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As a mantra, fixing the customer first and the problem second, has served Martin Summerhayes well in his 30-plus years in service profession. Mark Glover, caught up with Fujitsu’s Head of Delivery Strategy and Service Improvement to discuss what it really takes to deliver client satisfaction. 

Let’s go back to the mid-80s, 1985 to be precise. The first of excellent Back to the Future films was released, Nintendo launched its first games console and music was being sold on small, shiny discs called CDs.  

At the same time, Martin Summerhayes was taking his first step on the first rung of the service ladder. And what a tall ladder it turned out to be, for when we speak some 33 years later, Martin is still in the sector and just as wide-eyed and enthusiastic as he was when he stepped out of college with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computer Technology. 

His course was sponsored by IT companies including IBM and Hewlett Packard who provided a route into employment for students following their graduation. Martin’s first role was to install and support a dealing room system for Morgan Stanley in the heart of London’s financial district; a fascinating first placement, however Martin fears those opportunities for young engineers just don’t exist anymore, making the industry’s skill-set gap widen further. “When I first started you went to college – not university – and you got a qualification that was equally respected, equally of value,” he says. “Then you got out there and then you went into the workplace. “Then about 10 or 15 years ago, the mindset changed. What we have now is a maturing population of engineers. Most of them are in their 40s or 50s, certainly some of the more experienced ones are in their 50s but then they retire and they leave. “But there isn’t an educational ground that backs this through. Most young people wouldn’t be interested in technology, around computer science or electronics, for example. At the end of the day, most people just don’t get into that,” he says. 

It’s a damning verdict but one that carries weight. The work-place disparity between new technicians coming into the industry and those retiring is vast and has been well commented. But what, if anything, can be done? Martin suggests a re-positioning of what service is could help. “It goes back to when I first started out,” he says. “I think field engineering or field service is as much around customer service as it is technology. “You can bring people into the organisation, who might not have a technology background but have a customer service background but we give them those skills and we cross-train them into the different environment. “Effectively what we want to do is to give this training to the more senior and experienced engineers and you might get three or four juniors working with senior and the whole process can start to work. You start to build up a little network and can start to see results.” 

Martin comes from a place where the customer sits at the heart of all service theory. “You should fix the customer first and the problem second,” he tells me; it’s a mantra he cultivated very early on in his career. Does it still carry weight today? “It is prevalent now as it was then,” he says confidently, “and in fact in some respects more so.  “When you’re visiting the customer, how do you present yourself? You’re the face of the company you’re presenting, how do you talk to the customer? How do you actually let the customer know you’ll deal with the problem they have? Even if you don’t manage to fix the problem you have to give reassurance to the customer that they’re important. At the end of the day the problem will get resolved at some point, even if you don’t fix in on the first visit. “But if you send out someone who doesn’t talk to the customer, or doesn’t acknowledge the issue but goes out to fix the part, even if they fix it first time, the customer will end up with a negative experience of that service interaction,” he warns. 

We now live in an age of ‘keyboard’ warriors, of negative social media reviews that can spread like wildfire across a company’s reputation. “When I first started, we talked about how it takes ten positive interactions to change one negative interaction,” Martin says. “These days, the amount of connections people have on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram could be up to 2,000 people. The fact that we’re more connected today, it means we’re more likely to share those negative experiences. “Customer service is even more critical today than it was 10, 20 or even 30 years ago.”   

 

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"If you send someone out who doesn't talk to the customer, or doesn't acknowledge the issue , even if they fix it first time, the customer will end up with a negative experience..." 

 

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Martin is currently Head of Delivery Strategy and Service Improvement at Fujitsu, a firm he joined in 2008, prior to which he spent nearly 20 years at Hewlett Packard, his first role following his apprenticeship with Data Logic. At HP he sampled an array of various service and operational roles, working his way up to become its EMEA Customer Services Performance Director. Given his years in the industry Martin has witnessed enablers such as connectivity, mobility and the internet come to assist in the engineer’s role, almost as much as a screwdriver and notebook, but does the end-user, the customer care about new technologies such as machine learning and Artificial Intelligence? “Not, really, no,” he says quickly. “When a function doesn’t occur the issue then becomes, how do you as my service provider resolve it as quickly as possible? Whether you use Artificial Intelligence or Augmented Reality or whatever technology platform people are talking about these days, they are enablers.” 
He suggests a future when customers will pick up their i-pads, connect to a portal and are guided through the fixing-process interactively, perhaps live-streaming a remote-service technician for extra support, is on the horizon. As advanced as this sounds, Martin strips back it back to customer empowerment. “All you’re doing is enabling the customer to self-solve that event quicker and more effectively than what you would have done 20 years ago,” he says. “You’re moving the technology closer to the customer.”    

And what about customer satisfaction? What can service professionals do to ensure this most important of factors? Martin outlines five things that every service professional needs to be asking themselves “How do you get the right engineer, with the right skills, with the right parts, to the right call? If you can guarantee those five things,” he says confidently, you’ll end up with really good customer satisfaction.” 

