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A new industry body is aiming to improve standards across British business fleets by establishing best practice in the use of fleet data.

Fleet Data Insight brings together thought leaders from across the fleet industry, including both operators and suppliers, to share practical advice about using data to achieve operational excellence in fleet performance.

Founded by TomTom Telematics, alongside partners Zurich, the FTA and the Energy Saving Trust, Fleet Data Insight will meet twice a year, using the collective knowledge and experience of its participants to create a series of free best practice advice guides.

Each forum will be independently led by Real World Strategy and the guides will aim to provide practical information in a multimedia format. The community will also be invited to continue the discussion online via Twitter and the Fleet Data Insight LinkedIn discussion group.

The first forum meeting focused on using data to manage risk and brought together fleet professionals from a number of prominent organisations, including Skanska, Sainsbury's, Iron Mountain, Fife Council, BT Fleet, Waitrose.

"The core ethos of Fleet Data Insight is to co-create value and best practice for the industry, by the industry and to promote excellence in data-driven fleet management" said Peter Button, Chairman, Fleet Data Insight.

 

"A vast amount of data is now available to fleet managers, so it is essential they are provided with the right guidance and advice to enable them to get the most out of it," said Irvin Gray, Senior Marketing Manager, TomTom Telematics (founding partner). "We are confident that with the gold mine of experience and best practice our partners and contributors bring, we can give fleet operators the tools they need to become more efficient, safe and profitable."

"Identifying the right data and using it properly is essential in today’s fleet. The Fleet Data Insight group addresses this need in a new way – co-creating valuable best practice and sharing this with the industry through developing a community."

Operators are invited to join the conversation in the Fleet Data Insight LinkedIn discussion group. More information can be found at www.fleetdatainsight.com where you can apply to join the next event, join the community and download the best practice guide. The forum's first free guide on managing fleet risk together with some best practice videos from the forum are available now.

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Field Service News recently undertook an exclusive research project, sponsored by TomTom Telematics to explore the standards of field service companies.

Across the last three features we have taken a close look at the findings of this research In part one which is available here we explored what technology was being deployed and identified a the have's and the have not's of the industry. In the second part of this series, which is available here we expanded on this by taking a more detailed looked at how companies are communicating with their employees in the field and why this is such a key component of getting it right when it comes to delivering service excellence.

In the third part we began to see patterns emerging that indicated a clear link between the levels of service a company can deliver and the technology that they employ. You can find this feature here 

Now in the final part of this series we will look at exactly where field service standards are falling flat, exploring if there is a disconnect between our own perception of our service and our customers before drawing conclusions across the research results as a whole...

There is also an accompanying report to this series which you can access by clicking this link…

Measuring field service worker productivity

As we saw in the last segment of this series if we were to put together a report card for how our customers view service standards amongst field service companies then we would probably be looking at a ‘could do better’ scenario for the field service industries as a whole. [quote float="left"]Did those working in field service believe that their organisation at least was hitting the right notes of success when it comes down to meeting service expectations?

 

But how does this compare to how we measure our own field workers productivity? Is it a case that our customers expectations are rising rapidly and we are yet to adjust to these new demands? Did those working in field service believe that their organisation at least was hitting the right notes of success when it comes down to meeting service expectations?

We asked our respondents to identify their main KPIs that they set for their field workers given them the options of “number of calls attended”, “number of jobs completed”, “number of first time fix rates”, and “sales/leads generated”.

It seems that when it comes to marking our own performances, the field service industries are somewhat more forgiving than our customers with over three quarters of companies (77%) stating that they are generally meeting these KPIs. There is clearly a disconnect between the two realities which needs to be addressed, and it may seem we need to reassess what the standards are that we should be aiming for...

Are we setting the right KPI’s

Lets begin by taking a closer look at these KPIs that are being met in a little further detail... The most common KPI was number of jobs completed, which was cited by over half (54%) of our respondent field service companies. The importance of ensuring that wherever possible jobs are completed is of clear business benefit; especially if we understand that each additional call is going to not only cause our company additional cost but also add further frustration and potentially lost revenue for our customers also.

Therefore it is good to see that so many companies value this is as a KPI. [quote float="right"]Whilst the field service workers themselves may work hard to reach their daily rota of allocated calls, if they are not completing the jobs then all that hard work may as well count for nothing.

Number of calls attended however, is less of an efficient measure, almost simply a tick box exercise. This is reflected in the fact that far fewer companies, in fact just 13% utilise this as a measure of their employees productivity.

