firm. Local rules (or norms) can create barriers to service delivery, finding local partners can reduce costs and limit others from entering the market. It is important to learn to work and use customer pull to support servitization; some of your best supporters for servitization are your customers.

In many cases, they will champion your innovations and provide opportunities for prototyping ideas and helping you convert them into new value propositions. They will also support you with pricing signals and provide insights into new revenue models. Customers are critical to sales growth (clearly!) and margins. In service, the long-term retention of customers is recognized as a crucial success factor for both the service and equipment businesses.

As you grow your service business, sharing of knowledge and information about the services in action and your customers’ processes becomes more important. Information sharing needs to be managed within the service business as well as to the equipment business, and there are more customer touchpoints with service than with an equipment business.

Providing the information gathered as feedback to the equipment business can also reduce servitization barriers. There is often a push to move to advanced services, but basic data and understanding is required before moving to more advanced product-service systems – moving too soon to advanced services as a way to hide your weaknesses in service delivery can kill the service business.

Finally, businesses must have their own P&L and the support of HR to deliver the change because of the difference in processes and organizational culture.

What you can do to help with the shift to services

To help you, we recommend three things that you could do to help your firm, based on our insights from the study:

1. Open your mind and that of your colleagues to the differences between a product-business and a service-business. They are not the same, even if the underlying equipment is the same.
2. Focus on your customers, learn how they use the equipment, and how and where you can support them. Listen to them and allow them to support your service innovations.
3. Empower your service teams to deliver the service projects and ensure that the P&L contribution is recognized by the firm.

What are we doing to help with the transition? We are currently working on a book to support the shift to services in a practical way, basing the book on cases and providing examples of tools that we have seen being used to help product-based firms make the transition successfully.

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Acknowledgements: 

I would like to thank the following for providing valuable input into the study.

• Paolo Gaiardelli (paolo.gaiardelli@unibg.it),
• Nicola Saccani (nicola.saccani@unibs.it),
• Ali Bigdeli (a.bigdeli@aston.ac.uk),
• Tim Baines (t.baines@aston.ac.uk) 
• Peter Alexander
  
  

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Shaun West @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/Shaunwest
• Read more articles on servitization @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
• Read more articles by Tim Baines @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/Timbaines
• Read more articles by Ali Bigdeli @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/AliBigdeli
• Find out more about the World Servitization Conference @ https://www.advancedservicesgroup.co.uk/wsc2020
  

Covid-19 has changed the world, Service leaders have to look beyond "business as usual" and find new ways to operate. Developing new solutions, delivered via strong leadership, is key to continuity. Bill Pollock explains...  

While many would argue that a serious marketing and business development action plan is required at all times, this is especially true during turbulent times. During historical boom economic growth periods, post-war recoveries and peacetime economic expansions, it seemed that virtually any half-hearted marketing or business development activities led to continuing business growth.

However, when the going gets rough, there are two key factors that all services organisations must keep in mind:

1. Life – and business – still go on, but
2. Customers have neither the time nor the inclination to mess around.

Field Service Strategy During and Post-Pandemic

The compound events of the sudden and unexpected spread of the Coronavirus, and the subsequent crash of the global economic markets have temporarily brought the world, and its businesses, to a stunned and sudden standstill. There is no longer “business (or life) as usual”. Many citizens are now “sheltered at home”, either voluntarily, or mandated by their respective governments. There is also an increasing realisation that life as we knew it would no longer be the same. As a result, neither would field services – nor services of any kind!

Already, there are many facets of the traditional services delivery model that have changed forever. However, workers will continue to use their computers, tablets and smartphones to get their day-to-day jobs done. The mobile workforce will become increasingly mobile – as will the pre-Coronavirus office workforce. As such, networks and carriers will become even more important components of the customer and field technician communications processes than ever before.

Payments will still need to be made, although there are likely to be less ATM transactions, as they will likely be replaced by an increase in online payments via the Internet, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo and the like. Chipped credit and debit cards were supposed to slowly replace the older magnetic strip cards; however, this transformation has been accelerated by the Coronavirus pandemic, where more and more payments will now be made via “tap” or “wave”, instead of swipe, insert or hand-to-hand transfers of cards or cash with human clerks.

Patients will still go for MRIs, CT-scans and surgical procedures – but, at least temporarily, not so much for elective surgeries or non-life-threatening medical situations. Milk will still be processed. Pharmaceuticals will be manufactured. Textiles will be sewn. And services organisations will still be called upon to support their customers, dealers and end users with a full array of new and steadily evolving services.

When you think about it, everything that we do in the services industry still needs to get done – especially in these turbulent times. In many ways, we are all doing the same things as we did pre-Coronavirus – although now, there is an extra measure of importance in everything we do, every step we take, and every customer we support. It’s just going to be different! And remain different!

 

"This may also be a good time to strengthen your own organisation’s relationships amongst its strategic partners..."

 

As recently as just a few months ago, undoubtedly, we were all dealing with customers (or vendors) who, for whatever reasons, simply strove to meet “acceptable” levels of service delivery performance and customer satisfaction. Some had internal goals, objectives or mandates that needed to be met; while others simply wanted to improve existing levels of customer satisfaction to “keep up with the Joneses”. Now, everything is different. The stakes are suddenly higher.

