Standard BI Tools Aren’t Foolproof

Jul 22, 2021 • Features • Digital Transformation • Service Leadership • Aquant • customer experience

In this second excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant, we discuss which methods are best for creating customer risk scorecards and managing workforce performance issues.

This feature is just one short excerpt from a white paper published by Aquant

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A host of analytical and business intelligence (BI) resources exist solely for keeping tabs on metrics.

But standard BI tools still have limitations.

For one, they don’t usually understand a large chunk of your free text service data, including details sourced directly from customer comments, call center agent notes, field technician debriefs, and machine log files. Standard BI tools make it challenging to access, analyze, or interpret unstructured data without a team of data scientists on standby.

Classic BI dashboards only display what’s currently happening within an organization based on past data, which is usually incomplete. The big picture remains obscured once again, making it difficult to use those insights to reach company goals and spot patterns that reveal likely future events. This can lead to the prioritization of unnecessary KPIs, or even worse, analysis paralysis.

Business leaders need total transparency and understanding of their current service landscape to succeed. And these can only be accomplished using tools that give you quick access to easy-to- read analyses that go beyond past trends, offering an idea of what is likely to happen in the future and providing prescriptive recommendations.

Leaders should be leveraging data-centric insights to create the most desired outcomes for their customers — ones that support growth and provide teams with the visibility and know-how to resolve any issues that arise.

Evaluating Performance With Standard KPIs Alone Creates Blind Spots

Most service organizations track KPIs, but too many narrowly focus on single measurements such as first time fix. Knowing the FTF rate is an important performance indicator, but when measured in a vacuum, it offers an incomplete or inaccurate snapshot of the health of your service organization.

Without zooming out for a 360-degree view, decisions that boost one KPI might lead to systemic and costly service issues. For example, how is team performance impacting customer satisfaction, or how are high first time fix rates driving up service costs?

It is beneficial to have a comprehensive understanding of service KPIs, including:

First time fix (FTF)
Mean time to resolution (MTTR)
Mean time between failure (MTBF)

By looking at these metrics in depth, you’ll gain deeper insight into every aspect of the service lifecycle, and see clear connections between performance and service outcomes.

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.

Could Your Office Printer Be Repaired by Tony Stark?

May 13, 2021 • Features • CEO • Dave Hart • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

Dave Hart, Managing Partner of Field Service Associates, discusses one of Marvel’s greatest superheroes (and the issue of skill shortage in the field service sectors)...

In 1963 it was the height of the Cold War and it so happened that Marvel published its latest comic edition entitled Tales of Suspense. It launched a new superhero who was a wealthy ‘ladies’ man’ (Don’t shoot the author at this point - that’s how Marvel described him - can we say that now?) called Anthony Edward Stark or Tony Stark as most of us know him. The creator of this new superhero, Stan Lee, based the character on Howard Hughes, one of the most colourful and influential entrepreneurs of his time.

In 2008 the character hit the big screen in the film Iron Man, played superbly by Robert Downey Jr. and grossed over $585 million at the box office.

Iron Man had the following abilities:

Genius level intellect
Proficient scientist and engineer
Powered armour suit with:
- Superhuman strenght, speed, durability, agility, reflexes, and senses
- Supersonic flight
- Energy repulsor and missile projection or Regenerative life support

Tony Stark’s armour suit was always intriguing to me as it gave him an extraordinary advantage in any situation as it was powered by an arc reactor. He could fend off any potential foe as it gave him incredible strength and durability.

It got me thinking. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone would develop a suit that would give people incredible strength and durability? Just imagine the uses. People with a physical disability could walk again. The elderly, who may struggle with physical exercises such as climbing stairs or walking could live a ‘normal life’ again if a suit like Tony Stark’s existed.

Well, perhaps it does, in the form of Exoskeleton technology. According to a study by ABI Research, global exoskeleton revenues are expected to rise from $392m (£284m) in 2020 to $6.8bn in 2030. When you consider all the use cases, this number does not seem so unbelievable.

In our mind's eye, we may see large bulky metal frames with wires and hydraulic pipes hissing as the frame moves like some giant metal Schwarzenegger lifting a small family car, but this is not reality anymore, the technology has improved over time. There are practical use cases now used in everyday life. Take GM for example, they are supporting the development of a battery-powered exoskeleton glove developed by Swedish firm Bioservo. This glove, called the Iron Hand, has sensors and motors in each finger, which automatically respond to the level of force that the wearer applies to his or her hand when lifting or gripping something. The glove, therefore, takes up some of the strain. A simple use case, but it helps with productivity, lowers repetitive strains, decreases health and insurance costs, and reduces the risk to its workers.

"It’s been long established that field service is heading for a skills shortage. Growth in service businesses has fuelled demand..."

Does this all seem a bit 22nd century still? Well, Delta airlines are testing a full-body exoskeleton for their baggage handlers that can lift to 90KG (200lbs) for up to eight hours at a time. Please think of the benefits that will deliver to the long-term health and well-being of their people.

