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Yorkshire based company Service2 show that smaller companies don’t need to wait until they grow before adopting a field service software platform...

One of the biggest changes to field service companies in recent times has been the advent of the Cloud and the Software as a Service (SaaS) model and perhaps the biggest shift that the introduction of SaaS has brought is that for the first time ever field service software is no longer the domain of large enterprise companies only.

Due to the subscription based nature of SaaS offerings smaller companies are now able to access the types of software that only a few years ago would have been cost-prohibitive to them.

As such they are able to offer their customers similar levels of service as the big boys whilst at the same time being able to reap the benefits of enhanced productivity and efficiency such systems yield. The playing field has been well and truly levelled – or at least so the theory goes.

However how does this filter down in reality?

Is there truth in such assertions or is it just a case of clever marketing spin form the software providers?

To find out how field service management software can help a small company we spoke exclusively to Kate Lovery at Service2, a Yorkshire based Gas appliance installation and maintenance provider who have implemented the ServiceMax platform.

The business originally came into being when founders James and Chris, who both have background in engineering themselves, (Chris was predominantly working with catering equipment and boilers whilst James was more focussed on heating and ventilation) found themselves being approached with promises of Directorships for a new start-up.

However, as is sadly often the case, the promises didn’t meet reality, but the seeds of a successful business had been sown between the two, so in November 2011 they decided to set up by themselves.

Having started like most young businesses do taking as much work of any form that they could to build up the business and establish contacts and clients on the way, they quickly established a successful niche for themselves as they moved away from domestic jobs and began establishing a strong reputation for contract based commercial work.

Big name clients such as NG Bailey, Norland, and the Marriott group soon came along and with them so did more engineers, more office staff and 200% year on year growth.

However, the flip side of such success is the growing logistical headache of how to manage the business.

 

As Lovery explains “We’ve got a really nice spread of clients but my focus over the last year has been look how can we manage this? I can’t manage ten engineers and how ever many clients on an Excel spreadsheet so what are we going to do?”

“I needed to stop and ask how can we take this forward and be more dynamic? How can we be faster, quicker, more streamlined.” She adds

With the need to find a solution Lovery began opening the conversation up to the team and in fact it was one of their engineers who suggested ServiceMax.

At the same time she also had a recommendation from one of their commercial partners for the SaaS based field service software provider. Contact details were swapped and soon they were reviewing the ServiceMax system.

“They came to see us and gave us a presentation and we looked at it and thought about it and then initially put it on the back burner.” Admits Lovery.

Something that many companies in Service2’s position will do as the day to day tasks of keeping your business growing take over your To Do list.

However, Lovery was wise enough to take a step back, to focus on the forest rather than the one tree ahead of her as it were and realised if Service2 was to continue to grow they would be better off acting sooner rather than later.

“We thought you know what we really need to do this now.” She concedes “Our plan is to be twice the size, three times the size year on year and I thought I don’t want to be implementing a system for 50 people when I can implement it now for 15.”

“I also wanted to make it an integral part of our DNA. How we go through our processes, how we perform.” She adds

 

Such an approach is of course extremely forward looking and one that many companies only realise they should have taken when it’s too late. However for Lovery it was simple common sense.

“Coming from a clients service/account management background for me it is absolutely vital that we can manage our accounts properly, we just simply wouldn’t be able to grow unless we do” she explains

“With our previous system I just couldn’t see how we could manage that. It’s just too many plates spinning, For us it’s like we’ve employed the system instead of employing another person to some degree."

And it’s not just the task of managing the engineers that is proving useful to Lovery. It is also the ability to keep a much closer eye on the P&L.

“Before we didn’t have such huge visibility we didn’t really have much transparency to be honest. Not because it’s wasn’t there I just didn’t have time to go and find the information I needed.” She explains

“Unless I’ve got a system like ServiceMax how can I track every nut and bolt that is purchased against a job? I can do some costing and put some rough numbers around what our profit and loss is but without a system like this in truth “ To me that’ visibility is really, really vital. It’s about being able to see both where we can maximise profitability but also where we can make cost savings etc.”