Whilst the field service workers themselves may work hard to reach their daily rota of allocated calls, if they are not completing the jobs then all that hard work may as well count for nothing. It is absolutely vital that we empower our field service engineers to be able to complete as many jobs as possible.

Again the technology is there to improve these odds, systems that enable knowledge sharing, or access to parts inventory, or intelligently scheduling the right worker, with the right skill set required for the job are all widely available from a number of providers (such as our research sponsor TomTom Telematics) and these really massively improve your productivity levels.
 

Getting it right, first time - the field service mantra

This leads us on to the direction where many think the focus of the next generation of field service management will lay. That is the pursuit of a combination of preventative and planned maintenance and the accompanying increase on first time fix rates. Currently only 16% of companies set first time fix rates as a KPI. [quote float="left"]As we move towards a world of remote machine-to-machine diagnostics, the Internet of Things and 3D printable parts the first time fix should become less elusive and even commonplace.

In some ways this is a reflection of the current reality, first time fix rates are always desirable but rarely achievable.

The fix may be reliant on parts not to hand, or in some cases particularly where complicated machinery or devices are involved diagnosis of the exact problem may take the full allocated time slot. However, as we move towards a world of remote machine-to-machine diagnostics, the Internet of Things and 3D printable parts the first time fix should become less elusive and even commonplace.

Whilst these concepts may seem futuristic the reality is that they are not too far away, but even if they remain out of reach for now, initiatives such as improving customer communication, so we can start to get our customers to be part of the diagnostics program, are available and in many cases require just a simple shift in thinking as to how we approach service, to become part of the solution.

With this in mind it is really interesting to see that those companies who are currently embracing technology (i.e. using dynamic scheduling, intelligently responding to emergencies and use apps to communicate workloads to their field workers) have a much higher focus on first time fix rates with almost half of the companies in this bracket (47%) stating that this is their main KPI.

Incidentally 20% of these companies state that “number of jobs” completed is their main KPI It seems that the use of technology is allowing such companies greater productivity and the next evolution for these companies is to continuously try to improve their service standards, and improving first time fix rates is the logical progression which is of benefit to both customer and service supplier.

Our customers want our attention

There are a number of interesting points that this research has thrown up at us. Firstly there seems to be a big disconnect between the way we are judging the performance of our field workers, and the reality which our customers see.

When we put together the questions for this survey I genuinely felt that very few companies would have had people turning up at the wrong address, for companies whose workforce is based on the road this is surely the simplest of standards to meet, yet it seems it is not only a fairly common issue but a frequent one at that. [quote float="right"]Having a call centre is simply not enough in any industry these days. Our customers want our attention, they want it now, and they want to use their own preferred means of doing so whether that be phone, email, online chat or even social media. 

 

Similarly for so many ‘service’ companies to be failing when it comes to perhaps the most important element of service i.e. communication was also a major surprise. It seems that customers and their expectations have evolved rapidly in the twenty first century and many if not the majority of service companies have fallen behind those expectations. Having a call centre is simply not enough in any industry these days.

Our customers want our attention, they want it now, and they want to use their own preferred means of doing so whether that be phone, email, online chat or even social media. We need to move quickly to accommodate these needs, because if we don’t you can be sure our competitors will.

However, all is not lost. The technology is their to help and it is no longer prohibitively costly as it was a few years ago. What’s more is as the technology evolves integration between differing systems means we can work with solutions that are tailored specifically for our business.

TomTom Telematics for example now have three separate API’s across their solution that allows for integration with a whole raft of other providers enabling you to tailor your solution to meet your exact needs. As TomTom Telematics Director Giles Margerison commented:

“There isn’t one off the shelf solution, it would be wrong to try and develop that because every company has their own specific needs.”

“What we as technology providers should do is make sure those systems integrate so customers can choose best of breed for their particular needs and we will work together for those customers.”

As has been shown on a number of occasions as we have gone through this research the technology available really can help companies keep pace with our customers growing demands as well as reduce costs and improve technology.

If we want to improve our report card for next year perhaps we need to start looking at how we can utilise it better?

If you want to know more about this research then you can access the full report by clicking this link.

This series is sponsored by

: 

 

Field Service News has recently undertaken an exclusive research project, sponsored by TomTom Telematics to explore the standards of field service companies.