So why is the growth in exoskeleton technology so rapid? Well, according to the American Chiropractor Association, back pain accounts for more than 264 million lost workdays in one year—that’s two workdays for every full-time worker in the country, and Low-back pain costs Americans at least $50 billion in health care costs each year—add in lost wages and decreased productivity and that figure easily rises to more than $100 billion, in the US alone!

Now to my point here - it’s been long established that field service is heading for a skills shortage. Growth in service businesses has fuelled demand. As the Boomer generation retires, the next generation of Millennials display signs of reticence and don’t always see field service as an area where they see their career long term. We are heading for the perfect skills shortage storm.

Yes, some technology advances help; the boom in AR technology that allows much better remote triage impacts productivity and customer experience. Couple this with Customer Replaceable Units (CRU’s) and the pressure has been relieved somewhat. Still, most service organisations have no choice other than to send a highly skilled engineer to a customer site to affect a fix.

So, where does this leave us?

Fewer engineers and higher workloads might mean we need to use tools that could extend the working day or indeed the working life of our engineers. Using exoskeleton suits could reduce the physical burden on engineers so this can be possible. Factor in AI where the suits become more intelligent as they learn over time, and you could have a combination that could deliver a huge productivity bump in field service. Also, consider that as battery technology and manufacturing costs reduce, this technology will be within the grasp of a service leaders budget – it’s just a matter of time…

So next time you place a service call on your office printer, look out for Tony Stark with his tool bag in hand. If Pepper Potts is with him, then you really have struck gold.

4 Foolproof Steps to Kick Off a Tech Deployment

May 07, 2021 • Features • Augmented Reality • Digital Transformation • Service Leadership • technology • Aquant

In this new article by Aquant, we look at a step-by-step approach that all service leaders should consider to ensure a smooth tech deployment.

Artificial intelligence is a growing force in the service space, but without proper pre-project planning, problems are bound to arise. To ensure a smooth deployment, team leaders should rely on a step-by-step approach to bring the final product over the finish line.

Enter the mighty checklist, whose power to manage expectations, help stakeholders remain consistent, and guide a project to completion knows no bounds. In our recent Service Leaders Spring Break sessions, we identified four essential steps that all service leaders should consider when implementing AI tools within their organizations.

let's put together the plan

Define the problem. Hone in on the larger business problem, then tie your service challenges to those broader business initiatives. Begin by diagnosing what the problem actually is — that means trying to solve for the root cause instead of putting bandaids on symptoms. Next, show the C-suite that your proposed service deployment will address those big issues. For example, if increasing customer satisfaction is a top initiative, be clear how technology that increases first time fix, or helps spread technician knowledge will result in boosting those customer service goals. Lastly, break those big goals down into tangible wins that will resonate across departments. For example, IT wins with cleaner data, and managers can rejoice at trackable KPIs.
Create a stakeholder map: Stakeholders, assemble! From executives to end users, it’s important to determine who has an interest in the outcome, as well as influence over the overall project. A successful team contains a healthy mix of partners with the power to set and modify requirements, as well as others who will be directly impacted by the project's outcome. Once you assemble your dream team, you can determine what they need to succeed and start guiding the project to be as successful as possible. Throughout the duration of the implementation, your stakeholders will give you quick feedback and deeper insights — both necessary for a successful end result. Don’t forget to get back to basics by assigning tasks, due dates, and keeping everyone (equally) informed with regular check-ins. In short, don’t let any one group feel left out.
Perform a data reality check: There’s no such thing as good or bad data — only existing data and what you make of it. In most companies, IT and business departments will need to work in tandem: the first gathers the data, and the latter interprets it. For a successful implementation, both parties need to have an understanding of what data exists, and how they’d like to use it to achieve results. The AI vendor can further analyze and interpret. One last note here, don’t worry that your data is too messy or that your company doesn’t have enough data. The starting point should be simply assessing what’s available.
Agree on realistic project expectations: We’ve heard the horror stories when it comes to AI implementations — complexities, escalating timescales, and spiraling costs can run rampant. For these reasons and more, companies tend to label large-scale implementations as confusing and risky. However, keep in mind that artificial intelligence is a “living” tool — one whose capabilities expand and contract as it absorbs more data. You should not expect your AI to work at 100% efficacy right out the gate, but rather, remember that its accuracy will increase as it learns how to utilize your organization’s data. That means that project expectations should start small and grow in relation to the project. Don’t forget, implementation is the first step, then comes full user adoption, and that’s when results will really take off.

Once you hit these pre-project milestones, it will be easier to move forward gaining approvals and rolling out the projects.

need some inspiration?

We built the checklist so you don’t have to.

To accelerate your project, Aquant created The Ultimate Guide to Tech Deployments, a comprehensive list designed to help you fully define the benefits of AI and leverage its power within your organization. We know it can be overwhelming to consider the many puzzle pieces, so you can use our checklist to take your deployment to the next level, or simply use it as a guide.

Aquant’s Service Leaders Spring Break Brings Together Service Superstars For A Week Of Virtual Peer-Led Sessions

Mar 17, 2021 • News • Events • Service Leadership • technology • remote working • Aquant • GLOBAL

Who else needs a vacation? We know it’s been a tough year for service leaders and your teams, so Aquant is hosting Service Leaders Spring Break where we are mixing work and play. The fun runs from March 22 - March 25.

