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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Field Service News (sponsored by Exel Computer Systems)
Title: Poor Relations: why you maybe overlooking profit if you overlook your service CRM 
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Synopsis:

It’s been written many times, but the further we enter into the twenty first century the closer the relationship between business and technology becomes. For the largest enterprise level companies technology is driving innovation and efficiency in equal measure across all verticals.

At the other end of the spectrum technology is empowering small and medium sized businesses to thrive, with developments such as vastly increased mobile connectivity and the power and prevalence of the devices utilising it, enabling them to be on a truly level playing field with larger more established companies for the first time in history.

And for those companies with a field service division that link between technology and operations is perhaps even closer still.

Yet one area that is overlooked is Service CRM, an often neglected cousin of the traditional CRM that is a tool primarily for the sales division.

In this white paper we will look at why overlooking Service CRM is such a potentially dangerous mistake and why it is vital your Service CRM is fully integrated into your wider system infrastructure.

Overview:

Looking at some of the key technologies being used in field service this white paper helps clarify the role of a Service SCRM in bringing sales and service closer together and opening the doors to potential missing revenue streams. Sections in this white paper, written by Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Cheif, Field Service News include:

ERP: ERP forms the bedrock of most companies system infrastructure and will typically include a number of integrated applications that a company can use to store, manage and interpret data from a variety of differing business activities, such as production planning, manufacturing, marketing, sales, inventory management and payment processing.

It is this very ability to integrate such a breadth of organisational systems and tools that made ERP systems such a vital and important tool within the enterprise.

CRM: If an ERP system is what powers the back end operations of a company, allowing it to meet the demands of existing business with optimum efficiency, then it is CRM that allows the front facing, revenue generating salesforce to perform to their maximum potential.

As with ERP, the rise of CRM came to prominence in the nineties as companies began to fully embrace the importance of both collecting and utilising customer data, thanks in part to the technology emerging to be able to do so.

MOBILE: Without question the biggest single technology to push forward the efficiency productivity of field service engineers within the last decade, potentially ever, is the dramatic rise of the smart phone and mobile computing in general.

Within the last decade smartphones have become an ever present part of our lives.

 

In field service in particular they have revolutionised the way many companies work. Mobile apps can include a whole plethora of productivity tools, from job notifications, through to knowledge sharing and perhaps most importantly job completion tools that can dramatically reduce a field engineer’s time spent on administrative duties.

CLOUD & GREATER CONNECTIVITY: However the benefits of a modern field service solution in terms of improving efficiency and productivity of our mobile workforce are not solely the result of advances in mobile computing.

Another highly significant technology that has emerged as a key enabler within modern field service systems is that of Cloud computing.

Research by Field Service News revealed that whilst currently around a quarter of field service companies were using the Cloud for their field service operations, over half of those companies that were currently still using an on premise system indicated that their next iteration of field service software would indeed be Cloud based.

DATA, DATA EVERYWHERE: So, via mobile devices we are able to give engineers the ability to easily collect vast amounts of data that they have at their fingertips, data which otherwise may go no further than the engineer’s own heads.

Meanwhile, due to the aforementioned real-time data transfer to the back office we are able to take that data and instantly have access to it across the business for further interrogation leading to greater insight.

Whether it be data that helps Research & Development teams refine their product development by identifying common device faults, or data that helps sales teams easily identify new business opportunities, the data that our field engineers are able to capture when on site is absolutely vital to a companies ability to thrive in the modern business world.

THE SERVICE CRM: And it is when we look at systems that can play an instrumental part in the distribution of this data that the often overlooked and underused Service CRM can actually play a hugely significant role.

One which in turn can be the difference between a moderately well run organisation to being best-in-class with the profit margins and revenue growth to show for it.

 

“It’s all about joining up the processes” explained Simon Spriggs, of Exel Computer Systems in a recent Field Service News podcast “Historically, many processes such as the manufacturing process and the service process were divorced.”

“If you think about a joined up process it’s all about getting these process not just as lean as possible but also as efficient as possible and that’s where a modern field service solution can really drive a business forwards” he added.