In the first part of this feature which is available here we looked at the types of technology that are being deployed amongst field service companies today and explored whether the gap is widening between the have's and the have not's in the industry.

In the second part of this series, which is available here we looked at how companies are communicating with their employees in the field and why this is such a key component of getting it right when it comes to delivering service excellence.

Now having established a baseline for the types of technology being used within the industry lets take some time to explore the standards being set by Field Service organisations before we try to identify if there is a clear and tangible link between those using technology and the levels of standards being delivered...

There is also an accompanying report to this series which you can access by clicking this link…

So what about the field service standards?

Earlier on in this series we touched on the most common complaints our respondents received from their customers, citing that of those companies using paper based dispatch notes the most common complaint by a long way (40%) was the availability of time slots.

In an interview with Field Service News, Giles Margerison, Director of TomTom telematics highlighted the need for more flexible time slots commenting

“We as consumers have adjusted our requirements to the service industry, it used to be that we would expect to have a service delivery within a day, now really we expect a one or two hour appointment window. That represents a huge challenge for the industry”

 

The findings of our research would also appear to back this up also as time slots was the joint second largest complaint for companies with 23% of the full respondent group citing this as the most common complaint. Interestingly this figure comes down to just 11% when we look at the largest companies.

This would indicate that the largest companies have the resources in places to accommodate more efficient systems, which allow for tighter time slots

Getting the basics wrong?

However, the most commonly cited reason for customer complaints was actually communication which was the most common complaint for 28% of companies. Given that there are a proliferation of means for companies to communicate with their customers this really is an area that should and could be significantly improved yet seems to be being neglected. In a piece of research undertaken by Field Service News earlier this year we looked at the types of communication field service companies were using. This research revealed that whilst the 82% offered a call centre, and 62% offered email communication less than a third of companies (32%) offered online service and just 6% offered access via an app.

This is completely at odds with where the industry needs to be. As Margerison alludes to – our expectations as consumers have changed. We live in an age where we are used to having instant access to information we need on demand. Whilst call centres and email certainly have their place, they are both slow processes when compared to web-based self-service options or online chat portals.

 

When we consider that we all work in service industries, whether it be manufacturing or medical devices, whether we visit opticians or oilrigs our core goal should always be delivering good service, and doing it efficiently.  Quite simply poor communication between ourselves and our customers should not be tolerated and this should be a key area of concern for many. The good news is of course those companies that look to investigate this within their own organisations and remedy issues around communications will very quickly be able to take a step ahead of their competitors.

In line with poor communication is poor response times, which was joint second most common complaint cited by 23% of companies. Again this is an issue that sits well with the notion that we as consumers are becoming less patient with service providers.

Cost is less of a concern than bad service

What is of particular interest is that the least common complaint is the time charged and invoiced which was a major issue for just 13% of companies. This would seem to suggest that most customers are happy to pay a fair price in exchange for good service, but the expected standard for service is coming under increasing pressure as customers rightly demand the same type of service that they get from the field service they deal with as they do from other organisations they deal with in their daily lives like Amazon for example.

As we start to look further down into the research we can see even further evidence of simple mistakes being made on an alarmingly regular basis.

For example almost half (42%) of all companies stated that they have mobile workers turn up at the wrong address whilst 5% stated this happens on a weekly occurrence. In a world where Sat Nav’s and routing software are widely used this is almost beyond comprehension.

 

Perhaps even more incredibly is that when we asked our respondents if they had ever experienced two mobile workers turning up at the same job again almost half of companies (43%) stated this had happened.

This is also apparent amongst companies of all sizes, even amongst those at enterprise level almost a third (28%) admitted to two workers turning up at the same time and a similar amount (33%) suffered mobile workers turning up at the wrong address on a monthly basis.

However, if we look at those using technology to improve their service standards we fortunately see improvements so all is not lost! The amount of companies that have a monthly address issue falls to just 13% with thankfully no weekly mishaps! Also the total of companies that never have this issue rises to 46%, which is 18% higher than the general average.

So it is clear that there is a distinct advantage for those using the technology available to them.

If you want to know more about this research then you can access the full report by clicking this link.

In the final part of this exclusive series we will take a look at the KPIs we are setting, how these match up with the service we are delivering in reality and explore one possible scenario for improving our standards within the future...

This series is sponsored by: 

Field Service News has recently undertaken an exclusive research project, sponsored by TomTom Telematics to explore the standards of field service companies.

