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In 2015, Espresso Service Ltd woke up and smelled ‘connected’ coffee. By implementing Tesseract’s cloud-based service management software, it entered the realm of the smart coffeemaker and the Internet of Things, bolstering its USPs and improving its service to customers.

Backed by over 25 years in the coffee industry, Espresso Service manages and maintains all types and brands of coffee machines. It does this via a nationwide network of engineers who really know their beans.

Before Tesseract, the company’s service management system was based around a less flexible, server-based, non-specialised bolt-on to an accountancy package. This was no longer up to task, so Espresso Service looked to the cloud.

Head in the cloud

Espresso Service opted for a software-as-a-service system, aka SaaS. In other words, a system that is hosted in the cloud and accessible via the internet. The company wanted to avoid the hefty capital costs involved with installing software on its servers, and instead pay an ongoing subscription fee. It also wanted access to software that was maintained by the provider and always kept up to date. This led it to Tesseract.

Daniel Sewell, Chief Operating Officer for Espresso Service, explains, “In the end, the choice was down to two companies. Tesseract came out on top for three main reasons. Firstly, the system is web-based, which means our engineers can access it anywhere. Secondly, we get free upgrades and any platform developments for one customer are shared to all. The third reason is Kevin McNally, one of Tesseract’s managers. As opposed to a typical salesman just interested in a deal, Kevin was thoroughly genuine and showed a real and keen interest in our business. He still does.”

 

The Internet of (Coffee) Things

The Tesseract system is able to communicate directly with some of the coffee machines Espresso Service is contracted to maintain. These machines contain a modem with a SIM card, feeding data to the Tesseract system by means of the internet. This could be asset history or maintenance alerts, i.e. the machine has run out of milk or coffee, or needs a repair.

This telemetry prompts Espresso Service to take action and, if necessary, schedule a maintenance visit — without its customers having to do anything. Daniel Sewell says, “On average 5,000 pieces of information a day are transmitted to the Tesseract system. This ability to monitor equipment remotely through Tesseract has not just revolutionised the way Espresso Service operates; it’s also improved the performance of our customers. Their need to keep coffee flowing and minimise equipment downtime is served by us providing them with a more responsive service.”

The perfect blend

Espresso Service utilises the full suite of services offered by Tesseract’s flagship product, Service Centre 5.1 (SC5.1), including Call Control, Customer Assets, Parts Centre, Remote Engineer Access and Remote Customer Access.

While SC5.1 is an out-of-the-box platform, Tesseract does its best to tailor and adapt it. In this case, it has created an interface with Espresso Service’s accounting software, as well as between Parts Centre and the company’s stock partner. This enables Espresso Service to have full visibility and control of the movement of stock even though a separate company manages it.

Tesseract and Espresso Service also worked together to enhance SC5.1’s stock-take functionality, streamlining what used to be a manual process. In due course, Espresso Service will incorporate Tesseract’s Diary Assist, an automated scheduling service capable of saving companies 3-4 hours a day of manual manipulation by assigning calls to engineers.

 

What’s clear is that Tesseract and Espresso Service represent a strong, thriving partnership, one that has continued to flourish in the short time since implementation. Daniel Sewell explains, “Tesseract has given us a new USP. When we approach sales prospects, we proclaim the virtues of the Tesseract system, and how much it will make their lives easier and service better. We also recommend the platform to other companies in our industry. In particular, we partnered with an ROI firm to found a company called Espresso Service Ireland Technical Ltd, and got them set up on the Tesseract system. That’s how much we believe in it.”

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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This great infographic from the team at Astea covers some of the key challenges and some top tips for ensuring any outsourced field service operations continue to uphold your brand standards and ensure your customer satisfaction levels remain high.

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Coen Jeukens, Chief Service Officer, D-Essence describes himself as a business leader with sales DNA and a service heart, here he outlines the knowledge he thinks every service manager should have in his tool belt when it comes to selling service both externally and internally...

In the boardroom Let us start with an example of a typical business plan review meeting:

• Exhibit A: our targets are more ambitious than our current performance.
• Exhibit B: we face increased competition, increased customer volatility and shorter product life cycles leading to declining market share and diminishing attach rates.

Now suppose the CEO invites you, the field service manager, to pitch a solution to this non-sustainable situation.

Are you prepared? Will your message and vocabulary resonate with the board members?

For as long as I can remember, field service managers bring a message of reality about healthy and sustainable profit margins - about attach rates and trusted relationships.

