This final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant analyses why distributing knowledge across the team is the missing link to creating a high-performace workforce...
ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘white-paper’ CATEGORY
Nov 02, 2020 • Features • Artificial intelligence • White Paper • Digital Transformation • field service management • Aquant
This final excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant analyses why distributing knowledge across the team is the missing link to creating a high-performace workforce...
Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.
If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
bridging the gap between where you are now and where you want to be
Now that you know where to look and what to look for in your service data, what's next?
Distributing knowledge across the team is the missing link to creating a high-performing and engaged workforce.
Once you understand:
How your workforce is performing individually
The size of a skills gap across the organization
The next step is to figure out how to bridge the gap between where you are now, and where you want to be. Artificial intelligence can get you there quickly and enable this transformative shift in the workplace.
Here’s how:
○ AI that understands your organization’s unique service language and can quickly analyze hidden data is the first step in turning service records into actionable information.
○ Next, using that data to map out your workforce and identify heroes and challengers gives you the insights that can’t be found by simply monitoring key KPI.
○ Converting your organization’s tribal knowledge (from your service heroes) into usable information and then combining that with your own service data creates a dynamic platform is the final clue to unlock hero status for everyone.
○ That democratized knowledge, which is as easy to access as a Google search, puts the power of your best experts in the hands of the whole team.
Read the full Aquant white paper which provides an analysis of field service KPIs and the state of the workforce skills gap.
www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below. If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Read more about Artificial Intelligence @ www.fieldservicenews.com/artificial-intelligence
- Find out more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Oct 27, 2020 • Features • Cognito iQ • White Paper • Digital Transformation
This new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Cognito iQ analyses why exceptional field service is important and outlines how to transform your field service operation from strategy to execution...
This new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Cognito iQ analyses why exceptional field service is important and outlines how to transform your field service operation from strategy to execution...
Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.
If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Cognito iQ who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
why exceptional field service matters...
It has become clichéd to talk about uncertainty in recent months, as the global pandemic has disrupted business and daily life across the world.
However, had we written this white paper before March 2020, we would have still been writing about the importance of exceptional field service in a climate of economic uncertainty. In 2018, PwC's Annual Global CEO Survey revealed a record level of optimism regarding worldwide economic growth. But the most recent survey, conducted just one year later in 2019, showed a record level of pessimism. More than half of the CEOs who participated believed the rate of global GDP growth will decline, and only 27% were ‘very confident’ in their prospects for revenue growth, a low level not seen since 2009. At the time of the survey, uncertainty was driven by trade tensions between US and China, and within the EU, with Brexit fuelling insecurity in the UK. The outbreak of Covid-19 has exacerbated an already difficult situation.
Field service organisations operate in an extremely competitive environment, and one in which customer expectations have been elevated by the quality of service - speed, ease and visibility - they get from online retailers. Service leaders are charged with delivering revenue and profitability growth and introducing new products and services, as well as contributing to customer retention and brand differentiation through the delivery of service excellence. In short, field service leaders can’t afford to leave any potential improvements in efficiency, cost savings, customer experience, employee engagement or competitive advantage on the table. When faced with increasing uncertainty and economic pessimism, exceptional field service becomes business critical. The pandemic also highlighted the need for field service leaders to be able to change and adapt rapidly, and to implement, manage and monitor new processes at speed.
The Impact of Digital
This is all easier said than done. Field service is tough at the best of times. What is perhaps different about this looming recession from those in the past, such as the financial crisis in 2008, is the digitisation of our lives and businesses. Digital transformation offers field service organisations the ability to make decisions that are driven by data, rather than by gut feel. We believe that this is the only way for service leaders to achieve exceptional service, and fulfil the potential of the service organisation to deliver business growth. Some service organisations are at the beginning of the digital journey, just beginning to automate paper-based or manual processes, or just starting to collect mobile data from their field-based technicians. Others are further along, using advanced analytics and data science to make sense of their data, and implementing the latest developments in technology, such as virtual reality to assist with repairs in the field, robotic process automation to expedite customer communications in the call centre, and Internet of Things (IoT) to enable predictive service. The most innovative service leaders are enhancing their digital transformation by adopting business approaches that have been successful in other disciplines. Techniques from lean manufacturing, such as continuous improvement, short interval control and value flow mapping, can be applied to field service to find opportunities to improve, test, adjust and apply to enhance the business. Management approaches such as Google’s Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can be used to turn strategies into actionable individual goals and to get the buy-in of employees across the organisation. Despite all the challenges, we believe the future is bright for field service organisations. This combination of digital technology, data science and advanced business approaches is what will win through for the best service organisations.
The Digital Journey of an Organization...
Look out for the next feature in this series coming next week where we analyse why field service is hard.