In the first part of this feature which is available here we looked at the types of technology that are being deployed amongst field service companies today and explored whether the gap is widening between the have's and the have not's in the industry. Here in the second part of this series we look at how companies are communicating with their employees in the field and why this is such a key component of getting it right when it comes to delivering service excellence...

There is also an accompanying report to this series which you can access by clicking this link…

 

Talking to the field:

In the first part of this series we looked at three options that are important for gathering information from the field and reacting to it. The flipside of a modern field service management solution is how we communicate information back into the field. This is perhaps the most important element of an overall solution to get correct as if done well it can not only improve your companies efficiency, increase your service standards but also make your field workers lives easier. We asked our respondents “How do you inform your drivers of jobs and work schedules?” Giving the options of “Phone”, “Text”, “Paper dispatch note” “Via in Cab navigation” and “via App”.

Paper dispatch

As a starting point lets look at paper dispatch notes. Of the options given this is probably the most arduous means of delivering a work schedule for many reasons. Firstly it is dependent on your field workers arriving at a central depot or office to collect their orders for the day. A waste of time and fuel for everyone involved, and from the field workers point of view an additional hassle at the beginning of the day when they could be starting their first job. Secondly, paper based work schedules are out of date from the moment they are printed. Such a system has no option for the quick reactive response that you desire when an emergency call comes in that must become your clear priority. Fortunately only 6% of companies are still operating in this manner.

The majority (68%) of these companies still using paper based dispatch are as one would imagine in the smallest bracket of companies, although examples of companies still using such a system are to be found right up to the 151 – 300 field engineers bracket. Given that their work schedule is largely static, and it is therefore hard for these companies to react to either emergency call outs or delays either on job or non transit, it is of very little surprise that we see that the most common complaint these companies receive from their customers is missing time slots which 40% of companies cite.

Text:

The most common way of companies to notify their workers of their job schedules is by Text. This is sensible as SMS is a relatively cheap, instant means of communicating and 41% of companies use this method. It could well be that this method will ultimately be replaced by “Via App” so communication becomes part of the wider ecosystem of the companies mobile workforce management program. This is of course ideal as it allows for both additional layers of information to be included, for example the details of the last call out, even photos etc., as well as easy navigation through to other systems. Currently however only 17% of companies are using this option.

It’s good to talk…

However, there are a huge amount of companies (34%) that are still using the phone to communicate work schedules. This does have it’s positives in that it can be flexible and you can update the work schedule on the fly according to how the day is progressing however, there are a number of distinct drawbacks. Firstly there is the issue of wasting resource. Talking on the phone takes time.

Not necessarily a lot of time, but still far longer than sending messages automatically from a field service management solution. And if you add up the amount of time that takes across your whole workforce, even if it is just 10 field workers that is a lot of time being used that needn’t be. Then there is also the issue of driver safety. Yes there are a number of solutions available to allow for hands free communication, however studies from road safety charity BRAKE! Show that even hands free calls can be dangerous claiming an incredible 98% of motorists were unable to divide their time without it affecting their driving ability.

In cab nav

It is interesting to see how few companies are using in cab navigation systems to communicate with their field workers. Only 2% of those surveyed are actually using this method. One reason for this may well be the proliferation of smart phones and or tablets now being used as primary mobile devices for field workers. Indeed there is an evolving movement towards being able to use one device per vehicle such as TomTom Telematics own PRO series of ruggedised tablets, which through the use of open API architecture can provide full access to w whole range of field service and fleet management tools.

As devices like this become more prevalent then having both a standalone in cab navigation devices and another device to run your field service software on simply becomes unnecessary.

If you want to know more about this research then you can access the full report by clicking this link.

In the part three of this exclusive series we will start to explore how the technology being deployed amongst field service organisations is impacting the levels of service they are capable of delivering...

This series is sponsored by: 

 

 

Toshiba’s European retail and sales and service support division has increased fleet mpg by 27 per cent following an investment in TomTom Telematics’ WEBFLEET system.

Toshiba TEC Europe Retail Information Systems introduced the fleet management platform to improve employee safety by monitoring their driving behaviour and to compare the fuel performance of 25 new hybrid cars with its older fleet vehicles.

Vehicle and driving behaviour data is available for Toshiba managers in WEBFLEET. An OptiDrive indicator combines fuel efficiency information from the onboard ecoPLUS diagnostics device, with speeding, idling and braking data to score drivers out of 10 in a column stack chart. This can be used to benchmark drivers across their fleet.

