Koenig and Bauer were an organisation who showed excellent agility, innovation and leadership during the pandemic. Here, Lukas Fahnroth explains how the embedded culture within the organisation helped them pivot and adapt so quickly.
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Jun 23, 2020 • Features • Digital Transformation • Salesforce • The Field Service Podcast • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy • michael kuebel • customer centricity
Koenig and Bauer were an organisation who showed excellent agility, innovation and leadership during the pandemic. Here, Lukas Fahnroth explains how the embedded culture within the organisation helped them pivot and adapt so quickly.
Want to hear more? Head over to our podcast library @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts and look for Series Five, Episode Three 'Adaptability, Customer-Centricity and Recovery ft. Lukas Fahnroth & Michael Kuebel'
Field Service Management, Driven By Customer service, Empowered by Digital Transformation
The story of Koenig and Bauer and how their early adoption of a digital transformation strategy allowed them to ride the troubling times brought on by the Covid-19 lockdowns, makes an excellent case study for what best practice can look like in field service. In a recent episode of the Field Service Podcast, Lucas Fahnroth discussed exactly what the culture was within the organisation and how they had been able to pivot during the crisis so effectively. Indeed, companies like Koenig and Bauer have led the way by showing how having an agile mindset within an organisation can be an essential component in success both in times of plenty and in times of famine.
But just how did Koenig and Bauer develop such an internal skill-set and what are the key attributes that empower them to be able to adapt so swiftly when presented with a seemingly insurmountable challenge?
Koenig and Bauer is the oldest manufacturer of printing presses in the world," Fanroth begins.
"That means we've got a 200 plus year history of constant innovation and constant pivoting, which from my standpoint has only been possible because Koenig and Bauer has constantly looked after our customers and put the customer in the centre of everything we do. The Covid-19 crisis really hit us obviously across our worldwide service operation. So it took a lot of care to work out how to deal with this in order to continue our 200 plus year success story of constant innovation and constant development.
"The way we at Koenig and Bauer see this crisis is actually as a sort of litmus test of our leadership where it really takes a clear vision in terms of not only how we see the crisis but also how we see our own role in these times of adversity and uncertainty. One thing is for certain - and that is that we will be judged by our response for years to come," Fahnroth adds.
"We've produced 100,000 face shields and are donating them as we speak. That's something internally we've done in order to give back to our community..."
- Lucas Fahnroth, Koenig and Bauer
"On the one hand we will be judged internally by our employees and also internal stakeholders, but also externally by our customers. Customer centricity means that we as a company need to be a good partner to our customers, and especially during those difficult times it's necessary to be a good partner and what we've done is to communicate this very early on to the stakeholders involved.
One of the things that shines through in the wider discussion with Fahnroth and Salesforce's Michael Kuebel who was also part of the discussion, is the importance of communication. As Fahnroth explains; "We've talked a lot to our customers. We've compiled a package of Covid-19 response actions to help our customers and to really fulfil that role of a good partner in these challenging times.
"We've made special offers to our customers, we've given free access to our analytics tools and our customer community. We have stayed in constant contact with our customers, and we really try to deliver those individual responses and those individual aids that our customers need in such times. We've extended our hotline services and we've brought in more subject matter experts."
While the focus on customer-centricity is important, even crucial, the truth remains however, that such an approach is far more easily facilitated by a modern digitalised approach to field service delivery.
"We have also digitalised the process," Fanhroth explains. "A lot of those actions have been developed or were being developed before the crisis - we actually had a couple of them already in place. But what Covid-19 did for us was really supercharge this development and the market launch for some of those features. For example, our hotline services have been extended and we've been working with video support for our customers for quite some time. However, we've really seen the spike in demand for those actions and we are really seeing adoption grow and further develop with those actions.
"So facing our customers, we've really seen a lot of those products, a lot of those features and services we've sometimes already had in place, be supercharged," he adds.