Indeed Spriggs is a man with a long history working with field service solutions and for him Service CRM is an absolutely vital tool that we should not be overlooking and in the latter half of this white paper we bring you more from Spriggs on why Service CRM is such a key tool to any field service company.

 

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Field Service News podcast. This month Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland and Paul Sparkes of Advanced Field Service discuss the findings of the latest Field Service News research which assessed the mobility tools being used by field service companies today.

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Missed the research report being discussed in this podcast? Click here to download

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Astea
Title: Forging a service and sales partnership
Download: Click here to download the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

The wall between sales and service activities is crumbling within many companies. Once largely viewed as a cost centre, the role of the service organisation has steadily evolved as companies recognize its potential as a source of new revenues and a valuable tool in strengthening customer loyalty.

However, there is often a disconnect between the service and sales organisations. Service technicians often serve as the face of the company, spending much of their time directly interacting with customers. They are potentially a valuable source of new sales leads, able to spot opportunities for new product sales or competitive product replacements, offer service contracts to clients, and even cross-sell/up-sell products or services. Most companies are not fully taking advantage of this potential sales leads stream

This white paper outlines the potential sources of new revenue enabled by better integrating service and sales activities, discuss the challenges of realising this revenue, and provides information on the tools, software,
and strategies that top-performing companies utilise to grow that revenue.

Overview:

The ability to leverage information coming from the field service organisation to drive sales opportunities with new and existing customers will be a critical competitive differentiator moving forward. Companies that leave their sales and service organisations technologically or operationally separated could be leaving substantial revenue on the table.

 

However, according to The Service Council, of the 55% of companies that are not utilising their service teams for sales, most report that this is because the technicians lack training, lack the skill set or incentives to sell, or the companies prefer that they don’t sell at all.  Service organisations also may lack the tools to turn those leads into revenue. The Service Council reports that 17% of service organisations still rely on paper, while another 19% don’t have any tools with which to capture leads.

Two types of service revenue

There are two ways that service creates new revenue. One is through direct sales of service offerings  from existing service contracts, non-contract service, new contract sales, and parts sales. The second is by generating direct revenue via warranty sales and other value-added services.

Breaking down barriers

Many of the chief obstacles to meeting new service revenue objectives are both structural and technological. Many companies are not currently structured properly to foster better collaboration between service and sales.

Technology can also play a role. The Service Council says 53% of companies lack real-time visibility into service performance and potential revenue opportunities: traditional paper-based service management processes make it very difficult to communicate potential sales leads and new opportunities back to the sales teams.[quote float="right"]Many companies are not currently structured properly to foster better collaboration between service and sales.

Service technicians often lack the tools to identify and document these opportunities, or to act on them while they are in front of the customers.

 

Keys to better service/sales collaboration

Linking sales and service requires a mix of operational changes and technology.[ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. The ability to accept payment in the field greatly expands the sales potential for the service force.
2. Companies that do leverage the service teams to generate new sales leads typically have dedicated teams focused on service sales, and create sales quotas for the service organisations.
3. Top performers also train service agents on lead identification and sales management
4. The profile of service technicians is changing: technicians are hired also on their sales skills and experience. Some companies are hiring agents with more sales experience, and then investing their training budget on service/technical skills rather than the other way around.
5.  Should the service team should be selling directly or simply gathering leads? The decision will depend your company’s business, culture, and the type of service agents you currently employ.
6. How do your customers view your service team?  If the service technicians are simply seen as people who arrive, fix problems, and leave, then introducing a sales function may not yield the best results. If the agents are already serving as trusted advisors to the customers, however, they may receive more positive reception to sales activities.
7. Evaluating the skill sets of the service force is also important. Can your technicians sell? Are they interested in doing so? What tools, technology, and infrastructure need to be in place that will help them sell effectively? Asking your technicians to sell without giving them the tools to do the job correctly will not yield new revenues.
8. Don’t let the sales strategy compromise the work your service team is performing. It may still be more appropriate to send leads to a dedicated sales team for follow-up.

