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Welcome to the relaunched and revamped Field Service Podcast hosted by Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland.

In this episode, Kris is speaking to Kevin McNally, Sales Director for Asolvi about the importance of building a request for proposal when they are searching for a new field service management solution as well as sharing his insight into some of the key considerations that an organisation should have in mind when approaching building the actual RFP document.

Did You Know? You can now subscribe to The Field Service Podcast on iTunes! Check it out here and subscribe to get the podcast straight to your phone each week! 

Want to know more? Kevin and Kris have co-authored a white paper that expands on this topic which is available exclusively for Field Service News subscribers.

If you are not yet a subscriber and are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary subscription below (after reading our T&Cs here first) and we will send you a copy of the white paper as soon as we receive your application.

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Barrett Coakley, Product Marketing Manager, ClickSoftware offers some crucial advice in the complex and crucial area of change management...

Organisational change is hard but, given constantly shifting market conditions and the rate new technologies are released, dealing with transformation is now a requirement at most firms.

However, McKinsey reports that 70% of change programs fail to achieve their goals, largely due to employee resistance and lack of management support. With that type of failure rate, you might be wondering why even bother. Nonetheless, when done correctly, change management can have an enormous impact on employee engagement, operational efficiency and financial success.

There are three areas that are causing change within field service teams that leaders must address Field service organizations are being asked to address multiple reforms but there are three areas that should be high on your change management list; talent management issues, technology advances and new customer attitudes.

Here are some recommendations to help your field service group succeed on this change management journey.

Talent Management

According to The Service Council, 70% of service organizations report they’ll be facing a pinch as they lose workers to retirement in the coming years. The retirement of baby boomers has the potential to leave a vast knowledge and experience gap on many field service teams.

There is hope, however, as the 75 million large millennial generation has entered the workforce and they have the skills to fill these open positions.

However, field service managers must understand the drivers that motivate millennials and how they differ from the retiring baby boomers, including:

• Tech savvy: The millennial generation grew up with all things digital. They embrace technology and expect the organizations that they work for to provide the most current technology for them to perform their job.
• Mission: Millennials are looking from a deeper meaning from work. They want to feel that they are having an impact both on the company as well as greater society.
• Retention: You might have some members on your field service team that have worked in the group for 10-20+ years. Millennials, however, tend to change jobs frequently. In fact, Gallup revealed that 21% of millennials report changing jobs within the last year, which is more than three times the number of non-millennials.

Here are some areas your field service team should focus on to facilitate the changes this generation will bring to your team.

Offer Incentives:

While you might think a raise would be sufficient for millennial retention, you should instead focus on benefits you could offer.

According to Gallup, millennials are more likely than any other generation to say they would change jobs for a particular benefit or perk. They especially appreciate perks that directly impact their lives and the lives of their family. It makes sense considering many millennials are starting families, have large student loans, and desire a work-life balance.

Popular benefits for Millennials include:

• Paid paternal and maternity leave
• Student loan reimbursement
• Childcare reimbursement
• Tuition reimbursement

So instead of just offering a pay raise next year, poll your workforce to determine what they truly value.

The responses might surprise you.

Development opportunities: The best way to attract millennials is by leveraging two of their biggest desires—development and purpose.

67% of millennials are engaged at work when they strongly agree that the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel their job is importantFor instance, Gallup reports that “rallying millennials around a mission and purpose dramatically increases their employee engagement: 67% of millennials are engaged at work when they strongly agree that the mission or purpose of their company makes them feel their job is important.”

Focus your attraction and retention strategies on delivering learning opportunities and career development. This way millennials are assured that their jobs provide plenty of opportunities for skill development and career advancement.

Keep in mind millennials may want to pursue independent project work, attend conferences, take classes, and join professional organizations.

Give them the flexibility and resources to do so, whether this means tuition reimbursement, or time off work to ensure they are fulfilled.

The Impact of New Technology

New technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and data analytics are having a huge impact on field service operations.

These new technologies are providing real-time insights into field assets that can be used to predict when a piece of equipment might fail, allowing for proactive maintenance. However, with all of this technology, there comes the need for change across your field team in order make sense of all this new information. Here are a few steps you can take to make sure your team is prepared for the impact of technology on your field service group.

Make a Plan:

First off, you will need a plan to prepare for the impact these technologies will have across your field service organization. For example, you will need to train field engineers on how to potentially service IoT-based equipment, build a roadmap for incorporating new devices, and identify which technician or dispatch behaviours will change based on this new technology.

Will customer issues be identified at a server level when equipment fails? What does this do to the dispatch workflow? Are you incorporating wearables at an employee level to improve communication or field-based efficiency? What software will you need to ensure these devices operate smoothly within your current frameworks and infrastructure?

Create a roadmap that accounts for the short, and long-term implications of devices, services, and technician needs.

KISS Principal:

Albert Einstein once stated, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” This is where the KISS principle comes into play during change management exercises. Stepping up to the challenges associated with all of these different technologies is difficult and complicated.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simplerWith any digital transformation, the best possible course of action is to simplify by starting with small, simple changes. Select a small behaviour, or wearable device that your customers are using, and optimize around that. Then, scale what you have learned across more devices, customer behaviours, and internal processes. With a change this impactful it is best to keep it simple, sir.

