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How do you optimise your service delivery and ensure an excellent service is provided to your customers? It’s a question that doesn’t have a single answer; there is no silver bullet solution. What’s more, every company is likely to take a slightly different approach and what works for one organisation may not necessarily work for another.

A key aim for every organisation, though, should be to operate as efficiently as possible. That’s why Oneserve’s latest white paper is designed to get people thinking about how they can improve the efficiency of their field operations (or mobile workforce).

Here are the four key components that we believe are essential to achieving efficient field operations:

• Cost optimisation
• Workforce performance
• Customer satisfaction
• Workflow rationalisation

Read on to find out how the components fit into an effective field service management strategy.

Cost optimisation

It’s said that cash flow is the lifeblood of every business; without positive cash flow, even profitable companies can fail. That’s why getting value for money should be, and usually is, a primary aim for businesses. For this reason, cost optimisation is of great importance.

There are a number of ways in which field service organisations can optimise costs. Three of these are:

1. Ensure effective stock control and procurement – the key to managing stock is visibility; it lessens the chance of over-ordering while allowing you to ensure you have enough stock at any one time. You can also use data collected over a period of time to analyse your requirements and forecast future requirements, potentially giving you the opportunity to negotiate better rates with suppliers.
2. ]Improve first-time fix rates – in order to achieve high first-time fix rates you need to send an engineer with the right skillset to each job. They also need the right parts and tools with them, while their proximity to the job should also be considered if you want to keep costs down. If you can get all of these things right, your first-time fix rate will improve and costs should be reduced.
3. Remote resolution and preventative initiatives – although not necessarily suitable for all types of field service businesses, remote resolution and preventative initiatives can help to reduce costs. Remote resolution could involve the use of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology, which allows assets to be monitored remotely. Preventative maintenance initiatives can help to reduce the number of emergency call-outs and allow costs to be managed more effectively.

Workforce performance

Your people are the key asset of your organisation. An engaged and motivated workforce will be capable of achievements well beyond simply boosting productivity.

They could provide recommendations for improvements to current, inefficient working practices and even come up with innovative new business ideas if given the chance. They’re also the face of your company, so it’s important they are conveying the right message about it. Happy employees are more likely to portray a positive image of your company and deliver a great service to your customers.

So, it goes without saying that it is important to try and keep your workforce motivated. This is not always easy when they are all working in different places, as the nature of field service dictates they often will be.

There are however a few things that can be done to keep staff engaged and motivated:

• Make sure each field worker can easily contact their line manager, and that line managers regularly meet with employees in person.
• Encourage internal collaboration so people feel comfortable asking colleagues for advice. This will also help them to build relationships between each other and work better together.
• Set goals for each member of staff so they have targets to aim for (as long as they are achievable; unrealistic targets could lead to employees becoming demoralised).
• Invest in improvement programmes and allow your staff to share suggestions on how processes can be improved.
• Maintain training programmes for your staff and remember to keep them updated with changes in the business so they don’t feel as if they’re working in a silo.

Customer satisfaction

In today’s competitive business world, keeping customers happy is more important than ever. As we revealed in arecent blog, a 10% increase in customer retention levels results in a 30% increase in company value. So, while it’s natural to go out and try to win new business, the needs of your existing customers should be kept front of mind at all times.

However, customers expect more from their service providers these days. They have greater choice and information is a click away. As a result, they are more impatient and expect issues to be resolved quickly. Meeting customer expectations is undoubtedly becoming more and more of a challenge.

Gone are the days when customers were willing to sit in and wait for a visit at some point during the day. They want to know exactly when an engineer will arrive and fix their issue. So, precise schedules must be built for all your field staff. And that’s just the first challenge – next you need to ensure these schedules are met. To do this, accurate initial diagnosis of the issue is required, as this allows you to estimate the time required for each job and take this into account when scheduling your field staff.

Another key expectation of customers these days is excellent communication. They expect to be able to contact companies in a number of ways – phone, email and social media to name a few. Therefore, try to make it as easy as possible for customer to contact you, and clearly highlight the ways in which they are able to.

Workflow rationalisation

In a recent report from The Service Council, 38% of organisations indicated that they could save 30 or more minutes per day, per technician with a basic change in process. For these organisations, this could lead to average annual cost savings of £525,000.

This statistic demonstrates the value that can be found in optimising your workflows. After all, they keep field service organisations ticking over, enabling staff to carry out their daily routines and meet the expectations of customers.