In order to leverage the service organisation to increase revenue effectively, companies will need to foster collaborative environments that will encourage the service teams to generate leads for the existing sales forces. That can be done by providing technicians with mobile technology that allows them to quickly and easily capture and communicate those leads, developing incentive programs that reward lead generation, and creating business process flows that ensure the leads will be followed up on quickly.

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Click Software
Title: The Cloud: Up where customer service for the field belongs
Download: Click here to download the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

The Harris Interactive Customer Experience Impact report revealed that 86% of consumers have quit doing business with a company because of a poor customer experience—up 59% in four years. Other research has revealed it takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for one negative experience, whilst 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with the same organization again. This white paper discusses how leveraging cloud solutions to optimise mobile workforces can improve the experiences of customers while lowering operational and IT costs. More field service management software is now available in the Cloud making it more accessible for SMEs and an alternative to heavy IT investments for large service organisations

Overview:

Customer complaints: What you hear is only the tip of the Iceberg. Many service companies don’t realize it when service levels are running low. In an increasingly savvy and connected market where information is readily available and easily accessible, customer service is often the only discerning difference between competing businesses. Investing in customer satisfaction is not only important but imperative for the long term survival of businesses especially where commoditisation has taken place

• Process improvement – to ensure prompt customer service and correct resource assignments
• Workforce development – to give the staff the opportunity to learn new skills
• Automation – rather than relying on error-prone and time-consuming manual processes
• Cultural changes – creating a working environment that stimulates the entire staff

Field personnel: you most valuable players

Only with real-time data can everyone shine. Providing real-time data across the entire organization is key to enhancing the customer experience. All levels of the service organization need actionable information to enhance how efficiently the field-service team operates and to improve experiences delivered to customers.

Silver linings within the Cloud

Cloud-based solutions open new doors for field service companies of all sizes by allowing for the quick, flexible adoption of new technologies that previously proved to be too expensive, risky and time-consuming to deploy.

Delivered via the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, cloud solutions provide several advantages over traditional on-premise solutions: inlcluding PAYG, rapid deployment, immediate ROI and free upgrades. In field workforce management, cloud-based solutions typically allow companies to achieve productivity gains of up to 20% and return on their investment within 12 months. The cloud approach gives businesses the opportunity to replace high, up-front capital infrastructure expenses with low, predictable costs, while also delivering other key benefits:

The service delivery chain

Cloud-based mobile workforce management solutions cover every step of the service chain—from planning and forecasting, to real-time intelligent scheduling, shift management, mobility and execution—underpinned by extensive user-defined analytics and dashboards to provide clear and intuitive reports. Optimised scheduling: Advanced resource scheduling and optimisation tools provide the main interface for dispatchers, supervisors and managers. Service companies can increase the efficiency of their workforce with by combining a powerful cloud-based scheduling and optimisation engine with strong decision support tools.

• Multiple scheduling options and policies
• Real-time optimisation immediately responsive to changes
• Optimised scheduling using multiple factors, people, crews, contractors, assets and complexities
• Street-level route optimisation
• Intelligent and flexible appointment booking
• Workflow dispatch and progress updates

[/unordered_list] 

Mobility that connects entire teams. 

Mobile enterprise field execution software should allow both field workers and dispatchers the convenience of real-time communications and full end-to-end visibility. By using real-time mobility, field workers can update dispatchers; they can update customers, thereby benefiting everyone with true connectivity and better productivityReal-time information, when and where you need it. View jobs, service histories, customer information.[unordered_list style="bullet"]

• Mobile solutions should be compatible leading devices and operating systems, through all service workflows, and with 24/7 availability
• Mobility is driven by apps. Don’t reinvent the wheel – build your business process using ready-made apps without having to code or go through a lengthy upgrade process
• The enterprise mobility solution must offer a robust and scalable infrastructure that can adapt to the needs of the business and its users.
• Cutting-edge capabilities include artificial intelligence and automation that anticipate and act proactively upon user’s needs

Real-time and historic service performance

Look at the entire service delivery chain - before, during and after the moment of service - and the collected business metrics that result from each moment. Make key performance metrics delivers strategic value to service organizations by placing graphical, easy-to-understand key performance metrics directly into the hands of executives and service managers. Each user chooses which actionable data to report based on their role and business challenges, from the C-suite to front line supervisors.