Uberization of Service

As Amazon, Uber, Airbnb and other upstart organizations continue to heighten customer expectations, field service organizations have struggled to keep pace with these new demands.

Customers now expect transparency around service delivery such as the real-time location of the field technician responsible for the appointment as well as personalized communication preferences like text or email.

However, the delivery of exceptional service requires changes to the technician’s traditional role and skill set.

Here are few areas that should be looked at to change.

Product and Service Training:

Field service professionals understand the inner workings of the products they maintain but they might not be knowledgeable enough to upsell a new product or service to a customer.

To enable this ability, sales and marketing training should be provided to field service professionals so they understand the features and benefits of different services. Sales and marketing is a new type of training and skillset for most field service professionals but one that can really benefit the top line.

Increasing revenue is an important focus for many organizations but it is proving to be a difficult one as 76% of field service providers report they are struggling to achieve revenue growth, according to the TSIA. Sales and marketing training could be the support ticket that helps change this trend.

Soft Skill Training:

Field service professionals are now required to interact with clients in a way that elevates the customer experience, resulting in upsell opportunities and less customer churn.

64% of consumers have switched providers in at least one industry due to poor customer service.Preventing customer churn is especially important as Accenture reported that 64% of consumers have switched providers in at least one industry due to poor customer service.

To provide a higher level of personalized service requires better soft skills, something not every person has, but this ability is a key to this new service delivery model. In fact, study conducted by Development Dimensions International found that for every $1,100 invested in soft skills training, employers earned an average return of $4,000.

Training soft skills can help a technician provide more empathy towards the customer, improve communication and the ability to provide a more personalized experience.

Soft skill training is especially important for millennials as they often lack these abilities. An investment in soft skills training is worthwhile for any organization but can be particularly important in delivering a great customer experience.

Conclusion

The key to handling all of these changes is a commitment from all involved. In fact, McKinsey found that when people are truly invested in change it is 30 percent more likely to stick.

However, making the challenge even more daunting is that organizations no longer have the luxury of implementing changes over a 3-5 year period of time as in the past.

Change is no longer a periodic event, but one that is constant as the market and technology continue to evolve at faster and faster rates. Field service teams need to prepare now.

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Data collation has become perhaps one of the most important factors in delivering the levels of standards that today’s empowered customers demand. However, many companies are now finding themselves struggling to turn the vast amounts of data being generated today into meaningful insight. Bill Pollock, President for Strategies for GrowthSM explores how field service companies can find a balance between flood and thirst...

Many reports have been written about services organisations (and businesses of all types) “drowning in data lakes”. However, the key to success is to establish early on what data is needed to effectively run services operations, and focus specifically on those types of data when collecting and processing the reams and reams of data points generated from your IoT-based systems.

Too much data is … well, too much data, if you don’t have a plan to harvest it effectively.Too much data is … well, too much data, if you don’t have a plan to harvest it effectively.

The most important asset a services organisation owns is the cumulative knowledge and expertise it has acquired, developed and utilised over time to support its customers’ systems and equipment – and, in many cases, the entire customer enterprise.

Some of this knowledge may be in the form of bits of information stored in a database, while other knowledge is often manifested in the form of new systems, tools and technologies that have been placed into use.

However, knowledge can only be built on a strong foundation of data and information – and these key components of knowledge must be inherently accurate, clean, well-defined, and easily accessible.

Today, everybody talks about data analytics, but many often confuse data with information and knowledge. Basically, data is a core corporate asset that must be synthesised into information before it can serve as the basis for knowledge within the organisation. As such, data may be defined primarily as:

• Facts about things, organised for analysis, or used to support or make decisions; or
• Raw material from which information is derived to serve as the basis for making intelligent decisions.

Information, on the other hand, is defined as:

• Collections, or aggregations, of usable facts or data;
• Processed, stored, or transmitted data; or
• Data in context, accompanied by precise definition and clear presentation.

Finally, knowledge may be defined as:

• Specific information about something; that is, the sum or range of what has been discovered or learned;
• Information known, and presented in the proper context; or
• The value added to information by people who have the experience and/or acumen to understand its business potential.

The quality of the data that an organisation collects, measures and distributes is also a key factor in database building. To attain an acceptable level of data quality, the organisation must be able to mine its data whilst focusing on key areas, such as:

• Clear definition or meaning
• Correct values
• Understandable presentation format
• Usefulness in supporting targeted business processes

However, regardless of the state of the organisation’s data assets, there must still be a balance of data, process and systems in order to meet the company’s stated business objectives, which generally focus on things like:

• Increasing revenues and margins
• Increasing market share
• Increasing customer satisfaction

However, if there is not a match between data quality and the application of that data, then the entire process will ultimately become a fool’s errand (i.e., garbage-in; garbage-out).

Regardless, data is ubiquitous – it is used to support every aspect of the business, and is an integral component of every key business process. But, the usefulness of the data is only as good as the data itself – and this is where many organisations run into trouble.