Any organisation that wants to become more efficient should review its workflows. They’re difficult to perfect but over time you should be able to identify ways in which they can be improved and streamlined.

To conduct an effective workflow review, you will need to collect as much data as possible from your existing processes and then analyse it to root out inefficiencies. For example, you can look at how many jobs per day are completed on average by your engineers and see if this matches with your expectations and targets. If it’s lower than expected, it would indicate a process review is required.

Analysing your data is key here. If you run into difficulties at this stage, you’ve already identified a way in which your processes can be improved. Consider firstly how data is collected – do you have a service management system in place that collects it automatically or are you relying on manual processes to do this? Secondly, do you have a system that allows you to analyse this data effectively through dashboards and reports? If not, it’s worth considering a service management solution that does have this capability.

You can find out more by downloading the Oneserve Guide to Efficiency which covers everything discussed here and much more.

Mobile workforce experts Oneserve are inviting clients and their customers to take the Efficiency Hunter Challenge.

The challenge involves completing a quiz based on Oneserve’s four components of efficiency: Cost, Workflow, Workforce and Customer Satisfaction.

After answering a set of specially designed multiple choice questions participants are revealed as one of four efficiency heroes; Cost Crunching Hero, Workflow Warrior, Team Power Trooper or Satisfaction Supremo.

The Efficiency Hunter campaign is the brainchild of Oneserve Chairman Mark Tincknell, who said:

“We wanted to do something different, an engaging campaign that would resonate with business people everywhere.  Customers are at the heart of every business, but inefficiencies can undermine the customer experience and send costs soaring.”

Beyond the light-hearted approach of the quiz, participants are encouraged to take a serious look at efficiency by downloading a free white paper. The paper goes into detail about how to achieve efficiency in their field operations and how mobile workforce management software could help.

Mark added

“Through the power of analytics Oneserve gives business leaders transparency, veracity and the ability to understand and transform the performance of their business”.

The Efficiency Hunter campaign launches on 1st October. Find out what kind of efficiency hunter you are by clicking the link: http://www.oneserve.co.uk/efficiency-hunter

Trimble announced last week the launch of Trimble Field Service Management (FSM) Connect, an advanced development environment and a standard set of Web services and APIs that can enhance field service business processes by allowing access, use and sharing of data across a variety of different systems.

Following the recent announcement of Trimble Horizon, the new cloud-based platform for FSM solutions, FSM Connect is the third in a line of new features and solutions announced this week as part of Trimble's spotlight on empowering mobile workers.

"Most companies have multiple solutions that collect data, which has to be manually interpreted and checked against the same or similar data from other solutions," said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble's Field Service Management Division. "FSM Connect is a package of Web services for Trimble customers and partners that provide a comprehensive and reliable way to enable a seamless information flow between Trimble FSM solutions and back-end or third-party systems. This means the value of data can be realised across an organisation and the most up-to-date information can be shared instantaneously, a vital requirement for organisations with mobile workers out in the field."

"The amount of information a field service organisation needs to operate successfully can be daunting and one of the biggest challenges it faces is the lack of integrated data to provide a consolidated view of their processes. With FSM Connect, we can enable them to solve this challenge," said Cameron.

FSM Connect enables organisations by providing a single point of access for their field service information. In addition, it allows users to feed the integrated data into business analytics and reporting systems to make more-informed decisions about their field work that can drive productivity and enhance knowledge management.

Other benefits of FSM Connect include:

 

• Decreasing manual data entry by automatically sending data to other applications
• Increasing operational efficiency by centralising and streamlining data views
• Providing bidirectional flow of data that allows full integration across the organisation

 

Trimble will be hosting a Webinar with Aberdeen Group on Thursday, 30. Oct. Aly Pinder, senior research analyst of the Aberdeen Group, will discuss the key emerging technologies empowering workers out in the field, including the use of mobility. To register for the Webinar, or to sign up for a recording, click here.

 

As Trimble's mobile empowerment week continues they yesterday  introduced FieldMaster Technician, a downloadable mobile application that empowers mobile workers in the field with advanced collaboration tools and the ability to access and update information in real-time for improved effectiveness.

FieldMaster Technician allows service organisations to optimise workflows and improve service delivery by getting technicians to the right place at the right time with the information they need to do their job correctly the first time.