What is Service Leaders Spring Break? It’s a virtual field service event for service pros, by services pros. Join sessions that will help spark ideas and polish best practices to ● Create and scale a well-rounded and inclusive workforce ● Provide service teams the best tools for success, regardless of current skill level ● Focus on the best KPIs to improve service outcomes, not just the ones that look good in monthly reports ● Make measurable improvements that slash the skills gap and improve service quality ● Navigate Covid-19 challenges with an eye towards future growth Events include:

Monday, March 22 Slashing the Service Skills Gap: An Alchemy of Tech, People & Processes Featuring

● Mike Rembelski, Vice President, Global Service at Danaher Corporation / Beckman Coulter Diagnostics

● Rodger Smelcer, Vice President and Owner, United Services Technologies, Inc.

● John Carroll, CEO, Service Council

Preventing Service Disasters: How Information Gaps Hurt Your Business

● Edwin Pahk, VP of Product Marketing & Business Development, Aquant

Tuesday, March 23 3 Milestones for Any New AI Deployment

Featuring

● Guy Ben-Ezer, Director Customer Success, Aquant

● Eric Federman, Customer Success Manager, Aquant

● Edwin Pahk, VP of Product Marketing & Business Development, Aquant

Wednesday, March 24 Creating Meaningful Diversity in Service

Featuring

● Roy Dockery, Vice President of Global Care at Swisslog Healthcare

● Robyn Walker, Senior Director, Customer Success and Service Operations at Mevion Medical Systems

● Carolyn Ridderman, Global Vice President, Customer Care at Stryker

Learn more: Take a glance at scheduled sessions and sign up at servicespringbreak.com

Successful Service Transformation Journeys

Jan 06, 2021 • Features • White Paper • field service management • IFS • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

In this third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by IFS and Noventum we look at three case studies illustrating successful transformation journeys.

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Now that we’ve outlined the strategic plans, as well as the technology enablers, let’s consider, holistically, what this looks like in practice. To illustrate the service transformation journey, here are three different case studies that each illustrate a part of the journey:

The first case study is about a company that convinced the top management to change the business model to a service business. This case study focuses on the first part of the journey ‘Set the climate for Service Transformation’.
The second case study is about a company that re-engineered their service delivery model to become low cost and perceived as high value by customers. This case study illustrates the step of using customer experience design to (re)design and implement the delivery model.
The third case study is about a company that whose existing strategy adequately pushed sales but did not promote sustainable growth for the business. This case study highlights the step of redesigning the go-to market model.

1. CONVINCING TOP MANAGEMENT TO CHANGE THE BUSINESS MODEL TO BECOME A SERVICE BUSINESS

The current situation

A division of a German engineering group, that had traditionally produced and sold large machines for the paper making industry, had built a modest service business contributing less than 5% of the division’s total revenue. Their current service offering consisted of providing spare parts plus reactive and preventive maintenance service contracts.

The challenge

They were facing several challenges:

Price pressure on new equipment sold was increasing due to increased competition from Chinese suppliers
Annual growth of the company had been below industry average for the past 5 years
Profitability of the overall business was going down

Two senior managers saw several opportunities to grow the service business but were having difficulties in convincing the board of directors to strategically invest in the service business to develop its potential.

What was done?

The service director used benchmarks, an outside-in view and assessment outcomes to convince the CEO of the company to invest in growing their service business.

The following steps were taken:

A financial and operational benchmark was performed of the company’s performance against a comparable group of industry leaders. The report included the growth and profit potential for this company if they would strategically invest in the development of their service business.
A web-based survey was sent out to several hundreds of customers immediately after the most common interaction point of a customer service request by phone or email, a spare part order request, an on-site visit by a field engineer, and following a visit by a sales person.
Several customer interviews were conducted using video conferencing. The interviews were analysed, and a short video compilation was made to high light the key conclusions about what the customers’ service expectations were and what service they were receiving.
Growth potential and productivity improvement opportunities were prioritised, and the conclusions were discussed during a workshop with the board of directors of the company. The result was a commonly agreed and documented vision with the strategic and financial objectives defined and a service transformation roadmap for the coming years.
A short-term plan was made that secured the first real result within the first year. In addition, a multi-year roadmap was implemented by setting up the service transformation governance programme organisational structure, planning and funding.

Benefits

The result was that the board of directors understood that customers were expecting more help from the company. They expected help addressing their business challenges such as improving their competitive position with smart outcome-based services, industry knowledge, data and information systems that would help customers to lower production cost by integrating several players in the value chain.

The company has started their service transformation journey by implementing the multi-year strategic roadmap. This contains several projects that required substantial investment, organisational change, and the development of new capabilities in the company. The financial results in the past 5 years have been a sustained double-digit growth with profit margins above the industry average.

2. RE-ENGINEERING THE TRADITIONAL SERVICE DELIVERY

The current situation

A major manufacturer and service provider for healthcare equipment concluded that if they wanted to increase their market penetration while maintaining their profitability, they needed to dramatically lower their cost of service delivery. This was particularly true in emerging, lower cost markets.