A lot has changed in movies, music and computer since 1985, but Martin’s approach to achieving excellent customer service has not. It’s a career we should all take note of. 

You can listen to the Field Service Podcast with guest Martin Summerhayes here. 

A new report from has highlighted that senior executives are still often the weakest link in the corporate cyber security chain and that cyber criminals target this vulnerability to commit serious data breaches. 

According to a white paper from The Bunker, many senior executives ignore the threat from hackers and cyber criminals and often feel that security policies in their respective organisations do not apply to their unique position. However, in reality, their often privileged access to company information make their personal accounts extremely valuable to exploit and heightens the need for extra care.

In addition to highlighting the common mistakes made by senior executives, the white paper lists the top security areas that should be prioritised to ensure cyber security resilience.Phil Bindley, Managing Director at The Bunker said: “In tackling and mitigating the security threat, a critical issue is a failure to securely back up email data. Many businesses assume that a cloud-hosted service, such as Office 365, comes with automatic back-up and security provisions.

Unfortunately, it does not.“Unless stated and agreed, vendors do not guarantee complete system security or data backup as standard, so organisations need to be careful and have a full understanding of the SLAs in place. We advise people to replace the word ‘cloud’ with ‘someone else’s computer’, to get a better perspective of the risks that need to be mitigated when deploying a cloud-based service”.

All employees -especially those at the top of the corporate ladder- need to realise that cyber criminals use social engineering, email phishing and malware to access personal accounts, and C-level staff especially need to avoid becoming the weakest link in the cyber security chain by adhering to regularly updated, company-wide security policies regarding data sharing and backup.He continued: “Cloud offers a highly secure and cost-effective platform to defend against threats and malicious attacks.

However, data stored in a public cloud typically resides outside the protection of an organisation’s internal systems and many vendors do not automatically back-up data or implement security and privacy controls as standard, making it a perfect entry-point for cyber criminals to exploit.

“Reviewing corporate policies, with a focus on people, premises, processes, systems and suppliers will provide valuable insights into which areas to improve, and by championing a ‘security first’ corporate culture, organisations and their senior executives will be well positioned to avoid the high financial costs, reputational damage and unexpected downtime that could result from a cyber attack or data breach,” he concluded.

 

Download a copy of the white paper click here,

 

Customer be central to every organization’s customer support strategy. Every field service repair should be treated as an opportunity to exceed expectations and deliver a truly exceptional customer experience, writes Martin Boggess from Hitachi.

It’s imperative that your organization consistently deliver on the four “R’s” of field service management: delivering to the right person, at the right place, at the right time, with the right tools. Proper field service management ensures that work is completed in accordance with customer expectations — within their budget, timeline, and quality specifications. 

Meeting customer expectations is often easier said than done. Field service technicians are expected to be aware of everything that occurs at each stage of the customer lifecycle, to possess detailed technical knowledge about equipment and regulatory compliance, to execute complex repairs, and to draw upon this vast wealth of information at a moment’s notice — and they need to be able to do everything right the first time to avoid the dreaded callback. The job of a field service technician can be overwhelming, to say the least.

Fortunately, cloud and mobile technology have made it much easier for organizations to adopt field service software to automate and optimize core work processes, such as scheduling, dispatch management, contract, SLA and warranty management, inventory management, and more. Advanced field service solutions include applications tailored to complete specific tasks and resolve specific issues, which makes a field technician’s job more manageable and increases employee productivity in the process. To demonstrate how a field service solution can resolve some common problems, let’s look at a few examples.

As mentioned above, two of the four “R’s” of field service are the right person and the right tools. It’s essential that a field service organization dispatch the technician with the right level of expertise for the job and with the proper tools to complete the repair. Field service software makes it easier to match the right technician to the job, and the technician can then use the software to review service orders and see what parts they need for the job — all prior to meeting with the customer. This foresight drastically reduces the number of unnecessary trips and can increase an organization’s overall first-time fix rate.

"The job of a field service technician can be overwhelming, to say the least..."

Many field service solutions leverage mobile technology. Once a technician is on-site, they can use either a tablet or mobile phone to access the history of a piece of equipment, including previous repairs, previous service tickets, technician’s notes, meter readings, and so on. This information makes it easier for the technician to determine why the equipment is malfunctioning and what the best strategy is to repair it. Technicians can also use mobile field service applications to pull up service contracts while out in the field and present customers with accurate pricing.

The internet of things has also radically changed how field service organizations administer repairs. Put simply, the internet of things (IoT) is a system of connected devices capable of rapidly transferring data via virtual network. By attaching IoT-enabled sensors to equipment, field service organizations can receive real-time diagnostics from anywhere in the world, which enables them to identify and respond to issues before they even arise. This shift from a preventative repair model to a proactive model will be crucial to field service organizations’ success in an increasingly competitive market.