Following the announcement of Trimble® Horizon, the new cloud-based platform for Trimble's Field Service Management (FSM) solutions, FieldMaster Technician is the second in a line of new features and solutions announced this week as part of Trimble's spotlight on empowering mobile workers.

"Field service organisations are constantly looking to be more efficient," said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble's Field Service Management Division. "Mobility solutions that provide field teams information at their fingertips are vital to that pursuit. Real-time knowledge allows workers to make better, more intelligent business decisions while in the field. The result can enable increased productivity, reduced operating costs and improved customer satisfaction-three ongoing goals in field service."

FieldMaster Technician is integrated into Trimble FSM's cloud-based solutions and offers key features including:

• Allowing mobile workers to instantly locate and contact nearby co-workers for assistance
• Enabling mobile workers to find the fastest route and navigate to key locations
• Allowing mobile workers to manage their time and log activities throughout the day
• Allowing mobile workers to view historical job information
• Permitting photos and signatures to be captured on site to document work

 

"FieldMaster Technician essentially puts better control in the hands of field personnel," said Cameron. "By integrating powerful mobile apps into our solutions that already help manage workers, work and assets in the field, we can continue to enhance field service excellence for our customers."

Trimble will be hosting a Webinar with Aberdeen Group on Thursday, Oct. 30. Aly Pinder, senior research analyst of the Aberdeen Group, will discuss the key emerging technologies empowering workers out in the field, including the use of mobility. To register for the Webinar, or to sign up for a recording, click here: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registrations/new?cid=qhxelxfmvubx

 

This light hearted trailer for Trimble Field Service Management's latest mobile workforce platform 'Work Management' does a great job of highlighting the issues of having a lack of visibility into your workforce. Getting engineers to the right place at the right time is a challenge but one that can be easily overcome with the technology available to service companies today, so don't end up with customers like Mrs Robinson and make sure you have visibility into your field service operation!

Trimble have just introduced a new, enhanced version of Trimble® Work Management, a cloud-based solution that improves the productivity of mobile workforces through intelligent scheduling tools, mobile apps and state-of-the-art performance analytics.

Following the recent announcement of Trimble Horizon, the new cloud-based platform for Field Service Management (FSM) solutions, Work Management 3.0 is the first in a line of new features and solutions announced this week as part of Trimble’s spotlight on empowering mobile workers.

In addition to Work Management’s best-in-class scheduling and performance management analytics capabilities already available, key enhancements added to Work Management 3.0 include:

 

• The ability to enable dispatchers to manage capacity by optimising resources and routes for a day, week or even months in advance
• The ability to hard-set customer-agreed appointment windows and preferred workers into the schedule to ensure all future commitments are met
• The ability to plan preventative maintenance work around jobs in the same area to minimise travel and maximise productivity
• The ability to take advantage of a new mobile app – FieldMaster Technician. It allows mobile workers and depot based technicians to receive and update tasks on their smartphones as well as access and capture vital job information on the go

 

“For any organisation that operates a mobile workforce there are multiple businesses challenges to manage. From scheduling and dispatching work and tracking its progress throughout the day to empowering workers in the field for resolving issues—it is all about ensuring that service commitments are met,” said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management Division. “Service excellence continues to be a priority for businesses as they recognise its importance in both maintaining and attracting customers.”

“The latest enhancements to Work Management focus on eliminating these challenges to transform service delivery for all parties. Customers benefit from more choice and flexibility while the business has a heightened ability to manage capacity, empower technicians in the field and make decisions based on real-time visibility to ensure the promised service is delivered each and every time,” said Cameron.

Trimble will be hosting a Webinar with Aberdeen Group on Thursday, 30. Oct. Aly Pinder, senior research analyst of the Aberdeen Group, will discuss the key emerging technologies empowering workers out in the field, including the use of mobility. To register for the Webinar or sign up for a recording, click here: https://cc.readytalk.com/cc/s/registrations/new?cid=qhxelxfmvubx.

 

 

 

Trimble yesterday introduced its new cloud-based platform for field service management—Trimble® Horizon. Trimble Horizon will be the core platform for its Field Service Management (FSM) suite of solutions and services. Built upon Trimble’s robust hosting and infrastructure framework, Trimble Horizon supports the following capabilities:

• Solutions – Trimble’s cloud-based solution suite which includes Work Management, Fleet Management and Driver Safety

• Mobility – Mobile applications and tools for better empowerment, data sharing and collaboration in the field

• Connect – Web services to enable seamless integration

• Insight – Business intelligence and analytics tools

Trimble Horizon offers customers an extensible, flexible platform allowing them to depend on Trimble as a single provider for all their field service needs. Cloud-based and modular, Trimble Horizon enables organisations to drive an agile, dynamic field service operation.