Their service delivery model at that time was rather traditional: customers would call in if they had a problem with their equipment and in most cases a field engineer was dispatched to go on-site, diagnose the problem and fix it. This service delivery model was the result of relatively high cost of the equipment, typically ranging from 700 K Euros and higher per installation. The total cost of maintenance for most clients was relatively low when compared to the cost of depreciation and related operational costs, such as the cost of hospital staff needed to operate the equipment. Customers were expecting a personalized approach in service and they would find it normal that even for small problems, that could have been solved remotely a field engineer, would show up to fix it and explain to the staff what happened. The company was already improving their capability to remote monitor, diagnose and fix equipment but the traditional way of working was hard to change.

The challenge

They were facing several challenges:

The average price of equipment that was sold in high growth markets was much lower than in the traditional market. The average equipment price was below 50.000 euros but could go as low as 2.000 Euros per device.
To provide field engineer services for such equipment would result in relatively high cost when compared to the equipment purchase price and cost of operation.
Healthcare equipment is highly regulated and in most cases mission critical, often lives could be at stake, and delays in treatment of patients could lead to high levels of frustration
and financial losses for hospitals and doctors involved. Therefore, customers would expect the highest levels of service, especially in emerging markets where hospitals were often small and did not have more than one device.
Customers would not be willing to pay for higher levels of services and price premiums on service contracts were often not accepted, even though excellent service was certainly an expectation.
As a result, many customers would leave the maintenance and repair role with their own internal Biomed (internal maintenance services for medical devices) and were, generally, disappointed with the level of service.
Equipment failure could cause damage to the reputation of the brand, as customers expectation is a very high standard of service.

The company had limited understanding of how customers of medium to low priced equipment were currently experiencing their service. Traditionally, such equipment had not been a focus area for the service division of the company as the general assumption had been that the service business growth potential was limited and the possibility to earn good profit margins was low.

What was done?

To rethink the service delivery model, other industries were investigated to gain ideas. Very inspiring examples were the low-cost airlines that had stripped their services of all extras to the bare bone basic service requirements, simplifying and streamlining business processes, introducing high levels of automation and often asking customers to help themselves with self-service.

Other examples included business models such as Ikea’s knock-down furniture where customers are asked to transport their own furniture and assemble it themselves.

One important element in the success of these examples was that it is important to get the balance right such that increased automation and ease of use for customers, outweighs any perceived reduction in service caused by streamlining and process change. The objective of these models is to increase the value of service for the customer while reducing the cost of delivery for the supplier.

After translating these examples to their own business, the company came up with several high efficiency service delivery models:

Self-help: Whereby customers solve issues and conduct maintenance themselves without the support of their service provider, including the use of manuals, online FAQ’s, and web videos.
Supported self-help: Whereby customers solve issues and conduct maintenance themselves with the support of the service provider, i.e.: via a helpdesk (phone, email, chat) or ‘look-over the-shoulder service’, possibly with help of a remote connection for diagnosis.
Product exchange: In this instance, rather than repairing equipment, a service provider will arrange its replacement whereby the customer will either receive a new or refurbished product.
Bench repair: Here, the product in need of repair will be shipped to the service provider’s repair shop, after which the product is shipped back to the customer. In the interim the customer may receive a temporary loan product.
Tech courier: Having determined which part or component needs replacement (via customer or service provider diagnosis), a low-cost courier with basic technical and product knowledge will deliver the component and conduct the swap. In this instance, products are designed for easy access and swapping.

High efficiency Field engineer: In this instance a field engineer with limited technical skills is dispatched to repair the customer’s product, potentially conducting the diagnosis himself using diagnostics methods and tools that were created by very experienced field engineers • Remotely using a machine to machine (IoT) connection: In this instance a service provider will access a system via a remote connection and not only detect and diagnose the issue but also execute the solution via the remote connection.
Predictive Maintenance Management: Using the data obtained from connected equipment the problems will be predicted in time so there will be no need to do any corrective repairs. Preventive maintenance plans will be adjusted, often just in time, to reduce the chance of malfunction and reduce downtime and lower maintenance costs in the process.

The following steps were taken to get to these models:

An investigation was launched into customer’s expectations from the brand. Narrowing down the minimum expectation that should be fulfilled and the most important brand values that would have to be respected and built-into the customer experience.
The current cost of the service value delivery chain was analysed and the main areas for potential cost reduction by changing the service delivery model were identified. All best practices and the latest trends in service delivery models from other industries were evaluated as well as emerging trends in technology that could help reduce the cost of delivery or improve customer experience.
Pricing models were developed by benchmarking the equipment “street prices” with pricing of various levels of service. This was validated with various key markets in the world, in particular the markets where the highest growth of new equipment, at lower street prices, was expected.
New service delivery models were designed and tested. Processes and enabling service information technologies were designed evaluating achievable cost levels, the impact on customer experience and the resulting service value proposition, often defining 2 or 3 basic services with a limited set of optional services to keep the complexity low.
A multi-disciplinary approach was taken (including R&D, product marketing, manufacturing, and service) which led to the conclusion that sometimes products had to be re-engineered to improve their serviceability. Lowering the cost of service did have a major impact on the total life cycle cost. Product engineers that may previously have had their focus on inventing new features and benefits to the product, now understood the profound impact on customer experience and life cycle cost it would have to design products from the ground up for their desired modes and levels of service.
The IT team created a Service IT Solution Architecture that would leverage the connectivity of the products and use the data through intelligent applications that were now able to create predictive maintenance models. The data could also be used for process optimisation and designing enhanced services to customers.
After the design phase the new service delivery models were tested in the markets and rolled-out country by country to allow for local deviations from the standard model.