What do you think the sales manager brought forward as solution? A message of hope: “if we introduce a new model, add a new feature or drop the price, we will regain market share”.

When it comes to choice, a message of hope prevails over one of reality.

What makes the clock tick?

The ugly truth of corporate economics: it’s all about sales and success is measured in revenue figures.

Add to that the sales perception that after-sales does not exist without an initial sale and you know the picking order is set. Also factor in mind that most CEO’s have a sales background.

Sales targets

Sales is a big numbers game. Product hero’s playing with capital expenditures.

Going for the win is putting in a peak performance in a short period of time, balancing effort and reward. Asking sales to include Opex related  propositions in the sale does sound altruistic considering that doing so complicates, lengthens and may jeopardise the sale. What about profitability?

In the sales mind-set profitability is not a driver or performance indicator. Not because they don’t care, far from that. Because in most customer organisations the decision making unit for both Capex and Opex are different entities optimising their own silo.

Profitability, who cares? Certainly not sales.

Funnelling leads and Qualification

Sales vocabulary uses words like suspect, prospect, lead and qualification. Elias Lewis has put these words in context in 1898 when he conceived the sales funnel. This funnel is engrained in every sales process. It is in the DNA of sales people to convert leads into a sale.

One of the most important steps in the sales process is the qualification of a lead. Here sales balances effort with reward. When service starts feeding the funnel, it is crucial to know the difference between a lead in the eyes of a field service engineer and a lead according to sales.

In the eyes of sales service-leads are a big bag of small peanuts.

Converting those requires a lot of effort with small reward. For sales to follow-up on service-leads, those leads need enrichment and qualification.

What we need to grow sales? Leads, more leads and qualified leads.

Window of opportunity

Though the clock ticks sales, typical sales solutions to the corporate challenge fail to reverse declining market share or do so at the expense of profitability.

In both cases the course is not sustainable. This is good news as it provides the opening for the field service manager to come forward with his ideas.

Remember, growing sales is an operational process.

Growing your business is changing your business model.

Find the right tune

Although ideas have been voiced for many years at field service conferences, they will be new for sales once rephrased in sales vocabulary. It will become a customer touch points game with roles for hero’s and ambassadors. It is the perseverance of sales to get to a customer on board. It is the caring mindset of service to keep a customer happy. It is their joint effort to come up with new business.

Find the right mix between sales DNA and a service heart to develop new business.

How will sales react? As long as the field service manager doesn’t gloat over his profit contribution and trustworthy customer relationships … and sales can stay in the lead, then sales will go along.

Field service managers can lead by following.

 

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief talks exclusively to Jonathan Massoud, Divisional Director, Field Service, WBR about the key topics and discussions that took place at Field Service Medical held at Rancho Bernardo Inn, San Diego.

We also take a sneak peak at what to expect at this year's Field Service USA event being held in Palm Springs this April

 

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Thinking of attending Field Service USA this year? Field Service News subscribers are entitled to a 25% discount! 

Field service professionals can subscribe now for free here and then simply email the subscriber benefits team on subscriber.benefits@fieldservicenews.com to get your discount code!

 

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Who are the most influential people in the global field service sector that you need to pay attention to in 2017?

The Field Service News #FSN20 is our list of the individuals we believe will be key influencers in our industry across the next twelve months. Those included in the list have been selected by our own panel of industry insiders, who were given the simple criteria of identifying people who will have a significant impact on field service thinking.

However, more than just an annual list of 20 individuals the #FSN20 has grown since it’s launch to become a true celebration of excellence and innovation within our industry.

There are some familiar names and some new faces on this years list and as always we don’t expect everyone to agree with our selection - at it’s heart the #FSN20 was conceived as a tool to get everyone in our industry thinking about who it is that they have come across in the global field service sector that has made them think, who has made them question the accepted paradigms, who has inspired them to do just one little thing more in their own day to day role.

The #FSN20 is not just about the list our panel has put together. It is about fostering discussion that celebrates the unsung heroes of the field service sector. So look out for the online version of this list as well to take part in the debate.

But for now, ladies and gentleman and without further a do, in no particular order, we are pleased to introduce the #FSN20 of 2017...

Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director - Service Management

Brewer is a new entry to the #FSN20 having recently moved to IFS from PTC.

The message from the IFS hierarchy was loud and clear when they held their last World Conference in Gothenburg towards the end of last year. Field Service was a key priority moving forward and their new owners EQT had every intention of pushing the Swedish company to keep doing what has made them a well respected brand within manufacturing and field service management circles - but do it bigger, better and to get to there faster.