“We are delighted to introduce Trimble Horizon,” said John Cameron, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management Division. “In a world where technology is so fast moving, we wanted to provide our customers and businesses globally with a foundation for innovation. Trimble Horizon will allow them to add, extend and integrate technologies as their needs change, providing them with the agility to adapt and innovate. Trimble Horizon will couple our best-in-class field service management solutions with integration opportunities and the ability for customers to configure and utilise specific modules across the platform’s global infrastructure.”

Trimble Horizon is a key element of Trimble’s FSM global strategy to continually focus on solutions and tools to better enable organisations around the world in driving service excellence and empowering the mobile workforce.

 

Trimble Field Service Management's John Cameron speaks exclusively to Field Service News ahead of the launch of Horizon, Trimble FSM's latest cloud based field service management solution...

FSN: What do you think Mobile Worker Empowerment really means?

JS: To me empowerment is all about supporting the individual to do the best job they can. For a field service organisation this means dealing with a growing number of complex challenges around scheduling, monitoring progress and enabling the worker to resolve issues in order to meet service commitments.

We know that having the right real-time information is critical to business success – it is not just about the data that is collected but how that data is analysed and turned into business intelligence and applied that counts. Both through the companies we work with and within our own business we know that information is only useful if it helps you to make the right decision and that goes through the whole organisation.

Ensuring that mobile workers have the right support and are able themselves to make use of the real-time information goes a long way in helping them to make the right decisions while on the move and remote from office or depot locations, allowing them to resolve issues and deliver the best service they can.

FSN: Do you think offering mobile workers more control can benefit a field service organisation?

JC: Mobile workers are on the front line, they are the ones who are dealing face-to-face with customers every day. When jobs go smoothly that’s great, but it often takes a number of factors to align for that job to go smoothly and if not the worker is the one who has to deal with the repercussions and the impact on the customer’s business or home.  We know the biggest cause of customer complaint is that issues are not resolved first time, but give the workforce the means so that the person allocated the work has the right skills, tools and parts and has the right amount of time to get the work done, then these can often be set into schedules to ensure that commitments are met.

The overall goal in empowering workers has to be to enable them to do the best job possible and the benefits are widespread and include increased productivity and efficiency with greater customer satisfaction and empowering a workforce to be able to control and manage outcomes can significantly impact on their own job satisfaction and ongoing motivation.  

FSN: How can businesses approach empowerment in the field?

JC: There are a number of strategies that companies may adopt in field worker empowerment and these could include use of technology, service performance measurement or through cultural change.

Technology is a great enabler but it is also critical that the organisations make the technology work hard for them and deliver the best benefits and return on investment. Hand-in-hand with this, measuring service performance is key to a field service organisation in both managing its operation on a day to day basis and also learning from these experiences. No individual wants to be going out doing the same procedure time and time again if it is not achieving the right results; achieve the right results and then replicate it.

Cultural change is possibly the hardest element to roll out, you can’t simply expect individuals to be ‘empowered’, but rather you need to make sure that they understand the reasons why, what it involves and the benefits to them and the wider organisation. As with any change programme it is essential that the workforce is totally involved, engaged and committed. It is also imperative that the drive for any initiative comes from the top so there is complete buy-in across a business.

FSN: Does best practice exist when it comes to mobile worker empowerment?

In terms of empowering workers, the field service organisations that we see doing this well are those that look to make continual

improvements. The use of technology has a key role to play, but you can’t install the best solution and then become complacent; field service organisations are finding that work is becoming increasingly complex and critical in terms of timing, skills and consequence and the challenges even greater so the application of best practice and the continual improvement that this brings is paramount in the successful empowerment of a mobile workforce. Choosing one to three benchmark points from which to grow also keeps everyone focused on specific metrics – trying to improve everything at once is a certain step in the wrong direction.  

We have also talked about change management and engagement as key dynamics to any successful roll out and we have seen that those behaviours drive the best success.

FSN: How do you think both mobile workers and businesses can manage the challenges of empowering workers? 