Benefits

The result was that the new high efficiency delivery models have enabled the company to grow their service business, typically with double digit growth rates. It allowed the company to sell equipment with a “street price” as low as 2000 Euros together with a service contract and still achieve gross profit margins worth of 50% percent. Each delivery model would be able to fix remotely any software problem or problem caused by the end user. The chances of such problems occurring would be reduced by smart predictive analytics capabilities. Users would receive “look over the shoulder” assistance often with remote agents taking control of the device and helping remotely. Hardware problems would no longer require a field engineer to visit the customer site.

In the longer term, the mission critical components in a device would either be engineered with redundant components, or replaceable units that the user of the device could replace by themselves. Alternatively, a “tech courier’ a driver with a limited technical skill set would come on site to replace the unit. Field service, the most expensive element in the chain, had now become a service logistics operation often outsourced to third party logistics providers who had economies of scale and low-cost services. Customers were educated on the new service delivery models and the benefits of self-service, such as the speed of resolution and being fully in control, were also perceived as valuable, on top of the higher reliability and lower life cycle cost.

3. DRASTICALLY INCREASE SERVICE REVENUE BY SMARTLY CHANGING THE GO-TO MARKET APPROACH

The current situation

A pan European medical equipment provider whose existing strategy adequately pushed sales but did not promote sustainable growth for the business. This was because their sales force was still employing traditional techniques which pushed the features, characteristics and pre-defined benefits of their company but were of little relevance to the customers’ situation. In the purchasers’ eyes, the benefits being sold to them were barely distinguishable from those of other providers.

The challenge

The service sales force presented characteristics and benefits of the service offering to the client but used very few ‘hooks’ to effectively highlight the company’s competitive advantage. They frequently spoke to someone other than the decision maker who had different needs. Further, in most cases their approach was reactive rather than proactive, i.e. the customer calls in with a query, or just before their warranty expires.

This resulted in the service sales force encountering issues relating to their client’s ‘budget’ as the person who called only had limited buying power and simply forwarded the proposal to the purchaser without being able to justify the value.

The root cause here was that their approach was not proactive and not customer driven; there was a lack of attention to the customers’ critical business issues. Consequently, a common vision with the decision makers on how to really address critical business issues could not be developed. This customer buying vision is essential however because it defines the value of the offering and the urgency to do something about it.

What was done?

Working with this medical equipment provider, we started transforming their sales approach to embrace customer centricity. The approach required getting a good understanding of client needs and challenges, which is only possible by developing the skills of customer-facing staff so that they can have informed discussions and get a good understanding of the customers’ business. Ensuring that the teams had the necessary capabilities to have such insightful conversations with customers was a specific challenge we addressed before improving the sales process.

A key step here was to train the company’s field service engineers to act as trusted advisors so that they could develop a better understanding of their customers’ needs. They were trained to recognise opportunities for sales which were then communicated to dedicated sales teams.

We designed a new go-to market strategy for each service, launched very specific sales campaigns and set up a dedicated service sales teams that proactively followed up leads and were able to articulate the value of a service in the context of customers’ needs.

That was done by researching customers’ service requirements. The company did have a good understanding of what customers were expecting in terms of product features and quality.
However, they had very limited knowledge of how the products were being used. It turned out that there was no such thing as “The Customer” as groups of customers with similarities in the use of the product and in the expectations of the expected benefits could be segmented by typical customer service needs. Customer service needs were further categorised into product related needs and customer business needs. The product related services needs can typically be satisfied by specifying the service performance characteristics in service level agreements. E.g. performance metrics such as uptime and response time were the key metrics in the SLA but could still be different for each type of customer.

The customer service business needs were a lot more difficult to identify. Customers had non-technical needs such as needing help to optimise the workflow in a laboratory or wanting to pay for the products based on their actual usage (Pay per Use) and leave the technical management to the provider. One segment of customers went so far as to demand that the product provider also manages the entire end-to-end process for a combination of laboratory instruments together with the staff of the customer.

Benefits

Within a year the service revenue had grown by more than 20% as well as EBIT on the service revenue. Ultimately, the strategy forged a path for the development of a range of new products and services, as well as expansion into other market segments. These results would have been impossible without an underlying focus on what has become the defining factor of sales: customer centricity.

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CEO’s, CFO’s and CIO’s – “Hello, is it me you’re looking for”

Dec 23, 2020 • Features • CEO • Dave Hart • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

Dave Hart, Managing Partner of Field Service Associates, takes us on a journey down memory lane in this exclusive article for Field Service News.