Of course the Field Service Software market is a highly competitive one and despite the recommendations Lovery looked at some of the other providers available before opting for ServiceMax. So what was it that made them the preferred option? “I found ServiceMax to be a to be a lot more dynamic.” She starts “I also liked the fact that it was Cloud based not something that was built on our system.”

“At times you think well we’re only a small company of 15 people, how is that going to work for us - but surely principles that the business is built on, the foundations, they are the same regardless of size.”

 

“For me best practice isn’t what the engineers on the other side of town are doing, I look to Cannon and GE and those types of brands and ask what are they doing? So I love the fact that ServiceMax has small family owned businesses as much as multi-nationals as part of their client list.”

It is here that we perhaps begin to see why ServiceMax have gained such a glowing reputation from this particular customer.

For whilst Lovery is clearly very happy with the software, her endorsement of the software provider runs far deeper than product alone.

“I really like the networking opportunities and the different people it would bring you into contact with that other providers couldn’t offer.” She continues referring to the many client focussed seminars , workshops and conferences ServiceMax run each year.

“I’ve really enjoyed the seminars at their usergroup and  for me just being able to take part in that type of event, listen to other peoples issues – what they love about the platform what they don’t, is just so helpful.”

“You don’t know what you don’t know so, just listening to others who have been with the platform longer or have experience managing bigger teams than ours, such sessions are really useful.” She adds.

It is through such activities that ServiceMax are able to encourage their customers to grow with the platform. An approach that generates more than enough brand loyalty to make these events worthwhile.

“The last thing I would want to do is change a system at some point in the future, It may seem cheaper or easier at the time to have taken another platform but we really like the direction of ServiceMax as a company and it seems that they are someone we can grow with. It seems that they don’t stand still at all. There approach is very much ‘how can we make this package work for you” Enthuses Lovery

 

In addition to the networking opportunities that ServiceMax offer to their user base it is also their commitment to delivering excellent customer service that has Lovery so impressed.

“Our account manager has been really excellent I have to say” she comments “he has been really supportive, helping us make the right connections, just offering support and advice when we need it, on that level the client service is fantastic and that’s the case with the whole team so far.”

And with a dedicated project manager available Lovery is confident that she will be able to be fully adapt the software to their needs as the company continues to grow and evolve.

“Because I’m implementing it myself my project manager, who I speak to two three times a week is teaching me the tricks and tools that I might not have been aware of and that has given me a certain amount of independence to run with it.”

She explains “If in six months time I want to make a few changes I’ll be able to do that myself”

Indeed in the often ruthless world of corporate software it is refreshing to note Lovery’s enthusiasm for her provider.

Yet by giving Lovery and Service2 the freedom to make such changes, and empowering them to be able to manage their system as their business grows, supporting them with excellent service, and helping them establish a wider network of contacts, ServiceMax are likely to secure the business of this fast growing company for many years to come.

 

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As we draw closer to our next webinar we begin a new series looking at one of the key topics - the growing danger that field service is facing a real talent shortage within the next decade...

To register for the webinar that will accompany this series click here...

It’s a major challenge being faced in many industries but the statistics for field service companies, across all corners of the globe, are particularly bleak.

One such statistic is that 40% of Field Workers are over 40 years of age. That’s nearly half of our workforce that will need replacing within a twenty-year period.

Let’s consider another.

60% of companies are currently report that they are understaffed in their technical and highly skilled positions. This is also in an area where demand is predicted to grow twice as swiftly as other professions by the year 2025.

Whichever way we look at it we are under increasing pressure to meet a growing demand to acquire and retain new additions to our mobile workforces and this theme is at the heart of our forthcoming webinar with ServiceMax.

Indeed it is a topic that has come to the attention of the team at ServiceMax a number of times particularly in their customer focussed workshops and seminars.

Explaining further Randy Reynolds, VP Product Marketing, ServiceMax commented “We didn’t realise just what a critical area this was in the field service space” He began before explaining that it was in fact at a round table at last years MaxLive event in Paris that the dawning reality of the problem really struck home.