Every business, everywhere in the civilized world, now requires the highest levels of B2B (and, increasingly, B2C) support from its cadre of vendors and partners – no matter whether the support required is on-site break/fix, helpdesk or preventive maintenance; or systems integration, consulting or professional services. However, increasingly, there has been (and is now virtually mandated) a rapidly-moving transformation away from the traditional on-site, “hands-on” approach (whether supported by Augmented Reality or not) to a “hands off” approach where service and support is, instead, provided via Predictive Diagnostics, Remote Diagnostics/Maintenance, and now – Remote Expertise.

 

3D Printing within the Field Service Supply Chain?

Further, “last year’s technologies”, such as 3D Printing, have been propelled directly into the forefront of Parts & Inventory Management as global businesses have relied heavily on the ad hoc ability to manufacture parts – on-site, and immediately – to support local medical and related emergencies. Most analysts agree that 3D Printing will fast become a mainstay of parts and inventory management as quality continues to improve and costs come down further.

In today’s tense environment when an unforeseen development can bring air travel and mail service to a sudden halt, thereby stopping parts shipments or freezing deliveries; send unexpectedly high numbers of people to medical centers for tests, evaluation and possible hospitalisation; or disrupt field service operations as otherwise would-be mobile workers sit “sheltered at home” until they are permitted, once again, to make service calls on-site, there is a renewed need for services “above and beyond the call of duty” to support what used to be “business as usual”.

But how can this be done?

Quite simply, it will involve ramping up the types of services and support products that have been historically marketed to a higher level of contingency-based support as well. This may also be a good time to strengthen your own organisation’s relationships amongst its strategic partners. For example, whatever your company’s portfolio of service and support products may have been historically, now would be a propitious time to refocus it around professional services including contingency planning, business continuity and disaster recovery, etc. And, if you already provide these types of services yourself, now is the time to promote them more heavily to the marketplace. However, if you don’t – now may be the right time to find yourself a strategic partner in those fields with which to “piggyback”, or joint market, your services.

 

"Whatever happens from this point on, the world has changed..."

 

Customers, who only a few months ago, were primarily concerned with hardware, software and helpdesk support, are now also talking about contingency planning, business continuity and disaster recovery. Terms like “high availability” and “hot sites” have been around, it seems, almost forever. However, with the advent and proliferation of the Coronavirus pandemic, they are now “top of mind” for many businesses, and no longer on the “back burner”. Are these the types of professional services that are also “top of mind” to the marketplace when they think of your organisation? If not, what can you do to make it so?

 

The Critical Rise of Augmented Reality

Field service solution providers that did not offer an Augmented Reality (AR) or Merged Reality (MR) component to their respective portfolio of offerings yesterday, were still credible alternatives for supporting your organisation’s field operations – but, not any longer! If your services organisation is looking for a credible FSM solution today, you should only be considering those powered by the Internet of Things (IoT), and built on a foundation of AR/MR, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.

However, AR/MR is mostly helpful for empowering on-site field technicians to perform the “fix” quicker, without mistakes, and without the need to carry pounds of paper or electronic schematics with them as they drive to the customer site – but they still need to drive to the customer site! Although an AR/MR solution is essentially resident in the Cloud, it still requires “feet on the street”!

One alternative would be to train the customer/user to AR/MR to perform the “fix” themselves – but this reflects an age-old conundrum as to how much power do you want to give to the customer? How much can they be trusted to make the “fix” correctly, and without damaging anything, or taking the equipment out of warranty? What about regulatory requirements, particularly in the medical/healthcare and other highly-regulated industry segments? There will need to be an orderly progression to allow some – but not all – customers to add this capability to their self-help capabilities. This is where Remote Expertise can be of great value, incorporating such features as a “virtual” technician on-screen presence, repair instructions shown via superimposed human hands, and on-screen telestration (i.e., similar to a sports commentator’s on-screen annotations during a football match, etc.).

Whatever happens from this point on, the world has changed. The way of conducting business has also changed; however, the way of supporting businesses with the services and support they require to satisfy their customers has not – it just got a lot more complicated, and, perhaps, a bit more serious. With this increased seriousness, we can “kiss goodbye” all those meaningless and frivolous attempts to “bundle” our existing services products into a “new” branded package, or otherwise try to disguise our “same old, same old” offerings by thrusting them into a tiered, or “bullion” packaging portfolio (i.e., Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, etc. – that would be so 1990’s). Our customers have always been too smart for that anyway!

What the market wants – and needs – is an honest and forthright offering of service and support that will give them one less thing to worry about as they attempt to meet their immediate struggles, and their customers’ quickly evolving needs in this “new” – and very different – world.

Turbulent times require a serious approach, plus serious marketing and promotion – and it doesn’t get much more turbulent than this! We owe it to our customers, ourselves and our respective communities to rise to the occasion, and ensure that we can provide the services and support that our customers require immediately, as well as in the short-, mid- and longer-term. Services marketing and business development have never been more serious.

 

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Further Reading:

• Read more articles by Bill Pollock @ www.fieldservicenews.com/billpollock
• Read more about Covid-19 in service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
• Read more about Digital Transformation in field service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about 3D printing in service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/3d+printing
• Read more from Bill Pollock's own blog @ https://pollockonservice.com