Having taken the reigns of the service management division globally Brewer is set to figure prominently in the industry across the next twelve months.

 

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Professor Tim Baines, Group Director of the Aston Centre for Servitization Research and Practice

Baines retains his place on this years list and is perhaps he one person that has appeared multiple times on the list whose entry becomes even more deserved each year.

Baines has been at the centre of the servitization movement for as long as anyone and although many of his peers such as Neely and Lightfoot should share equal status for being the Godfathers of Servitization, it is fair to say that Baines’ work as a leading proponent of the servitization movement is as unparalleled as it is inexhaustible. The Aston Spring Servitization Conference which is the show-piece of the Aston Centre for Research and Practice continues to grow in terms of both audience and importance each year and it’s location in Lucerne, Switzerland this year is a testament to it’s growing status on the international industrial map. Whilst Baines’ would humbly point to the great team he has working with him at Aston, his role in the global shift towards servitization simply cannot be overlooked.

 

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Bill Pollock, President and Principal Consultant, Strategies for GrowthSM

Another that has been ever present on the #FSN20 since it’s inception and someone who is likely to remain on the list until the day comes where he retires, which given Pollock’s passion for the industry and seemingly eternal youth may won’t be any time soon!

Pollock is not only still a key commentator and analyst within our sector whose papers and features are not only widely read but also hugely respected, but he has been a mentor for a number of key figures within the global field service industry, including a number of other #FSN20 members, and also Field Service News’ own highly respected Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland.

However, Pollock’s inclusion on the #FSN20 isn’t just based on his past merits, his organisation Strategies for GrowthSM continues to provide some of the most detailed research and insightful analysis for the field service sector that is essential reading for any field service executives that wish to stay in touch with what is driving our industry forward.

 

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Thomas Igou, Editorial Director, Copperberg

Igou has been integral to Copperberg’s continued success and growth in the European field service conference circuit, In fact with five industry focussed events now running across the continent that should be of interest to senior field service and aftermarket executives, Copperberg are firmly established central pillar within the European field service community, and Igou sits proudly at the heart of that. In his role as Editorial Director, Igou is responsible for making sure the key topics in the industry are raised and the leading thinkers within our space are given a voice.

A key influencer within our industry.

 

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Mark Holleran, COO, Xplore Technologies

Under Holleran’s leadership Xplore Technologies acquired Motion Computing and became the 2nd largest manufacturer of rugged tablets in the world.

Holleran is a man who not only truly understands the different sectors his clients operate in but also who truly appreciates the importance of understanding his customers’ work-flows and therefore their technological needs.

A perfect case in point being the inclusion of a HDMI in on their XSLATE D10 rugged tablet, which makes it a perfect device for Telco and Pay TV engineers needing to test signals - which is exactly why it is there.

We don’t expect anything other than rugged tablets to be coming out of Xplore, but we do expect them to keep delivering best-in-class products in this form factor. As Holleran says “that’s what we do and we are the worlds best at it.

 

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Dr John Erkoyuncu, Through-life Engineering Services Institute, Cranfield University

Erkoyuncu takes over from Professor Howard Lightfoot as a representative of Cranfield University in the #FSN20 this year, however it isn’t just a straight like for like swap. Whilst the two worked together at the Through Life Services Institute, Erkoyuncu’s place on this year list is based primarily around the work he is doing in both industrial maintenance simulation and also augmented reality, and as such we believe he will be a key commentator and influencer on our sector in the years to come.

 

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Jonathan Massoud, Divisional Director & Market Analyst Field Service, WBR

Massoud’s role as Divisional Director at WBR puts him in control of a number of the industry’s key events including Field Service USA which is the jewel in the crown as the key point in the USA field service calender.

In addition to Field Service USA, WBR also run a number of important industry focussed events including Field Service Medical and Field Service Europe and in his role as Divisional Director Massoud is directly involved with each of the events and responsible for delivering industry leading content to keep field service professionals up to date with the key trends with in the industry. Massoud is also responsible for overseeing WBR’s research and a respected analyst within the sector

 

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Sumair Dutta, Customer Satisfaction Officer, The Service Council

Chief Customer Officer for The Service Council™ Dutta is responsible for new member acquisition, member engagement, community expansion, as well as the development and expansion of TSC’s Smarter Services oriented research agenda and portfolio.