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Click here to download the white paper

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Whilst it may seem like we are taking giant leaps forward in field service right now, it's the many small steps that have led us to where we are writes Kris Oldland, in his May/June editorial leader.

One small step, one giant leap.

I sometimes wish I had been around when Neil Armstrong had uttered his immortal phrase. But if I had then perhaps I wouldn’t be reporting on what I truly believe is an equally important part of history.

We truly are living in an age of unprecedented technological advancement. Parallels are drawn with the industrial revolution and whilst some may baulk at such grandiose comparisons, personally I think history will show this to be an age that eclipses the shift from arable to industrial, an age that eclipses the space race, an age where our technology eventually becomes an integral part of who we are and of how we define ourselves as species.

But lets think back on those famous words of the world’s most famous astronaut.

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

As I look through this issue of Field Service News I see so many giant leaps that are the result of many small steps forward. To begin there is my own feature looking at the Field Engineer’s Toolkit of 2020. In this I look at technologies I believe will become common in the not so distant future.

Five years ago each of these technologies would have seemed like the product of some outlandish, futurist fantasy. Yet all of the technologies listed are actually the result of the small steps forward that proceeded them.

Wearables for example are a hot topic right now, but they wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the smart phone, which in turn wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for WAP. 3D printing, one of the most exciting and futuristic technologies around, is some forty years in the making. The Internet of Things is now coming of age but medical device company Elekta were shipping their devices with 56K Modems twenty years ago.

Des Evans, Former Chairman of MAN trucks, one of those companies that is often held up as an example of both a disruptive company embracing technology and a manufacturer evolving into a service oriented organisation, sums this up perfectly. “We were an overnight success ten years in the making” he explained when talking about the way MAN reinvented the road logistics sector.

Another company that are placed in the same bracket as MAN is Alstom, yet when I spoke to Alex Bill in their Power Generation division again the hot topic of servitization and outcome based services is old hat for these folks. They grasped the nettle, and they took their small steps towards a customer centric, advanced services model many, many years ago. The result? Many of their competitors are now trying to emulate their success, but are a giant leap behind.

 

Meanwhile, Professor Andy Neely writing for Field Service News for the first time, outlines his recent experiences in China where a number of manufacturing companies are also making giant leaps forward as they try to use service to position themselves as sector leaders. The moral of the story? Those companies that put their customers at the heart of their thinking are going to always come out ahead of the game.

I love the quote from Hewlett Packard for example where they state they are now the largest paper distributor in the world. They used to sell printers and they were focused on what they did and they did it well. For many years they tried to educate the world as to why they were the number one choice when it came to buying a printer. Then one day they realised their customers didn’t really care about printers. Really all they cared about was printing their documents in a cost effective yet high quality fashion.

So they stopped selling printers and started selling the ability to print.

A giant leap? Yes. But one made from very simple small steps.

Another example of small steps and giant leaps in this issue is the story behind IFS. I was lucky enough to be invited to their World Conference a few weeks ago in Boston.

It was a great trip. Not only because the city of Boston is steeped in history. Not only because I watched my newly inherited team the Red Sox win in my first ever baseball match. Not even because I had a beer in the Cheers bar where Ted Danson came to fame, where everybody new my name.

It was a great trip because I got to witness what I honestly think is the true coming of age of a company, who I believe, will be a significant influence in the next few years both in the Field Service industry and beyond.

Whilst the audience was definitely already onside, it was a bit like attending an SNP rally in Glasgow, the fact of the matter is that IFS Applications 9 generated some serious excitement. There is some very cleverly designed functionality and some serious architecture going on underneath (Especially the in-memory stuff that comes later this year) but once again this is one leap forwards that is built on a number of smaller steps.

