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With a new US patent approved for their Quantum Computing algorithm, Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower explains her vision for what the future of customer experience excellence will look like and outlines the path her organisation can offer to consumer-focused organisations as they begin rolling out a raft of new CX tools...

The last time Field Service News sat down and spoke with Marne Martin, ServicePower’s bold and ebullient CEO, for a formal interview, it was to discuss their recent acquisition by private equity firm Diversis at the beginning of this year.

At that point, Martin was keen to express the fact that it was she who had courted investment with a vision to expand upon their product suite more rapidly than they could through organic means alone and that this acquisition was not just another PE shark circling the rich pickings of the Field Service Management sector. At the time Martin commented ‘I felt that we were 75% and we were really looking for someone to get us to 100% of where we saw the opportunity in the sector not just for the current but in the future.”

I felt that we were 75% and we were really looking for someone to get us to 100% of where we saw the opportunity in the sector not just for the current but in the future.”Of course, many a CEO has said similar things in the past having just been acquired, a message of confidence is par for the course to keep the client base assured that their future is still safe in a steady pair of hands. But just how far along the path Martin outlined have ServicePower come in the last six months?

“We are completely thrilled with the progress we have made already in 2017” Martin responds when this question is put to her. “We’ve been supplementing the talent that we already have by bringing in some really great people and we will continue doing that, as it’s allowing us to constantly move forward with the development efforts and plans that we already had in place.”

One thing that has certainly seemed to materialise since the acquisition is a greater outward projection of where their core market lies. For Field Service Solution providers this can be a challenge within itself as field service straddles so many vertical industries, which whilst sharing many shared pain points and challenges, also have their own specific vertical nuances to be considered as well.

Yet whether it’s the result of some business refinement that came out of the acquisition process, or whether it is simply something they are now verbalising that little bit more, ServicePower now seem to have a very clear understanding of their target market.

“All of this [development] is around really expanding our dominance in consumer industries” Martin explained. “We sell B2B but we are enabling the consumer experience for our customers so we are essentially B2B2C primarily, ServicePower is really unique in dominating that positioning. The other field service providers are either more focused on preventative maintenance or other such aspects of the sector. We really are the only field service company that has this domination and focus in the consumer sector and that empower our customers to cultivate consumer experience as they deliver it - whether that be through different service routes or through different types of technicians.”

But how does this translate into actual developments of the solution?

“The new customer experience will incorporate a lot more of web service front end User Interfaces that we are coding with the latest programming standards,” Martin tells us.

It is really designed to give customers a better digital experience whilst also making call centres more productive and for the technicians“It is really designed to give customers a better digital experience whilst also making call centres more productive and for the technicians, the mobile tech enablement is better. We’ve done a huge amount of R&D on how integrated ecosystems deliver a much-improved customer experience but actually it is better for every stakeholder in the service continuum.”

“I firmly believe, and so do many of our customers, that the customer and the tech want the same thing - a great experience,” she continued.

“That is either an experience where things don’t break - because of processes like tailored proactive maintenance or incorporating IoT diagnostics to leverage what you know about the assets, or if they do require repair then we’re facilitating a repair experience that doesn’t necessarily require a truck roll, ideally they’re able to do some remote maintenance and fix it without coming into the client’s home.”

“However, if there does have to be a truck roll, if they do need to come to the client’s home - then they should be making sure they are coming into the home at a time that’s convenient for the customer and with the best knowledge about the asset possible - that is how you facilitate the first-time-fix. So now you are seeing the first few steps to making this all happen and soon you’ll also see some of the additional predictive types of improvements that we’re also rolling out with Smarter Field Service and the new algorithm.”

“In fact, we were recently awarded a new US patent for our quantum annealing work and you’ll definitely be seeing the further evolution of this vision as we move into 2018.”

Now, it was felt in some corners that it was ServicePower’s research work into Quantum Annealing that made them such an attractive proposition for investment in the first place. However, up until now the conversation had centred mainly around theoretical research ServicePower had undertaken.

But if this research work is set to move into the practical realm, then this could truly be a game changer for field service optimisation.

What I think will be the service experience of the future for our customers, is tying in the power of this quantum computing algorithm not just to do the traditional pipe of ‘technician-route-schedule-optimisation’ but also to think about optimisation across the different types of service.“What’s interesting to me and what I think will be the service experience of the future for our customers, is tying in the power of this quantum computing algorithm not just to do the traditional pipe of ‘technician-route-schedule-optimisation’ but also to think about optimisation across the different types of service. For example, having more flexible work queues or how you triage and route the delivery of service for a customer - all through digital enablement,” Martin explains.

“Say for example, a customer hits our new intelligent customer portal - you can send them to a process, you can use IoT diagnostic information, or upload photos or whatever type of triage type of information that you have, then depending on how you assess that you might then send them through to a work queue that is optimised and we can have a dynamic work-flow between back-office activities, call centre activities, technician experiences and triage assessment activities.”