There is certainly a sense of community leadership that appears to also underpin much of the thinking within Koenig and Bauer.
"Coming back to our general strategy, as I said, we have to also keep in mind all our internal stakeholders," Fahnroth comments.
"So in order to fill this role of a real leadership, we've also thought a lot about our communities. Koenig and Bauer has used a lot of production and demo facilities and free capacities we've had to produce face shields for example. We've produced 100,000 face shields and are donating them as we speak. That's something internally we've done in order to give back to our community."
The very way in which Koenig and Bauer operate is also underpinned by a 200 year history of innovation, exactly as Fahnroth asserts and it is within that ingenuity that it would appear the secrets of success might lie.
"We've seen the way work looks like now at Koenig and Bauer," Fahnroth states. "We adopted G-Suite at the end of last year and we've seen a huge change in how people at Koenig and Bauer work now. It really is a change towards a more mobile way of working and a lot more collaborative. It's really changed a lot of the way communication and work at Koenig and Bauer looks and we're really glad to see that change of mindset," he adds.
Further Reading:
- Find the full episode of this interview and the entire back catalogue of The Field Service Podcast @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
- Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on Field Service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
- Connect with Michael Kuebel on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kuebel-fieldservice/
- Follow Michael Kuebel on Twitter @ twitter.com/michaelkuebel
- Find out more about Salesforce Field Service Solutions @ www.salesforce.com/uk/campaign/sem/service-cloud/
- Follow Salesforce on twitter @ twitter.com/salesforce
- Find out more about Koenig & Bauer @ www.koenig-bauer.com
- Follow Koenig and Bauer @ twitter.com/koenigandbauer
Jun 18, 2020 • Features • Salesforce • The Field Service Podcast • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy • Customer Satisfaction and Expectations • michael kuebel • customer centricity
Micheal Kuebel of Salesforce has been working with a number of companies to help them overcome the challenges of the global lockdowns. In this excerpt of the Field Service Podcast Kuebel identifies four key traits that he has seen emerge as common...
Micheal Kuebel of Salesforce has been working with a number of companies to help them overcome the challenges of the global lockdowns. In this excerpt of the Field Service Podcast Kuebel identifies four key traits that he has seen emerge as common success factors amongst those companies he has seen adapt quickest and most successfully to the Covid-19 challenge.
Want to hear more? Head over to our podcast library @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts and look for Series Five, Episode Three 'Adaptability, Customer-Centricity and Recovery ft. Lukas Fahnroth & Michael Kuebel'
Leadership, Customer-Centricity, Empowerment, Agility
There has been a lot of innovation on show of late. Of course, much of it has been born out of necessity as companies have frantically tried to adapt to the realities of a global lockdown as we deal as a planet with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yet, undoubtedly some companies have taken the challenges of the pandemic far more comfortably in their stride than others. Have there been some shared fundamental tenets of how those who adapted best were able to do so?
Michael Kuebel, Senior Director of Product Management, Salesforce has been working closely with many companies including Koenig and Bauer who were an excellent example of a company that was able to show agility and ingenuity in equal measure as they pivoted and adapted to the new scenario of a Covid-19 infested world. He certainly believes there are some shared attributes amongst those companies who showed the same levels of resilience that Koenig and Bauer did.
"We see basically four kinds of success factors when we talk to customers and see how they master this most turbulent of markets," Kuebel explained on the Field Service Podcast.
"Number one is strong leadership. We saw that when we talk to our customers and ask, 'how did you cope with the crisis?' We saw a common thread of companies establishing a clear understanding of customers and safety first. It was a time to come up with a complex strategy, it was a time for these simple clear directives.
"For all of the companies that we worked with, there was a focus on making sure their customers remained operational, and making sure that their employees, customers, their families and the society stayed safe. They execute this latest shift through a much more focused visibility. When in the past, they were looking at reporting cycles of a month, now it's more once a day or even intra-daily visibility. They need those KPIs right now, because it's such a volatile situation.