“What was interesting is that this is a conversation I was hearing a lot of” Reynolds continued before expanding further.

“Perhaps the first thing that I noticed a lot of our customers saying was that there are significant changes in the requirements to fill field service positions.”

 

“Historically they would be looking to hire people with very strong technical knowledge, very product related knowledge but now because the role of the field service technician is evolving, companies are looking for what we could consider softer skills.”

“Field Service companies are now looking for people that can interact with customers and deal with different situations that are out in the field.” Reynolds added “So rather than going out and looking for people with great vocational skills, many companies now feel that they can teach those skills on the job.  What they truly need is people who can relate to and really understand the customer, people who fundamentally understand the service equation side of the role.”

So if we return to our opening thoughts around the challenges we face in terms of replacing an ageing workforce, not only is their mounting pressure for us to seek out talent, there is also a need for us to reinvent the profile of our workers simultaneously.

Challenging times indeed.

Another of Reynolds colleagues at ServiceMax who has been doing a lot of work in this area is Patrice Eberline, ‎Vice President, Global Customer Transformation, ServiceMax.

However Eberline, who has a wide background in professional management working across implementation, training, change management and deployment and adoption across a career spanning nearly twenty years, sees the current situation not only as a challenge but also an opportunity to truly ignite transformation for ‘future year staffing.’

Eberline, who is giving the lead presentation in our next webinar being hosted on the 20^th May at 4pm BST, admits that traditionally as an industry field service has been in a fortunate position when it comes to staffing.

“We’ve been lucky in field service in that traditionally we have had low turnover and high company loyalty.” She says “Folks come and work in field service and they make a career out of it. We really haven’t had employee churn as an issue to worry about in field service - however this is changing. “ She warns.

 

The problem, Eberline asserts runs far deeper than the challenge of replacing lost man hours. The underlying issue, which is even more worrying, is the loss of knowledge that goes with each and every individual that retires or moves on.

Knowledge that all too often isn’t documented either Eberline points out.

“I recently had a technician come into my home” she explains anecdotally “but being a little bit of a geek I’d spent ages looking all over the web for a solution to my problem.  Honestly I didn’t feel like there was much to be done but getting an engineer out was the next step before buying a replacement.”

“However, literally within 5 to 10 minutes of arriving the engineer had developed a work around that wasn’t listed anywhere in any documentation.  That fixed my problem and gave me some additional life on my device and promptly left me feeling wonderful about this – so this stuff is really important.” She concludes.

Indeed it is this threat of potential knowledge leakage that is perhaps the greatest danger of the ageing workforce crisis that field service companies face.

This knowledge, sometimes referred to as tribal knowledge, in that it is knowledge that is accrued through the years spent on the job, is starting to leave our businesses as the workforce reaches retirement age. So we need to capture this knowledge and find a way of releasing it quickly.

This is where we really need to embrace the technologies available, and systems such as ServiceMax are key to enabling product sharing platforms such as that implemented by Elekta in recent times.

As we see industry wide moves towards platform based approaches, driven largely by the success of Cloud based offerings such as Salesforce then the ability to not only document product knowledge but to have that knowledge as widely accessible as possible, integrating with numerous business areas such as field service software, CRM even accounting software can be hugely advantageous.

And as we look to the next generation of potential workers, the so-called millennial generation, this trait of open knowledge sharing is actually inherent to their makeup. This is a generation raised on social collaboration, so knowledge sharing should be second nature for them.

 

So perhaps the future is not as bleak as first it seems?

We need to make the transition away from tribal knowledge to social collaboration and we need to start doing it swiftly. But the technology is available and the next generation of field workers should have all the skills required to be able to adopt such an approach swiftly.

The challenge is going to be in making the transition from a to b as smooth as possible.

This most certainly will be easier said than done, however the work being done by Eberline and her peers will undoubtedly  help us in defining our own specific road map and this is something we shall be exploring in further features in this series as we lead up to the webinar on 20^th May.

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To join us for this webinar click here and register now. 