“We’re actively thinking about how to use our quantum annealing algorithm in a more flexible way to optimise the total service experience. What I have seen is that even amongst our customers and prospects that have an IoT diagnostic group, they are not working that information into an integrated service experience.”

“They might have some techs that are trained in that or the might have an elite network that is doing it, but they are not tying it into the overall workflow and optimising a more efficient service experience.”

“Ultimately you only want to send a technician on site when you really have to and as much as possible you want to make sure that when the technician gets on-site they’re able to do what the customer really needs - which is, of course, a first-time-fix.”

This scenario is, of course, the ideal field service win-win-win. The customer is happier because they are back up and running, the engineer is happier because they have a better work-life balance and less angry customers and the board is happier because they are seeing improvements to the bottom line. Indeed, if it is achievable, we are getting close to field service nirvana.

Martin concludes: “We are also looking at how we can use the quantum computing power looking at demand forecasting, capacity planning, and parts information, focusing on consumer industries and how we deliver a great service experience. It is about so much more than just the technology – it is a whole integrated approach that looks at the digital journey with the customer, the call centre and mobile technician enablement.”

It seems that Martin and her team at ServicePower are undeniably still on the right path to deliver the future of customer experience.

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Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower explains why the connected customer is far more than just a marketing buzz phrase and focuses on the benefits of a truly unified platform...

In today’s consumer-centric economy, companies must do more than manufacture solid products for the home or business. Consumers consider the entire product lifetime value, from point of sale to the service experience, when deciding to buy.

They rely on sources other than brick and mortar showrooms to research and select products, often going to the web and most importantly other consumers’ reviews of products online. The connected consumer is no longer just marketing speak, and customers expect a differentiated service experience also from their connected devices or equipment.

What defines good service?

Whether providing service to a connected home or business, or simply on a faulty appliance or television, inspecting a wrecked automobile or damaged roof, installing a security system or a delivering healthcare supplies, ‘good service’ encompasses more than simply referring a consumer to a call center and then a service employee or contractor who may or may not call to schedule an appointment.

That model started changing in the early 1990’s with the growth in adoption of field service management software. Today, consumers expect more of service providers than scheduling an appointment and waiting for a technician to arrive.

What defines a great service experience?

A great service experience relies on improving the entire service lifecycle by providing Faster, Smarter Service on a Unified platform. The best field service management software supports the entire lifecycle, empowering consumers to digitally engage with you, enabling field technicians to deliver personalised service and providing a unified platform with modular functionality on which service operations can continuously optimise ongoing service delivery.

Let’s discuss how each below offers a digital, connected process that is differentiated from that of old.

Digital Engagement

Consumer engagement is critical to faster service. Providing an intelligent digital experience which enables customers to book appointments at their convenience with your trained and credentialed workforce, check status, communicate with technicians and track their locations is expected in today’s digital economy.

You also need one place that diagnostic data and added triage information available from the customer or the connected device or piece of equipment, service history, asset information that is easily available for both the customer and the technician. The days are gone where you want to send a technician out for something that can be handled remotely. Likewise, customers want to do more online, such as registering product purchases, buying additional products and services, and posting reviews of the service experience.

 

Consumers can research purchases and buy online, right now. Their expectations for service post-sale is exactly the same, and they also want their service experience to be ideally such that they want to buy more from the product or service brand.

The best field service management solutions easily engage consumers where, when and how they desire with the service contract provider.

Technician Enablement

Field service technicians, insurance adjusters, installers, delivery personnel- they are the heart and the face of the post-sale experience. As service industry employees, it is in their very nature to want to do well by your customers, to be faster and smarter at their jobs, so that they can delight every customer and walk away feeling accomplished. Enable them with the tools to do so as generally speaking, customers and technicians want the same thing – more up-time and better first time resolution rates.

Field service management and mobile software enables your teams to deliver faster, smarter service. Customer engagement software provides an end-to-end digital experience.

Artificial Intelligence-based scheduling software automatically positions techs for success, selecting the best resource for every job, and scheduling shorter, realistic service windows that techs can achieve, making service delivery faster for consumers. IoT integration revolutionises the service model, allowing field techs to proactively service and maintain products before they fail, and predicting future service requirements such that service contracts can be used to extend product life-cycles beyond the traditional break-fix model.

 

Mobile software with access to assets, inventory, service history, information and expert resources makes techs smarter at every appointment, armed to resolve issues through personalized service delivery, and adding value for consumers through additional services which improve the long term value of every product.

Unified Platform

Field service and mobile workforce management software set the stage for faster, smarter service delivery with a Unified - and integrated - platform.

Functional groups ranging from manufacturing and quality, to IT, marketing and sales, customer service and field service delivery require a unified platform which supports the full customer service lifecycle.