When I spoke exclusively with IFS Managing Director Paul Massey I asked him to outline the key milestones in his time with the company and as we talked it through I realised that whilst the milestones like their one millionth customer were important, actually it has been a case of steady, well placed steps that has led them to where they are today. But now with the backing of partners like Microsoft and Accenture they are geared up for one more giant leap forward in the near future I feel...

In our recent webinar run in partnership with ServiceMax, we explored two of the biggest topics in field service in 2015.

Firstly Nick Frank, Principal of Frank Partners explored how field service companies can harness the potential of IoT.

Whilst many of us may have heard the examples of the likes of Rolls Royce, General Electric or Alstom being held up as key case studies of how IoT can improve the way field service operates, Frank was able to bring us some really interesting examples of smaller companies harnessing the technology to improve their workflow busting the myth that such an approach is the sole domain of the blue chip international companies.

Our second speaker, Patrice Eberline, Vice President of Global Customer Transformation for ServiceMax looked at perhaps the greatest challenge field service companies have faced in decades. The threat of an ageing workforce.

However, as Eberline explained whilst there is undoubtedly a potential crisis looming, there is also an excellent opportunity. Whilst the baby boomer generation is preparing to walk out of the door, ma new generation, the millennials, are potentially a perfect fit for field service. In her presentation Eberline outlined exactly what traits millennials have that makes them so suitable for field service and what we need to do attract them to work for our companies and to field service in general.

 

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In the first part of this exclusive research project run in partnership with Advanced Field Service, we looked at the types of mobile devices being used in the field and why it seems that the days of pen and paper are becoming increasingly numbered. In the second of this four part series we look at whether there is a future for wearables in field service, are devices being used rugged or consumer and has BYOD worked and in part three we looked at how engineers react and respond to the mobility tools they are given.

Now in the final part of this series we turn our attention to what is field service professionals expect from a field service mobile application

There is also a white paper accompanying this series, with even further insights, which you can download here

Operating systems

Having taken a look at whose making the decisions lets return to the decisions being made.

Earlier in this series we looked at the choice between rugged or consumer grade products but what about the software?

Given the earlier finding that the over half of companies are using multiple digital devices it makes sense that the around a third (32%) of companies state they have mixed multiple OS’s in use amongst their field engineers.

 

Aside from these companies however the most popular OS is now Android which alongside the 16% of companies using Apple’s iOS is another clear indication of the rise in prominence of both Tablets and Smart-phones as tools being provided to field service engineers.

However, despite giving away ground to Apple and Android in the mobile market, Window’s still hold onto a relatively strong market share of the OS’s being used in field service with 23% of companies stating that this is their OS of choice.

Also similarly as with the figures around laptops maybe being distorted somewhat by the amount of companies using multiple devices, the same logic would also likely see Window’s market share increase as the majority of laptops would be on a Windows OS of some form.

Going Native

But in an age of HTML5 and Cloud based SaaS solutions how important is an OS anyway?

Well for a very large majority of companies (86%) it seems that operating systems are at the very least a consideration in the selection of a device, whilst for 41% of companies it is a very important factor.

When we reflect back to the worries identified earlier in this report around integration problems then perhaps this is understandable. Keeping HTML5 and web based applications in mind however, is it important for a field service app to be native to any given OS?

Again the majority of our respondents suggested that it is. 

In fact over two-thirds (69%) of companies felt that it was important that a field service app is native to the OS it is running on, whilst 35% felt it was very important. In contrast just 11% felt that it was not important at all.

 

Of course a native app will not only appear far more polished it can often have far richer functionality as it is designed to work in tandem with both the operating system and the device itself.

And our research shows that expectations for field service apps is now extremely high.

Access to account information, access to technical documents, visibility into parts availability, delivery of automatic status updates, recording of time sheets, photo and signature capture and data security were expected as part of a field service app by more than 60% of our respondents.

What we want in a field service app – everything!

However, when it came to the functionality that was required in a field service app the most important element by far was “Access work schedule and complete jobs on site” which almost two thirds of companies (63%) placed amongst the most important functions they require in an app.