JC: We recently undertook a survey and found that, when a field service business sets out to implement business change, whether it is rolling out new technology or processes or ways of working, one of the major challenges it faces is engaging the workforce.

Much of this can be attributed to the fact that a field service workforce is typically spread over a large geographical area, with workers carrying out very diverse types of work remotely and rarely spending time in the office. Providing necessary training to the workforce can be a further hurdle. For many companies this means considerable expense, as well as taking workers away from their jobs especially if the training is carried out in a classroom rather than virtually. Furthermore, ensuring the training is understood and applied on an on-going basis also poses an issue for field service managers as it can be difficult to monitor field workers to prevent lapse back to the ‘way things used to be done.’

However, these obstacles can be reduced if businesses have effective change management programmes in place to ensure employee buy-in. Involving the workforce in any change plans, from the initial planning stages to the final roll-out, is key. Consistent communication to foster a culture in which the workforce understands the changes, why they are needed, what role they will play in the transformation and how to embrace it are all essential.

FSN: When we talk about providing tools for mobile workers, it would seem that mobility would be a natural element of that – is that something you are seeing??

JC: Mobility is a key technology in empowering workers. Mobility at its core provides field-based workers with a real-time connection back to their business. With all the information they need at their fingertips, they are able to become more efficient and effective.

There is little doubt that up to the minute information before, at and after a job is vital to the success of completion and provides mobile workers the ability to plan and execute their jobs better via increased knowledge. This is eliminating time, mistakes and misunderstandings out in the field. In addition avoiding the need for paper-based knowledge transfer, which adds further demands on the mobile worker, can save hours in a mobile worker’s day. Utilising cloud-based data storage, the capturing and storing of information on the go is another feature that helps mobile workers collect data in the field that they may need at a later date or to update other business systems .

FSN: With technology playing such a big part in field service, what trends so you see emerging to further transform mobile worker empowerment?

We all consume information via mobile apps on our smartphones and tablets in our consumer lives and more and more of us are expecting

to be able to do the same whilst at work. As a result, the availability of mobility applications going forward will increase, which will further enable field-based workers with the real-time knowledge needed to make better, more intelligent business decisions while in the field. Niche apps, for example, are seen to present opportunities to reach a new target audience or deepen the engagement and loyalty of users and the adoption in the business environment can only increase, along with such emerging trends as gamification of business-related apps to give greater appeal to the use of apps for everyday processes and procedures.

 

M2M communication is certainly transforming how companies do business. Data transmitted from devices in the field to applications in the office can lead to decisions that significantly improve the business. In field service, that data flows in from both handheld and in-vehicle data-capturing devices, as well as sensors and monitoring devices on everything from household appliances and utility meters to complex machinery in oil fields transmitting data on diagnostics, measurements, temperature and overall conditions, all of which is instrumental in preventing equipment failure, scheduling maintenance, and improving safety and energy consumption.

Additionally, I think we’ll also start to see a rise in field service businesses offering field technicians the chance to bring their own or choose their own mobility devices to adopt at work. Field service is undeniably being reshaped by the mobile revolution and with much of today’s information being shared through smartphones, in the not too distant future, I think we’ll start to see even greater sets of data being shared through wearable technology, such as watches and google glass. This technology will revolutionise the way field technicians go about their day-to-day tasks. They will be able to stay in touch in real-time and gain immediate access to what’s important the second that they need it, helping to improve productivity and customer satisfaction. 

Resource Type: eBook
Published by: Advanced Field Solutions
Title: The 2014 Service Manager Handbook
About: One of the most detailed and comprehensive resources to be published for the field service industry this year. This excellent eBook covers an exhaustive range of topics to help you get to grips with managing your mobile workforce, improving productivity, increasing efficiency and improving your bottom line.
Download: Download the white paper by clicking here

Overview:

The field service industry is subject to constant change and it’s vital to keep an ear to the ground on the latest hot topics to embrace the changing business landscape and keep up with the competition.

Intelligence on your business and its status, not to mention the highest levels of customer service, is absolutely pivotal to survival in tough trading times and even the savviest players need to ensure they have the right tools in play to keep up with their rivals.

To remain successful and dynamic, service managers need to be resilient to change and have the ability ‘to think outside of the box’ to ensure their organisation is best placed to drive their business forward.

They need to keep their finger on the pulse on many different aspects of the running of the organisation from innovating ideas, investing in IT, and seeking and exploring opportunities for further growing the business.