A unified platform improves your organisations ability to deliver faster, smarter services with employees, contractors or both, increasing service capacity and decreasing time to service. It can also standardises onsite process with configurable mobility, while decreasing the cost of service with schedule optimisation and dynamic, logic based contractor dispatching. No longer do you want to be making myopic decisions that don’t enhance your brand and the service experience for your customers.

 

A unified platform improves the process of performing service on your behalf for contractors, creating a faster, smarter model through integrated warranty claims management, which also reduces claim costs and fraud, ultimately better protecting warranty reserves.

A unified platform is the basis on which a great consumer experience is executed.

Transformational Service

The customers’ service experience with your organisation can be transformational.

Delivering faster, smarter service using a unified platform enables your field technicians to drive a better experience for your customers.

Customers experiencing great service become your most effective marketing and sales tools, loudly evangelizing about their experience through positive reviews, increasing sales, brand loyalty and long term service revenue.

ServicePower’s field service management solution empowers any organisation with a mobile workforce to deliver Faster, Smarter Service, while providing a Unified experience for customers, field technicians and your organisation.

We also offers a fully managed network of 3rd party service providers to enable rapid and high-quality on-demand “spill-over” servicing at peak times and in hard-to-reach locations across North America and the Europe.

 

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Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland discusses the fact that the choices field service companies are facing today wider ranging and more critical to success than ever before and gives us an overview of what to expect in Field Service News issue 19

 

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Field Service News subscribers are entitled to our bi-monthly magazine in both print and digital versions. Subscription is free for field service professionals click here to apply for a complimentary industry professional subscription now and get a digital copy of issue 19 sent straight to your inbox instantly

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There are of course always big choices to be made in business, but it seems field service companies are facing more big choices than ever in today’s market...

Which of course is not necessarily a bad thing at all. Choices mean options and options are a good thing. They allow us to follow a path that feels right for us.

Of course, options also let us change direction when we’ve headed in the wrong way for a while - although they do tend to come along less often if we spend too long heading up a blind ally.

Perhaps the most important option we can take (and one that is always available to us) is to listen to those around us. I’m a firm believer in the fact that we can learn something from everyone we interact with, but of course if you are facing time pressures (who isn’t these days) then I’d suggest starting with those who are experts in their fields.

Fortunately, we’ve an issue that’s jam packed with expert advice so all you need to do is keep on reading.

We’ve got what for my mind is our best yet panel in this issue’s Big Discussion, which is focussed on the relationship between Service and Sales. As always we’ve brought together three industry experts on the topic and put four questions to each of them.

Our panel consists of Nick Frank, Michael Blumberg and Jim Baston so there is a wealth of deep knowledge and experience waiting for you in that feature which begins on page 16.

Elsewhere we’ve two features that look specifically at how to choose the right field service management (FSM) solution for your business. When we consider just how big an impact the selection of a FSM solution can have on your business - how it can drive efficiency, reduce costs, create revenue...

Then when we consider how many solutions are in the market, each with differing capabilities, and of course when we consider how long implementation and on-boarding of your team can take...

 

Frankly, it really is absolutely vital that this is a choice you get right first time around.

So for anyone considering an upgrade from a creaking old legacy system or looking to implement a system from scratch for the first time then I suggest checking out Bill Pollock’s article “Choosing the most effective FSM provider” and also Marne Martin’s article “Customer Experience is essential to every member in the field service ecosystem” which both offer insight into what makes a good FSM partner for a service organisation, whilst coming at the topic from slightly different perspectives.

Yet as important as selecting a FSM solution is, perhaps the most pressing choice for many field service companies is whether to move away from the traditional break-fix SLA driven model that has served them well for so long and to embrace the more modern and increasingly popular outcome-based service models.

We’ve discussed outcome-based services many times in these pages before and cards on the table, personally I’m a big proponent of the servitization movement. I think it absolutely makes sense. But that’s just my opinion and ultimately, it’s not a choice I need to make - unlike many of you.

So for those of you readers, of whom there are many I’m sure, whose organisations are considering this very question - then I absolutely recommend listening to those who have been there and done it. As whilst the benefits can be many , so too are the risks - it is not an easy path to tread.

One company that has been on that journey is ABB and you can read my interview with Felix Keiderling on the topic on page 44 and also check out my interview with GE’s Scott Berg on page 29 where we also discuss outcome based services in depth.

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Field Service News subscribers are entitled to our bi-monthly magazine in both print and digital versions. Subscription is free for field service professionals click here to apply for a complimentary industry professional subscription now and get a digital copy of issue 19 sent straight to your inbox instantly

 

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Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower describes what field service management professionals should expect from their solution providers and offers some excellent intel on how to pick a partner that is right for your business...

Customer service, customer satisfaction, customer experience. Those are more than buzz word, more than trends in field service.

Field service organisations have recognised that to achieve the highest levels of retention and overall growth in consumers, they must focus on providing the highest levels of service. High service levels may mean faster service, less break-downs, higher first time fix in the field depending on the given industry and customer expectations, but regardless, the focus needs to be on what the customer wants.