"Also, we saw that strong leadership must also lift the company through being a role model, creating trust and of course, making fact based decisions," Kuebel added.
"You need to make sure that your people are enabled, that they have the tools and they have the knowledge to make decisions when in the field..."
- Michael Kuebel, Salesforce
Indeed, this has been echoed through much of the reporting Field Service News has done on the topic and it does appear that there is a strong correlation between those organisations who were able to act swiftly but from a position of data-driven insight and those organisations that coped best with the lockdown scenario. Another strong link amongst such companies is also the willingness to have open and ongoing customer dialogue.
"The second aspect I mentioned, customer centricity," concurs Kuebel.
"We see customer engagement very much in focus. For practicality reasons at this time, we all need to enable our customers to help themselves better. That way they were creating a digital journey that the customer actually said, well, that's actually even effortless for me, it works and it's helping me stay productive. That is only possible if you have a 360 degree view on the customer and that you have processes that are centred around the customer.
"Then there is empowerment," Kuebel continues. "You need to make sure that your people are enabled, that they have the tools and they have the knowledge to make decisions when in the field. I think especially this factor of empowerment has been something that I think has received an enormous boost within the last couple of weeks during the crisis, just look at the amount of companies that suddenly have home office as the new normal - that was never a plan and now it works and it will be very difficult to turn this back.
"Once you create that level of trust, and you see that people are effective, even when they are not in the office, this is something that is there to stay. However, you need to have the right tools to enable people to work with them. You need to know if you have an on-premise solution, you have no chance in virtualising a call centre overnight, but with a cloud solution, the right tools, the right knowledge and the right information, it's no big deal to do that. We have a couple of customers that were virtualising their dispatching calls and jobs literally within hours."
The final factor that Kuebel lists is perhaps the secret sauce that separates those companies who are best-in class and the rest of the pack.
"Last but not least, you need this agile mindset and an agile platform that allows you to easily adapt to basically go into these MVP (minimum viable product) situations and roll it out with the view that it's good enough to stay afloat - and then, we see we can develop from there. When I look at Koenig and Bauer for example, when I talk to them, when I talk to their management, there's a very, very clear leadership. The way that they communicate with their customers, the predominant mindset is around customer centricity, agility and empowerment. It was therefore, no surprise to me that Koenig and Bauer were one of the companies that are able to manage through the crisis relatively well."
Further Reading:
- Find the full episode of this interview and the entire back catalogue of The Field Service Podcast @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
- Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on Field Service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
- Connect with Michael Kuebel on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kuebel-fieldservice/
- Follow Michael Kuebel on Twitter @ twitter.com/michaelkuebel
- Find out more about Salesforce Field Service Solutions @ www.salesforce.com/uk/campaign/sem/service-cloud/
- Follow Salesforce on twitter @ twitter.com/salesforce
- Find out more about Koenig & Bauer @ www.koenig-bauer.com
- Follow Koenig and Bauer @ twitter.com/koenigandbauer
Jun 16, 2020 • Features • Digital Transformation • Salesforce • The Field Service Podcast • Covid-19 • michael kuebel
Michael Kuebel of Salesforce talks to the Kris Oldland, Field Service News about the massive lens the pandemic has shone on the need for digital transformation in the field service sector and how the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation
Michael Kuebel of Salesforce talks to the Kris Oldland, Field Service News about the massive lens the pandemic has shone on the need for digital transformation in the field service sector and how the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation
Want to hear more head over to our podcast library @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts and look for Series Five, Episode Three 'Adaptability, Customer-Centricity and Recovery ft. Lukas Fahnroth & Michael Kuebel'
Digital Transformation - The Silver Lining of Covid-19?
One of the major upshots and a significant silver lining to all of the hardship we have been through in the last few months is the major acceleration of digital transformation projects across all industries within the field service sector.
But just how much has digital transformation changed in terms of the magnitude and importance of the programs that we were all undertaking in some form prior to the COVID-19 pandemic?