He is also heavily involved in The Service Council’s ability to provide service executives the ability to benchmark their operations and also provide guided insight to improve service organisation performance through dedicated research programs. Dutta also plays a key role in building out TSC’s community platform focused on becoming the single source of information and networking for service executives globally and is a prolific author on the matter of field service.

 

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Click here to see page two of the 2017 #FSN20

 

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Laraine Geddes from Kirona, experts in dynamic resource scheduling, mobile and field service technology contributes an exclusive guide to successfully managing your organisation’s field based workforce...

1. Eradicate paper based systems

Expecting field workers to use paper based records is fraught with potential disaster and inefficiency. Paper based systems often required duplication of work, with data having to be re-entered into back office systems.

KIRONA’S TIPS:

• Deploy mobile applications in the field so that employees only have to record information once while in the field. This improves accuracy of data and frees up more time to carry out more jobs per day. Mobile communication can also reduce inefficient back office administration tasks, or be used to record the information needed for audits.
• Use a workflow driven series of checklists and fields on the mobile device to make sure individual workers follow a standard process. This will ensure continuity of good practice across a region.
• Mobile devices are far more secure than paper. If they are lost data can be locked down through encryption, or Mobile Device Management systems.

2. Dynamic scheduling

Efficiently appointing who visits which site is simplified using dynamic scheduling rather than manual scheduling. Staff availability vs skills vs customer/site availability is difficult enough to balance, add to that factors like service levels, job location, cancellations, even traffic on the road and efficient scheduling is almost impossible.

KIRONA’S TIPS:

• Deploy dynamic scheduling software that can, in real-time, optimise the utilisation of workers in the field - the right person goes to the right location at the right time. This way they spend more time on site and less time waiting for the next job or, for instance, driving unnecessarily long distances to the next job
• Scheduling software can be tuned to deploy personnel based upon pre-set ‘rules’. Work with your technology vendor to utilise this feature so that services can be optimised; like prioritising workers that have visited the site or customer before, or restricting distances to be travelled by employees, or scheduling according to customer needs.
• Consider that most mobile working visits will usually need a follow up visit or another appointment made with a different worker – your scheduling software can allocate new appointments and visits – there and then3. Integrate Systems

Busy staff are often overwhelmed with the amount of departments or agencies they have to collaborate with and the number of systems that they have to provide information to.

By failing to integrate these systems, workers spend many more hours than need be, rekeying data into multiple back-office systems – duplicating effort and creating the potential for mistakes and errors.

KIRONA’S TIPS:

• Choose a mobile solution that can integrate and ‘communicate’ with any system. If implemented correctly this will mean that staff will only need to enter information into their mobile devices once, whereby the data then populates all relevant back-office systems automatically.
• Integrating mobile applications with scheduling systems is particularly powerful. The mobile software can updates the schedule with the emerging day information; allowing visits to be automatically redistributed between staff where visits over-run, customers are unavailable, appointments are cancelled etc.

4. Visibility of front line services

By failing to have visibility of operations in the field, organisations fail to respond to challenges as they happen and lose the opportunity to resolve them at minimum cost and disruption to the customer.

KIRONA’S TIPS:

• Providing mobile devices enables you to track all the factors which impact field performance like: routing of employees, time spent onsite, incomplete jobs, missed appointments, lateness etc. This data can be used to analyse operations, fine tune the scheduling engine or to demonstrate ongoing improvements in efficiency.

5.Having customer information to hand

Arriving at the customer’s location without complete historical notes puts the service provider at a disadvantage when providing its services and is disappointing for customers who expect their service provider to have comprehensive knowledge of their relationship.

KIRONA’S TIPS:

• By using mobile technology the appropriate notes can be delivered to the workers’ mobile devices when they are needed. This means a professional can provide a service with the continuity the customer would expect. It also reduces the risk of them not being able to deliver that service on their first visit.
• Organisations can allow historical records to be sent to field workers for that customer, allowing them to see full details of historic work completed with any certificates, photos, contracts that are relevant. They can also see future planned work future work. This minimises the risk of duplicating work that has already been done or will be done during the course of a contract.

 

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Marne Martin, CEO, ServicePower discusses the growing shift towards outcome based services and explains why it is key for field service organisations...

Mobile workforce management software is today a “must have”, not a “nice to have”, part of a company’s technology stack.