However, www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below. If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Cognito iQ on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/cognito-iq
- Find out more about Cognito iQ @ www.cognitoiq.com
- Follow Cognito iQ on Twitter @ twitter.com/Cognito_iQ
Oct 26, 2020 • Features • White Paper • Digital Transformation • field service management • Aquant
This third excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant we see an interesting snapshot of the distance that exists between the highest and lowest performers on an organizational level and the consequences of an imbalance of knowledge within...
This third excerpt from a recent white paper published by Aquant we see an interesting snapshot of the distance that exists between the highest and lowest performers on an organizational level and the consequences of an imbalance of knowledge within each service team.
Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.
If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
the team snapshot: the distance between heroes and challengers within an organization
First, let’s take a step back. Seasoned service leaders spend a lot of time looking at data dashboards to put the clues together. You may have scanned all the individual KPI stats above and thought to yourself, “Our organization is in pretty good shape. We fall well within the average.”
The problem? Those above KPIs are only telling part of the story.
A better way to think about the success of a service team is to understand how big of a skills gap exists between your best technicians and underperformers. That will help you hone in on underlying service issues.
To determine the skills gap we calculated the percentage difference between heroes and challengers across all organizations. We divided it into:
-
Top performing organizations
-
Average performing organizations
-
Poor performing organizations
Why The Skills Gap Matters:
A bigger distance between heroes and challengers leads to:
- Heavier workload on your already overburdened experts
- Increase in service costs
- Decrease in customer satisfaction
- Uptick in customer churn
- Less capacity for organizational resilience Negative impact on growth
DECREASE THE SKILLS GAP, INCREASE ROI
Advanced detective skills aren’t required to understand the benefits of a knowledgeable workforce.
Here is the cost savings associated with upskilling your workforce a little and a lot.
Look out for the final feature in this series coming next week where we discuss the next steps to take now that you where and what to look in your service data.
However, www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below. If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Find out more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Oct 19, 2020 • Features • White Paper • Digital Transformation • Aquant
In a new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant we uncover how field service organisations and their workforce (really) measure up, and provide an analysis of how to use hidden KPI data to cut service costs and improve...
In a new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant we uncover how field service organisations and their workforce (really) measure up, and provide an analysis of how to use hidden KPI data to cut service costs and improve delivery...
Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.
If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
WHAT KPI MEASUREMENT DOES AND DOESN'T TELL US
In our first ebook in the Service Leader’s Measurement Series, The Service Leader’s Guide to Workforce KPIs, we examined why workforce measurement is even more critical right now than in the past.
The big shifts across the industry, workforce demographics and customer demands require a skilled-up workforce of high performers. To develop the dream team, organizations need to map out the workforce for a deeper understanding of workforce experts versus challengers and then plot a plan for success.
We also outlined better ways to think about measurement (in an ecosystem versus a vacuum), detailed the KPIs that matter most, and how to most effectively measure them. Now that we know what and how to measure, let’s dive deeper into what industry KPIs look like today, and how that information can be used to address workforce challenges across the entire workforce.
Industry Snapshot: Service KPIs by the Numbers
Here’s the breakdown of how service organizations measure up against other organizations and the industry as a whole.
FTFR - FIRST TIME FIX RATE:
What is It? First time fix rate is one of the most popular metrics for workforce measurement. It’s simply how often someone is able to fix the issue in question on the first try. In this report we are measuring the FTF of field visits, viewed in a 30-day window.
Key Observations:
The good news is that if your FTF rate is around 75% then you fall solidly within the average rate of most service organizations. Previous self-reported data about FTF rates shows 75% is the industry standard. The less great news is that the rate has remained steady for over a decade. In addition, FTF isn’t the best way to measure success.
A failed first visit leads to, on average:
-
2.6 additional visits
-
15 days for MTTR
CPS - COST PER SUCCESS:
What is It? Cost per success is the total dollar amount required to successfully close a service ticket. This differs from other similar KPIs, including Cost Per Truck Roll, as the total CPS may include multiple visits, multiple truck rolls, a variety of parts, and other assorted labor costs.
What It's Not: While some organizations measure cost per work order, that metric leaves out many common workarounds, like always assigning seasoned experts to the most complex (and expensive) jobs. And it also fails to take into account when multiple work orders are related to the same core issue.
Key Observation:
Successfully resolving an issue involves 25% more in costs versus looking at work orders individually.
MTTR - MEAN TIME ON RESOLUTION:
What is It? Mean time to resolution refers to the time it takes to resolve a customer issue. This is typically defined as the time between the case creation date and its closure date. Similar to the pain of staying on hold when trying to resolve a personal issue, minimizing MTTR is a key factor in increasing positive customer experiences and reducing service costs.
MTBF - MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURES:
What is It? Mean time between failures measures the average time between customer issues. The goal for service organizations is to maximize this metric because a high time between failures represents high service quality and maximum uptime.