But how have these projects changed? Just how dramatically have they been accelerated and what does that mean for the field service sector?
One man who has a deep level of experience of digital transformation within the field service sector is Michael Kuebel, Senior Director of Product Management, Salesforce. With an impressive career spanning both sides of the field service sector, with various senior field service management roles as well helping other field service organisations with their own digitalisation journey in his role with Salesforce, Kuebel has an ingrained knowledge of the role modern digital solutions can play in enhancing service delivery.
"The key word here is how do we understand digital transformation”, Kuebel commented on a recent episode of the Field Service Podcast.
"Where does the digitalisation journey actually start? You know, when we approach our customers, especially on the field service side, very often the predominant setup from the past involves very siloed organisations in terms of applications but also in terms of processes. So you may have a service call centre that doesn't have too much information about the customer because it might be disconnected to sales. You may have a customer that has one or maximum two channels so you can either call or send an email but hardly any portals or tracking.
"I think if COVID-19 told us something, it is that the most important translation of digital transformation is to have the customer in the middle. Essentially, to have customer success as the paramount target behind all digitalisation efforts..."
-Michael Kuebel, Salesforce
"Then on the other side of the equation you have engineers - that in some places until recently even we're still outgoing with pen and paper and with only a very rough understanding what they are supposed to do. By this I mean they would have no information about asset history or even customer background or customer understanding. This is something that has been widely understood and so in many companies [these silos] has been the initiation for saying we need to go into a digital transformation in field service as well.
"Very often we see that field service is one of the last silos to overcome, just because it has been very much seen as a pure technical function. These were the guys that repair something if it's broken. But most companies now understand that field service has a different role. It has the role of creating revenue and profitability and has a super important role on customer experience and the customer journey. In fact, it is developing into one of the main, if not the main USP within an organisation.
"Service is one of the main reasons customers stay loyal to a brand or a product and that's understood by many organisations. This is why I think the digitalisation journey has started already in most organisations a couple of years ago," Kuebel adds.
However, while many if not all of us were on the digital transformation journey in one shape or another before the pandemic, the acceleration of such projects has been dramatic as a result of the necessity for new thinking during a period of ongoing uncertainty as global borders came crashing down and the lockdowns ensued. However, Kuebel believes there is another even more important learning we can take away from the last few months.
"I think if COVID-19 told us something, it is that the most important translation of digital transformation is to have the customer in the middle. Essentially, to have customer success as the paramount target behind all digitalisation efforts," he explained.
"We want to make sure that our customers are in the middle and we have a 360 degree view of them. They can book engineers, track engineers, find the data online through an app or through chat or WhatsApp etc.
“We must have intelligent scheduling optimisation and the customer must have visibility on where the engineer is. Equally, the engineer himself must have visibility on all the customer history, the asset history, and access to information and knowledge. So they also have a 360 degree view around the customer, including being connected via devices and so on.
"This has all been on the long list of strategy before Covid-19 but the virus told us basically to fast forward a couple of years within a couple of weeks, and make all these things happen. I've seen so many examples where customers have been putting something on track that they actually were planning for the long term and just launched it."
This is an excellent insight as one of the needs for solutions today, has resulted in a shift in mindset so we no longer look for the perfect solution, but the best solution that can help us now and we can refine it as we progress. Perhaps this is the first big learning of the new normal?
Further Reading:
- Find the full episode of this interview and the entire back catalogue of The Field Service Podcast @ www.fieldservicenews.com/podcasts
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
- Read more about the impact of Covid-19 on Field Service @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/en-gb/covid-19
- Connect with Michael Kuebel on LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kuebel-fieldservice/
- Follow Michael Kuebel on Twitter @ twitter.com/michaelkuebel
- Find out more about Salesforce Field Service Solutions @ www.salesforce.com/uk/products/service-cloud/field-service-lightning/
- Follow Salesforce on twitter @ twitter.com/salesforce
Mar 12, 2020 • Features • future of field service • Salesforce • servicemax • Servitization Conference
The Field Service News editorial team offer analysis on the stories circling in the service sector...