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New infographic from ServiceMax shows how the benefits of going on the offence...

Over the past 50 years, manufacturers have focused on efficiently making good products in order to maximise their returns at the moment of sale. However, in a globally competitive market, many products are now commoditised and margins are getting squeezed, diminishing the leverage from such production-centric approaches.

That’s where a service-centric business model comes into its own. Servitization transforms companies from production to service provider, shifting them to delivering advanced services, such as selection, consumables, monitoring, repair, maintenance, disposal, as well as the opportunity to increase service revenues even further by supporting existing third party or competitive products. This creates an ongoing relationship with the customer that effectively locks out competitors.

As a business model, servitisation isn’t a new phenomenon – the origin of the term dates back to the 1960s. However, against the back drop of a global recession, product commoditisation, shrinking product margins, and major technology advances in end-to-end service delivery, servitization is providing companies with an effective hedge against market downturns, and higher barriers of entry for competitors.

As a result, service is shifting from the spotlight to the limelight, becoming a powerful offensive business strategy for top line growth and competitive advantage.

 

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We’ve all seen the statistics on how Millennials are set to dominate the workforce by 2020. Individual companies and entire industries are starting to cater to their requirements - from collaborative business centres and “social lobbies” for networking/relaxation, to rooms equipped with the latest technology.  Businesses are embracing this new generation, and harnessing the power of their sheer numbers.

It’s been said that this generation is needy, entitled, narcissistic, and often tough to manage, but they can also bring a new element to business, representing a driving force and competitive weapon that can be used to differentiate your organisation, strengthen the connection between you and your customer, and further the revenue and bottom line growth for your company.

Their attributes are actually a good fit for a career in the field service industry. Our entire civilisation now depends on field service technicians to maintain the very machines that keep our world running. Given the profitability potential that field service now has to drive meaningful revenue in a fledging economy where product shelf life is being extended rather than replaced, a career in field service gives Millennials the potential to both make money and make a difference.

The infographic below published by ServiceMax outlines how to the service industry can appeal to Millennials as a career path, and the changes in motivational drivers.

 

 

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In part one of this exclusive interview with ServiceMax COO Scott Berg we looked at the the similarities between widely differing industries, the rapid rise of ServiceMax and why the IoT hasn't quite got fully up to speed as yet.

Here in this second section of the interview we begin with the another key significant technology trend, Big Data and why it was the at the heart of the headlines coming out of the ServiceMax CIO summit a few months earlier.

As our conversation turns to this Berg begins nodding agreement.

“We think we are in quite a unique position to make Data actionable.” he says. A pretty bold claim.

He begins to expand further “These Data lakes and all the other terminology around Big Data, all this predictive stuff and data science is all great but somebodies got get it into the hands on a technician in order to benefit from it. To maybe direct their next step or predict their next move. There will always be people involved in the chain, so we think its really our unique place to play as we make Big Data actionable.”

 

“We have a configurable process, we have the mobile device, so if there is going to be any directing or leading or sharing and tapping into knowledge its probably going to be done on a disconnected mobile device under ground at the top of a scaffolding or something like. So our interest in it is trying to connect data science and Big Data into that actionable footprint that you can put in front of the technician.”

This focus on the end user leads us to another current topic of conversation in software circles – is customisation the root of all ills or an acceptable process to refine off the shelf solutions?

 

“I think the whole nature of customisation has changed” answers Berg as I put the question to him “As you know we are on the Salesforce.com platform, and I don’t think that customisation is necessarily a bad word because its so controlled and its such a configurable and extendable experience anyway.”

“We certainly do stress configuration to the extent that this year we’ve really tried to repackage our implementation and delivery offerings. For small businesses we have something called Express, which is an out of the box ‘trust me this is what you need’ solution. If you work with us in three weeks you’ll be live and it’ll look just like the demonstration.” He says

“So we’ve tried to get certainly more prescriptive about it but I do think that peoples notions of customisation are ERP. So obliterated unrecognisable sets of code that drop you off at the road map and that quite frankly it’s a large part of our success I think. Because there is so much of that in Siebel today, one of our big customers has three versions of Siebel all of them deprecated so their off support and they’re faced with this problem its unrecognisable, its un-upgradeable they may as well just go buy another solution.”