Key Observation:
While different equipment has different life cycles, service leaders should understand if there are patterns in equipment or within the workforce. Longer-tenured service heroes know how to take advantage of time in front of an asset to ensure that everything is working properly -- which can significantly extend the time between failures.
MTBV- MEAN TIME BETWEEN VISITS:
What is It? Mean time between visits measures every visit you have for an asset or customer, instead of only tracking time between failures. This approach allows an organization to measure both uptime and service performance.
Key Observation:
Service heroes will skew towards longer time intervals between visits (and that’s a good thing) due to these two factors:
- They have a lower repeat visit rate
- They know how to best utilize every visit to maximize customer uptime
Look out for the next feature in this series coming next week where we explore three more key technologies required for remote service delivery.
However, www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below. If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Find out more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Oct 12, 2020 • Features • White Paper • Digital Transformation • Aquant
In a new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant we uncover how field service organisations and their workforce (really) measure up, and provide an analysis of how to use hidden KPI data to cut service costs and improve...
In a new series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant we uncover how field service organisations and their workforce (really) measure up, and provide an analysis of how to use hidden KPI data to cut service costs and improve delivery...
Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.
If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper, as per the terms and conditions of your subscription agreement which you opted into in line with GDPR regulations and is an ongoing condition of subscription.
AQUANT BENCHMARK REPORT
What’s the cost of not fully understanding your service organization’s performance?
With this question in mind, Aquant’s data sleuths analyzed service records from more than 50 leading organizations, looking at the data with an eye towards how to improve service delivery.
Our team crunched the numbers and mapped out how the skill level of the workforce on an individual and organizational level impacts service delivery.
Here’s what we analyzed:
-
○ A snapshot of the industry overall and how companies measure up against each other
-
○ The skill level of the workforce on an individual level
-
○ The skills gap that exists between the highest and lowest performers within each organization
Why Service Leaders Need To Think About Standards KPIs In New Ways:
The industry is currently navigating multiple challenges including:
-
○ A retirement wave
-
○ Challenges recruiting experienced workers
-
○ Changes in customer demands, requiring new skillsets among the workforce
-
○ Pandemic-driven need to limit time spent on job site
This shift has left service leaders struggling to upskill junior employees and erase the knowledge gap that exists between the highest performing 25% of the workforce, and everyone else.
The insights in this report, gleaned from actual service data, sheds light on the most effective methods to upskill a workforce in a way that leads to rapid ROI while simultaneously increasing employee engagement and confidence.
If organizations can successfully uplevel the team, you’ll benefit from everything from lower customer churn to the ability to execute on more profitable service contract models, including outcome-based and predictive service contracts.
Key Findings:
The Knowledge Gap is Expensive
○ The bottom quarter of the workforce costs organizations 80% more than the top quarter
Misunderstanding KPIs is Costly
○ The cost to completely and accurately resolve a service issue is more than 30% higher than simply measuring Cost Per Work Order. Why the discrepancy? Because there are often multiple work orders involved to successfully fix the root cause of the problem.
-
Average Cost per Success: $2,085.61
-
Average Cost per Work Order: $1,553.69
The Opportunity -
○ Service organizations whose workforces had a smaller discrepancy between Heroes and Challengers (a low skills gap) demonstrate higher performance overall versus those with a high skills gap
-
○ Small workforce improvements add up to big ROI. Here’s why:
-
Boosting the bottom 25% of the workforce (challengers) up modestly to the level of your average performers (contenders), will result in a nearly 17% savings in service costs
-
Additionally, helping boost your contenders up closer to your top performers (service heroes) will increase ROI by another 17%
-
-
○ If everyone had the knowledge and skills to perform like the top 25% of the workforce, organizations would save 38% of service costs.
Look out for the next feature in this series coming next week where we explore three more key technologies required for remote service delivery.
However, www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below. If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!
Further Reading:
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
- Read more about Aquant on Field Service News @ www.fieldservicenews.com/aquant
- Find out more about Aquant @ www.aquant.io
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Aug 19, 2020 • Features • White Paper • Aquant • Managing the Mobile Workforce
Having published a series of features based on excerpts from their latest white paper, Aquant's Edwin Pahk, has outlined the importance of field service companies measuring KPIs, now more than ever before. He has also identified for us the five...
Having published a series of features based on excerpts from their latest white paper, Aquant's Edwin Pahk, has outlined the importance of field service companies measuring KPIs, now more than ever before. He has also identified for us the five KPI's he believes are crucial for service leaders to measure. Here in this bonus addition to the mini-series, Pahk concludes with an overview of the Aquant Workforce Performance Index...
Would You Like to Know More? www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can access the full white paper on the button below. If you are yet to subscribe join 30K of your field service management peers and subscribe now by clicking the button below...
Sponsored by:
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content, Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper.
HELPING YOU CREATE AN ENTIRE TEAM OF SERVICE HEROES
Aquant accesses and analyzes hidden data and creates an accurate snapshot of the health and balance of your entire workforce.