The Field Service News editorial team offer analysis on the stories circling in the service sector...
An investment injection from Salesforce is set to advance ServiceMax’s focus on assset-heavy industries such as manufacturing and utlities. Mark Glover spoke to CEO Neil Barua after the news broke...
I initially wanted to use this space to focus on the much needed calls for drone advancement and how it has the potential to postively impact on last mile delivery.
However, news that ServiceMax had received a cool $80 million investment from their long-time platform partner Salesforce came to my attention and with that an opportunity to speak to CEO Neil Barua about the announcement.
“The money was probably the least important part of the news,” he told me. “It’s great to be able to fund our growth and development but it’s the strategeic partnership element and the acknowledgement by Salesforce [that] in asset-centric industries ServiceMax is the chosen leader and they’re supporting our innovation for our customers in those industries. It’s a very monumental time in the industry for that decision to have been made,” he said.
Rumours around ServiceMax’s relationship with Salesforce have been circulating for some time now, with some speculating the software firm were ready to show its platform supplier the door, however this news concretes their partnership.The funding injection, the firm says, will enable them to focus on asset-heavy sectors such as manufacturing, oil and gas and utilities.
But it’s the firm collaboration with Salesforce that Barua was keen to extoll and in particular its place at ServiceMax’s varied board room table. “So we have a very dynamic board structure here at ServiceMax including Silverlake participants, incuding GE partcicpants and we’re now going to add Salesforce to that,” he explained. “So the adults in the room can look at things from a board perspective and make sure the two companies are thinking about what’s best independently but most importantly what’s best for customers.”
We shall see ultimately if this windfall affect ServiceMax’s end-user. Next month however my news focus will be drone-based and how that industry could do with $80 million to propel its offering.
... and Field Service News’ Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland, also reflects on what the big stories in the news are for him...
Having reviewed the big stories I think I am acrtually going to do the slightly crass thing and highlight our own involvement at the inaugral World Servitization Conference.
However, in my very best humble brag style, I’d really like to bring your attention to just how impressive the journey has been for my good friends at Aston University and the Advanced Services Group and just what an achievement launching the first World Conference is for Professor Baines and his excellent collection of colleagues.
I have had the honour of attending the Spring Servitization Conference for a number of years as both a guest of Aston University and latterly as a Media Partner for the Advanced Services Group and as such have been a first hand witness to just how the conference has grown over the years. I’ve had the pleasure of attending the conference in various pockets of Europe including Manchester, Copenhagen, Luzerne and its great to see it return home to Birmingham in its latest all grown up iteration.
The world of academia and industry really can flourish when they come together to search out solutions and drive each other forward and the Spring Servitization Conference has been an absolutley pioneering and pivotal point within the calendar where that meeting of minds has been able to take place.
And whilst it may sound like an increase in capacity going from the humble Spring Servitization Conference to the more grandly titled World Servitization Conference, the truth is that the name change should have happened a few years back as this annual meet up of the great and the good of the academic servitization community, increasingly being joined by larger and larger numbers of their industry colleagues, really does attract a global audience.
I for one am extremely proud that we are still strongly associated with the conference and am very much looking forward to working with TIm and the Aston team on this event and for many years to come.
Oct 28, 2019 • Features • Software & Apps • Mergers and Acquisitions • Bill Pollock • ClickSoftware • Field Service Lightning • Salesforce • Salesforce Service Cloud
Click’s Scheduling Optimization Module was Just a Teaser! Now, Salesforce has Gone All In, and Click’s Found a Home. Bill Pollock, gives an analyst’s take on the acquisition...
Click’s Scheduling Optimization Module was Just a Teaser! Now, Salesforce has Gone All In, and Click’s Found a Home. Bill Pollock, gives an analyst’s take on the acquisition...