We frequently find that the account management or sales organisations which hold the customer relationship budget, aren’t engaging as effectively as they could be with the service side of the organisation to put existing or new technology to use. Customer experience is about more than the CRM!

Using the latest in technology and mobile workforce management software, field service organisations are able to create a sales to service experience that is game changing and seamless.

Using robust integrations or other sorts of data inputs to take customer information in, utilise intelligent online portals which customers can use to engage, schedule, communicate, track service appointments and even purchase additional services makes service events a walk in the park versus a departure down the crevasse. Artificial intelligence, IoT and schedule optimisation software can improve the service experience through proactive services, real time appointment booking, higher schedule adherence and increased first time fix rates.

 

They can also facilitate scheduling your most important or more profitable customers first. Mobile software can enable field techs with the data, access and processes to delight each and every customer on every service call that mobile techs are truly enabled to be experts for every customer and asset by technology, not just their memory.

The question is, why should a field service organisation expect less than the best ‘customer experience’ itself from its FSM vendor?

Solution deployment

Field service management solutions are used by a wide range of organisations across many different verticals. The best FSM software should be configurable enough to support standard service processes, while also supporting processes unique to particular business requirement- without unexpected development.

And though business in general has become more accepting of cloud deployments, due to improved security, increased power of distributed computing and reduced costs related to hosted infrastructure, there remain industries, particularly in insurance, healthcare and finance, which cannot and will not migrate to a cloud-based deployment. The most versatile FSM vendors will not force migration to a newly built cloud platform simply to comply with its own roadmap, nor sunset functionality without providing similar, better options.

Look for vendors which can support your business today and in the future, based your requirements, not theirs.

Support

I find it ironic that with so much focus on improving the end-customer experience that so many FSM vendors in fact provide poor customer service to the field service organisation which they support.

Customer satisfaction isn’t solely focused on the end user. It starts with the sales process and moves through deployment, validation and recurring process improvement. The best FSM vendors define a solid picture of the desired end state for a deployment and then build a robust SOW around the deployment such that the intended outcome is achieved and improved upon without unanticipated cost or time overruns.

Evolving business requirements and changing consumer expectations dictate a continuously improved mobile workforce solution. To expect less than the incorporation of emerging technologies, new features and improved deployment options is ridiculous. Expect more. Rely on your FSM partner to proactively provide a better solution to support you and your customers, for the long term.

Value add

Deploying a software solution and walking away shouldn’t be the business norm. Nor is simply providing annual software upgrades the only ‘value added service’ you should expect. After all, you’re probably paying for support and maintenance. That’s what the fees are for!

Value added services are what increases your ability to provide the best customer experience to your customer, and in our mind, are really what define the best customer experience for your organisation.

The best FSM vendors can provide not only software solutions which improve your ability to execute the best service experience, but also your utilisation of the software, your labour strategy and possibly your labour capacity.

 

ServicePower’s team of experts excels at post sale value add.

Our teams, with an annual tenure of 15+ years working in software and field service management, work with your field service and IT teams to fine tune your deployment, prove your business case, improve performance, and plan for the evolution of your business and upgrades.

ServicePower also uniquely provides workforce strategy planning and outsourced managed services both in North America and EMEA.

Our client success teams have been on the ground, managing employed technicians and contractors for some of the biggest field service organisations in the world. We can lend that expertise to your teams in terms of evaluating your workforce, optimising your resources and executing a plan to integrate a contracted workforce element to maintain and improve your service levels.

We also offer a fully managed network of 3rd party service providers to enable rapid and high-quality on-demand “spill-over” servicing at peak times and in hard-to-reach locations across North America and the Europe.

ServicePower considers its clients partners, not ‘contracts’. We enter into relationships with the expectation that we’ll be our client partners trusted advisors, trusted providers of the best possible customer experience for themselves and their end customers.

 

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Research conducted by Bill Pollock, president and principal consulting analyst at Strategies For GrowthSM (SFGSM) reveals that selecting a Field Service Management (FSM) solution often requires months – if not years – of due diligence to reduce the “long list” of potential vendors and solutions down to a carefully selected “short list” of possibilities...

Making a decision based on your own research is often a daunting task, collating and interpreting RFP information and sorting live demonstration ‘vaporware’ from actual, live software capabilities.

The following provides an additional set of information that your peers in the industry consider fundamental to the decision – data your team can use to make a final, intelligent choice that grows with your business into the future.

The results from SFGSM’s 2017 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey clearly identify four specific factors cited by half (or nearly half) of the survey respondent base when making their respective FSM vendor and solution decisions, namely:

• 50% Prefer a solution that interfaces with Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• 47% Prefer to work with a single provider of Field Service functionality
• 47% Prefer a solution that is intuitive and easy to train on
•  45% Prefer to invest in a solution that fosters Sales and Service collaboration

Another 35% also cite their preference for a solution that rolls out quickly.