You don’t go to work wearing 12 watches; you don’t buy 48 oz. of steaks, per person, to put on the grill for a summer barbecue; so, why would you pay for more data than you will ever needAs such, services organisations need to be able to identify which data is “need to know” vs. which data is only “nice-to-know”. Nice-to-know data is ultimately way too expensive to collect, process, analyse, monitor and distribute; however, need-to-know data is not only invaluable – but critical to ensuring the operational and financial well-being of the organisation.

For example, you don’t go to work wearing 12 watches; you don’t buy 48 oz. of steaks, per person, to put on the grill for a summer barbecue; so, why would you pay for more data than you will ever need when you can harvest just what you need for now (plus whatever else looks like you may need in the future)?

The quest for knowledge is the key that can unlock the potential applications and uses of the organisation’s existing – or planned – databases.

In fact, most businesses are already sitting on a goldmine of data that can – and should – be transformed into actionable information and knowledge with the potential to:

• Enhance and expand their existing product, service, supply chain, CRM and operational databases;
• Create knowledge-oriented delivery systems for new, or enhanced, value-added products, services and support; and
• Differentiate itself from other competitive market players.

Knowledge that was previously unknown – or unavailable – such as profiles of potential buyers, or specific patterns of product/service usage may be uncovered and put into practical use for the first time. The end result can lead to anything ranging from improvements in operational efficiency to improved service delivery performance, more accurate parts forecasting, and higher levels of customer service and support – all based on a strong foundation of data collection, measurement and distribution.

Consider your data repository as a storage space for all of the data you will need today, tomorrow and in the future. If large enough, put it in a data lake – but make sure you don’t use Loch Ness for what a smaller data lake can do for you more efficiently.

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Scott Berg, CEO at ServiceMax, from GE Digital explains why for those organisations getting the results that matter, the Industrial Internet of Things alone isn’t enough to transform their service offering...

Complex machines power the world’s largest industries, from offshore rigs to networks of medical devices, to massive wind turbines.

Over the last decade, we’ve seen everything from treadmills to coffee makers digitized in pursuit of smarter, better and faster machines to get better results. Industrial companies are adopting digital strategies and require a distinct understanding of connected machinery to do so successfully. It’s no surprise that these machines require thoughtful, technical and predictive maintenance.

Companies now more than ever are in the business of keeping machines running to ensure that the absolute most value is derived from each piece of equipmentCompanies now more than ever are in the business of keeping machines running to ensure that the absolute most value is derived from each piece of equipment. Our customers report, on average, a 19% increase in productivity since implementing Predix ServiceMax. That basically means that we can add an extra day to the technician’s week without working overtime.

ServiceMax from GE Digital is helping the world’s largest companies on their digital journey, starting with service delivery. What is fundamental to our understanding of Field Service Management (FSM) is the scale at which we provide service. We are meeting our customers at a global, enterprise level. As the industry adopts the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) we think about service in a big way and help companies on their digital journey.

We are 100% invested in making sure our customers are getting absolutely all the value they can from the equipment they have and how it’s being used.

Why IIoT won’t be enough to transform service

IIoT-enabled devices and data insights alone are not enough to paint a clear picture of service in the future. Talk of IIoT is everywhere, from budgets to yearly planning, to newspaper headlines. At the end of the day, data informs a procedural change within only one part of a machine at one point in time. Decisions are made on a limited set of inputs, whether that be wear and tear of a specific part, or work order history.

You might say that using IIoT alone is tunnel vision.

Meaningful service is going beyond IIoT, and Asset Performance Management (APM) is the catalyst: it opens up data to more contextual inputs from the broader ecosystem. APM harnesses the behaviour of the machine and goes beyond a simple exercise in efficiency.

It’s important to understand the key is not solely APM, FSM or IIoT. Rather, it’s all three working together to create a holistic solution.It’s important to understand the key is not solely APM, FSM or IIoT. Rather, it’s all three working together to create a holistic solution.

APM monitors the behaviour of the machine, and the FSM platform brings it all together to inform how, when, and why we choose to service or replace a machine. It monitors machine health directly after a repair, and cycles that information into future repairs, to close the loop of service.

The powerful combination of APM and FSM provides a complete view of a product and establishes lifecycle management strategies. The result is a service product management solution that has up-leveled a traditional connected device strategy, incorporating a business’s bottom line. This has saved our customers millions of dollars.

Digital industry brings dynamic results 

Field service in the industrial era is more than a one-time project. Done well, it is an industrialists guide to a digital future, providing vital insights and outcomes for customers. The new era of field service will be marked by connectivity and share a fundamental goal of zero downtime for critical equipment.

There will be industrial behemoths and then there will be digital industrial behemoths.

Field service is evolving into a system that doesn’t forgetField service is evolving into a system that doesn’t forget: an APM-integrated platform incorporates past data to make decisions about parts, technicians, and compliance in the present. And then the magic happens: the system integrates several data factors based on the outcomes of similar work orders and controls for a business perspective: how much time and money can we afford to spend here? That data is translated to actionable insights for technicians on the ground, meaning they are not working towards a static goal of ‘machine repair.’ Instead, technicians are working towards a dynamic outcome: machine uptime.