“This has not only meant reduced fuel consumption but also means we can focus and report on CO2 reduction,” said Jonathan Barber, Retail Service Director, Toshiba TEC Europe Retail Information Systems.

“An overall 27 per cent increase in miles per gallon is a great result, which we hope to improve further with time.”

TomTom WEBFLEET has been integrated with Tesseract, Toshiba’s job scheduling software, enabling data to be sent, immediately and seamlessly, from the office to the transport teams in the field.

“This technology has proved to be second to none and instrumental in ensuring we provide the best possible service to our customers,” Barber added.

Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland, speaks exclusively to TomTom Telematics Director Giles Margerison about the challenges Field Service organisations are facing today, what tools field service managers are able to employ to overcome these and whether there is such a thing as an off the shelf solution in field service management solutions.

Find more videos, features and resources featuring  TomTom Telematics in the Field Service News Directory by clicking here

In the wake of a BBC Panorama documentary highlighting the dangers of cognitive distraction among motorists, TomTom Telematics Director UK & Ireland, Giles Margerison, considers what road risk means for fleet managers and how it can be best managed.

More people than ever before are now being convicted for causing death behind the wheel of their motor vehicle – and the consequences of this for businesses can be severe.

Back in 2007, there were a total of 233 convictions for causing death by dangerous driving. That same year the offence of causing death by careless driving was introduced – and according to the Ministry of Justice, by 2013 the number of convictions for death caused by both dangerous and careless driving had reached 310.

In light of these statistics, and the alarming fact that around a third of all road traffic accidents are believed to be work-related, businesses need to take the management of road risk extremely seriously.

The long arm of the law

Employers, after all, have the same duty of care obligations for their mobile workers as they do for all their office site staff. The Health and Safety at Work Act requires them to ensure, so far as is reasonably practical, the health and safety of all employees while at work.

What’s more, the legal implications of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act should provide all the motivation needed for service fleet managers to ensure adequate road risk management systems are in place.

 

Courts can impose unlimited fines for Corporate Manslaughter convictions and the damage to a company’s reputation could have even graver implications. In addition to corporate exposure individual criminal charges, including manslaughter, can be brought against directors or ‘thinking minds’ of an organisation.

 

As for field service employees, under sentencing guidelines a driver can face up to 14 years behind bars for death by dangerous driving.

The Health and Safety Executive’s advice is clear – companies should ensure work-related road safety is integrated into wider arrangements for managing health and safety at work. To ensure risks are effectively managed they must address their health and safety “policy, responsibility, organisation, systems and monitoring”.

Fostering a safety culture

Simply ensuring drivers hold valid licences and that their company vehicles have valid MOT certificates is not enough to ensure their safety. Beyond the introduction of a company-wide health and safety policy, organisations must strive to achieve a cultural shift among their employees to make sure policies are adhered to. This is where fleet management systems have a big role to play – helping enforce behavioural changes and significantly modifying driver attitudes.

On a basic level, telematics can be used to monitor the number of hours a driver spends behind the wheel and enforce a policy of regular breaks. This however is just the tip of the iceberg, with driver performance tools allowing managers to monitor the behaviour of their mobile workers – providing data on factors such as speed, fuel consumption and even harsh steering or braking.

A survey by road safety charity Brake discovered people driving for business purposes are more likely to take risks on the road than the general driving population. For example, more than half (54 per cent) admit speeding on 60mph limit roads, compared with 34 per cent of non-work drivers.

Helping the driver

What’s more, the importance of being able to monitor and act on such data was highlighted in a recent BBC Panorama documentary that examined the dangers of cognitive distraction.Professor Paul Atchley, Cognitive Psychologist at the University of Kansas, revealed that drivers using hands-free device mobile phones, for example, suffer from a mental workload and that reduces their ability to deal with hazards on the road, increasing the likelihood of crashes.

 

Telematics systems that automatically send job details and route drivers to customer locations via integrated in-vehicle navigation devices can reduce this mental workload. They also empower drivers them by feeding live performance information to their in-vehicle navigation devices, enabling them to change their behaviour in real time.

 

In the office, managers can use the performance data to build accurate profiles for every driver and identify where their strengths and weaknesses lie, allowing training to be tailored to suit individual requirements. The opportunity to measure driver performance in a sustainable manner following training sessions also becomes a reality, protecting the business investment in meeting duty of care obligations.