While each (or all) of these factors may have contributed in some way to your decision-making process, your final decision is likely to rely more on how the FSM solution you choose will address your greatest challenges, provide the greatest opportunities and benefits for services delivery improvement, and allow you to compete head-to-head against your strongest competitors.

Compounding the importance of your selection, the chosen solution must also provide the ability to improve existing customer satisfaction levels, and increase the services organisation’s contribution to the company’s bottom line. Quite an undertaking, to be sure; but certainly doable – but, only with the most effective and robust FSM solution in place, and a full complement of vendor resources to support it over time.

Functionalities to Look For When Selecting & Evaluating an FSM Vendor/Solution

Gartner cites six categories of FSM enablement that should be included in any (i.e., every) FSM solution – at least every FSM solution that is strong enough to run the entire organisation’s services business. They are:

1. Demand Management – including customer portals, multichannel customer communications, IoT integration, triage support, field work order/appointment request, field quoting, field parts sourcing, ticketing system integration and long-cycle work requests.
2. Work Planning – including forecasting, scheduling optimisation, parts demand planning, purchasing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) integration, customer communications and third-party service enablement.
3. Technician Enablement (Mobile) – including Global Positioning System (GPS) integration, routing, equipment history/site details, social collaboration, customer communications, knowledge base/work instructions, purchasing & quoting/sales and tool management.
4. Work Order Debrief – including work order financial information, customer forms, site evidence, equipment updates, recommendations, payment collection and customer surveys.
5. Operations – including invoicing and price books, installed equipment manager, maintenance agreement management, maintenance plans and quoting, warranty management & warranty claims management, revenue recognition enablement, reverse logistics management, depot repair, equipment supersession, engineering change requests and fleet management.
6. Analytics and Integration – including field service performance management; cross-functional predictive analytics; alerts, notifications and gamification; and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and GPS integration.

While most vendors will say they offer all of these functionalities within their FSM solution offerings, it is more than likely that there will be significant gaps in key categories such as work planning, technician enablement, and analytics and integration (among others).

However, each of these areas will be critical to the overall enablement that your FSM solution is needed to provide and, therefore, must be included in the FSM solution that is ultimately selected and implemented.

Marne Martin, CEO, ServicePower, a leading provider of field service and hybrid mobile workforce management solutions, agrees that all six of these areas must be addressed in any FSM solution, noting “For organisations looking for a single vendor, end-to-end solution with an easy integration process to existing CRM or ERP packages, ServicePower is a great fit.”

“ServicePower supports a seamless integration mechanism to any CRM, including the launch of an App for the Salesforce AppExchange and new prebuilt connectors to most major software packages.”

 

“Our solution provides a full complement of mobile workforce management functionality, from consumer entitlement, to schedule optimisation and contractor dispatching, work order management, enterprise mobility, asset, inventory and contract management, and 360° BI (i.e., Business Intelligence).”

She further adds that, “While most FSM vendors also offer ‘scheduling’, ServicePower’s solution is the only one on the market designed to improve the customer experience though real time AI (i.e., Artificial Intelligence) and robust mobile functionality, while streamlining service operations with integrated hybrid workforce management functionality.

SFGSM’s survey results validate the effort ServicePower has expended in extending our solution to include the full spectrum of functionality required to manage a mobile operation, from entitlement through a plug and play intelligent consumer portal to warranty management and BI.”

Making the Final Decision – It’s Time to Decide!

The Cloud has normalised the playing field for most FSM vendors and their customers.

The options are many, the costs have come down (i.e., through the proliferation of the subscription basis model) and the FSM solution alternatives are “all over the place” with respect to the comparative breadth and depth of product functionality, strategic partnerships, FSM vendor acquisitions, “new” product roll-outs and the like.

However, in deciding which is the best fit for your field service operation, today and for the long term, one thing remains clear – the field service operations at your organisation will remain the central focus of your role and responsibility.

Why would you want to go with a vendor that doesn’t provide it all?

 

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Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower, discusses how the “intelligent” service organisation is able to meet increasing customer expectations whilst simultaneously driving increases in revenue and brand loyalty...

Productivity, for field service operations, is the means to an end of delighting both your customer and the C suite in your company.

Improved customer satisfaction and increased revenue are the holy grail of any field service department. If you are also able to do these two things using a hybrid workforce, your internal metrics and profitability of your service organisation can also improve.

Large enterprise organisations have long understood the value of artificial intelligence algorithms embedded within mobile workforce management technology, in its ability to improve productivity and efficiency of staffed mobile workers, as well as its ability to provide field teams with the process and information needed while on site to resolve issues in a single visit.

The power of big data, cloud computing, and machine learning are all proven to reap benefits of more productive, least costly schedules which improve overall metrics and customer-centric KPIs like schedule adherence and mean time to schedule. Service priorities can also be driven off of more than SLAs and start looking to customer profitability, propensity to purchase additional services, and a number of other emerging customer-centric areas that service organisations are starting to focus more on.