We are reaching a point where FSM is simultaneously smarter than us yet utterly useless without the most vital component of service: humans. Technicians close the loop between data and predictions by recording the actions they take.

They have the training, the expertise, and the context for each work order with a FSM platform at their fingertips. And the result is that not only is complex machinery functioning smoothly, but FSM is providing the savvy digital industrialist an avenue to a more prosperous day on the job tomorrow.

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Kevin McNally, Asolvi gives us the inside track on what makes a strong RFP when looking for a new FSM solution, and the benefits the process can yield...

Want to Know More? There is a white paper that expands upon which is available to Field Service News subscribers. Not a subscriber? If you're a field service management professional click here to apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription

When building your initial RFP (i.e. the document you give to prospective solution providers that outlines your needs and objectives) for a field service management system, you are able to establish not only a firm understanding of what the challenges are that you are looking to resolve, but also a reasonably wide-ranging understanding of what is possible.

I recently co-authored a white paper with Kris Oldland, Field Service News that offers five fundamental points for consideration to help you ensure that your RFP gives you the very best chance of selecting a solution provider that will be able to work with you to deliver the right solution to help you improve efficiency in the mission-critical operations of field service.

The white paper looks at each of these in some depth but let’s take a quick look at each now.

Consideration #1: Don’t wait until you’ve completed your RFP to approach potential Field Service Management solution providers use them to develop and refine it from the outset...

Some companies like to come to the table with an understanding of what their needs are and will approach the market with a fully formalised RFP. Other companies may be less sure of what a solution can provide so they may engage with a number of providers at an earlier stage.

In today’s business world we are in the era of Everything as a Service, where business and system ecosystems and outcome based contracts require building deeper relationships - a strong argument can be made for the latter approach.

In fact, there are a number of reasons behind why this approach is becoming more and more popular and in the white paper we take a look at three of these which are:

1. You’ll never know what you don’t know you don’t know!
2. Get a feel as to if a potential provider is in it for the long-haul or the quick-buck
3. Strong relationships are built over time, but all have to begin somewhere

Consideration #2: It is crucial that you keep the fundamentals in place of what you require from a new field service management solution as you build the RFP...

As you begin to develop your RFP it is absolutely crucial that you keep the fundamentals required in mind when bringing together the roadmap for where you want your service operation to go and how you want your new solution to take you there.

Whilst the obvious starting place is to look at your current pain points, far too often companies can tend to put too much emphasis on various small problems rather than focus on the bigger picture

During this stage, you really need to be thinking macro rather than micro.

Consideration #3: Get a firm understanding of the key baseline technologies that you should be expecting from a modern FSM solution...

You’re looking for your FSM solution to become the link between your back office operations and your field workers. At its core this means that the functionality you need as a minimum requirement is to facilitate communication - whether that be between dispatcher and engineer, engineer to engineer or even the easy flow of data to and from the field and all other co-dependent business units.

Real-time information flow is therefore absolutely critical and something that you should be seeking from any modern FSM solution that you consider.

Consideration #4: Don’t make a decision from the top of an ivory tower - make sure you take in some feedback from the guys who will actually be using the system day in, day out...

It is important to get an understanding of your existing work-flows and how the end users in your team are going to be using a system. A natural default is to focus on how the engineers are going to utilise a system, but don’t fall into the common trap of glossing over how a new solution will impact on the way the back office support team works as well.

Those companies that tend to get the most out of a new FSM solution are often those that have built up a fuller picture of how they will be using the system throughout the process of building their RFP.

It is very often the case also that the companies that get this right have taken the time to listen to their end users both in the field and in the back office.

Consideration #5: Integration needs to be at the forefront of your thinking - will the FSM system play nicely with both legacy systems and even systems you may need in the future?

In one sense it almost feels that in today’s world where, as we’ve already alluded to, easy data flow should be at the top of your list for any prospective new FSM solution (or business system in general for that matter) that integration should be a bit of a gimme.

However, things aren’t quite as simple as that - it is still an important question to ask, just as it is important to understand that one integration to another can be hugely different.

There will be certain integrations that are a given - but there may well be some that fall outside of that group, so it is important that you understand the whole ecosystem of your business network across various different units of your organisation.

Want to Know More? There is a white paper that expands upon which is available to Field Service News subscribers. Not a subscriber? If you're a field service management professional click here to apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription

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Insights from a recent study by the Advanced Services Group at Aston Business School can help you understand if you’re on the right path to advanced services. Professor Tim Baines explains...

Is Servitization a burning topic for your organisation - join Professor Baines and the Advanced Services Group for the Spring Servitization Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 14 - 16 May 2018 more info @ https://www.advancedservicesgroup.co.uk/ssc2018

Researchers and pioneering manufacturers have been singing the praises of servitization and its benefits to business – and it seems industry is starting to listen.

Increasing numbers of manufacturing and technology companies are trying to implement services-led strategies. How to go about doing this in practice, however, still presents a challenge to many. The leaders of today’s industry see the success of Rolls-Royce and Xerox in this area, yet they often struggle to work out how to achieve the same for their own businesses.