In addition to mobile and cloud technology, augmented and virtual reality are also transforming the way field service sector operates. Organizations can use AR and VR in conjunction with IoT-enabled devices to simplify knowledge transfer via interactive training, while technicians can use it to access equipment repair history and diagnostics without taking it apart and even perform remote fixes. Since AR and VR are still relatively new technology, only certain field solutions will offer AR and VR functionality.

As you can see, field service solutions provide innovative tools and capabilities to reduce costs and increase employee productivity and first-time fix rates. Hitachi Solutions’ Extended Field Service solution is one such solution with extended functionality to optimize scheduling, simplify contract and inventory management, increase mobile productivity, perform remote troubleshooting, deliver an end-to-end customer-centric experience, and more.
Martin Boggess is Industry VP, Manufacturing and Field Service at Hitachi Solutions America. 

 

Bad habits can be hard to break, and for business leaders who have them, they can be deal-breakers. Mark Green, author of Activators: A CEO’s Guide to Clearer Thinking and Getting Things Done outlines six good habits business leaders should aim to establish 

In a survey by Leadership IQ, an online training firm, the primary reasons CEOs were fired - mismanaging change, ignoring customers, tolerating low performers, and not enough action - were often related to unproductive habits.

“Although leaders who display these behaviors generally know what to do, and how to do it, their unproductive habits render them unable to get things done - with dire consequences,” says Mark Green, a speaker, coach to CEOs and author of Activators: A CEO’s Guide to Clearer Thinking and Getting Things Done (www.Activators.biz). “The most common unproductive leadership habits include avoiding decisions and conflict, maintaining comfort-zone networks, needing to be liked, neglecting to listen enough - and they are hard to break.”

But Green says they can be broken and suggests replacing them with foundational habits that make leaders successful. He lists six of them here.

• Capitalize on luck. This is a habit of forward-moving thinking in response to both good- and bad-luck events. Green says bad luck, such as the extended absence of a key employee, affords an opportunity for the leader to empower others by challenging them to learn, grow and contribute in new ways. “Whatever the circumstances, leaders rapidly come to understand the value of generating return on luck,” Green says. “Everyone wins.” 

• Be grateful. “When you appreciate and value what you have, you gain a clearer perspective,” Green says. “A daily meeting ritual of appreciation creates space for each executive to share what they appreciate most, and it opens up the room to clearer thinking and increased collaboration.” 

• Give - within limits. Research shows there are many advantages to being a giver, but striking a balance is important to remain productive. “Sharing information and resources cultivates an abundance mindset, bringing benefits that both the company and the leader can reap,” Green says. “But there are limits; if you’re giving away too much time and too many resources, you won’t be able to accomplish your own objectives. Give, but know when to say no.”

• When problems arise, focus on process - not people. “When something goes wrong, a common approach is to find fault with the people involved,” Green says. “But bad or poorly communicated processes can make even the most talented, dedicated staff look terrible. Question processes and communication first, before you explore the intentions, character or capabilities of those involved. Research shows that believing in your people pays off.” 

• Have high expectations of others. Leaders who set the bar high and then give their teams latitude to execute reap more benefits than those who simply tell their teams what to do,” Green says. “Those whose habits include valuing autonomy and individual responsibility can build something great over time. High expectations and empowerment are key.”

• Maintain intentional focus. “Countless research studies have exposed excessive multi-tasking as ineffective,” Green says. “To make real progress, hold a small number of very important things in your mind and let go of the rest.  Ruthless prioritization and focus in execution will set you free.”

“With our thoughts, we make our world,” Green says. “Check your beliefs about your leadership habits, choose just one or two to change, enlist others to support your efforts, then get to it.”

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Given the many industries field service straddles, the crossover of its employees into lone working is huge. Field Service News’ Mark Glover looks into this area of health and safety and discovers how technology - and positive human engagement - can play a huge part in its successful implementation.

The last five years has seen a shift in worldwide attitudes to health and safety. Emphasis has shifted from ‘safety’ to ‘health’ with more focus placed on long-latency diseases such as asbestos-related workplace cancer and musculoskeletal conditions such as tendonitus. Employee wellbeing and mental health is attracting greater awareness and safety professionals are having a stronger role at board level, with CEOs understanding the business case for a robust health and safety system.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is an agency of the UK Government’s responsible for regulating and enforcing health and safety law. As well as providing information and guidance, they also investigate workplace incidents and accidents and bring forward prosecutions if a company has been in breach of legislation.

Having spent five years as a health and safety journalist, I have seen the profession and HSE come in for criticism for pandering to the Nanny State and stifling society with its regulation. As such, the sector gets a bad reputation, not helped by UK subeditors keen to brandish the “health and safety gone mad” headline above a piece on a children’s party or a village fete being shut down. Often though - and newspapers will fail to report this - the reason for intervention is justified as ultimately, lives were most likely at risk....

