Dave Hart, Managing Partner of Field Service Associates, highlights the importance of benchmarking your business against your competitors to fully understand if your strategy and plans are working.
ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘service-leadership’ CATEGORY
Dec 16, 2021 • Features • CEO • Dave Hart • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy
Dave Hart, Managing Partner of Field Service Associates, highlights the importance of benchmarking your business against your competitors to fully understand if your strategy and plans are working.
I have to say for almost 18 months now I have been an avid watcher of the news with particular interest in seeing the daily coronavirus cases and deaths figures for the UK. Do I have some morbid fascination with seeing the numbers whilst being thankful I am not one of the statistics? Well, yes; yes, I do. Why may you ask? Well, I am one of those people who are classed as clinically extremely vulnerable, and I must be very careful where I go and who I meet. Even my friends don’t come around to my house unless they have taken a lateral flow test. (I must confess its rather embarrassing ‘parking’ them in the garage and watching them force large swabs up their noses before we allow them in!)What fascinates me more, is that statistically I am a person far more likely to have serious ramifications to my health if I caught coronavirus and therefore, I watch with great interest in how the UK government tackles this awful virus. Now I am not going to debate the rights and wrongs of if the UK government should have locked down earlier, the wearing of masks, COVID passports and the vaccine roll out versus the anti vax brigade (don’t get me started!). No, I am fascinated how the stats stack up country to country, now we have enough data we can see trends emerging and that is truly enlightening. You see for me, any governments first duty is to protect the lives and well-being of its citizens and now we can measure the ‘performance’ of each country’s government strategy and benchmark them appropriately. I will let you be the judge as to how well each government is performing…
Thus, my title for this article. Always light a candle to show your performance. You see I fundamentally believe that any business, like any government, should be benchmarked against its peer group so that it has an indicator that its strategy and plans are delivering for its key stakeholders, namely the employees, customers, and shareholders
I love the phrase used in the US which is often banded about ‘I had my ass handed to me’ as it resonates with me so much. You see in a previous role, as my quarterly business reviews took place in the board room of our corporate headquarters in Connecticut, I often had my ass handed to me in my reviews because when challenged by the CEO or CFO it was almost impossible for me to defend my team’s performance. You see the problem I had was there were no external benchmarks available that I could use to determine if it was warranted that my ass should be handed to me (even on a silver platter as my old CEO would often attest to doing!). As much as I tried, I could not find a way of proving that my team were performing very well especially with the constraints I faced as a service leader at the time. Often, I would be asked why I couldn’t get more productivity, achieve higher first-time fix rates, increase revenue per head, better profitability by product, reduced inventory (working capital) levels. I could go on – you get the picture. In cases like these arbitrary performance levels are set that can often be extremely difficult to attain purely because no one knows if anyone has achieved these levels of performance historically. It was only much later in my career that purely by chance I met my counterpart from our biggest competitor at the time. It was intriguing to find out that he had the same challenges from his CEO.
It strikes me that these days understanding your businesses performance becomes even more complex with transformational journeys service companies are embarking on. Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, AIoT, Remote visual assistance, blended workforce approaches and many other developments. Service leader’s needs to benchmark themselves against their peer groups to truly understand if the progress they are making is keeping pace with their competitors. To take this approach would quickly evidence to any service leader whether they needed to really start to take affirmative action in areas where they were falling behind their peer group, or indeed, walk into any boardroom with the full confidence of knowing their service team’s performance sets the benchmark and that is a completely different conversation with the CEO!
So, don’t curse the darkness of not knowing how you stack up, light a candle on your business and benchmark your performance and do so every year so you can evidence your progress. At the end of the day, it makes perfect sense to know whether your ass is ever going to be handed back to you.Further Reading:
- Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/leadership-and-strategy
- Read more exclusive FSN articles from Dave Hart @ www.fieldservicenews.com/dave-hart
- Learn more about Field Service Associates @ fieldserviceassociates.com
- Connect with Dave Hart on LinkedIn @ linkedin.com/david-hart
- Follow Dave Hart on Twitter @ twitter.com/DaveHartProfit
Sep 17, 2021 • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on.
During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, Michael and Kris discuss how remote service has now become an habit, after so many months of pandemic and lockdowns, and if companies should keep focusing on remote service for the future.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Sep 15, 2021 • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on.
During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, Michael and Kris analyse how organisation can research what customers want, often with the help of external consultants, in order to design and offer the right solution to their clients.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Sep 13, 2021 • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on.
During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, Michael and Kris look at what industries are ahead of the field service sector when it comes to service marketing.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Sep 10, 2021 • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on.
During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, Michael and Kris discuss the difference between upselling service to an existing client and selling service to a new client and find new markets to serve.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Sep 08, 2021 • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on.
During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, Michael and Kris discuss how making a business case can help service directors drive change and ultimately achieve successful service marketing.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Sep 03, 2021 • Features • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on.