Within the Advanced Services Group at Aston Business School we’ve been working with manufacturers around the world using the latest research to support them in finding their path to compete through advanced services.

Advanced services’ go a step beyond the product condition and focus on the outcomes that the product enables.While most manufacturers already offer ‘base services’ focusing on product provision such as warranty and spare parts, others take a further step by providing ‘intermediate services’ focused on the product condition such as maintenance, repair, overhaul and remanufacturing,. ‘Advanced services’ go a step beyond the product condition and focus on the outcomes that the product enables.

Real-life examples include Rolls-Royce’s Total-Care offer on gas turbines for their airline customers based on a ‘fixed dollar per flying hour’; Xerox delivering ‘pay-per-click’ scanning, copying and printing of documents; and Alstom Train-Life Services supporting Virgin by assuring the availability, reliability and performance of their Pendolino trains on the UK West Coast Mainline. Advanced services such as these are a core concept in servitization.

With their potential to radically disrupt and alter the face of manufacturing, understanding the process of introducing them is vital to businesses and the economy.

At the Advanced Services Group, this is the focus of our work.

In a recent study, we examined two key questions about the path to servitization:

1. What stages do manufacturing companies go through to achieve competitive advantage through advanced services?
2. What factors and forces affect their progression through those stages?

We conducted interviews with 14 multinational manufacturing companies, all on a trajectory to compete through advanced services, representing a range of industries – from aerospace, defence and road transport through to air filtration and precision motion control systems.

The four stages of transformation

We found that manufacturing companies go through four stages in their transformation to compete through advanced services: exploration, engagement, expansion and exploitation. As manufacturers become conscious of the concept of servitization and suspect that advanced services may be relevant to their organisation, they will start out in a stage of Exploration, where they are doing their research to find out more about the concept and how it could benefit their business.

If the Exploration stage yields a viable opportunity for growth, the initiative will move to Engagement. Here, companies experiment and run pilots with customers and relevant technology, to evaluate and demonstrate the potential value of advanced services.

If the Exploration stage yields a viable opportunity for growth, the initiative will move to Engagement. Here, companies experiment and run pilots with customers and relevant technology, to evaluate and demonstrate the potential value of advanced services.Once a constructive outcome is achieved, the attention moves to Expansion, where advanced services are innovated and implemented with increased scale and speed. When the value of these is demonstrated, attention will switch from individual projects, to initiatives focused on the reliable and efficient delivery of a portfolio of services across the organisation. In doing this, manufacturers are focusing on Exploitation of advanced services.

In each of these stages you can expect multiple iterations and interactions until there is sufficient evidence and consent to move to the following stage.

Progression through the four stages – or in some cases falling back – is influenced by five forces.

Five forces affecting transformation

1. Customer Pull

Customers’ appetite for services has a significant influence on progression.

Several companies described their decision to offer more advanced services, together with usage-based revenue models (i.e. pay-for-flight-hours or pay-for-passengers-moved) as a direct reaction to customer demand.

2. Technology Push

Other manufacturers start servitization having become aware of the technology that could record how their products are being used and transmit this data back. The data makes it possible to develop advanced services contracts based around payment for outputs achieved rather than asset ownership.

The majority of the companies we studied said they had been influenced by this ‘technology push’; IoT and industry 4.0, which are hot topics in industry at the moment, were often mentioned. Fewer companies mentioned the ‘customer pull’ factor, and yet customers’ growing appetite for ‘experiences’ over ownership is arguably just as significant.

In the UK for example, the appetite for services has grown 2.4% per year for the past 20 years according to the Office for National Statistics, significantly outstripping that for selling products – a trend that is being replicated in every developed economy across the world.

3. Value network position

The position of the organisation within the wider value network can affect business transformation.

As an example, working through distributors can restrict access to customers and inhibit the changes needed to deliver services. In several cases, manufacturers chose to acquire their distributors.

One manufacturer was stalled by the access to remote sensing technologies, wrestling for some time over acquiring a technology vendor, to give them access and control over information. Positioning in the value network that delivers dependable access to both customers and suppliers has a significant influence.

4. Readiness to change

Internal organisational factors influence readiness to change and can affect progression. Having reliable and well-performing products, for example, is a prerequisite to compete through services. It also leads to an interest in advanced services in cases where, increasingly, product reliability and performance are no longer differentiators.

Organisational commitment is also important. In some cases, where the support of the management board was in place from the outset, companies progressed quickly through the exploration and engagement stages. Without this, progress can be much slower.

5. Competitor threat

The actions of competitors significantly affect organisational commitment. In one case, organisational commitment to advanced services came about when a principal competitor acquired a network of service providers.

This caused anxiety amongst the leadership of the company and led to significant investment in its own advanced services programme.

Are you on the right path?

The findings of our study suggest that transformation towards servitization is neither a clear-cut, linear processnor an easy one. In each of the four stages, key milestones have to be achieved before a company can move to the next stage.

The five influencing forces work internally and externally, affecting progress in each stage. These five forces may be so strong that the manufacturer moves rapidly through all four stages. In other instances, they may be so weak that the manufacturer fails to progress entirely.