Aug 19, 2019 • News • Mergers and Acquisitions • ClickSoftware • Salesforce
SFGSM's Bill Pollock gives an analyst response to Salesforce's $1/35bn purchase of Click Software.
SFGSM's Bill Pollock gives an analyst response to Salesforce's $1/35bn purchase of Click Software.
From a general market standpoint, the acquisition bodes well for both companies, as each has built a strong market, product and management reputation over the years in its own domain; and each is, arguably, the leader in its respective marketspace.
This acquisition should firmly entrench Salesforce as one of the acknowledged/perceived leaders in FSM, based on an extrapolation from SFG℠’s 2014/2015 FSM Tracking Survey, as follows:
In 2014/15, prior to the acquisition, Salesforce had already been recognized as a potential FSM solution provider by a majority of the field services marketplace (i.e., 56% FSM application familiarity among the respondents in SFG℠’s 2014/2015 Field Service Management Benchmark Tracking Survey*) – despite the fact that it did not actually offer an FSM solution at that time. ClickSoftware was cited third (i.e., behind SAP at 50%) at 35% FSM application familiarity. The combination of the two companies should place its familiarity quotient to the top of the pack.We all knew it was coming – several years ago – but, we all thought it would be by SAP!
Now, Salesforce can use the Microsoft argument (i.e., “You already use Microsoft Dynamics for CRM; it’s easy to use, and you’ve been using it for years! Why not also use Microsoft Field Service?”). (Just replace “Microsoft Dynamics for CRM” with “Salesforce Sales & Marketing Management”, and “Microsoft Field Service” with “Salesforce Field Service Lightning”!); Also, the fact that Salesforce’s FSM solution is built on a foundation of the ClickSoftware’s scheduling optimization platform – and soon, will be supported directly by former ClickSoftware professional services experts – is an added plus.
"Will the Salesforce acquisition prompt (or tempt) the big Internet/IoT guns to acquire their own Field Service Management (FSM) capabilities?"...
Also, the perennially open question of “What’s going on with ClickSoftware; Will it stay private? Will it be acquired by SAP? Will it go public again?” will officially end! This has been somewhat off-putting for many of the company’s potential customers in the past. However, as of the close of the deal, we will all know exactly what’s happened to ClickSoftware! However, a new question arises: “Will the same thing happen to ClickSoftware that happened to TOA Technologies?” Many industry analysts (and customers) believe that since TOA’s acquisition by Oracle, it has never been the same – and not in a good way!
Looking further down the road, will the Salesforce acquisition prompt (or tempt) the big Internet/IoT guns to acquire their own Field Service Management (FSM) capabilities? What are the tech leaders like Amazon, Apple or Google likely to do? To what extent? And, if so, when?
While other large Software/IoT companies, many with fairly deep pockets, have either tried to buy their way into FSM (e.g., Microsoft), grow an FSM capability organically (e.g., Salesforce), or some combination of the two (e.g., Salesforce, once again), not all have had either the resolve – or inclination – to strive to dominate the FSM market. However, with respect to Salesforce, the combination of a corporate mentality that looks to dominate in each of the markets they serve, with a documented history of key players in the FSM community having already been using (i.e., or mis-using) their CRM platform to assist in running their respective field services organizations, the prospects for Salesforce actually becoming a dominant (more dominant?) leader in the FSM marketplace may be a somewhat safer bet.
This is an excerpt from Bill Pollock's full report on the deal which you can find here.
Aug 08, 2019 • Software & Apps • News • Mergers and Acquisitions • News Software and Apps • ClickSoftware • Salesforce
Cloud-based software firm will purchase Israeli tech outfit to boost service offering.
Cloud-based software firm will purchase Israeli tech outfit to boost service offering.
Salesforce will acquire Click Software in a deal worth $1.5 billion that is expected to complete in the Autumn.
The acquisition will boost Salesforce's service offering, Service Cloud, which, according to the company's June financial statement, has earned the company $1 billion in revenue.