The Workforce Performance Index factors in a wide range of KPIs, providing a holistic view of each team member in relation to peers. It’s easy to see, at a glance, who excels at solving complex problems while also understanding who needs additional support or training. What sets the Workforce Performance Index apart from traditional workforce rankings is that it’s based on an organization’s diverse set of service data including service tickets, technician notes, parts usage information, CRM data, and more.
That hidden data isn’t the only nugget of info that makes this measurement so effective, it’s also about Aquant’s domain expertise.We have decades of collective experience and understand how service organisations really work behind the scenes (we know about the many service shortcuts and all the data that’s supposed to be entered into a database, but never is). This led us to build a system that applies an organisation’s own knowledge and data in real world scenarios, to
- Create dynamic service intelligence that delivers robusts findings, recommendations, and best practices that’s personalized to each organization
- Apply AI-based continuous learning that learns the behaviors of service heroes and applies that knowledge to empower the entire workforce
HOW THE WORKFORCE PERFORMANCE INDEX LEVELS THE PLAYING FIELD
Before you can solve a problem, you need to understand the root cause -- that’s the critical step required to resolve problems faster and foster performance improvements. Then, provide equal access to information so everyone has the right tools to succeed.
AI, enhanced by the feedback of experts, is key to capturing siloed tribal knowledge and making that knowledge accessible across your workforce. That’s how your hidden data helps empower less tenured employees with the wisdom of your service heroes. By making information easily accessible to everyone, from customer-facing service reps to field engineers, you’ll impart domain expertise on newer employees in a matter of weeks, helping them to understand problem-solving in a way that teaches them how to think like your service heroes.
ONCE YOU HAVE A BASELINE INDEX, WHAT’S NEXT?
Now you can accurately plan how to distribute expert resources in the most effective way while understanding what kind of guidance junior team members need to get up to speed. Benefits include:
- Accurate resource planning. Give your service heroes time to breathe by allocating them to the most complex jobs while allowing time for mentoring or training
- Provide the challengers in your workforce with the resources or training they need to become more successful
- ○ Better, more cost-effective service outcomes
- Less customer churn. Your customers may even shower your team with praise!
- Track progress and make continuous adjustments based on the data and desired outcomes
TAKE THE 7 DAY CHALLENGE AND MEASURE THE SERVICE PERFORMANCE THAT MATTERS
FOR A FREE AI-POWERED WORKFORCE ANALYSIS...
Give Aquant a sample of your service tickets and get results, including a Service Workforce Performance Index, in a week!
Aquant’s AI engine takes your service data and provides you with meaningful insights that demonstrate how AI benefits your workforce and service delivery.
Find out more at www.aquant.io/7-day-challenge/
If you missed out on the earlier features from this series or you would like read the full white paper it is available to subscribers to www.fieldservicenews.com who can access the white paper on the button above alongside the rest of our entire premium content library!
If you have yet to subscribe then join 30K of your field service management peers and subscribe @ www.fieldservicenews.com/subscribe
Further Reading:
-
- Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/leadership-and-strategy
- Read more about Managing the Mobile Workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/managing-the-mobile-workforce
- Read more news and articles featuring Aquant @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=aquant
- Connect with Edwin Pahk on LinkedIN @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-pahk-8a066515/
- Find out more about the solutions Aquant offer to help field service companies @ www.aquant.io/
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Aug 12, 2020 • Features • White Paper • Aquant • Managing the Mobile Workforce
In this last article in this series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, Edwin Pahk, VP Product Marketing and Business Development, Aquant outlined the first two fo five critical KPI's field service organisations must monitor....
In this last article in this series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, Edwin Pahk, VP Product Marketing and Business Development, Aquant outlined the first two fo five critical KPI's field service organisations must monitor. Now in the third article in the series we look at three more crucial KPIs...
Would You Like to Know More? www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can access the full white paper on the button below. If you are yet to subscribe join 30K of your field service management peers and subscribe now by clicking the button below...
Sponsored by:
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content, Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper.
KPI#3: MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURES
What is it?
Mean time between failures (MTBF) measures the average time between customer issues. The goal for service organizations is to maximize this metric because a high time between failures represents high service quality and maximum uptime.
How it measures workforce performance
MTBF is less about resolving the single issue that prompted a failure, and more about a service professional’s ability to holistically maintain the health of the machine. This is a skill that is typically difficult to measure. Seasoned service heroes know how to take advantage of time in front of an asset to ensure that everything is working properly. They’ll work to proactively maintain or replace parts before a failure occurs, and understand how to keep failures from happening in the future.
How it measures customer experience
The less you notice this measurement creeping up, the better. Tracking MTBF is a great way to measure customer uptime and service reliability — ultimately resulting in happier customers. While service is about providing a great experience in each customer interaction, a better outcome is preventing the failing in the first place.