“I think that the Salesforce platform has really changed everything. The way that we have to operate in that platform as an independent software company on someone else’s cloud means everything has to go through vulnerability, security and compatibility automated checking. So anything your customer would do on top of that, or anything we would do for a customer, basically inherits that stability. I think that’s just a radically different technological model than traditional ERP”

 

Of course Salesforce.com ended up proving a lot of their far bigger competitors wrong and now it seems that this is a rush to catch them up. It’ll be interesting to see if in the future all companies will follow their route.

As Berg himself outlines “ I think you’ll see a lot of the vendors out their trying to follow Salesforce’s lead and trying to follow some of Salesforce’s approach and try to become that platform as a service provider. You see them all launching market places and trying to attract people. Microsoft have been making a lot of noise around this and trying to launch the Dynamics platform. “

“But as somebody who jumped into the Salesforce.com bandwagon early on and as someone who every year we periodically reassess our situation I can say that nobody has really built the breadth and depth of a business application platform that those guys have.”

It is obvious to all that the connection between Salesforce.com and ServiceMax is particularly close. But is it too close? How reliant is the continuing success of ServiceMax on the Saleforce platform I ask.

“Having been involved with several start-ups in the past I think that they [Salesforce] were extremely critical for us especially in the early days.” Responds Berg.

 

“If you think of what it would have taken for us to launch a data centre and secure it, to build all the platform capabilities and redundancy, also that some of our first 12 customers were in the Middle East and Europe and there we were with two founders selling everything themselves out of northern California… how could that be right?” he pauses leaving the question hang for just a second before continuing.

“All because of the global reach and the global acceptance level of the Salesforce.com platform. So yes it was very important early on.” He concludes.

However as Berg explains the relationship has changed overtime as ServiceMAx themselves have grown to stand on more of an equal footing.

“Overtime I think that the value of the relationship has shifted a bit.” Berg concedes “Salesforce has become much more of a platform, and we don’t tend to get as many outright business referrals from them as before.”

“And it is certainly a big credibility statement to pass our EU safe harbour framework certifications and things because we’re in it but we’ve expanded so much in our own intellectual property investments around the mobile devices, iPad, and frameworks for our configurable workflow that I think when you stack up all the functionality in our product today, its heavily tipped to us now.” He admits.

Look out for the final part of this exclusive interview coming next week... 

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ServiceMax have been one of the undoubted success stories in field service software of recent years. Kris Oldland, Field Service News Editor spoke to Their COO Scott Berg to find out about the journey they have been on and what happens next....

It was a cold early morning in Paris towards the tail end of last year when I met with Scott Berg. For me having flown in late the night before the famous Parisian coffee brought the welcome caffeine boost required to focus my sleep deprived brain.

However, when Berg entered the room, looking fresh in a crisp suit and bounding with a relaxed and jovial energy, it was clear that for him no such shot of espresso was required. Despite what had been a pretty hectic schedule he was clearly the type of guy that gets up raring to go every morning. And why shouldn’t he be, as COO of ServiceMax he was clearly in a good place.

It seems that almost every other company I speak to at the minute has recently moved to their field service management platform. If that sounds like an exaggeration here’s some interesting statistics to consider.

 

They have just finished their sixth year with a 100% year on year growth so and added 125 customers to their roster within the last twelve months. They operate in a highly competitive market and as far a I am aware at least, nobody is making that kind of progress and taking that kind of volume.

As Berg himself acknowledges “We’ve won more business in the last year than some of our competitors have done in the last 15.”

And these customers come in all shapes and sizes, from all verticals across every corner of the globe.

“The really fun thing for us is to see the variety of companies that we are working with.” Berg begins in an enthusiastic manner “We recently ran a Chief Service Officers summit, the first event that we had ever tried like that and there were 6 Global Heads of Service with the likes of Coca-Cola and Becton Dickinson and so on there. So on one hand we were working with these massive companies and then on the other hand there are companies like Service2 which is a husband and wife owned company that have gone from having five technicians to 10 since they employed ServiceMax -  so it’s a kinda cool thrill a minute kind of energy in the market right now” he adds.