Aside from this though almost all other functions had a similar level of responses with “access to technical documents” being the second most popular requirement with 42% of companies identifying this as important to them followed by “delivery of automatic status updates”(41%), “access to account information”(39%), “Photo/signature capture” (35%),“recording of time sheets” (35%), “visibility into parts availability” (27%), and “data security” (23%).

 

Finally lets look at why companies invest in field service solutions.

What is definitely encouraging is that the most common reason for companies upgrading their existing systems is to improve the service they are delivering to their customers.

I am a firm believer in putting the customers at the heart of all we do in field service and it appears I am not alone in this ethos.

However the good news is that often by doing so we can see other benefits. One of these is improving productivity which was the second most commonly cited reason for investing in a new field service management solution.

This was followed by the “reduction of paperwork” and “cost savings” being the third and fourth most popular reasons for a new system while “Automation of routine tasks” was the fifth most popular reason cited. Finally despite the often painted Big Brother impact of a field service solution, visibility into workers was actually the least common of the reasons given for introducing a new field service management solution.

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Our next webinar on the 20^th May at 4pm BST which will look at two of the key discussions in field service currently. Click here to register now!

Featuring exclusive sessions from both Nick Frank who will be looking at how we can harness IoT in field service and Patrice Eberline of ServiceMax who will be sharing her insight into the challenges of an ageing workforce and how we replace this talent with a Millennial generation of workers this webinar promises to be a valuable event for field service professionals looking to the future.

In the first part of this series that looks ahead to the webinar and gives us some insight into what we can expect from the sessions we explored the dangers field service companies are facing when it comes to an ageing workforce and the potential knowledge leak that we could face as our accomplished and experienced field service technicians begin to edge closer to retirement age.

Now in this the second part of the feature we take a closer look at the generation that will be replacing them and try to understand just what it is about the so-called millennials that makes them tick and why they could just be a perfect fit with the field service industries.

There are a lot of traits that define millennials, and despite the sometimes negative perception of them, Time Magazine famously running a cover defining them as the Me, Me , Me generation for example, actually many of these traits are highly positive.

As Eberline exlpains there are perhaps three key traits that truly apply to both the modern workplace and more pertinantly modern field service as we march forward from 2015 and beyond

“The first trait is that they love technology.” Eberline asserts. “In fact Millenials have grown up with technology so much that most only have a cell phone, no landline at all. They have also fully embraced social media as a truly integrated part of their lives”

Indeed there are many statistics which certainly back up this assertion.

52% of Millenials have over 500 facebook friends, whilst 91% make all of the check-ins that you see whether it be going to a concert, a restaurant or applying to a job public to there network.

 

“This is an expansive group that loves technology” Eberline continues “Beyond this, this is a group that has access to millions of pieces of digital content and they are consuming this content eagerly on both tablets and phones. Google is where they live” she adds

“What is truly important to consider” Eberline comments “is that they tend to believe that technology can be the key that brings people and society together”

If we consider the fact that in just five years, not a particularly long way away at all in fact, millenials will comprise of 50% of the workforce. So it is truly imperative that we really begin to understand their way of thinking, and we start to do so now.

Without doing so, we may really struggle when it comes to adapting what is one of the biggest generational shifts in work force personel for many, many decades.

And it is not just a matter of the technology this generation are born seemingly ready to use. The second key trait Eberline identifies is that the millennial generation have a “truly boundless energy and they genuinely want to make a visible impact on everything around them, be it their work, their community and even on society in general.”

“This is a confident group” Eberline states “They’ve been reared in a world where they’ve been given constant attention and support”

Indeed millennials are shown to place a higher priority on helping people in need than on high paying job roles.

Indeed the council of economic advisors in October last year published a report that highlighted this benevolent side to the millennials nature The report went as far as to claim that Millennials are much more likely than any previous generation to state making a contribution to society is very important to them.

 

Again as we return to their potential role within the field service industries this could be another highly important factor to consider.

The third trait that Eberline highlights is that millennials are highly collaborative and creative creatures by default.