Challenges to measuring mean-between-failures
- Measuring mean time between failures requires long intervals of data because it’s a lagging indicator: MTBF is a big picture measurement. It requires a sustained ability to measure the time difference between failures. Quite often, organizations may only look at a quarter’s worth of data, and that’s not enough time to accurately measure MTBF because a good indicator of health means that failure may only happen every few quarters.
- Attribution of mean time between failure to service professionals is up for debate: What is the definition of failure? Is it when different, unrelated issues arise in the same asset? Or can it also be a problem that (unknowingly) is not fixed correctly the first time, and subsequent service calls were needed to address the actual problem? Because multiple service technicians are usually contributing to service across one asset or customer, it’s difficult to attribute a long or short MTBF to a single individual.
How to measure mean-time-between-failure:
It’s straightforward with the exception of these scenarios. When dealing with long MTBF intervals (6 months or longer) or an extremely short average asset lifecycle, using the standard approach to MTBF might not be suitable. Instead, using MTBE (mean time between events) might be a better measurement. When using MTBE as a metric it’s less about whether a particular interaction with a customer constitutes a failure and more about measuring how many times you had to interact with that customer. Fewer interactions signal fewer service issues.
KPI#4: SERVICE COST PER WORK ORDER
What is it?
Service cost per work order (or per case) is an effective measurement of the total cost of each work order or case created. It’s also known as the average cost per truck roll.
How it measures workforce performance
The cost per work order provides a measurement of the duration and/or parts usage a technician uses, on average, to resolve an issue. Higher performing individuals innately know how to solve problems without shotgunning expensive parts.
How it Impacts Customer Experience
While customers aren’t concerned with how much it costs to resolve each problem, the bigger quality issues remain true here. A lower cost per work order generally highlights a higher quality of service -- and that’s what customers notice.
Challenges of measuring mean time to resolution
- Service cost per work order might be a misleading indicator of performance: Context is key, especially when a few experts are regularly assigned complex jobs. These are cases when top employees may have a higher average service cost per work order. If yours is an organization that saves the most difficult cases for workforce heroes, know that the more complex the cases, (typically) the more expensive the service costs. ○
- Service costs can have an inverse relationship to customer satisfaction: You likely get requests from service teams for additional help because more resources (and faster response times from those with lighter workloads) typically result in better service performance. So don’t look at this metric without regard to the customer experience component. ○
- Service cost per work order doesn’t differentiate poor experiences and repeat visits: After scouring data from hundreds of organizations, it’s clear that one of the most difficult challenges in measuring service costs hinges on the ability to identify when consecutive work orders are related to the same issue. Organizations that carefully track when cases that were previously closed, were closed in error -- because the root issue wasn’t resolved properly the first time -- are rare.
How to measure mean time to resolution:
One of the best ways to track cost per work order is to use the metric to measure service cost per success. By flipping to the positive outcome, your organization will have a better understanding of who within your workforce are the heroes of your organization (those who resolve issues with minimal parts and visits). The difficulty with measuring each success is understanding whether a case is isolated or related to another case. Depending on how you capture data, you can use different methods to measure successful events, including the method describing how to measure repeat visits previously.
KPI#5: NET PROMOTER SCORE
What is it?
Net promoter score (NPS) is one of the most widely used methods to identify customer satisfaction and loyalty. Simply put, it measures the number of promoters and detractors for the service you provide
How it measures workforce performance
There is no other metric that reinforces the statement “customer is king” more than NPS. Happy customers overwhelmingly signal strong workforce performance. Typically, NPS measures a qualitative experience (technical workforce skills), such as how quickly a problem is resolved, but sometimes, NPS reflects a customer’s opinion about how they feel they’ve been treated (soft workforce skills).
How it measures Customer Experience
This is one of the most straightforward measurements possible to gauge customer satisfaction.
Challenges of measuring mean time to resolution
- Net promoter score alone is not a true measure of workforce performance: While customer satisfaction is a critical component in delivering great customer service, NPS alone is an incomplete measure of the performance of your service workforce. In service organizations where NPS is the measurement used, service costs skyrocket. Customer service professionals provide endless perks and free services in order to create customer loyalty. Unless this is part of your organization’s objectives, be careful when using NPS alone.
- Net promoter score is difficult to attribute to any one service factor: While NPS is a comprehensive measure of a customer’s experience, it’s difficult to use it to clearly identify any one specific factor or event that impacts score.
In the final feature in this series we will look at the Aquant Workforce Performance Index and how field service organisations like yours are leveraging this to improve their customer satisfaction ratings. Look out for this article in a weeks time!