Organisations managing mobile or remote workers must ensure a consistent customer experience and grow revenue while still maximising the productivity of staff. They must do this while also managing supply and fluctuating demand, meeting SLAs, controlling costs, and ensuring consistent well branded service delivery. Technology is the best tool to use to achieve those objectives.

So if we know what the company needs, what does the customer expect? We know that customers expect better ‘outcomes’ for the monies they spend on service delivery. It’s not about just appearing on time and repairing the product or equipment any more.

What are outcome based services?

Outcome-based services acknowledge customers in a much different way than traditional break fix services. Customers have wants and needs, surely, but they also now require that more tailored or improved outcomes be driven by those wants and needs. They are no longer looking at just the specific qualities of a product or service, but at the ways in which each can use your services to meet their own goals.

Business outcomes are increasingly becoming a real selling point that differentiate one company from another. Focusing your service offerings more on business outcomes edge out the competition, build customer loyalty and longevity, and improve the lifetime value of each and every customer.

Outcome based service is not a new concept. Why is it top of mind now?

The simple answer is technology. Technology facilitates offering outcome based services in a way manual processes never could. Technologies like that enable hybrid workforces, optimise by customer priority, IoT, M2M and even a truly mobile workforce management software facilitate outcome based services like no other technology which have emerged in the last few decades.

 

These can be used by field service organisations to deliver proactive services, based on data and information which improves the overall experience for the customer by helping them use the products better, or more efficiently.

Solid commercials can also be built around the offering, including providing customers more opportunity to purchase complementary things they might need.

Outcomes based service delivery takes that proactive service model, facilitated by IoT/M2M and MWFM and layers on additional services to make that customer more sticky, long term, and it can even increase revenue or profits along the way.

How does a mobile workforce organisation transition to an “outcomes-based” approach to field services delivery? 

Offering outcome based services is the next generation revenue model in field service. The field service industry has long been a hot bed of technology and process innovation, especially as metrics have shifted to a customer centric model. In that customer centric model, customer satisfaction, retention, and / or additional in-brand purchases are the outcome desired.

Even more attention is being focused on relating payment structures to outcomes and paying based on up-time, not just meeting a maintenance schedule or a break-fix SLA.

Use technology to make the shift in a cohesive way. Software can be used to identify a product which requires maintenance to prevent a future failure, or to indicate, often before the customer is aware, when a product like a boiler in a manufacturing facility is about to fail.

Field managers can plan labour capacity based on failure data and maintenance requirements more accurately to reduce time to repair, meeting or exceeding contracted response times.

 

Since service organisations can predict future failures, and schedule and optimise teams into future schedules, remote workers can be proactively, intelligently deployed for repairs, reducing schedule costs while preventing total operational standstills that impact the customer’s productivity. Imagine the benefit of preventing a total line shut down at a plant because your team was deployed prior to a total seizure of a machine.

Maintenance schedules can be also created which improve equipment ‘up time’ and even proactively address upgrade opportunities which offer additional revenue.

Mobile workers deployed with devices outfitted with real time, integrated mobile dispatching software can access information to address the immediate needs, but also to tap into additional information, such as training and product usage guides, ‘how to’ guides, that add additional benefits, providing that new outcome for each customer, resulting in not only reducing the field service organisation’s own costs, but ultimately in improved customer satisfaction, increased sales of future service and maintenance contracts, accessories or replacement products at end of life.

Outcome based services facilitated by technologies like mobile workforce management software which provide analytics, capacity planning, mobile dispatch, and optimised routing to plan staff, create maintenance plans, mobile on site process, facilitate on site collaboration and provide customers with information and data, help field based organisations reduce the complexity of operating products like industrial boilers or elevators, and help customers reduce the operational complexity of product operation, while maximise usage of the products.

Why are outcomes-based approach so important for field based organisations?

The most important benefits of offering outcomes based services are loyalty and improved future revenues, as well as reduced operating costs. Think ‘customer for life’.

Outcome based services reduce the complexity of operating products, while providing value added services for your customers which increase the usage of products. That proactive approach improves the customer experience which leads to increased customer revenue in the future.

Outcome based approaches teach the customer organisation, as well as the field service teams, to value ‘up-time’ rather than focusing on ‘downtime’ which requires repair, minimising the time an asset is down or a customer is inconvenienced.

 

The technology exists right now to move to a proactive, outcome based service model. The most successful companies are the early adopters that use their mobile workforce management solutions to deliver the technology which supports this evolution. Don’t delay -- make the leap sooner, rather than later, before your loyal customers become loyal to another organisation

 

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