 

In the last decade, more and more of these same organisations have taken hold of the additional benefits of intelligently integrating contracted mobile workers into the labour mix, as well as the ability for customers to schedule into the time slots that a service organisation or manufacturer want to make available.

Using contractors expands capacity, in terms of availability, skills or geographical coverage, field service organisations can provide service when and where their customers require, in a manner that’s more consistent with an employee with a branded van.

In an “intelligent” service organisation, service is enabled to meet the customer’s expectations, drive increases in revenue, brand loyalty, as well as efficient capacity planning.

By using the available technology, plus a hybrid workforce model that looks to coverage and demand to assess what technicians you need where, the type, skills and training such that you can begin blending employed with contracted workforces, the next level of productivity beyond that of your peers can be achieved.

Field Service experts know service. But what can expertise in field service bring to complimentary sectors that are used only to point to point travel optimisation and not schedule or priority based optimisation.

The fact of the matter is that any business with mobile workers whether service, sales, delivery, inspection, home health care, etc. are dearly in need of the ability to drive improved schedule prioritisation, compliance and productivity.

Even financial services companies with work allocated to the back office can benefit from optimisation.

 

With that goal in mind, ServicePower recently released Boost, on the Salesforce AppExchange.

Boost provides any organisation with mobile workers beyond field service, to healthcare, financial services and sales teams, the ability to continue using their Salesforce application to manage customers and create work orders for when field based services, of any type, are needed. Then, using Boost, pass that list of work orders or tasks to ServicePower which uses our patented Artificial intelligence-based optimisation technology to produce a more productive, least costly schedule.

Boost makes schedule optimisation go far beyond only travel optimisation as it does both to achieve greater improvements in productivity, capacity and schedule compliance available to every organisation, easily, from the Salesforce AppExchange.

Start moving beyond just the CRM to after-sales service to prioritise your visits by propensity to buy, profitability on orders, or any other customer metric you feel important.

It’s also worthy to note that true optimisation is not geo-productivity or Uber-like logic. Products that claim geo-productivity or Uber capabilities do provide a mechanism to schedule a resource when a customer raises a hand for a service. So, is response time better in this scenario?

Yes, in so much as you have a worker in the field already sitting idle, you can see their proximity on a map, and send them to the new customer. It doesn’t limit the schedule costs, because it’s not taking into account the entire daily schedule. It’s reactive scheduling, which is nice if you have slack  capacity, but slack capacity costs money.

On demand scheduling is great, from a PR perspective. It doesn’t offer the proactive services customers expect from providers today.

Mobile workforce management software with optimisation does.

Boost, in particular, provides more than a point on a map. It provides an easy route to a real optimised schedule, using your existing Salesforce implementation, regardless of whether you’re managing 25 mobile workers or 1,000.

Find Boost on the Salesforce AppExchange at: http://sforce.co/2p4mKV2

 

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Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower, takes a lens to the recent spate of merger and acquisition activity amongst field service management solution providers and explores why it seems everyone is moving towards a fully integrated platform approach...

With a high velocity of M & A activity recently in the field service sector, many solution providers claim to be moving towards a “fully integrated platform” solution...

But just what does that mean and why would that be preferable to traditional best of breed solutions that tend to focus on specific functionality within field service management?

There’s a simple answer really.

It’s the customer. The customer is number one.

Customer satisfaction is the key to increasing profitability for organisations offering field based services. The analysts acknowledged this fact some time ago, and the industry has finally come around to acceptance.

 

To simplify service delivery and maximise profit, field service organisations must now consider customer satisfaction and the customer experience to be as or more important as the goal than the traditionally expected outputs from a mobile workforce management or field service management deployment.

To that end, field service organisations are looking to solution providers to offer truly end-to-end service and mobile workforce management functionality in a single cloud based platform, which addresses more than simply scheduling and mobility.

Service providers are looking for integrated self-entitlement and real time consumer communications, contract management, hybrid workforce management inclusive of optimisation and contract dispatching, warranty claim management, mobile dispatching for both employed and contracted labour, and integrated business intelligence, which increase productivity and reduce costs, while improving the customer experience and creating new ways to grow revenue from each customer.

Within the industry, solution providers have traditionally fallen into two categories. They were either a mile high and an inch deep, or a mile deep and an inch wide.

 

Mile wide solutions tend to offer more functionality to cover the spectrum from entitlement to scheduling, but failed to develop real expertise in must-have features like real time optimisation or hybrid workforce management.

So, though they offered more, they offered less, in terms of quality schedules, productivity and intelligent hybrid workforce dispatching.

Mile deep solutions tend to specialise, becoming expert in one or more functionalities, like enterprise mobility or schedule optimisation, but don’t offer end-to-end process support, like intelligent consumer portals, entitlement or warranty claims management.