Alternatively, subscribers to www.fieldservicenews.com can access the white paper on the button above and the rest of our premium content library! Join 30K of your field service management peers and subscribe @ www.fieldservicenews.com/subscribe
Further Reading:
- Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/leadership-and-strategy
- Read more about Managing the Mobile Workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/managing-the-mobile-workforce
- Read more news and articles featuring Aquant @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=aquant
- Connect with Edwin Pahk on LinkedIN @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-pahk-8a066515/
- Find out more about the solutions Aquant offer to help field service companies @ www.aquant.io/
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Aug 07, 2020 • Features • IDC • White Paper • IFS • Servitization and Advanced Services
In the final feature in our series of extracts from an excellent white paper published by IDC and sponsored by IFS, we will explore the IDC Servitization Barometer which is designed to allow field service organisations to chart their path to new...
In the final feature in our series of extracts from an excellent white paper published by IDC and sponsored by IFS, we will explore the IDC Servitization Barometer which is designed to allow field service organisations to chart their path to new revenue streams.
In part one we looked at the rapid and wide reaching change that is being faced by manufacturers in all sectors, in all regions. In part two we looked further at IDC's Servitization Maturity Framework. Now in part three see how the broad maturity of the sector against this model. In part three see how the broad maturity of the sector against this model. Now in the final feature of the series we start to see best practices emerging...
Would You Like to Know More? www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can access the full white paper on the link below.
Sponsored by:
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content, IFS who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.
Another key discerning element in service operations excellence is the ability to have a two-way process and data flows between service management and back-office functions. 40% of the organizations surveyed have zero interlink of key systems (ERP, FSM, supply chain), suggesting a fully fragmented value chain, and just 15% have two-way links, meaning manual or sensor-based input from field service processes triggers information updates and actions in ERP and supply chain systems.
The final key success factor is related to skillsets, both in the field worker group and in the leadership team.
- Field workers need to be not only apt at using and understanding technology, but also enthusiastic about expanding their knowledge and abilities at a much faster pace. Annual training and “experience” are not enough when product updates happen monthly over-the-air and digital applications are part of the portfolio.
- Lack of know-how or internal capabilities to run a services business is ranked as the number one hurdle to servitization. IDC believes it is very hard for companies in production-oriented industries to hire executives that are capable of innovating on the service side of the house.
Eyes on the Prize — What Borderless Enterprises Teach Us
Assessing the status quo is important. But what should companies aim for? What are the benefits of becoming a Borderless enterprise and the traits defining one? The in-depth Barometer research allows us to start answering those questions:
- Companies should start investing in a long-term service vision. 90% of the best performing companies expect business model revolutions in three years with pay-per-use, outcome-based services, and ecosystem monetization all playing a role. This compares to 15% in the sample average. They also already generate 12% of their revenue from services, versus an 8% average.
- Front-end capabilities must be proactively built. The ability to immediately route calls from the contact center to engineering support is a strong indicator of leading organizations. Similarly, Borderless companies have often managed to build fully automated troubleshooting capabilities for end customers. Data is automatically synced from in-field products to the cloud, issues are logged, and solutions proactively offered.
- Strategic partnerships are critical drivers to success in servitization. Becoming a Borderless organization requires an ecosystem approach to the development of data-driven digital services. Organizations at the most advanced stage of servitization maturity are monetizing co-creation initiatives to enrich their services portfolio by leveraging the capabilities of partners in adjacent industries.
Figure 11 (below) shows other traits as well as the immediate benefits of being a Borderless enterprise. Much higher profitability and above-average revenue growth are both enjoyed by these types of companies.
While it is true that real Borderless enterprises are relatively hard to come by, it is imperative that businesses look to them as examples and start acting now. At the Joined-Up stage (Stage 3), roughly one-third of companies in the market are within striking distance. IDC believes many members of this group are very likely to “up-rank” in a two to three-year horizon. Remaining in the bottom ranks would mean becoming pigeonholed in a low-margin, low-growth mode for the foreseeable future.
Getting the Low-Hanging Fruit
IDC maintains that some low-hanging fruits can be achieved even by moving up from the lower stages of servitization. Figure 12 provides a summary of the potential gains and likely roadblocks on the path towards a Borderless enterprise. While there are multiple ways to move along the servitization journey, some common patterns start to appear. In particular:
- Strong profitability and sustained revenue acceleration are visible from Stage 3 onwards. As almost 50% of buyers sit in Stage 2, it is recommended that they build expectations around those KPIs as they connect their whole value chain. Failing KPIs would be a sign that the journey is not progressing
- The last, trickiest roadblock is linked to decision making. Transformation towards a service-first business model will eventually pass through the leadership. In the Barometer survey, 85% of respondents said they were part of a decision-making group that typically involves Head of Products, Head of Services, and often Head of Operations, plus the IT side of the organization. Building the right “dream team” dynamics will be crucial to ensure success in the final stages.
IDC Advice to End Buyers in Production-Oriented Industries
On a backdrop of subsiding demand for traditional products, IDC sees a clear trend emerging towards augmenting products with services, and ultimately transforming traditional physical supply chains into open ecosystem value chains. This transformation process is called servitization, and it is to be understood as a subset to digital initiatives.