During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, the conversation turns to the most fundamental bit that needs to be fixed to achieve successful service marketing: the disconnect between the service leadership and the marketing division.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Sep 01, 2021 • Michael Blumberg • Blumberg Advisory Group • Service Leadership • Servitization and Advanced Services • Digital Symposium • service marketing
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Michael Blumberg, President and CEO of Blumberg Advisory Group.
Michael is a seasoned expert in the field service industry, and he always thinks forward to what's down the road and what leaders should focus on. During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the role of service marketing and the importance of finding a solution to fix the disconnection that often occurs between the service leadership and the marketing leadership within service organisations.
In this exceprt, Michael Blumberg explains the challenges and key issues he has seen over the years amongst service leaders trying to achieve successful service marketing.
Want to know more?
FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization & Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
- Read more about Service Marketing @ www.fieldservicenews.com/service-marketing
- Read exclusive articles by Michael Blumberg on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/michael-blumberg
- Follow Michael Blumberg on Twitter @ twitter.com/blumberg1
- Connect with Michael Blumberg directly by email @ michaelblumberg@blumbergadvisor.com
Jul 29, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • Service Leadership • Aquant • customer experience
In this third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the possibilities that Artificial Intelligence opens to make accurate decisions based on concrete data.
In this third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we look at the possibilities that Artificial Intelligence opens to make accurate decisions based on concrete data.
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
Business leaders are leaning into data-centric decision making as a way to move beyond simply tracking KPIs and determine if their services are actually providing customers with value. With the help of smart tools, you can depend less on instincts and theories, and use methods backed by actual insights to propel your business forward.
How do you know if you need a better way to analyze your business’ big picture? Start by taking a look at the way you currently measure customer value.
"If you currently lack the insight to draw specific conclusions,
it’s time to dig deeper into your data."
If you currently lack the insight to draw specific conclusions, it’s time to dig deeper into your data. To understand the root causes of issues, it’s essential to have the ability to look deeply into metrics — which is where AI becomes a powerful tool to have in your arsenal.
As AI absorbs and analyzes your data, it can provide predictive analytics that help you understand your customers’ behavior. AI provides deep insights and steers the decision-making process, becoming a mighty ally in the quest to maximize customer satisfaction and improve operations.
Ask Yourself:
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How often does my organization receive customer feedback?
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If a customer churned tomorrow, would we know why?
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How do we currently prevent service disasters before they happen?
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Does our company leverage tech to gain immediate customer feedback on services?
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Are we using data to analyze the way our customers consume products?
Informed Decisions Lead to More Certain Outcomes
At its finest, AI opens new possibilities, giving you the power to make accurate decisions based on concrete data — not hypotheticals. It goes beyond showing you today’s metrics, guiding you and helping you understand all data relative to your goal. Seasoned business leaders know that while metrics may “unexpectedly” dip or miss the mark, there’s always a reason as to why. Instead of panicking, making assumptions, or instating ineffective countermeasures, it is far more accurate to look at the bigger picture to determine how you arrived at the final outcome.
With AI-powered insights, you become the driver and you control the truthful narrative. It’s time to get ahead of NPS, which offer an incomplete look at your business. If you want to strengthen your customer relationships and get an accurate measure of customer satisfaction, AI can help.
Be proactive instead of reactive. For instance, if your AI tool indicates a few less-than-ideal service moments, you can initiate communication with your customers instead of waiting for feedback to come your way. You can also proactively address customer dissatisfaction before waiting anxiously for the inevitable heated phone call, and you can take the opportunity to tell them what actions you’re taking to rectify the issues. On the other side of the coin, if you notice that your service performance is stellar, you can use that occasion to remind your customers why you’re the choice provider, which may even lead to some awesome upselling opportunities.
Clients and potential customers value transparency more than ever, and AI can bolster your ability to communicate. They will start seeing you as a trusted partner in business — a leader that’s fully vested in their success.
Conclusion
With Aquant’s Service Insights, organizations go beyond visualization and enter the realm of action. Unlike traditional BI tools, our products empower teams to solve their business problems by helping them to quickly analyze disparate data and get clear directions on what to do next.
Actionable feedback shows you what information is most relevant and helps direct you to make the right calls for your business. You can easily identify at-risk customers and address your service issues in real time — without the need for an on-site team of data scientists.
Backed by data from more than five million service tickets from manufacturers and service providers, Service Insights generates trends, industry benchmarks, and predictions that fit the context of your business.
You can also tap into hidden data to make more holistic decisions, and share insights and overviews that identify key statistics and important trends.
The best decisions are made with a 360-degree view, and traditional reporting is no longer enough. The decision to adopt AI is a big one, but it’s a tool that can change the trajectory of your business.
This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.
If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and registering for our complimentary subscription tier FSN Standard on a dedicated page that provides you instant access to this white paper PLUS you will also be able to access our monthly selection of premium resources as soo as you are registered.
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Leadership & Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com//leadership-and-strategy
- Learn more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
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