 

Legislation and lone working

In the UK alone, it is estimated there are six million lone workers in the UK, and approximately 23 million in the US. Workers sent to fix a coffee machine, lorry or an offshore wind turbine classifies them as a lone worker; the spectrum of lone vocations is a vast one and those in field service will often come under the lone worker category.

 

"Employers are required to provide a duty of care to their workers and to do all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect them..."

 

In the UK, health and safety legislation is underpinned by the Health and Safety at Work Act. Employers are required to provide a duty of care to their workers and to do all that is ‘reasonably practicable’ to protect them. In the sphere of lone working, there is no specific legislation as such. Speaking at a a recent lone worker safety conference in London, Sean Elson, a specialist Health and Safety Lawyer at Pinsent Masons said: “Most of the issues that I see around lone working are seen through the prism of the general duties of the Health and Safety at Work Act.”

And while the law, according to Elson “remains stable”, what is expected as ‘reasonably practicable’ is changing. “It does not stay the same. It is constantly moving,” he said at the same conference. “What is it we have to do to satisfy our duties?” The introduction of British Standard 8484:2016, the country’s Standard for Lone Worker safety devices, has further ring-fenced the effectiveness of lone worker solutions in the UK. Companies offering technology-based solutions have to adhere to the standard, a key requirement of which, is that an alarm, once activated supersedes the 999 level of emergency response, and be directed immediately to the relevant control unit, guaranteeing an appropriate police response.

 

Technology

Craig Swallow is Managing Director of SoloProtect, a company providing lone worker technology solutions in the UK and US. Clients include Sky, Domino’s Pizza and department store John Lewis. Typically, the end-users are working alone; sent to fix satellite boxes, deliver pizza and furniture. Soloprotect’s suite of solutions include personal ID tags that incorporate video technology and small fob alarms, which can also be discreetly triggered if an incident occurs.

Other products include an alarm watch system and a lone worker app, that can integrate with mobile workforce management. The firm also provide analytics software that covers usage, training and alarm elements and produces graphically-friendly reports to showcase progress to the CEO or department heads, an important element of a health and safety Manager’s modern role. “Our main point of contact is a company’s Health and Safety Manager,” Craig tells me over the phone.

 

"Alarms when I first started were very much stand-alone and weren’t really connected to anything, they were literally press a button and hope someone hears it..."

 

“They have always had the desire of providing their management team with the benefits of using the technology, and now they can provide a clear dashboard that justifies the ROI.” I ask Craig how open clients are to adopting new technology? “You’ve got the whole spectrum. Some are scared, some are really progressive. I was with a client yesterday,” he says, “and I was showing them what benefits they would get as a set of managers would be and they immediately got it.” So how much of an evolution has there been in the lone worker technology “It’s been massive,” says Nicole Vazquez (pictured), an expert in Lone Worker behaviour.

“Alarms when I first started were very much stand-alone and weren’t really connected to anything, they were literally press a button and hope someone hears it. Then it got a bit smarter and pressing that button would make sure somebody hears it. Now it’s connected to GPS and some companies will link it into their tracking and their productivity.”

 

Disingenuous

Nicole, who runs Worthwhile Training, a training and consultancy firm specialising in lone working and security, however has seen a down-side to the employee tracking features. “If you’re giving somebody a device for safety but they also know that you are using it to monitor productivity too, then it can feel a little bit disingenuous from the end-user’s point of view,” she suggests.

Convincing workers that the technology is a compliment rather than a hindrance is an ongoing challenge in the lone worker arena and Vazquez tells me of a client, a kitchen appliance manufacturer, who gave engineers tablets to register their arrival and departure at a job and to take pictures before and after to prove no damage occurred after completion. Ultimately the technology was there to protect workers, but it wasn’t perceived that way.

 

"Rather than it being a spy, it would be their witness. The difference between those two words is huge..."

 

“When we talked to the engineers about it, they said they felt uncomfortable,” Nicole remembers. “We took the angle that this was about protecting them.” However, after the workers said their safety wasn’t an issue, Nicole took another approach: “We asked them if they had been accused of, for example, causing damage when they hadn’t, and suddenly everybody wanted to have a conversation about it.” She continues: “Rather than it being a spy, it would be their witness. The difference between those two words is huge. It’s not somebody keeping an eye on them, it’s somebody keeping an eye out for them.”

In the States, employees are perhaps more cautious about being spied upon while working. Swallow suggests the role of Unions has made workers more aware of such technology. “In lone working,” he says, “you still have the same challenges – the same in field service - of workers wary of being tracked. I would offer that it’s a greater concern in the US because the Unions are very powerful.

The engagement, therefore, between both parties is often a greater consideration in America.”

 

The Potential

But what about the advantages of linking lone worker and field service technology? Efficiency and compliance can surely compliment a health and safety solution? Swallow, suggests the engineer’s tablet or rugged laptop aren’t quite suited to the lone worker discreet hardware just yet. “It’s not an ideal terminal to use from a health and safety or alarm perspective,” he says, “but if you could create relationships between our system and the field service system, whether that’s sharing information about known-location or risk, for example then there could be advantages.”