This has always been one of the fascinating things about field service, there are so many parallel challenges across disparate industries and this is something Berg elaborates on further as we talk.

 

“That was completely the case yesterday, there was the Head of Professional Services for the Sony group, the man in charge of service for everything except their consumer brands.  So movie theatre camera systems and BBC News and all of the big news network type of things “ he explains “and he had the same talent acquisition issues as everybody else, he had the same political challenges internally of getting a seat at the boardroom table to enable him to pursue some initiatives, even though he was the only growing part of the business.

“All day it was the same story and it didn’t matter whether you were curing cancer or showing the latest movie at the cinema, it was basically the same sets of conversations we were having with people.”

And it is easy to imagine Berg being able to hold such conversations with these Global Heads of Service or equally with an owner of a small SME such as Service2 who are just taking the first steps in growing their business. He comes across as an approachable and enthusiastic but there is also an earnestness about him as well.

However, it’s easy enough to talk about all the good things ServiceMax have achieved but what about the things that they haven’t. Is there anywhere that Berg felt remained a work in progress for what is lets not forget still a relatively young organisation in it’s market segment.

“I think we’ve done a phenomenal job when it comes to capitalising on the mobility space” he begins “We’ve developed our Android platform and we’ve revamped our iOS solution which has been positive. It’s been somewhat of a surprise in how ready and willing the market is to take on these high-end portable devices. “

 

“One of the things that still perplexes me though is how slow the uptake on Internet of Things, and machine to machine communication." he continues.

“It’s funny, I use solar panels on my house and from my phone I can tell you if they’re working and then through my Nest thermostat I can turn the heating up and down from my phone also. Yet here are these massive, powerful, hi-tech intellectual property companies and they can’t figure out how to get an Ethernet connector jack plug into their devices?” he adds with a laugh.

The thing is he has a point. Widespread adoption of IoT in field service is behind where it should be based on the technology available. And to be fair to ServiceMax for those clients that are set to take advantage of M2M connectivity they are pretty much ready to go .

 

“We are very eager to jump on this [IoT]” he comments “We do have some customers like Elekta who have a full offering which we call IntelMax for machine to machine connectivity and Johnson Controls made huge investments in the area but it still strikes me how hard its been for industry. I have a little hundred dollar consumer device on the wall of my home that can do it and yet industry can’t?”

So is the ServiceMax product all set to go for Internet of Things?” I ask “Is it just a case of waiting for the market to catch up?”

“I think it is” Berg replies ‘”There are certainly relationships we are trying to build. We’re in discussions with people like Cisco and others to try and bridge that last mile of connectivity and we’ve explored some of the Apple iBeacon technology sensing people, locations and the physicality with the device.”

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Across December and January we asked our readers to nominate candidates for the inaugural #FSN20, a list of the twenty most influential people in field service. We received nominations from across the globe through social media, email and even a phone call or two directly into the news-desk.

Armed with a list of candidates, a Field Service News panel selected the final list of twenty based on the number of nominations, their impact on the industry (past, present and future) and their sphere of influence in both the physical and digital world.

After much long deliberation, heartful debate (read arguing) and enormous amounts of coffee we managed to whittle our list down to a final twenty which we pleased to present to you here the inaugural edition of the #FSN20. You may not agree with our selection and if you don’t tell us, tell your friends, tell your colleagues, hell tell the world – because at the heart of it that’s what this list is all about, getting people talking about excellence in field service and raising the profile of those leading us to a better future.

We are now announcing who made the list in alphabetical order in four sections across four days. So without further ado we are pleased to bring you the second five of the #FSN20

Professor Elgar Fleisch, University of St. Gallen

With an extensive academic background that covers mechanical engineering, business economics and artificial intelligence, Fleisch has both an extensive understanding of how technology can influence business and an international reputation to match that understanding.