As service providers realise that to grow, they need to simplify service delivery and offer more valuable services to customer to build loyalty, NPS and ultimately, more revenues long term, a single vendor solution which supports end-to-end process becomes very important.

Customers have driven service providers to offer more, and the service providers are driving solution providers, like ServicePower, to offer more, and offer best in breed functionality for the entire service process.

ServicePower realised this back in 2004.

Working with long term client, GE Appliances, we realised that offering mobile workforce software which only provided schedule and route optimisation, albeit the best optimisation on the market, wasn’t enough.

We began to develop additional functionality to provide mobile dispatching, asset tracking and most importantly SaaS hybrid workforce management. The industry realised that the best way to control service costs, while maintaining customer satisfaction was to integrate contractors within their labor models.

We also realised that managing contractors was very different than managing employees, so added functionality to intelligently select employees or contractors, dynamically selecting the best contractor based on ranking and rules logic.

We’ve also realised that ERPs, and many CRMs in fact, don’t provide the depth of service and maintenance contract management or entitlement logic needed when managing warranty reserves.

 

So, we’ve added that functionality, as well asset and inventory management.

Even more recently, we added an intelligent consumer portal which allows consumers to schedule jobs with our client’s hybrid workforces, increasing the number of digital touch points, creating a seamless, satisfying self-service experience, which increases the lifetime value of each customer by as much as 6 times.

So, are best of breed dead mobile workforce management providers dead? No. Best of breed means something different now than it did just two years ago.

To be best of breed, providers must offer end-to-end field service management capability that’s a mile high and a mile deep, to ensure every single part of the process is digital, optimised, and fast and offers more than the customer expected.

 

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Kris Oldland speaks exclusively to Marne Martin, CEO ServicePower on the recent sale of the business to Diversis and ask her what does this mean for the future direction of her company...

KO: It’s been a real period of innovation and growth for you over the last couple of years, with the launch of NexusTM plus the investment on patents such as the work you’ve done in quantum annealing. So what was it that attracted Diversis to invest in you - was it a case of they just wanted access to the growing field service sector or was it more about being in line with the direction in which you were already headed?

MM: Firstly, it was an interesting financial opportunity for them because there is a disconnect between the valuations in the US for companies that are innovating and growing, those that have a national presence, versus what we were seeing on the A market - so there was a financial rationale.

But the real thing that they ultimately believe in, is in companies that have great products, companies that have core differentiators in their market.

They’d been interested in field service for some time - as you know it’s a hot sector and when they saw the use case of what we’d been able to do with Nexus and the wider service management tools...  plus also quantum annealing and taking that towards predictive maintenance, and then spare parts forecasting in the future and thinking about the journey we’ve been on in starting our intelligent customer portal as well... it was really just too good for them to pass up. 

They’ve been really passionate about investing in us, and in pushing us to continue to develop truly great products and as such they’ve brought in operational technical advisors as well as some other consultants, who are helping us to look further and have more functions in the next generation UX/user experiences and then tying the platform functions together more seamlessly, so the user experience is better and more automated.

KO: Of course, the one question that has to be asked with any acquisition is will it be a case of business as usual under a different name, or will there be a changing of the guard in terms of personnel and direction?

MM: I told them when we were doing our due diligence, I felt that we were 75% and we were really looking for someone to get us to 100% of where we saw the opportunity in the sector not just for the current but in the future.

[quote float="left"]I felt that we were 75% and we were really looking for someone to get us to 100% of where we saw the opportunity in the sector not just for the current but in the future.

There will be perhaps some refinement, we are no longer going to be focussing generally on the smaller end of the market from now on, at least not in the US - we are refining the focus towards the mid-market and enterprise space, but that is already pretty much where we were anyway.

 

With Nexus, we’re going to be rolling that functionality out to the core product and we will be transitioning the branding so rather than have all these product names we are going to have modular functionality that are all basically connected to the Nexus mobility and Service Management platform.

So all of the new UIs will be coded in that look and feel, we’ll tie in the mobile with the angular JS front end and we will still have the robust back-end. We are making it more seamless but also more configurable. The message from Diversis is yes it’s still business as usual but they are helping us to accelerate our own trajectories.

KO: Is the recent amount of investment we have seen in the industry - with yourselves, ServiceMax, ClickSoftware and IFS all having been acquired within a period of 18 months an indication of how important service is becoming in the wider world of global commerce?

MM: Absolutely. I think there are two things, firstly there is a lot of money floating around - the only way people make money is by investing, so you do have a lot of money in private equity that they are trying to put to work and that definitely is a factor here.

[quote float="right"]Field service really is the engine for growth in a business.... If you look at CRM and ERP players they are not really doing that much true innovation

It used to be that a lot of the larger endowments or high-net worth family funds might invest in public equity but because valuations have been somewhat volatile, many of those type of investors have actually become backers of private equity funds. That gives more money to PE investors plus the expectation that they are actually going to invest. So that’s one half of the story... 