 

"The potential of IoT and machine learning on lone working technology is an exciting one..."

 

Expanding further, Craig recalls a client, a large rail operator, who require confirmation that track-side maintenance is being carried out by an engineer with the correct training and credentials but they also want to know when the job is being carried out. “They want to use our device,” Craig explains, “because those individuals are lone workers so there’s a health and safety angle too.” “It’s also about audit. They [the client] are managing a complex chain of sub-contractors and sub/sub-contractors. Ultimately, it’s about making sure they’ve got a full audit trail and the task in hand is being done by the right guy with the right credentials.”

The potential of IoT and machine learning on lone working technology is an exciting one, and Craig, who used to work at PSION, the British company who pioneered the Personal Digital Assistant in the early 80s, is convinced the industry is headed in that direction. “Traditionally, our devices use circuit switch voice and SMS,” he explains.

“We have a data product, where the voice; audio or video call, or whatever data is being sent will come through a middleware platform. The theory is, as long as you’ve got an Application Processing Interface (API), that data can interface with that middleware platform, with as many other platforms as you like.” Nicole is also encouraged by the “joined-up thinking” between safety and efficiency. However – and this is a big question in field service at the moment – she remains cautious about the cross-over between the asset and the engineers.

“It’s about making sure the productivity or efficiency tracking does not blur the boundaries of staff, she says. “People are your assets.” Lone working technology is a part of health and safety which exists so that, after a day’s work, workers go home unharmed. Indeed, as Nicole says, people are your biggest assets and they deserve to be protected to the highest possible standard.

Jim Baston, outlines why companies with strong field service delivery have a huge opportunity to add both value to their customers whilst improving their bottom line by tapping into easy accessible revenue streams...

Ask your customers this question:

Which type of service provider do you prefer?

1. Reactive: Quietly goes about performing their service duties with a singular focus of completing the work correctly and efficiently.
2. Proactive: Performs their work correctly and efficiently while keeping their eyes open for opportunities that they believe will help them achieve their business goals.

If the majority of your customers choose “A”, there is no need to read further.

On the other hand, if most of your customers choose “B”, then read on.

What follows is intended to help you provide the highest level of service that you can.

Our field service professionals have a wealth of knowledge and expertise. They understand their services and the value that they can deliver. They are familiar with the equipment that their customer is using and what that customer is trying to achieve. And, hopefully, they have an insight into their customer’s goals and challenges. Like the pieces of a puzzle, this information provides the field service professional with a unique insight into the customer’s business.

They can see opportunities that will help the customer that others with less information cannot. By bringing these opportunities to the awareness of the customer they are providing a valuable service, which a proactive approach does not provide. This is the value ad in business development by field service. Their recommendations can help their customers achieve results they would never have thought possible.

 

"The challenge for service providers is to encourage their field team to see this proactive role as a critical component of the overall service that they provide..."

 

Of course, the field service professional must be proactive in both looking for opportunities and in presenting their recommendations to the customer in order to deliver on this value. The challenge for service providers is to encourage their field team to see this proactive role as a critical component of the overall service that they provide.

The following suggestions are intended to help you support your field teams efforts to incorporate these proactive steps as part of their everyday activities.

 

Remove the word “sales” from your vocabulary

Having proactive discussions with customers about products and services is often represented as selling. “If only we can get our field personnel to sell” is a common refrain. Unfortunately, words like “sales” and “selling” often brings up an image of a pushy salesman who will doing anything to meet quota and this is not what a service professional is all about. They don’t see themselves that way and may resist when asked to take on the “sales” mantle.

Instead, call it what it is – a service. A service designed to add value to the customer by capturing the expertise of the field service professional to recognize opportunities that improve business performance. This is a service as integral and as important as the field service professional’s ability to troubleshoot and repair the equipment.

 

Clarify the service role you want the field service professional to take to deliver this service

Ensure that everyone on the team recognizes the service value they are providing when they take these proactive steps and develop some approaches to help them to do so. For example, when arriving on site, consider providing questions for your field professional to ask that may uncover opportunities to help. Do the same for departing the site. Ensure that your team understands that the goal of these activities is not to generate more sales for the company (although it will), but to improve the service level delivered to the customer.

 

Train your field team to communicate opportunities effectively

If a field team member finds an opportunity that will truly help the customer, then it is likely in the best interest of the customer to take action. However, this will only happen if the customer sees the value in the recommendation.

Train your field team on how to engage in these conversations and how to communicate the value of the opportunity of moving the customer closer to achieving his/her goals.

 

Check your processes

Just like every other service you offer, you must have good processes if you want to ensure that the service is delivered efficiently and effectively.

There are several areas to consider here including opportunity capture, management and follow-up. You might also want to consider how information about the status of an opportunity is shared amongst the service team.