Scotia Gas Networks (SGN), for example, reduced incidences of negative driver behaviour (speeding, harsh steering, braking or acceleration) from 1,600 a day to less than 400 after implementing teleamtics technology.

Although there can occasionally be resistance from staff with such systems involving in-depth performance analysis, this can be overcome if they are positioned correctly and implemented with employee involvement.

Consultations should be held with staff throughout the process and open lines of communication maintained. Incentives offered for improvements in performance can also result in healthy competition among staff.

By understanding their obligations and committing to road safety, service companies can stay on the right side of the law, safe in the knowledge they have secure business future.

Poor service has become a commonplace scourge within the UK with service issues costing consumers nearly £15 billion a year research shows…

In fact over two thirds of UK customers (69%) have been frustrated by poor customer service, almost a half (46%) have demanded to speak to a supervisor and just over a third (34%) have stopped using the brand altogether.

These results are part of the findings from a global report by ClickSoftware, which was designed to assess what were the key frustrations faced by consumers.

Against a backdrop of recent ongoing billing problems with energy companies, over half (52%) of UK residents found utilities companies to be the most frustrating to deal with. It was found that spending over an hour trying to resolve an issue such as billing problem or a loss of power was a regular occurrence. In fact the average time people waited for a resolution was an incredible 4.3 hours.

Communication service providers were second on the list of poor service providers with over a quarter (29%) of consumers irritated at the amount of time they wasted with them. These were followed by Central Government (18%) and banking (15%), in third and fourth place respectively.

The economic impact of this sloppy service is not just restricted to the guilty parties however. UK workers are having to take time off to attend to matters during their working hours to resolve issues. The study revealed a total loss of nearly £15 billion a year, and an individual loss of almost £500 per person.

Then there is the emotional cost. Even the famously reserved British demeanour has it’s limits and over one in 10 (13%) of Brits have been driven so mad by bad service they have admitted to losing their cool and yelling at a service representative.

Meanwhile others have gone to extreme lengths to get better or quicker service, including lying (9%), crying to the service representative (real or fake tears) (4%) or even begging (3%).

Robert Williams, Vice President of UK & Ireland of ClickSoftware reflected on the findings commenting:

“This is a timely reminder for businesses that customer service is still one of the biggest factors in attracting and retaining customers,”

 

“Bad customer service is costing business up to a third of their revenue, and the knock on effect is that people are having to take precious holiday time just to deal with things that could and should be sorted much more easily.”

Aly Pinder, Senior Research Analyst at the Aberdeen Group and Field Service News columnist also commented:

“Ultimately, satisfied customers help drive retention and profitability for service organisations. Our research found those that reached a 90%+ customer satisfaction rate achieved an annual 6.1% growth in service revenue, 3.7% growth in overall revenue, and an 89% level of customer retention”

Meanwhile a separate research project, conducted by the CCA on behalf of Customer Engagement Optimisation specialists KANA indicated that the majority of UK organisations are dramatically underestimating the link between customer service and revenue.

 The survey of UK Contact Centre Association (CCA) members included respondents from a wide and diverse blend of varying industry verticals including financial services, retail and local government. Perhaps the most striking finding of this research was that less than half (40%) of those in senior management believed that customer service was key to driving revenue. In fact a fifth of respondents felt there was little or even no focus on customer service at a senior level.

 

Other findings of the survey also showed a distinct lack of appreciation of the link between customer service and the bottom line. Again well under half (41%) paid significant attention to the level the revenue they lost as a result of poor customer service. Incredibly, one in ten companies do not measure the financial implications of poor customer service at all.

The research also highlights what call centre agents perceive as key barriers to providing a better service: outdated systems, lack of investment, agent skills gaps and a lack of understanding or support at a senior level.

Unfortunately, the contact centre is often seen as an operational expense and nothing more,” says Steven Thurlow, head of worldwide product strategy for KANA. “Often, senior management will review functional aspects, such as speed of handling times and resolution times. This approach is unlikely to drive further investment and instead maintains a focus on efficiency above all else. Fast service and good customer experiences are not always the same thing.”

However, whilst it seems that Customer Service in the UK is suffering from poor standards whilst being woefully overlooked as a key factor in ensuring and growing revenue streams, yet further study has revealed clear evidence that there is an intrinsic link between customer satisfaction and business success.