 

But the second half is that field service really is the engine for growth in a business.

If you look at CRM and ERP players they are not really doing that much true innovation and that’s where if you had the ability to drive return on investment in terms of productivity plus additional revenue in the service arm and you start looking at what we call the e-commerce opportunity - how you can actually build customer prioritisation into your service model?

 

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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…

 

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Click here to see page one of the 2017 #FSN20

 

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Nick Frank, Founder and Managing Partner Si2 Partners

Having worked as an international consultant for over 6 years, Nick founded Si2 Partners last year bringing a new approach to consultancy by offering services on demand.

Nick’s focus is on service strategy development, servitization business models, ecosystems, innovation management, service operations and service business development. He works with companies in a diverse range of industries including engineering, high volume manufacturing, equipment manufacturers and technology. A regular columnist in the trade press and a excellent speaker often to be found at industry conferences, Nick also plays a pivotal role in organising the conference sessions for the UK not-for-profit group The Service Community.

 

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Michael Blumberg, President of Blumberg Advisory Group, Inc

Michael Blumberg is the President of Blumberg Advisory Group and is a recognised expert in Field Service and Reverse Logistics in High-Technology industry.

Michael’s thought leadership, service system planning and strategy formulation are cited as having helped many organisations increase profits and he is a prolific author publishing a number of well received projects including white papers and educational video projects.

 

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Aly Pinder, Director of Member Research & Communities, The Service Council

In previous editions we had a rule that we would only include one person per organisation within the #FSN20. However, ever since Aly moved from the Aberdeen Group to The Service Council, we knew we would have to repeal the rule, as both Aly and Sumair are industry heavy weights in terms of analysis of our industry.

In his new role he will be looking to further enhance the already well established research projects undertaken by The Service Community and his addition to their team makes The Service Council one of the most important groups in the entire global field service sector.

 

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Tom Heiser, CEO, ClickSoftware

It may perhaps be unfair to comment that when Heiser took the reigns of the field service management software stalwarts ClickSoftware the company was perhaps at it’s weakest point in some years, indeed they remain a leading provider of field service management solutions at the forefront of the industry.

Yet, based on the sheer level of dominance that they once held and in light of the ever increasing quality of the competition in the field service management space, Heiser had little time to find his feet in the world of field service if he was to ensure the ClickSoftware brand remained as synonymous with delivering service excellence as it had to date - particularly in the natural uncertainty that an acquisition by a private equity firm can potentially cause. 

However, having seemingly spent little more than a few hours in his own office for the first six months as he flew around the world meeting analysts, influencers and customers alike Heiser certainly appears to have not only established a firm grasp of the industry at large but also where the future for field service management technology lies and under his guidance the outlook for the iconic ClickSoftware brand appears to be on a very positive footing once more...

 

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Marne Martin, CEO, ServicePower

With their next generation platform Nexus now firmly established within the market place ServicePower have re established themselves as a key company within the FSM solutions sector under the vision of Martin.

However, it is her focus on R&D that really continues to drive Service Power to the forefront of their sector. With a number of patents including a one focussed on quantum annealing that will see them developing cutting edge technology for the foreseeable future. Martin is also a very highly respected speaker on the international field service circuit

 

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Jim Baston, President of BBA Consulting Group Inc

Baston of BBA Consulting is the proponent of Proactive Service, and is a master when it comes to understanding the delicate relationship between service and sales and how companies can maximize that relationship to enhance profits. Author, Speaker and Consultant Baston is an intelligent and experienced leader within his field whilst being a true gentleman and pleasure to talk to, to boot.

 

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Kevin Jones Managing Director Computer Product Solutions, Panasonic Europe

Panasonic remain the undisputed leaders in the rugged space with the ToughPad and Toughbook brands synonymous with rugged computing. The Panasonic ToughBook20 is the worlds first fully rugged detachable and could just be the most perfect device for field service to date being both a tablet and a laptop.

Jones has spent a decade with Panasonic and has total responsibility for the entire ToughBook / ToughPad Products and Solutions in Europe, including Sales, Marketing, Engineering and Operations whilst also sitting concurrently on the board of Panasonic Manufacturing.

 

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Dave Yarnold, CEO, ServiceMax

Within less than a decade Yarnold has taken ServiceMax from start-up to being purchased by GE late last year for close to a Billion Dollars.

However, the meteoric rise of ServiceMax wasn’t solely about the technology. Yarnold has a true passion for the service and that passion has filtered down and shone through at all levels of the organisation, which was perhaps the secret source that put them at the top of the sector - having been recognised as the leading FSM solution provider in the most recent magic quadrant report.

Now as part of GE Digital, Yarnold has even bigger visions of how ServiceMax can play a role in building an operating system for the entire industrial sector of which service will be a key component.

Big ambitions?

Yes. But Yarnold is a man that could possibly just do it.

 

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Click here to see page three of the 2017 #FSN20

 

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