 

Coordinate with internal groups that are necessary to execute the recommendation

Your field team may uncover opportunities that may need to be executed by another area of your company. For example, if the field team finds an opportunity that could lead to a large project of some kind, then the pricing and execution of that project may be the responsibility of a separate operating division.

Ensure that you have the full support of the other division and that they will seamlessly respond to the opportunity. Any slip-ups in these handoffs will result in reluctance by the field service team to make recommendations that will involve others in the future.

 

Educate your customers

Let your customers know what you are doing and why. Show them how the proactive efforts of your techs will directly contribute to their success. Let them know what they can expect and how you will be measuring the success of the initiative. Get their permission to engage your field team in this way.

You may also wish to consider holding regular (annual?) meetings with your customers to review progress. What recommendations have been made?

Which ones are still outstanding and why? How have the recommendations acted on to date impacted the operational performance of the customer? What are the customer’s goals for the next 12 – 24 months? Etc.

 

Measure your success

As a service activity, the proactive efforts of your field service team can be measured. From a customer’s perspective, their measure of the value they see in the recommendations made by your field service professionals is a good indication of the field team’s ability to address the needs of your customers. This should also translate into improvements in customer satisfaction and retention.

 

"The proactive efforts of the field service team provides the service organization with an opportunity to deliver a higher level of service while generating more revenue, higher levels of customer satisfaction and retention..."

 

From a service operational perspective in addition to the increase in business, you can expect to see the percentage of unplanned emergency work go down since you will be proactively addressing pending problems through your team’s recommendations. This will make labour planning easier. You should also experience an improvement in employee satisfaction as their jobs become more interesting and rewarding.

The proactive efforts of the field service team provides the service organization with an opportunity to deliver a higher level of service while generating more revenue, higher levels of customer satisfaction and retention.

To ensure success, it is important to ensure that everyone understand the service we are providing and support that service through systems, processes and training. We should also engage the customer in our efforts by letting them know what we are doing and why.

Our efforts will be rewarded through higher revenues and more loyal customers.

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Jim Baston is President @ BBA Consulting

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As part of an excellent ‘analyst’s take’ paper commissioned by ServicePower, Bill Pollock has provided an in-depth look at the service requirements for the security sector, here Samir Gulati offers us a key excerpt from that paper...

There are now more security systems players than ever, bringing refined ways of doing business and new efficiencies to the marketplace. 

In addition, there has been a complete transformation of the security installer/service technician into an “everything as a service”

professional, supported by service delivery models that embrace Cloud technology, interactive services, predictive diagnostics and customer self-service.

The most successful companies will ultimately differentiate themselves with unique and seemingly indispensable services and solutions that make it easier for a consumer (or business) to be smarter, safer, and more cost-effective.

For those organisations that install, monitor, and maintain commercial or residential security systems, ServicePower enables faster, smarter service, so they can deliver on today’s consumer service preferences and expectations, while also reducing operational costs and driving new and more predictable revenue streams.

 

"The most successful companies will ultimately differentiate themselves with unique and seemingly indispensable services and solutions..."

 

The five primary factors to focus on when evaluating alternative Field Service Management (FSM) and Warranty Management (WM) solutions for the security services segment are critical to the success of the vendor/solution evaluation and selection processes.

They include:

• Customer Engagement – by offering a customised, self-service portal to enable customers to log in with their account number and report issues or order add-on security services, schedule the appointment, watch their installer/ service technician en route, and communicate with him or her, if needed; also to suggest relevant new cross sell and/or upsell services during this key interaction opportunity.
• Smart Scheduling – the ability to pair parameters such as skills, certifications, and geography with the latest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for real-time scheduling to ensure that the best installer/service technician is assigned, at the least cost; and provide the opportunity to re-optimise schedules and routes in real-time to accommodate intra-day changes, increase on-time arrival and completed jobs per day, and decrease travel costs.
• Mobile Tech Enablement – to ensure that the installer/service technicians arrive with everything they need to get the job done the first time, driving consistent quality service delivery, improved productivity, and increased completion rates; also to provide a value-based experience by personalising the customer’s experience via fully configurable mobile functionality which also improves schedule compliance and first-time installation/ fix rates, and proactively offer additional value-added security solutions while onsite to increase revenue.
• Contractor Management – to facilitate better management of outsourced or supplementary third-party contractor staff to quickly expand geographic reach or support changing demand; the ability to dynamically choose a contractor based on rank scores, credentials, crowd-sourced Better Business Bureau (BBB) info, and dynamic rules configuration; and confidently being able to book an appointment based on available time-slots, coupled with the ability to view the current job status and track overall progress.
• Reporting & Analytics – the ability to use real-time Business Intelligence (BI) to measure performance metrics, fine tune future operations, and enhance the customer experience; along with the ability to access Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), scorecards and reports in real-time, from either mobile devices or the desktop, and share them both inside and outside the organisation, as warranted.