In fact research conducted by Trimble Field Service Management highlighted that 71% of field service organisations use customer satisfaction as the main metric to measure the performance of their business. A recent industry report based around research commissioned by Trimble highlighted that there was a proven link between customer satisfaction, retention and profitability.

 

So are we facing a true disconnect between the impact customer service can have on field service businesses and the attention it gets within senior management? Are these frustrations related solely to the call centre or are they reflected in the levels of service delivered on the doorstep also?

We’re currently running a short survey ourselves which aims to assess the survey standards of companies in the field. If you want to find out how your standards compare to your competitors then take two minutes to complete the survey to receive a free copy of the benchmark report based on the results when published.

Also thanks to our sponsor on this project TomTom Telematics there is also a prize draw with three £50 Amazon vouchers available.

Click here to complete the survey and enter the prize draw now.

Giles Margerison, TomTom Telematics’ Director UK & Ireland, considers how field service firms can best organise their resources to cope with the holiday season.

The arrival of summer usually receives a warm welcome on these shores but that's not to say it's without its challenges.

Field service companies, in particular, face the often taxing issue of ensuring service levels don't drop below expected standards during a period of resource instability.

The need for smart planning to cope with staff holidays is made ever more pressing by the continued growth of the service sector, as economic recovery keeps gathering pace, and the shift from a transactional to a relationship economy.

Customers expect higher standards of customer service and expertise from field workers than perhaps ever before and those companies capable of meeting this demand will be best equipped to thrive in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Data as the foundation for good planning

Of course, good service delivery relies upon effective planning. On a basic level this means coordinating holidays with expected workloads to ensure staffing and skills levels remain sufficient through the summer period.

But there is a need for organisations to become ever more sophisticated in order to cope with the changing face of the UK economy and this is where 'big data' can help.

Armed with the appropriate data, it is possible for field service companies to work out how many jobs their staff are able to attend in a day, accounting for factors such as time spent on the road journeying between jobs.

For example, using routing and scheduling software integrated with real-time data from telematics allows working schedules to be optimised, planning each mobile worker's day to ensure they spend as little time as possible out on the road.

Once work schedules are finalised, the details can be sent to each worker's in-cab navigation device, with navigation automatically loaded to send them along the quickest route, taking into account the effect of traffic flow, roundabouts, traffic lights and other obstacles.

Shifting scheduling from static to dynamic

Variables such as traffic or the emergence or unexpected, urgent call-outs can throw a spanner in the works, hence the need for  dynamic methods of planning.

Rather than setting workflow schedules in stone at the start of each day, field service organisations might be better served by planning on the fly with real-time information in order to make better use of resources and ensure the absence of staff isn't felt.

As such, telematics systems are able to make use of live traffic information to provide accurate times of arrival. If a worker gets held up severely by traffic or a delay in their previous job, the next most appropriate colleague can be dispatched in their place, or at the very least customer expectations can be managed.

Similarly, in the case of emergency call-outs, the system will automatically allocate the best-placed person to take the job, according to the time it will take them to arrive on site, rather than merely distance.

Dynamic schedules can also be tailored to complete both high-priority call-outs and low-priority, scheduled appointments in the most efficient manner. For example, if a worker is called to an urgent job on the same street where a regular visit is planned for later in the week, it often makes sense to complete both jobs at once, reducing the number of man hours wasted.

There's an app for that

Such dynamic scheduling takes into account staffing levels, availability and a host of other factors to ensure the available resources are most efficiently used but doesn't necessarily address any skills shortage that might occur when temporary staff are drafted in during the summer months to help service demand.

However, you’ll be pleased to know ‘there's an app for that'. The remarkable acceleration in the development of business technology means mobile workers can now benefit from a number of applications designed specifically to take advantage of logging workflow and process on one device, which makes their lives easier.

These apps, for example, allow the driver to conduct daily vehicle checks on their driver terminal or tablet device, ticking off each element on a pre-defined list before the details are sent automatically to the office for their records.

Once this is completed, the driver's workflow can be automatically loaded to their device, with navigation queued up for each job as necessary.

Upon arrival at a site, the worker will automatically be sent full details of the job along with any manuals that are required, ensuring they have the requisite knowledge at their fingertips.

There is such a range of technological solutions now available that companies can ensure whatever system is implemented will be tailored to the precise needs of the organisation, the industry and the customer.

End-to-end business systems, which build a seamless link between field and back office, remove the element of uncertainly that might have previously surrounded summer staffing and allow field service companies to deliver year-round, uninterrupted, first-class service.