OK, come with me on a journey down memory lane here…

In 1983, legendary singer Lionel Ritchie (yes, he of Commodores fame) released his new solo album Can’t Slow Down. The following year he released a single from that album entitled Hello (is it me you’re looking for) and it reached number one on three Billboard music charts: the pop chart (for two weeks), the R&B chart (for three weeks) and the adult contemporary chart (for six weeks). The song also went to number one in the UK Singles Chart for six weeks.

Whilst driving along in the car a few weeks ago, I was thinking through my consultancy write up following my conversation with a CIO of a very large company. “Hello, came on the radio” at exactly the right moment; it was one of those moments, almost fate where in seven words Lionel had managed to summarise the root of the issues this particular company was having.

Whilst discussing with my CIO client her particular hot topics (which was the subject of the call) we discussed her companies service business which was fairly sizeable and when digging a little deeper into the topic with her she proclaimed, “I don’t actually know the name of the guy who runs our service business!”

I know from my own experience running a large service business, our quarterly business reviews with the CEO were two hours long. One hour and fifty minutes discussing how much product we had sold and ten minutes discussing the service business. The service business contributed significantly to the overall EBIT of the company; it’s like it was a given, that service would just perform and achieve the numbers.

During a budgeting cycle in the same company, the regional CFO exclaimed, “I have no real idea how service works, I just assume revenues will go up with the annual price increase, you will keep contract losses below 3% and your budget EBIT number is a given”

So, my question. Should service be taken for granted?

Unfortunately, in so many businesses, it is and my call to action here is that for service to thrive It needs focus from the whole ‘c suite’ to ensure it grows, that it constantly invents itself to cater for customers ever changing needs, market forces and transformational factors.

“Service leaders need to grasp what dominates their business leaders’ areas of focus

and then capitalise on that.”

Service is the powerhouse, the profit driver; dare I say, the future of sustainable revenues for product companies. Don’t take my word for it look at the evidence. In the recent TSIA publication ‘The State of Service Revenue Generation 2020’ the report states that 62% of companies polled said equipment revenues were declining and 70% stated service revenues were increasing.

So, ask yourself this question. How many true CSO’s are out there within companies, CSO’s that sit on the ‘C suite’ and influence the business direction, develop strategies for growth, that influence product design to be more service centric and ultimately transition the company to adopt a service mindset?

I bet not many.

I remember a conference from the days when we could travel, data attributed to PwC was presented, PwC had surveyed 2,500 companies in 2018 and found that 83% of those companies promoted the CEO from within. There is a startling similarity to service leaders who are promoted from within (that number is actually 84%), but does this necessarily mean that the potential myopic view of service is maintained?

The challenge for service leaders is to become apparent and top of mind to their CEO/CFO/CIO’s which is by no means easy. Service leaders need to grasp what dominates their business leaders’ areas of focus and then capitalise on that. I suggest service leaders find an approach that works with each persona. Here are some suggestions which are generic but may help the reader understand some areas of potential focus for them…

CFO’s – Half of CFO’s are fast tracking digital initiatives and 52% are re assessing business strategies. What an opportunity to put service front and centre introducing new approaches and digital transformation to pull organisations out of the COVID slump and back into revenue growth.
CIO’s – Of course will be concerned with cyber security, data governance and automation but in creating IT products, CIOs will be interested in the emotional value that makes their customers purchase the product or service. CIOs and IT leaders realize that customers buy from companies they feel care about them. Another wonderful opportunity to get on the agenda of the CIO and talk about your service strategy.
CEO’s – Their top concern is global recession and maybe it’s time to enlighten them about how service can become the engine of growth for their business.

Service leaders need to be able to understand each of the drivers of the people listed above and then ensure they tailor a message to that persona that will resonate. To do that they must be thoroughly prepared to be top of mind with their proposed solution, as each one of the ‘C suite’ will have many pressing priorities, all vying for their and their teams time as well as those precious financial resources.

Benjamin Disraeli once said ‘There is no education like adversity’ and COVID has delivered adversity in spades but I can’t help but feel the time has never been better to influence above, to build a sustainable plan that will resonate with your leadership team, to re-educate them about just how powerful their service businesses are. I then suggest you then pick up the phone and dare I say, start by saying….

Hello, is it me you’re looking for?

Dealing With Organisational Resistance

Dec 22, 2020 • Features • White Paper • field service management • IFS • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

In this second excerpt from a recent white paper published by IFS and Noventum, now available at Field Service News, we analyse how to deal with organisational resistance, develop internal skills and capabilities and how to use technology solutions...

Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

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The next two blocks of the Service Transformation journey must be run in parallel.

In the ‘dealing with organizational resistance’ block, you manage the service transformation journey; ensure there is a path to keep the C-suite engaged; and have a path for escalation in case issues need to be solved in the bottom block of the journey.

Undertaking these steps is required so you can continuously focus on making sure that the whole organization supports the journey and contributes to it, to identify people that are against the change, and to ensure that the steering committee can take the necessary steps to have a conversation with those stakeholders.

In the table below we outline the steps on ‘dealing with organizational resistance’.