Salesforce's Bill Patterson says that end-uses will ultimately benefit from the purchase. “Our acquisition of ClickSoftware will not only accelerate the growth of Service Cloud, but drive further innovation with Field Service Lightning to better meet the needs of our customers," the EVP and GM of Service Cloud commented.
Israeli outfit Click Software were founded in 1997, going public in 2000 and were purchased 15 years later by private equity firm Francisco Partners for $438 million.
Salesforce will acquire Click Software in a deal worth $1.5 billion that is expected to complete in the Autumn.
The acquisition will boost Salesforce's service offering, Service Cloud, which, according to the company's June financial statement, has earned the company $1 billion in revenue.
Salesforce's Bill Patterson says that end-uses will ultimately benefit from the purchase. “Our acquisition of ClickSoftware will not only accelerate the growth of Service Cloud, but drive further innovation with Field Service Lightning to better meet the needs of our customers," the EVP and GM of Service Cloud commented.
Israeli outfit Click Software were founded in 1997, going public in 2000 and were purchased 15 years later by private equity firm Francisco Partners for $438 million.
Apr 05, 2019 • News • CRM • Salesforce • Software and Apps • utilities
Green Network Energy UK will deploy Salesforce's CRM platform in Summer.
Green Network Energy UK will deploy Salesforce's CRM platform in Summer.
Green Network Energy UK has announced a partnership with Salesforce that it hopes will enhance its digital transformation and customer care programmes.
The independent energy supplier, set-up in 2016, plan to expands it use of the CRM platform in the summer which will see a new customer self-service online portal for customers that communicates service updates, tariff renewal options and allows for meter readings to be submitted.
Green Network Energy UK's Founder and CEO Sabrina Corbo says the technology roll-out will benefit their customer base. "Our aim has always been to make our customers feel special," she said. "We are committing to an enhanced relationship with our customers and showing that we are here to make a big difference as a big organisation in the energy sector.
Commenting on the partnership, Salesforce's SVP EMEA Cloud Sales, Sanj Bhayro said the modern-day utility customer now expects immaculate service. "Much like other industries, customers' expectations in the energy sector are on the rise, with customers demanding a seamless brand experience, getting support when the need it and on the channel of their choice. We're delighted to be working with Green Network Energy to realise their vision of connected, personalised service," he concluded.
Green Network Energy UK has announced a partnership with Salesforce that it hopes will enhance its digital transformation and customer care programmes.
The independent energy supplier, set-up in 2016, plan to expands it use of the CRM platform in the summer which will see a new customer self-service online portal for customers that communicates service updates, tariff renewal options and allows for meter readings to be submitted.
Green Network Energy UK's Founder and CEO Sabrina Corbo says the technology roll-out will benefit their customer base. "Our aim has always been to make our customers feel special," she said. "We are committing to an enhanced relationship with our customers and showing that we are here to make a big difference as a big organisation in the energy sector.
Commenting on the partnership, Salesforce's SVP EMEA Cloud Sales, Sanj Bhayro said the modern-day utility customer now expects immaculate service. "Much like other industries, customers' expectations in the energy sector are on the rise, with customers demanding a seamless brand experience, getting support when the need it and on the channel of their choice. We're delighted to be working with Green Network Energy to realise their vision of connected, personalised service," he concluded.
Sep 06, 2018 • Features • Management • Preventative Maintenance • field service • Field Service Lightning • field service management • Internet of Things • IoT • Salesforce • Service Management • Daikin Applied UK • John McCarthy • Salesforce Service Cloud • Scott Flatman • Managing the Mobile Workforce
We have seen a seismic shift within the field service sector towards adopting a more proactive approach to service - but is this a mega trend in itself or is it indicative of an even bigger shift in the way we view service delivery?
We have seen a seismic shift within the field service sector towards adopting a more proactive approach to service - but is this a mega trend in itself or is it indicative of an even bigger shift in the way we view service delivery?