“They truly do live in a world of We rather than a world of Me” Eberline expands “and because of that they crave a life of rich experiences based on relationships rather than leverage. They value the creativity and they value the feedback they get for bringing that creativity to the workplace.”

With these three traits it is relatively easy to build a compelling case for millennials to be a perfect profile of candidate for the field service industries.

As Eberline explains “If you think about these three traits technology, impact in society and creativity millennials are a very, very good fit for field service if they are cultivated, coached and developed appropriately.

So as fears of losing both talent and knowledge loom largely on the field service horizon it appears that whilst our young knights in shining armour may be more likely to brandish a smartphone than a spanner. And whilst they may not have all of the answers it’s not a problem – theres almost certainly an app for that.

Look out for the next part of this series where we look at how we can attract this new workforce of millennials to the field service industries.

 

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Want to know more? Join Patrcie Eberline and hear her presentation on millennials in field service PLUS Nick Frank’s session on how we can harness IoT in field service for our next webinar on the 20^th May @4pm BST. You can register for the webinar by clicking this link.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Kirona
Title: Six steps to being a leader - the field service checklist
Download: Click here to access the white paper
By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

Field workforce management software enables organisations with a mobile workforce to significantly improve their operational performance. The State of Service Management 2015: Connect To Your Customers report by Aberdeen's Aly Pinder found that best-in-class field service organisations achieve on average a 14.4% year-on-year improvement in workforce productivity compared to a 4.1% industry average.

This white paper looks at six key steps that field service companies must take in order to reach these heights themselves and establish their organisations as leaders amongst their competitors.

Overview:

Topics within the white paper include: 

• Optimising resource planning: Field resource planning is complex. If you have 100 workers carrying out 5 jobs a day, then that are 10,000,000,000 (1 billion) possible combinations of how those jobs could be allocated. There may also be a myriad of additional scheduling criteria such as worker skills/trade, certification required (and the validity dates), languages spoken, job time frame (appointment slot/site access), the region/ geography, the worker’s experience, parts, materials, equipment required, and the list goes on.  No human planner can possibly consider all these scenarios and determine which is financially the best option with the highest chance of customer satisfaction. It is therefore, not surprising that over two-thirds of Best-In-Class service organisations leverage software for Optimised Resource Planning.
•  Making and keeping appointments: Compliance to your work schedule is critical for two reasons, first it ensures you are working in the planned most optimum way, but second and more importantly, it means you are delivering against commitments to customers. For work types that require a customer appointment, the complexity of scheduling increases. Now an organisation needs to schedule work by considering two diaries; that of the workforce and the customer. Appointments are also disruptive to the customers, so keeping them is essential to achieving high customer satisfaction
• Connecting with the mobile workforce: Equipping field workers with mobile devices is a well-trodden path, however, whether through limitation in mobile working applications or lack of integration, we tend to find that most field service organisations are not maximising the full potential of connecting the field workforce.
• Real time tracking and dynamic scheduling: One of the biggest challenges for any organisation is how to track and monitor field-based activity and to manage the emerging day. Exceptions will always arise, whether through an overrun, no-access or emergency work, the skill is being able to take this in your stride and be able to dynamically reschedule work to take into account the unexpected while ensuring you continue to work to the most optimum schedule.
• Analysis & Continuous improvement: Standing still is not an option for field service organisations. We see continual change from our clients’ including customer demands, executive level priorities and changes in the workforce – all of which requires them to analyse and continually improve their operation. Knowledge is key. Understanding every aspect of your field service operation, gaining insight into not only what is happening, but why this is happening, and then being able to take action on this insight.
• Integration leads to automation: The more staff ‘touch points’ that are required in a service process, the greater its inefficiency. Not only do manual processes create a drain on labour and therefore an increased cost, they are error prone and they create timescale lags. Workforce management software provides an opportunity to avoid this by automating key activities in the service management chain of processes. The more 3rd party systems that are integrated into automated workflows, the greater the benefit to the organisation.

 

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Click here to access the white paper

 

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Click here to find out more about Kirona in the Field Service Directory 

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