While only a few have achieved the servitization “nirvana” of the Borderless enterprise, more than a third of companies globally are already Joined-Up, poised to get within striking distance of that vision soon. Those fast movers already have proof-points to show for it, including:
- Service revenues that are on average one-third larger than their peers’ as a proportion of total revenue
- 5X more chance of accelerating top line growth above 5% yearly
- Much greater likelihood of showing profitability improvements thanks to DX initiatives
IDC recommends every company in all physical value chains get moving as soon as possible. Laggards are likely to find themselves pigeonholed in low-profit niches within the next two years if they fail to do so. Based on our research, IDC recommends the following strategic and tactical best practices.
Strategic Best Practices
- Work with the leadership to build a “dream team” involving Head of Products, Head of Services, Head of Operations and CIO/CDO that aligns early on strategic objectives for servitization. This transformation process will impact all those departments (and more). While initial attempts can work without coordination, data shows that internal conflicts are the biggest obstacle in Stage 3 and beyond.
- Be proactive in customer-centricity. No servitization can happen without a strong, ultra-connected customer engagement function. Even good performers appear to struggle to go beyond basic tools and processes. Combining customer metrics with operational scores and above all being ready to invest in staff and technology from day one is highly recommended.
- Set key performance indicators and make them public. IDC research shows that revenue growth accelerates when crossing the chasm to servitization. Financials can be volatile, though, especially on a quarterly basis and even more so when business model change hits. Measuring other items such as the percentage of service revenue in each division, field service worker satisfaction, and net promoter score is recommended to keep a steady pace and not lose sight of the end goals.
Tactical Best Practices
- Put together a small “Services Tiger Team” as soon as possible. The team should be comprised of mid-senior members across the “dream team” divisions, including IT. Its key objectives should be to review and classify existing services, related processes, and profitability (Phase 1) and to ideate new offerings to test in the market within twelve months (Phase 2). For the sake of iteration, multi-year launches are not recommended.
- Perform a complete review of your data flows end-to-end. To test how well connected your backoffice and front-desk are, first pick your best-selling product. Then analyze whether contact center and field service agents have consistent information about parts availability, whether they can directly augment or modify information in back-office systems, whether potential IoT or third-party component supplier data is consistent, etc. This will quickly highlight bottlenecks in process and information.
- 3. Kill all of your IoT projects that don’t generate events in either service management or ERP/ supply chain systems. Focusing efforts on actionable data is a must. Chances are you already have IoT data collection from end products or the supply chain in place — often without a production use case. IDC recommends ruthlessly eliminating those to make space for IoT projects subordinated to the launch of new service offerings.
Further Reading:
- Read more about Servitization and Advanced Services @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/servitization-and-advanced-services
- Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/digital-transformation
- Read exclusive FSN features from IDC's Aly Pinder @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/author/aly-pinder
- Read FSN Features and News from the IFS team @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=IFS
- Find out more about the solutions IFS offer to help field service companies @ www.ifs.com
- Follow IFS on Twitter @ twitter.com/ifsuk
Aug 05, 2020 • Features • White Paper • Aquant • Leadership and Strategy
In this first article in a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, Edwin Pahk, VP Product Marketing and Business Development, Aquant explained why now more than ever what we measures matters. Now in the next feature in...
In this first article in a series of excerpts from a recent white paper published by Aquant, Edwin Pahk, VP Product Marketing and Business Development, Aquant explained why now more than ever what we measures matters. Now in the next feature in this series we look at the first two of five crucial KPIs that field service organisations must monitor
Would You Like to Know More? www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can access the full white paper on the button below. If you are yet to subscribe join 30K of your field service management peers and subscribe now by clicking the button below...
Sponsored by:
Data usage note: By accessing this content you consent to the contact details submitted when you registered as a subscriber to fieldservicenews.com to be shared with the listed sponsor of this premium content, Aquant who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this white paper.
KPI#1 FIRST TIME FIX RATE
What is it?
First time fix rate (FTF) is one of the most popular metrics for workforce measurement. It’s simply how often someone is able to fix the issue in question on the first try. This is typically referenced in both a contact center and field service scenario.
How it measures workforce performance
Generally, it’s assumed that the higher the first time fix rate, the more competent or skilled the technician is.
How it impacts customer experience
FTF makes a big impact on great customer experience. Customers want resolution quickly, and they don’t want to have to place a service ticket two days later because the issue was never properly resolved. Solving issues correctly the first time boosts a brand’s value and acts as a competitive differentiator, making it just as important as the quality of the initial product or service.