Next month we will be running the seventh annual Spring Servitization Conference, this time in partnership with Copenhagen Business School, where we will examine research into the detail of these stages and influencing forces.

The Conference is the go-to place for researchers from around the world to present and discuss their latest work, and topics this year will include: changing the mindset of the organisation in order to compete through services; pricing advanced services; how to use data as an enabler for servitization; how SMEs, in particular, can create value through servitization; internal and external enablers and inhibitors.

To book your place, visit https://www.advancedservicesgroup.co.uk/ssc2018. 

Field Service News will be reporting from the conference and interviewing some of the industrial speakers; look out for updates in future issues.

Can’t join us at the conference?

You can still develop the skills, knowledge and action plans to implement servitization and advanced services at our Skills for Servitization workshop on 22 May 2018. Find out more at https://www.advancedservicesgroup.co.uk/skills-for-servitization In the meantime if you want to assess where your company stands today in terms of adopting a services strategy and where you’re aiming to get to- and compare your thoughts with colleagues to test your alignment- our quick survey Unlock Your Insight will give you a personalised set of feedback in under five minutes. Visit https://www.unlockyourinsight.co.uk/

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Jan Van Veen, Managing Director, moreMomentum explains how field service companies can thrive in a disruptive industry...

The key challenge

In the manufacturing sector, a popular topic is the potential disruption, driven by:

• New technologies like artificial intelligence, Internet of things and augmented reality
• New technology specific to the equipment we offer
• Changing customers
• Emerging markets
• New entrants into the industry

And the potentially disruptive new value offerings, operating models and business models which could emerge.

As manufacturers, we run the risk of missing the boat, so the question is: Disrupt or Be Disrupted? Most of the companies will not be able to disrupt but certainly, need to know how to thrive in a disruptive world.

In my view, the following is required to be successful:

1. Full understanding of disruption and its potential impact for the business
2. Clarity on what needs to change in your business to thrive in a disruptive industry
3. The high pace of continuous change to innovate and execute

However, too often I see misconceptions about disruption and disruptive innovation, a lack of clarity on what needs to change and too slow a pace of change.

By consequence, manufacturers tend to make inadequate assessments and develop inadequate strategies, allowing leading competitors and new entrants into the industry to take the lead.

In this article, I will focus on what disruptive innovation is, the impact and how to prevent typical pitfalls.

What is disruption?

Disruptive innovation is a nasty beast. We have seen quite a few strong brands (almost) disappearing because of disruption, like Kodak, Nokia, IBM computers and Polaroid to mention a few.

For clarity, I’d like to categorize innovation along two dimensions:

• Impact: mainstream versus disruptive
• Scope: Customer value versus internal capabilities

Mainstream innovation

Mainstream innovations annually improve the value of products and services (including the related internal capabilities) as expected by the market. The aim is to increase our value and margins by better serving our best clients.

These innovations can be small and incremental or more radical.

Examples of incremental mainstream innovations are improved fuel consumption of cars engines, improved uptime of the equipment we sell through more reliable equipment and better maintenance.

Examples of more radical mainstream innovations are cars going electric and our services becoming more predictive and performance basedExamples of more radical mainstream innovations are cars going electric and our services becoming more predictive and performance-based.

Manufacturers that fall behind the competition, have not been disrupted yet The majority of the manufacturing companies are too slow in driving the mainstream innovation and see leading competitors achieving higher growth rates, higher margins, more service – recurring and stable – revenue and higher customer loyalties being ahead of the game. As Jack Welsh said: “If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.”

Disruptive innovation

Disruptive innovations break with the ongoing and upward trend of improving value. There are two ways of disruptive innovation: offering lower value at a lower price for the low-end market or offering lower-barrier solution opening new market segments which have not been served so far.

At the early stages, disruptive products and services serve a small niche, often at a lower value level.

These solutions will follow a mainstream innovation journey, increasing value and price. Gradually the products or services become a viable alternative for a larger portion of the markets.

Examples of low-end disruptions are the low-cost airlines, which offer flights at lower service levels and lower prices. This is quite attractive for business travellers who do not want to pay a premium price for meals and convenience.

One example of new market disruptions in which a new product or service serves other needs are the PC’s, which after some time started competing against the mainframes. Another example is salesforce.com, which offered so much more flexibility and lower cost of ownership than the traditional on-premise CRM systems.

Innovating internal capabilities

New technology enables us to develop new organizational capabilities.

For example, the low-cost airlines have adopted quite different operating models which allow them to consistently fly at much lower cost and hence maintain good margins at a low price level. For service operations, we see many manufacturers developing capabilities like remote service, connectivity, big-data and algorithms and predicting failures.

These, in themselves, are not value propositions and have no value for customers. However, these can be crucial capabilities for new service propositions.

Innovating external (customer) value

For maximum impact focus on customer value, not on capabilities

The real impact to drive competitive value is by addressing unmet needs or barriers to use new technology or solutions with a new product, services or integrated solutions. Examples are:

• How Rolls Royce offers a zero-disruption proposition for aerospace engines in which clients only pay per flight hour
• How MAN reduces fuel consumption by improving driving behaviour
• How Caterpillar helps managing a construction plant and will ensure at every stage of the construction the right number of the required equipment is available.