DEVELOP INTERNAL SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES

In the ‘develop internal skills and capabilities’ block you are designing, developing and implementing every element that is needed to successfully achieve the set strategic and financial objectives. Doing this by design will ensure that no element will be forgotten, and that people will be able to form a clear picture of the changed organization.

In the table below we outline the steps on ‘Develop internal skills and capabilities’:

Screenshot 2020-12-21 at 17.59.30

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Service transformation is a multi-tiered initiative that requires a blend of organizational and technological changes working in tandem with on another. Positioning your current technology stack alongside capabilities deemed critical offers the synthesis necessary to enable successful transformation.

Traditional Field Service solutions just don’t stack up when it comes to enabling uptime for critical assets and truly delivering on outcome-based service. Outlined below are a variety of tools, and capabilities that are essential in any field service management solution which can truly propel you on this service transformation journey efforts.

Screenshot 2020-12-21 at 18.02.48

In the next and final feature of this series of excerpts coming next week, we will look at three different case studies that illustrate successful service transformation journeys.

Look out for the final feature of this series coming next week where we will look at three case studies of successful service transformation journeys.

However, 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 you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

The Service Transformation Journey

Dec 15, 2020 • Features • White Paper • field service management • IFS • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

In this new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by IFS and Noventum, now available at Field Service News, we analyze how to productise services and set the climate for the service transformation...

Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!

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 IFS 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.

With ever increasing internal and external market pressures, manufacturers have been searching for ways to diversify their revenue streams. Within product-oriented businesses, there has been a drive to offer a greater diversity of aftermarket services, we refer to this shift as servitization.

Both those organizations looking to servitize their business, as well as businesses who previously include service contracts or warranty offers, are diversifying the established business models inherent in these approaches. Most notably, organizations are employing contracts based on asset or product outcomes, uptime, and output rather than focusing on a break-fix approach and maintenance contracts.

These dramatic shifts in both the go-to-market and service delivery approach runs the risk of increasing organizational complexity, creating redundant systems, and unforeseen personnel risks. In an environment where margins are tight, servitization will be a strategic differentiator and a path to growth BUT manufacturers must ensure they carefully manage the transformation journey to ensure they deliver value and not give away service for free.

Recent research from IDC investigated the factors which are preventing manufacturing companies from progressing on their Servitization Journey. Lack of internal know-how, organizational resistance and lack of technology systems were found to be the most common inhibiters.

What is limiting your companys ability to deliver more technology-enabled services as part of your overall business?

What Is Limiting Your Companys Ability to Deliver More Technology-Enabled Services As Part of Your Overall Business?

Screenshot 2020-12-14 at 17.21.17

All these challenges need to be addressed when companies embark on Servitization. This report will explore the organizational, cultural, and technological challenges and look at methods that businesses have employed to ease in the shift towards Servitization.

HOW TO PRODUCTIZE SERVICES? THE SERVICE TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY

To answer this question, we have investigated what steps manufacturers that have a successful service business undertook and how these steps have helped to overcome these challenges.

Aside from these steps, we also identified a particular sequence in undertaking these steps to overcome these challenges. Based on these insights, we developed the ‘Service Transformation Journey’:

Screenshot 2020-12-14 at 17.26.06

As the above illustrates, there are several steps to undertake which emphasizes that a Service Transformation is not something you can do in a day. But what is each step, and why is it essential?

SET THE CLIMATE FOR SERVICE TRANSFORMATION

The first block contains the steps related to ‘Set the climate for Service Transformation’. It is essential to start with this block to deal with most of the identified barriers. Undertaking these steps will also ensure you get funding for the full journey; get help to set the right priorities; ensure that you develop services for which there is a customer demand; and be able to deal with organizational resistance from start to finish.

In the table below we have outlined the first steps that are necessary to set the climate for Service Transformation:

Screenshot 2020-12-14 at 17.32.41

In the next feature of this series of excerpts coming next week, we will discuss how to deal with organisational resistance, develop internal skills and capabilities and how to use technology solutions to support effective service delivery.

Look out for the next feature in this series coming next week where we discuss how to deal with organisational resistance.

However, 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 you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Beyond Great Service: The Results

Sep 14, 2018 • Features • Management • beyond great service • field service • field service management • Jim Baston • selling service • Service Leadership • Service Management • Service Revenue • Managing the Mobile Workforce

In the final feature from our exclusive serialisation of Jim Baston’s excellent industry focused book Beyond Great Service we see the benefits that have resulted in Charlie’s efforts to establish a new sales-focused mentality amongst his service engineers that doesn’t compromise their trusted advisor status and even more importantly that they as service professionals are comfortable with...

Missed a few? You can find the entire series of articles from this series here

Over the past several months, we have watched as Charlie formulated and implemented a strategy to proactively engage his field service team in making recommendations to their customers to help them to be better off.

We saw how he came to realize that making recommendations of this nature was a service and not a sale and how he took steps to integrate this initiative into their overall service delivery.

Here we look in on Charlie as he reflects on how far they have progressed since initiating Intelligent Service just over six months ago.

It’s been six months since the new service initiative was launched and Charlie is preparing for the Monday morning service meeting.