The best FSM and WM solutions will also be those that include additional functionalities, such as:

• Claims Management
• Work Order Management
• Inventory, Asset and Contract Management
• Outsourced Managed Services

The main benefits that can be realised through the implementation and use of a Field Service Management (FSM) and Warranty Management (WM) solution designed specifically for the security services segment are many, and quite compelling, as follows:

• Improve management control over service provisioning
• Reduce manual processes to create and manage field schedule routes, thereby reducing travel times
• Increase appointments, per day
• Less time spent on-site
• Enable improvements in overtime, travel, skills, and spares
• Grow revenue
• Increase customer engagement
• Serve customers more efficiently with convenient scheduling, increased first-time installation/ fix rates, and improved service levels
• Use Business Intelligence (BI) to better measure and improve service operations KPIs
• Research has shown that for a typical Fortune 1000 company, just a 10% increase in data accessibility will result in more than US$65 million additional net income, according to Forbes.com.

These benefits, albeit on a smaller scale, can also be realised by small-to-medium-sized security services organisations as well.

 

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 Samir Gulati is Chief Marketing Office with ServicePower

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Customer demands and expectations are greater than ever before at at time when training and retaining service engineers is a major challenge due in no large part to an exodus of retiring baby boomers exiting the workforce. Outsourcing is a tempting solution to the problem but can you ensure your customer’s needs will be fully met and satisfied? Bill Pollock discusses...

As customers become more sophisticated, the market more complicated, the economy more volatile, and the services community more demanding, it is also becoming more difficult to manage all customer service-related activities in-house.

As a result, many businesses have turned to outsourcing in order to ensure that they have the required staffing and resources to get the total job done.

While some businesses may outsource only in non-core competency areas such as accounting and payroll, secretarial and clerical, or even telesales, others may outsource entire blocks of their core business activities to firms specialising in distinct areas such as field service, technical support, customer service, sales management, manufacturing and production, human resources, quality control, etc.

However, whether the organisation’s customer service functions are staffed by full-time company employees, part-time support personnel, outsourced agencies or personnel, or any combination thereof, one thing remains certain; the company’s customers and prospects must receive consistently high levels of customer service and support, regardless of whose personnel they happen to be dealing with at any given moment.

 

"It is important to remember that customers will not care what type of employee representing your company was rude to them on the telephone, or did not provide them with the desired level of customer service – all they will remember is that your business failed to get the job done..."

 

Most managers agree that the key ingredient for success in running a services business, whether it is run exclusively by an organisation’s own full-time employees, or supplemented in part by outside personnel, outsource agencies or other third parties, is to have all of the workers that represent the business in the marketplace put on a cohesive and consistent front when they deal with customers and prospects.

It is important to remember that customers will not care what type of employee representing your company was rude to them on the telephone, or did not provide them with the desired level of customer service – all they will remember is that your business failed to get the job done.

There are many good reasons for why a services organisation might consider outsourcing; but before entering into any specific outsourcing agreement, you should first prepare yourself, and your employees, for the most effective way to manage this complementary workforce.

 

We suggest six basic recommended guidelines: 

1. Train your outsourced personnel as if they were your own employees. Make sure they understand the products and services you sell, the markets you sell to, and the way you normally conduct business.

If your business involves dealing with highly demanding customers such as hospitals, banks or aerospace, etc., make sure they share the same “sense of urgency” that your own employees have when they deal with these types of customers.

2. Take any outsourced customer contact workers on a short “field trip” to show them how your customer support center works and, if direct customer contacts will eventually be made in the field, take them along on a few customer calls first to show them the way you normally treat your customers.

3. Provide the manager of the outsourced operation with a fail-safe “back door” to a full-time manager at your company, even at the C-level, if necessary. Let the manager know that he/she is not in it alone when help is needed.

4. Get daily reports in a standard reporting format (e.g., problem or exception reports) every morning to ensure that everything is in order, and that no special problems are developing.

5. Give your outsourced employees samples of your company’s products or other items, product pictures or services marketing brochures.

You may also want to give them some small gifts with your company’s logo or name on them, such as T-shirts, mugs, pens, desk calendars, a picture frame, etc. This might be especially helpful in dealing with an outsourced night crew or other off-shift workers who would otherwise have no real contact with your full-time company personnel. Some businesses arrange for an Open House lunch or reception for their outsourced personnel for the purpose of having them meet the full-time staff.

6. Problems should be confronted immediately, head on, with the outsource manager. 

When your own managers are faced with a problem, they typically know exactly what to do – they have been there before. However, the same problems may be new to your outsource managers, and they may need some immediate help from your own management.

 

Outsourcing is basically a “partnership” designed to deliver quality equal to or greater than that which you yourself would provide.

 

"Too often these agreements are handled more as a “‘vendor” relationship, rather than as a partnership..."

 

We have found that too often these agreements are handled more as a “‘vendor” relationship, rather than as a partnership, even to the point where the in-house person responsible is often referred to as the “Vendor Manager.”