He has focused his research on the joining of the physical and digital worlds since the very birth of the Internet of Things and is, thus, highly regarded in the sphere. It is likely no coincidence that his presence on the executive board of CoreSystems coincides with the rapid rise of the Swiss field service management software provider, whose field service offering was the first product of its type to start taking advantage of IoT.

Follow Edgar @coresystems

 

 

Dave Hart, VP of Global Customer Transformation, ServiceMax

Another of those on our list who has worked their way upwards from field service engineer; in fact, Hart has taken most of the steps on the ladder.

From Service Engineer to VP of Service, from managing small regional teams through to managing thousands of engineers across Europe, he’s been there and done it. With this background there is an unbridled wealth of experience that Hart is able to share.

Therefore it was a great move by ServiceMax in employing him to help share that experience and deep understanding of field service with their expanding customer base.

Follow Dave @davehartprofit 

 

Martin Hotass, General Manager, Siemens Professional Education

One of the biggest risks field service faces is an ageing workforce and Siemens is one company at the forefront of tackling this problem head on.

Hotass is not only leading the charge, engaging with students and colleagues alike, but in speaking to him, he is truly passionate about bringing the best young talent not only to Siemens but also to the industry in general.

If field service is going to overcome the significant issue of replacing the current workforce successfully we need more with Hotass’ dedication to the task.

Follow Martin @SiemensUKNews

 

Professor Howard Lightfoot, Cranfield University

Co-author on ”Made to Serve” and another significant figure in the servitization movement. However, Lightfoot’s inclusion within the list is more based on his current work at Cranfield University where he is playing an instrumental role in educating the next generation of engineers via the use of some truly groundbreaking technology.

With the field service industries facing a very real crisis of an ageing workforce, the work Lightfoot is currently performing could have a profound impact on the ability of field service companies to survive this crisis with minimal impact.

Follow Howard @howardPSS

 

Mynul Khan, Founder, Field Nation

The shift away from traditional work contracts to outsourcing to local contractors has an obvious appeal for field service organisations and Field Nation, a product of Khan’s own vision, is a perfect tool for facilitating this in the twenty-first century. Dubbed an ‘ebay for field workers’ Field Nation connects workers with contractors across the U.S.

Whether such a solution could work in the multi-language, cross-border regulation framework of Europe is yet to be seen, but the rapid adoption of Field Nation suggests that there is certainly a market in the home shores at least.

Follow Mynul @fieldnation

 

See the rest of the list here: Part One, Part Three, Part Four

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December.  That last few weeks before we flip to a clean page, create those New Year’s Resolutions, and generally begin again in pursuit of personal and professional excellence. Patrice Eberline is Vice President, Global Customer Transformation at ServiceMax gives guidance on how to take stock and get set for success in the year ahead....

The end of the year is also a terrific time to take stock of your Field Service organisation and offerings.  We typically review performance against standard industry metrics- MTTR, Utilisation, SLA’s, etc. This year, take a look at performance against potential- what your field service organisation could be.

Use the holiday time to step away from the tactical and look at the bigger picture.  How can you disrupt the day to day and be transformative?  What are you seeing at a strategic level that will give you the edge and generate breakthrough profitability in 2015?

1. How “fit” are your service offerings to face the New Year? We often look at our own fitness levels in prep for our personal New Year’s Resolutions.  Our business should be no different and frequently service programs are the last to get a facelift.  Are they ready for the New Year?  Keeping service offerings evergreen and current is key in keeping customers happy and creating service excellence.  Let’s look at an example.

   In the world of medical device repair, service is complex and much of that complexity can come from compliance.  Compliance reporting can be onerous for your customers, and can offer an opportunity to update a simple PM service event with a high value, no cost add on. At a CSO event I recently attended, one of the field leaders shared a success story where he offered to capture a full equipment inventory (both his equipment and his competitors) as a way to help his customer with their “as installed” end of year reporting.  This was a simple matter of scanning like equipment bar codes using a mobile device. The result was a great way to generate additional customer sat while getting additional information for future sales opps.Taking a look at your service programs with fresh eyes can offer unexpected opportunities to disrupt the competition!