Besides the services and products, we can also increase value by enhancing customer experience, our brand and (lower) price levels.

Why does this matter?

At the early stages of a disruption, incumbents may see the new products and services entering their market.

However, compared to business-as-usual, the new products and services are relevant for a small niche only, the market volumes are small and the added value often is much lower. Their best clients are not interested.

At the early stages of a disruption, incumbents may see the new products and services entering their market.Above that, there are so many trends and new innovations, it is hard to predict which ones will become successful. This, together with the pressure to optimize top-line and bottom line and adequately serving our best clients, means it is easy to ignore the signs and consider them as irrelevant.

Disruption most often comes from outside your industry

Historically it appears that often incumbents beat new entrants when it’s about mainstream innovations, as they will defend their main business with valuable clients. However, when it’s about disruptive innovation, new entrants disrupt the industry and incumbents only start to respond (in panic) when it’s too late.

The new entrants have built the knowledge, capabilities and the brand which makes it tough for incumbents to catch up in time.

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Jim Baston, the author of Beyond Great Service, tackles one of the most prominent questions amongst field service organizations - can service technicians sell without jeopardizing their trusted advisor status?

Two years ago I gave a presentation about the customer service value inherent in business promotion by field service personnel. I had an audience of almost 100 service managers and business owners.

I asked, by show of hands, how many of them had formal or informal expectations of their field service teams to look for new business opportunities.

About 60 to 70% of the attendees put up their hands.

I then asked the group how many of them told their customers that they had encouraged their field teams to look for opportunities.

No one put up their hand.

Although my research involved a very small and somewhat unscientific sample, I think this anecdote provides an indication of how many service managers and executives view the role of selling by their field service team.

In most cases, it appears that their view is that this activity is a means to increase revenues for the service provider.

How excited would your customers be if you told them that you encouraged your field service team to look for more business so that you could make more money from their current service relationship with you?If this is the case, then it is understandable if they regard this activity as a benefit for their companies, but not necessarily as a benefit for their customers. As a result, they may be having difficulty articulating a benefit that they themselves may not see exists.

For example, how excited would your customers be if you told them that you encouraged your field service team to look for more business so that you could make more money from their current service relationship with you?

And so the idea of sales by service professionals is somehow tainted. It is sometimes viewed as a dirty word. When we feel that way, we may encourage selling by our field service team but we certainly are not going to let our customers know we are doing so.

But does it have to be this way? Does sales have to be a dirty word in service?

What if our focus on business promotion by field professionals was not on increasing revenues, but increasing service levels?

What if we saw selling by our field service teams as a way to help our customers to achieve results they did not think were possible? What if we positioned opportunity identification by the field service team as a service to help our customers realize their business goals?

What if we discouraged selling for the sake of gaining more business alone but rather insisted that any recommendations by field service professionals be directly tied to a benefit for the customer?

It seems to me that if we take this “service” view of sales by our field service team, then their efforts become an integral part of the service – as important a service as their ability to install, maintain, troubleshoot and repair.

If we take this “service” view of sales by our field service team, then their efforts become an integral part of the service – as important a service as their ability to install, maintain, troubleshoot and repair.Recognizing that business promotion is an integral part of the service suggests that this activity will also be more readily accepted by the field service team themselves. My experience suggests that, in general, field service people are not overly fond of salespeople.

Those that feel this way resent being put in a position where they have to sell and therefore do not approach this task enthusiastically if they approach it at all. But if they recognize their selling efforts as a service, they will more likely embrace the initiative.

When we regard selling as part of the service, we can be more comfortable in telling our customers about what we are doing.

In fact, we can use our efforts to differentiate our service from our competitors. Imagine the value you communicate when you advise your customers that you have encouraged your field team to contribute their heads as well as their hands.

That you have requested that your field team use their knowledge of each customer’s processes and systems combined with their technical expertise and understanding of the customer’s goals, to look for ways to help your customers make improvements aimed at achieving their business goals.

You could even ask your customers for permission for your field team to sell to them. “Mr. or Mrs. Customer, we have encouraged our field service team to use their knowledge and expertise to look for ways to help you be more successful.

If they find something that they feel will benefit you and your business in some way, would you have any objection if they brought that to your attention?”

It is also interesting to note that research suggests that our customers want us to be proactive in making recommendations.

One study found that 75% of customers that left one vendor to give their business to another were actually satisfied or very satisfied at the time that they left.One study found that 75% of customers that left one vendor to give their business to another were actually satisfied or very satisfied at the time that they left.

Further investigation showed that the reason that they left, despite the fact that they were satisfied, was that they felt that the vendor that they were going to, was in a better position to help them achieve their long-term goals.

So, thinking about your business, is sales, when conducted by your field service team considered a dirty word?

If you’re not sure, ask yourself this question.

“Would I tell my customers what we are doing?” If your answer is “no” or “not sure”, then perhaps you have some work to do.

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Sara Mueller, Field Service Portfolio Director, WBR looks at how the rapid evolution of service excellence is a double-edged sword of opportunity and challenges...