He is planning to provide a report to the service group on the performance of the program to date. He sits back to reflect on all that has happened since he first introduced the concept to the service team.

Things have moved fast. Charlie listed in his mind all that had been accomplished since then.

Sales materials promoting the new initiative (named ‘Intelligent Service’)
Changes to Novus’ maintenance contract proposals and terms, reflecting the nature of the service to be provided, and outlining the formal and informal customer reviews
A management process and tracking system to ensure that all opportunities are captured and followed up in a timely manner
A training program for technicians to increase their confidence and effectiveness in having proactive conversations with their customers
A monthly newsletter for customers, highlighting the latest in conservation practices and green technologies
Changes to the website reflecting the new Intelligent Service, featuring an interactive learning portal with up-to-date information on products and services, including significant issues and trends affecting customers, and a place for customer questions
Customer-focused seminars on pressing issues like energy conservation, new rules and legislations, etc.
A revised customer satisfaction survey that includes questions about how proactive the technicians were in bringing new ideas to the customer’s attention
An Intelligent Service Dashboard of key metrics to measure the effectiveness of the program

It is early yet, and some of the programs (for example the customer seminar program) are just getting underway and the initial signs are positive. New contract sales are up slightly, and John in sales has reported that the new initiative is getting lots of attention.

The contract kick-off meetings are getting favourable reports and overall customer satisfaction scores are trending upwards. Also on the rise is the percentage of additional revenue generated within the contract base.

There’s been no significant change in the contract retention rate, but Charlie concedes that not enough time has passed to give a true indication of what is happening there.

All of this is good, but Charlie knows that the real reason for this initial success has been due to the efforts of Ken and the technicians. For some, this process has merely validated their own personal (and successful) approach to serving their customers.

To others, however, what has been asked of them is a significant change in approach and with this change, a significant increase in discomfort. Charlie and Ken both know that without constant support and constructive feedback, people faced with significant change often revert back to their original habits over time.

That is why most initiatives of this nature fail. It’s also why Charlie feels that a major portion of the credit for the success of their new approach is due to Ken’s great example and leadership.

… stronger relationships continue to evolve between the service and sales departments, with John playing an instrumental part.

"There is a definite increase in the number of inquiries coming in as a result of the technicians’ efforts, and John is handling it all in stride. He painstakingly keeps each tech informed throughout the sales cycle..."

There is a definite increase in the number of inquiries coming in as a result of the technicians’ efforts, and John is handling it all in stride. He painstakingly keeps each tech informed throughout the sales cycle.

On occasions when his workload will not allow him to respond to a customer issue as quickly as he would like, he speaks to the technician as well as the customer to determine the level of priority that is required. In instances where time is of the essence, he’s quick to get Ken or Charlie involved so that nothing falls through the cracks.

Although the results have been positive on just about every front, Charlie knows that the customers will ultimately determine their success.

That is why he and Ken have each set up meetings with ten of their customers over the next three weeks to discuss the program and to get their feedback to date.

They want to ensure that the customers fully understand what the program is all about and recognize the value provided. More importantly, however, they want to ensure that Novus is delivering as promised, and through the eyes of the customer, if the promise made is being fulfilled to their satisfaction.

… Charlie is startled by the telephone.

It’s Joe Costello of East Side Properties. “Charlie, we’ve just won a contract to manage three buildings for a major building owner in town. I’d like you to come and see me about Novus doing the mechanical maintenance. How soon can you get over to see me?”

Charlie smiled. Things just keep getting better.

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ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘service-leadership’ CATEGORY

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.

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.

"It’s been long established that field service is heading for a skills shortage. Growth in service businesses has fuelled demand..."

Further Reading:

let's put together the plan

need some inspiration?

Further Reading:

Further Reading:

Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

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1. CONVINCING TOP MANAGEMENT TO CHANGE THE BUSINESS MODEL TO BECOME A SERVICE BUSINESS

The current situation

The challenge

What was done?

Benefits

2. RE-ENGINEERING THE TRADITIONAL SERVICE DELIVERY

The current situation

The challenge

What was done?

Benefits

3. DRASTICALLY INCREASE SERVICE REVENUE BY SMARTLY CHANGING THE GO-TO MARKET APPROACH

The current situation

The challenge

What was done?

Benefits

'Overcoming the Barriers to Servitization' white paper is available on Field Service News.

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 you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Further Reading:

Further Reading:

Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!

DEVELOP INTERNAL SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Look out for the final feature of this series coming next week where we will look at three case studies of successful service transformation journeys.

However, 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 you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Further Reading:

Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!

What Is Limiting Your Companys Ability to Deliver More Technology-Enabled Services As Part of Your Overall Business?

HOW TO PRODUCTIZE SERVICES? THE SERVICE TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY

SET THE CLIMATE FOR SERVICE TRANSFORMATION

Look out for the next feature in this series coming next week where we discuss how to deal with organisational resistance.

However, 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 you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Further Reading:

"There is a definite increase in the number of inquiries coming in as a result of the technicians’ efforts, and John is handling it all in stride. He painstakingly keeps each tech informed throughout the sales cycle..."

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