2. How well are you capitalizing on sales opportunities from within your Field Service team? 

   As we move further and further into the online, self-serve service world, every touch point with your customer becomes of paramount importance.  …and the unit that touches the customer most frequently?  You guessed it- your service team!

   Your field techs are the face of your brand.  They spend the most time in front of your customer and develop long-standing positive relationships with them.  More importantly, your field team has their unwavering trust, and that is the key to unlocking additional sales.  Are you using them to their fullest?

   I spoke with a Service Director a few months ago who is doing just that.  He was quick to point out that his aim was not to turn his techs into sales reps, as that would defeat their trusted advisor status.  He was however, able to identify techs with an aptitude for observation, rapport-building, and sales and offer them additional training to make them highly effective techs who could capitalize on sales opportunities seen in the field.  The process was then automated by using technology to automatically dispatch these “closers” to service appointments where equipment was coming out of warranty and there was no long-term contract in place.

   A field service engineer with high technical skills as well as sales ability can truly move the needle on your bottom line!

3. Are you leveraging technology to the fullest?

   The pace of technology innovation continues to increase dramatically year over year.  The benefits are no longer “nice to have’s” but are “must haves” in order to get and maintain competitive advantage and best in class service status. As the year winds down, it’s a great time to take a look at the tools you are using and leverage those that will give you the edge against the competition.

   One of the most popular ways to do this is around hand held devices.  Today everyone has a cell phone and most of us have a tablet of one kind or another.  Further, both are on just about every Top 10 list for holiday gift giving.  By making the most of these “always on” devices, you can separate yourself from the crowd in a variety of ways:

    

   • Increase customer sat with real-time notifications of technician ETA.
   • Increase First Time Fix on complex work orders by enabling the field with real-time escalation to home office source expertise via face-time or similar
   • Turn invoices around quickly and decrease invoice questions by empowering technicians to get written approval on paperwork before leaving customer site
   • ave time on traditional laptop boot times by providing technicians with an efficient “always on” tool to log and complete work orders

With a little planning, technology will help you empower your field techs, increase operating efficiencies, and delight your customers.

These are just some examples and food for thought as you prepare for the New Year. I wish you all the very best of holidays and here’s to a breakthrough 2015!

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Yes we have reached that time of the year when various competitions are rolled our left right and centre.The best business card in field service, thre best uniform in field service, the cleanest field service fleet and so on and so forth...

However, there are three competitions that have caught our eye of late so we thought we'd share with the class...

ServiceMax's are collecting worst ever field service engineer visits....

As the folks at ServiceMax quite rightly point out field service technicians keep the world running, but they perhaps don't get appreciated all the the time. So the team at ServiceMax are collecting your best( or should that be worst?) field service anecdotes (in strictest confidentiality of course) and have commissioned award winning artist Jerry King to create a series of customised cartoons based on the anecdotes selected

Find out more and enter here

ClickSoftware look for the most extreme field service engineers out there...

ClickSoftware mean while are launching a competition to find the field service professionals that work in the most extreme locations around the world. This is olne that is sure to turn up some interesting answers from the Arctic to the Sahara there are field engineers just about everywhere! There is also some serious money being given to charity of the back of this with each winner allowed to donate £1,000.00 (or local equivalent) to the charity of their choice - good job ClickSoftware.

Find out more and enter here 

Field Service News launch the #FSN20 - make your nominations now!

OK so this didn't so much catch our eye as it's our own competition. And it's not a competition as such... more a celebration of the great and the good of our industry but this year is the launch of the inaugural Field Service News 20. A list of the 20 most influential people working in field service. It could be analysts, commentators, the head of a specific provider that has changed the way your company operates, your boss, a former boss who ever you nominate we'll look into them and see if they can make a place on the list.

We don't promise it'll be the most scientific process, and there are no prizes available, just the awesome sense of well being for saying well done to someone who has helped you, no matter how inadvertently in you working life.

So take two minutes and make a nomination now

 

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