I’ve been a conference producer for Worldwide Business Research (WBR) for over ten years, but most of my friends still don’t understand what that means or how I spend my days.

My mom finally gets it though.

I told her that I conduct market research by talking to service executives to learn what their biggest challenges and initiatives are. I also talk to their vendors and solution providers to understand what innovative technologies and services they provide to solve these challenges. Then I write a conference program and recruit thought leaders to speak about these subjects to bring the industry together and help advance service organizations.

Throw in fun parties, innovative formats that get people talking, and beautiful venues where people enjoy building business relationships, and you’ve got the essence of a WBR Field Service event!

Whether or not you grasp the function of my job, I’m sure you can relate to the four major trends I see impacting field service over the next few years.

They are:

1. Driving service innovation using technological advancements like augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis.
2. Doing more with less by determining the quickest, most efficient way to automate field service operations.
3. Transitioning to a customer success organization that sells customer business outcomes.
4. Aligning talent recruitment and training with the needs of an evolved service/support business model.

Driving Service Innovation Using Technological Advancements Like Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) And Big Data Analysis.

Augmented reality pilot programs are well underway and starting to reveal the best ways to use this technology for remote-assisted repair and troubleshooting.

Whether hands-free wearables or tablet devices are the hardware of choice, there are numerous software options to choose from to execute an AR strategy.Whether hands-free wearables or tablet devices are the hardware of choice, there are numerous software options to choose from to execute an AR strategy.

It’s clear that AR is not just a buzz word, but a concrete field service tool that’s here to stay and will be implemented by the majority of service organizations within the next three years.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotization are continually being explored in order to understand where technology can replace unnecessary human work, increase automation, and drive productivity. Bots are being used to get information to field service teams quickly and for memory nudging.

Virtual assistants or virtual customer agents are starting to be the norm. Innovative service organizations are looking to the further future to use machine learning to building autonomous services or self-healing, self-repairing products.

And, finally, data: Since devices became connected and IoT found its way into more and more products, we’ve never had more data on hand. Companies are spending their resources to ensure the data that is being gathered is clean, relevant, and easy to interpret.

It’s being used to measure product quality and gain performance insights from the field. Data visualization and analytics tools are helping to validate and adapt maintenance schedules, customer experience, and revenue generation.

Whether you classify this information as “big data” or not, it’s clear the data you now have available from connected products is essential for making “big” important business decisions and learning how you can better serve your customers.

Doing More With Less By Determining The Quickest, Most Efficient Way To Automate Field Service Operations.

Service executives are exploring the best tools for service automation in order to get more work done without increasing headcount. The speed of change and ease of implementation are key factors going into technology investment and process decisions.

Change management has never been more important. And lean, six sigma, and kaizen are being used to look beyond manufacturing to service operations to reduce complexity and streamline processes.

Artificial intelligence, as mentioned above, comes into play as a leading tool to increase automation.

Transitioning To A Customer Success Organization That Sells Business Outcomes

Service organizations are continuing their business model evolution away from selling products towards selling results, up-time or customer business outcomes.

Part of this entire company cultural shift has led to the development of “customer success” organizations.

Rather than calling the customer-facing side of the organization customer service, or support, or technical support, companies are using the name “success” to describe how they go above and beyond for the customers, owning responsibility for the success of their customer’s business.

Customer success takes into account being a trusted advisor to customers to ensure they are leveraging all the capabilities of your product offeringCustomer success takes into account being a trusted advisor to customers to ensure they are leveraging all the capabilities of your product offering. It, of course, brings together service and call centre support, as well as sales.

Customer success is sometimes its own department, or it can be a combination of sales and service. Of key importance is to understand how all parts of the organization that contribute to customer success can have aligned goals and incentives.

Service organizations are exploring customer engagement software and the best ways to measure the customer experience throughout all points of contact.

Aligning Talent Recruitment And Training With The Needs Of An Evolved Service And Support Business Model.

With a shift to more cloud and software-based services, the required skill set of technicians is changing.

Companies need to recruit for a new skill set while still trying to fill gaps in their team caused by baby boomer retirement, a lack of apprentices after apprenticeship programs were discontinued during the economic downturn, and with the positive challenge of business and customer growth.

Some companies are choosing to bring in computer science software folks, then train them on the hardware piece.

Some are using veteran career-placement programs to find qualified, screened, and trained talent.

Given field service and support is highly influenced by technology, its clear the industry, its solutions, and your customer needs will continue changing rapidly. On top of this, the current workforce needs to be trained to service products that are supported by more automation and digitization.

Even recruiting for women is taking a higher priority at many organizations, since women make up half of the workforce, but generally a much smaller percentage of the field service industry. Diversity and inclusion efforts are being carried out with the knowing that aligning goals, incentives, and measurement against these efforts is imperative to their success.

Given field service and support is highly influenced by technology, its clear the industry, its solutions, and your customer needs will continue changing rapidly.

This is a good thing as you’ve never had more ways to be able to move the needle of the service you provide your customers.

Plus it keeps things interesting for someone like me (a conference producer for your industry)!

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