Sometimes, simple things like this set the wrong tone right from the start – and things can easily go downhill from there. It is crucially important to create an atmosphere whereby your partners feel they are part of your company’s service delivery infrastructure, and not just an add-on.

Treating outsource vendors and their employees in the manner described through these six suggestions is the first step to creating a win/win alliance.

However, it is typically the attitude of the key people that often makes the difference between success and failure in any relationship.

By following these six suggestions, a services organisation can maximise its chances for cultivating an environment that would allow for the attainment of desired levels of customer service and satisfaction.

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Bill Pollock is President of Strategies for GrowthSM. Follow his blog @ www.pollockonservice.com

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Life is full of fine lines. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin it is often said and the balance between science and art is one full of intricate nuance. Similarly the relationship between increasing service revenue and healthy profit margin relies a a special type of alchemy, as Michael Blumberg explains...

Companies who are extremely effective at growing their service revenue while maintaining healthy profit margins typically have a very good understanding of the size and forecast of the markets they serve.

Their perspective is not defined solely terms of an order of magnitude, for example stating “their market is approximately $500M -$750M, but articulating the size of their market down to the exact monetary value (e.g., £, €, $, etc.) of revenue and decimal point of the growth.

Knowing the exact size and forecast of service markets is critical for making optimal decisions with respect to investment and resource allocation. For example, it might be important to have this information on hand prior to building a marketing strategy, establishing a division, or developing a service offering for it. If the data validates that a market segment is large and growing rapidly then a more aggressive investment maybe warranted. Rely solely on an order of magnitude or general assumptions can lead to miscalculated decision that results in a significant loss or failure for the company.

 

"While obtaining a granular level of data on the size and growth rate of a market segment can help service executives make better decisions and ensure better results, it is surprising the many do not attempt to obtain this level of insight..."

 

While obtaining a granular level of data on the size and growth rate of a market segment can help service executives make better decisions and ensure better results, it is surprising the many do not attempt to obtain this level of insight.

Instead, service executives often rely on gut instinct or settle on an order of magnitude, given some related indicator. For example, we often hear service executives claim that it is enough for them to simply know that service market for a product is large because sales of the product have been high .

The problem with this type of market analysis is that it assumes that 100% of people who have bought a product will also purchase the service.

The truth is that very few, if any, companies have a captive market or experience 100% attachment and renewal rates. Even Best in Class companies experience averages attachment rates of 76% and 90% renewal rates.

Unfortunately, relying on KPIs does not take into account broader, strategic and objective factors such as the installed base size, competitive threats, economic factors technology trends, or other market trends, More importantly, it does not provide any hard data related to revenue which also necessary for developing objective ROI and/or make versus buy analysis.

While surveys and secondary research also have merit when it comes to market sizing and forecast, they too have their shortcomings. Surveys and secondary research can of course provide insight into size and growth of a market as well as answer questions with respect to who buys, what do they buy, and factors influencing supply and demand.

However, they do not measure the actual size and growth of the Total Available Market (TAM) for the service under consideration at any level of precision. A shortcoming of secondary research is that it may not specific enough or tailored in its the perspective. The research methodology behind the forecast may also not be very sound or defensible.

 

"We have found econometric market models to be very effective method for conducting this type of service market analysis..."

 

Ultimately, a good TAM analysis is one that takes into account the size and growth rate of the customer base or installed base as well as the serviceable value of that base along with its anticipated growth rate. We have found econometric market models to be very effective method for conducting this type of service market analysis.

A good econometric model considers several data points related to the number buying organisations, types of buying organizations, purchase trigger events, equipment penetration rates (i.e., shipments), population density, replacement rates, and revenue allocation by service category and/or equipment category. These factors help determine the size and value of the serviceable customer or installed base while surveys and secondary research provides data points (e.g., price points, average spend, etc.) necessary for determining current and forecasted revenues and/or expenditures for a given service.

Building an econometric model to determine the size and forecast of the TAM may seem like a lot of work. However, the efforts are worth it and can prevent a company from making serious mistakes and/or miscalculations about their market opportunity. Several years ago, a client of mine gave a presentation at an industry conference where his competitors were present.

The presentation showed that his service business was growing twice as fast as the market. Although he had commissioned us to build a TAM model, he chose to compare his company’s revenue growth to market size data from an industry analyst’s report (i.e., secondary research). After the presentation, I asked him why he didn’t present our data. “We based our investment and resource allocation decisions on your model not the secondary research. We want to keep this fact a secret from our competitors as long as we can” was his reply. Had his company relied only on secondary data they would have had different results. His answer provided that his investment in building the market model was worth it.

To learn more about using econometric modelling to determine the Total Available Market for your company’s services check out Blumberg Advisory Group’s Revenue Maximization practice at https:// blumberg-advisor.com/revenue-maximization/

In fact, it is those smaller organisations that may likely see the biggest benefits.

 

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Michael Blumberg is President of the Blumberg Advisory Group and founder of Field Service Insights

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