Having the power to access critical data across all areas of your service business, make informed instant decisions and manage your operation – from the first inception of the call all the way to its happy conclusion – will highlight the strong players from the weak.

If you want to make your business stand out from the crowd in 2014 and beyond, having the correct systems and processes in place will need to be a high priority on your agenda.

This essential handbook takes a glimpse at the key areas that all service managers need to address to give your organisation the power to evolve from ‘field service burnout’ to ‘best-inbreed’…

Topics include:

Modelling the perfect profitable client - In an effort to maintain business viability – and keep your engineers working out in the field – some field service businesses may be tempted to take on clients with narrow profit margins.

However, to build a sustainable business, you need to focus on the jobs, contracts and clients that
are most profitable, rather than trying to be all things to all clients. So it’s worth stepping back and analysing your client base.

Turning work away is never easy to do, but it can also free up your expensive resources to focus
on where they can bring best return. Your service management solution should give you the
advantage of arming you with the evidence and information you need.

Scheduling Challenges - Scheduling your field engineers is undoubtedly one of your core key performance indicators (KPIs), central to your business profitability, and a key target on which your staff are measured.

But it’s a delicate balance between meeting the needs of both your staff and the business. Get it right and the chances are the business will be highly successful. Get it wrong and the consequences can be disastrous.

However many UK service businesses find big savings, both in terms of costs and time, simply through getting the properly skilled technician to the job with the minimum of fuss. So when scheduling your field resources, it is key to get it right.

Empowering your workforce - Your engineers are the public face of your business. In many cases, they may be the only representative of your company that the customer ever sees.

Your reputation, spread by word of mouth or increasingly through social media and online reviews, is founded on the experience your customers have of your engineers.

Consider ways to free your service team from the routine dross that saps their time and motivation, and empower them to be more productive and efficient.

Reviewing your customer service strategy - It’s a given that the customer is your number one priority, however, to satisfy and retain your clients, field service companies need to repeatedly provide a professional service.

Typically, customer service is impacted by a combination of factors that result in the customer not getting what they want, when they want it.

So what can service businesses do to really ensure that what you are delivering is adding genuine value to your clients? And what can you do to ensure your value-add is fully recognised by the client?

Setting realistic budgets and timescales - Today’s customers are flexing their buying muscles and putting increasing pressure on suppliers to meet their strict SLA.

To establish your reputation as a customer service leader and gain full control over your job profitability, it’s vital to gain full visibility over your contracts and tighten controls over your SLA management.

Having access to accurate information on the actual cost of similar past projects, contracts and large installations helps to ensure that future bid costs and resource requirements are accurately assessed.

There are many factors that will determine the price of the bid to the client. This is quite often the main focus when putting the estimate together, with the cost and resources that are needed to deliver the contract not always being fully considered at the bid stage. Without formal systems in place, many service organisations find it difficult, time consuming, if not impossible to compile this historical information.

Unleashing cash flow - To maintain a healthy cash flow, it is important not to tie up cash unnecessarily in stock. Getting a hold on your stock is a sure-fire way of gaining significant savings in cost and time.

If your organisation handles stock, you will be all too aware of the dangers of stock piling.

Having cash tied up in stock is a dangerous tactic when cash flow is so important. Rather than relying on a ‘crystal ball’, organisations should automate the stock forecasting process so that sales and usage of stock can be predicted, avoiding the pitfall of holding more stock than required.

Your service management systems should give you the power to analyse stock history, so you can recognise trends and fluctuations to ensure that stock levels fall within the desired optimum range and anticipate demand at peak times.

Turning data into insight - Having distinct performance mechanisms in place enables management to recognise and react to emerging trends, whether positive or negative. Without these, performance may be overlooked in areas that could be optimised and yield greater return.

The importance of the KPI - KPIs are a vital performance tool for all service organisations of all sizes. To effectively track, monitor and evaluate success to ensure your business is growing in a sustained way, a best practice method needs to be adopted.

It is vital to identify which KPIs align to your business success. Standard service management KPIs include: first time fix rates, SLA adherence, engineer productivity, job costing, call rates, net profit margin, stock value and customer satisfaction/retention.

Without pro-actively monitoring KPIs, service management businesses are vulnerable to problems that can seriously undermine both performance and profitability. For example, a company that does not regularly monitor sales margins could discover at year-end a repeated mistake that has cost thousands.

 

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