Challenges to measuring first time fix rates
- Service costs can increase: Service organizations often throw a lot of money at the problem to increase first time fix rates. The problem? First time fix rates alone do not represent the skill level of your workers. For example, a technician tends to swap costly parts for a new one every call instead of digging deeper into how to fix the root issue. Stats will show a high FTF, but doesn’t take into account that a cheaper option could likely have fixed the problem
- First time fix doesn’t reflect technician skill: Not all issues resolved on the second attempt reflect technician error. Often, failure to achieve FTF happens in tandem with an accurate diagnosis. If the dispatcher didn’t provide insight into the situation, a tech may arrive onsite, quickly diagnose, but need to come back later that day or days later with the right part. Understanding the context of what the metric represents is just as important as measuring first time fix rates.
- Properly defining and tracking first time fix is a challenge: This is especially problematic depending on how an organization tracks the KPI. If each new ticket is measured in a vacuum, a first time fix rate may be high. But what if tech thinks they fix the issue on the first visit, only to be called back a week later because of a different problem with the same machine? If the tech makes another quick fix, you record that as another FTF. Go team!
But wait a minute. What if a third ticket is issued a week later and a different tech arrives on-site to realize the first tech was simply putting a band-aid on a more complex root issue? A deeper analysis of these common miss measurements finds that service organizations really have more chronic repeat visit problem than they realize.
How to measure first time fix:
It’s not an exact science, but a much more accurate approach is to measure whether there was a visit for that same asset or issue that occurred within X number of days of the previous visit. While this isn’t a complete solution, it addresses the major fallacy of the first time fix rate.
KPI#2 MEAN TIME TO RESOLUTION:
What is it?
Mean time to resolution (MTTR) refers to the time it takes to resolve a customer issue. This is typically defined as the time between the case creation date and its closure date. Similar to the pain of staying on hold when trying to resolve a personal issue, minimizing MTTR is a key factor in increasing positive customer experiences and reducing costs. Organizations with high MTTR often have techs who find themselves in escalation black holes.
How it measures workforce performance
MTTR has an inverse relationship to first time fix rate. As your FTF rate goes up, MTTR should go down. How so? That’s usually related to service heroes resolving issues (really resolving the root cause) on the first visit, with the right parts and tools to make quick work of the problem.
How it Impacts Customer Experience
Consumers and B2B clients want immediate service. Amazon Prime, overnight shipping, Netflix, and more all represent the demand for immediacy. MTTR is a critical part of that customer service experience, and if your customers don’t receive the attention and quick resolution they want, they’ll seek out a competitor.
Challenges of measuring mean time to resolution
- Poor data collection or lack of uniform data: This is the biggest issue related to measuring MTTR. While case creation/creation date is a fairly consistent data point across organizations, case resolution time or date is much less reliable due to poor data collection. The biggest issue here is a lack of compliance among users -- technicians often forget to close out cases until days after the problem is resolved.
- Dependence on first time fix measurement: MTTR is highly dependent on how FTF is measured. Failed visits have a profound impact on MTTR, and the stats are grim. Issues not resolved the first time require, on average, another 14 days to resolution. The reason is often attributed to the need to order additional parts, scheduling issues with customers. MTTR suffers from the same challenge as FTF if the root causes of failure aren’t addressed.
- Mean time to resolution is a measure of process and people: It’s tough to separate the two. MTTR can be used to measure workforce productivity, but it’s also a measure of capacity and process. Sometimes when MTTR slumps, that’s the result of lack of enough headcount versus workforce performance.
How to measure mean time to resolution:
There are several approaches to mitigate some of the challenges faced when measuring MTTR.
- Measure the difference in mean time to resolution rather than overall rate. Instead of looking at MTTR as a single unit, focus on the aspects of MTTR that reflect workforce performance. For example:
- This can be identified in the difference in MTTR between individuals when a failed visit occurs. Service professionals who often require multiple customer visits will generally have greater MTTR rates versus your best experts who seldom make repeat visits.
- Use only open dates to measure mean time to resolution. Given the lack of quality in measuring accurate resolution dates, using open dates and visit dates to define the MTTR threshold is a way to identify MTTR. This eliminates the inconsistency in resolution or close dates, and will only work on customer issues with failed visits.
In the next feature in this series we will look at three more crucial KPIs, Mean Time between Failure, Cost Per Service Per Technician and Net Promoter scores. Alternatively, subscribed now for access to the white paper above and the rest of our premium content library @ www.fieldservicenews.com/subscribe
Further Reading:
- Read more about Leadership and Strategy @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/leadership-and-strategy
- Read more about Managing the Mobile Workforce @ www.fieldservicenews.com/blog/tag/managing-the-mobile-workforce
- Read more news and articles featuring Aquant @ www.fieldservicenews.com/hs-search-results?term=aquant
- Connect with Edwin Pahk on LinkedIN @ https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-pahk-8a066515/
- Find out more about the solutions Aquant offer to help field service companies @ www.aquant.io/
- Follow Aquant on Twitter @ twitter.com/Aquant_io
Leave a Reply