Want to know more? This article is based around an exclusive fieldservicenews.com webcast which you can access @ http://fs-ne.ws/Y8ny30lsZUR
Within our industry we are currently seeing a seismic shift - that is the move towards predictive maintenance and whilst the traditional modus operandi of field service operations of a break-fix approach will likely still have a place within most service organisations processes for the foreseeable future, predictive maintenance, empowered by the Internet of Things, is becoming a massively prevalent discussion amongst companies in all sectors who are looking to seek enhanced competitive advantages over their peers whilst simultaneously improving their own performance efficiencies.
One company who have such developments on their roadmap is Daikin Applied UK who recently joined Field Service News and Salesforce for an exclusive webcast discussion on how service organisations are harnessing technology to bridge the gap between the mobile workforce and their customer bases.
Indeed, it is a topic that we have covered extensively here at Field Service News, but is this shift to preventative maintenance set to be a megatrend within our industry, as many are predicting, or is it suited to specific industries and certain organisations within those industries?
"Even within sub-sectors within manufacturing, we are seeing companies have different results and taking different approaches..."
“I think it is absolutely going to be a mega-trend,” commented Scott Flatman, Regional Sales Director, Salesforce during the session.
“It is going to be a real competitive differentiator for companies that want to go the extra mile and stay ahead of the competition,” he adds.
“I do think that we may see this in different guises depending on the industry, however. For example, manufacturers at the moment seem to be at the forefront of this shift, but then even within the wider manufacturing industry it would be wrong of us to broad-brush it as a complete mega-trend.”
“Yet even within sub-sectors within manufacturing, we are seeing companies have different results and taking different approaches.”
“For us, this capability of connecting our products to our customers and to our business is really important, but it is not a one size fits all solution,” adds John McCarthy, CRM manager, Daikin Applied UK.
“It is certainly a trend across a lot of the sub-sections of our industry but it won’t suit all of our customers. However, we do need to be offering these types of solutions, for us to continue to be a leader within our sector.”
Of course, it is this ability to tailor a service solution to customer requirements that is a critical part of the discussion not only around predictive maintenance but also service delivery in general in today’s markets, which are becoming increasingly customer-centric. But is there a direct correlation between asset connectivity and increased customer engagements and satisfaction?
"We understand that our technicians and engineers are the front line and the face of our business. So we put a lot of time and effort into ensuring they have the tools and resources that they need..."
“There certainly is,” McCarthy responds when this question is put to him.
“For us, we understand that our technicians and engineers are the front line and the face of our business. So we put a lot of time and effort into ensuring they have the tools and resources that they need as well as also giving our customers the tools and resources they need to get the most out of the services they get from us.”
“Ultimately this technology doesn’t take away from the fact that we have highly skilled factory trained engineers, but it certainly enhances it,” he adds.
“I think it is also changing the expectations of the customers,” comments Flatman.
“The very best service experience is to have no service experience at all. Let’s take the Daikin Applied UK use case as an example. If you have a chiller that is operating outside of its normal thresholds - wouldn’t be great if an engineer was passing on his or her way home wouldn’t it be great if they could drop in and give it a check, make some tweaks or perhaps perform a rest so they can resolve the issue before it arises - as opposed to a company having to wait for it to go down.”
“That can help avoid not just a negative service experience for the contact, but also avoid all of the compound issues that could arise from that one failure.”
“If we can help our customers avoid that happening, who can then help their customers and so on, for me that is going to be the real win for businesses.”
This is perhaps the true mega-trend that preventative maintenance is part of the shift away from a number of businesses operating only alongside each other in a transactional way, to organisations becoming much more integrated partners within a true business ecosystem.
Indeed, this concept is at the heart of what many in the sector are now calling advanced services, which can yield greater profit margins in a much more stable business environment and predictive maintenance is set to become a cornerstone of such approaches to service in the not so distant future.
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