The balance between achieving high levels of customer experience and delivering operational excellence that will drive service revenues forwards is a finely nuanced one. In this first excerpt from a video presentation run in partnership with...
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Aug 26, 2019 • Features • Software & Apps • CSAT • customer satisfaction • Customer Service • Operational Efficiency • Video • first time fix • Service Execution Management • Outsystems
The balance between achieving high levels of customer experience and delivering operational excellence that will drive service revenues forwards is a finely nuanced one. In this first excerpt from a video presentation run in partnership with Outsystems we heard from Rachel Brennan, who spoke about the importance of getting this balance correct. Now in the second excerpt from this presentation Phil Bartholow gives a tour of the Outsystems platform to show us how their customers are using the tools to improve their own service delivery
Aug 19, 2019 • Features • Software & Apps • CSAT • customer satisfaction • Customer Service • Operational Efficiency • Video • first time fix • Service Execution Management • Outsystems
The balance between achieving high levels of customer experience and delivering operational excellence that will drive service revenues forwards is a finely nuanced one. In this first excerpt from a video presentation run in partnership with...
The balance between achieving high levels of customer experience and delivering operational excellence that will drive service revenues forwards is a finely nuanced one. In this first excerpt from a video presentation run in partnership with Outsystems we hear from Rachel Brennan, who goes into greater detail about the importance of getting this balance correct...
Aug 14, 2019 • Features • Management • customer satisfaction • service strategies • Columbus UK
Chris Mean, COO at Columbus UK, says a fully integrated field service programme drives customer satisfaction. Here, he outlines what you need to know and what you need to do to to stay on top of your service delivery.
Chris Mean, COO at Columbus UK, says a fully integrated field service programme drives customer satisfaction. Here, he outlines what you need to know and what you need to do to to stay on top of your service delivery.
Gartner research suggests that by 2020 70% of organisations will cite customer satisfaction derived from integrating field service as a primary business benefit. But how, and even more importantly, where can field service be integrated into a company’s operations in order to reap these customer rewards? This article outlines the key elements that enable companies to increase their service revenue while keeping associated costs at a minimum, and explains how field service can be seamlessly put in place to add value to business operations.
The path to field service success starts with understanding the key aspects that contribute to both boosting service revenue and controlling service costs. These elements need to be implemented well and are an essential first step for any organisation considering how to integrate field service into existing business operations and systems.
Provide relevant warranty information
If a business has a largely manual warranty claim process, this is likely to result in ‘warranty leakage’ – where a warranty service is unintentionally provided beyond the remit of a business’ warranty program. This is typically due to limited visibility of accurate warranty data – from the perspective of management in terms of where warranty costs are likely to occur, and from a field service engineer’s point of view regarding what is covered by warranty. The implementation of technology and business insights in the form of auto-entitlement warranty checks are important, as employees benefit immediately from relevant warranty information whenever required.
Offer service flexibility
Considering how a business typically segments existing customer markets, the service offered to each segment and how customers consume products is key to identifying new target markets. It is essential to remember that a customer’s business expectations are built on their personal experiences as a consumer, particularly in today’s connected, always-on world. Flexible service offerings will ultimately enable businesses to enter new market segments.
Capitalise on sale opportunities
Perhaps the most obvious way to increase service revenue is to take advantage of positive interactions with customers. Each time a customer service agent or field service engineer has a strong conversation with a customer represents a potential opportunity to up-sell – but agents and engineers must have the necessary tools to identify these opportunities. Whether it’s selling additional products during a service visit or selling an extension or improved warranty package, it is essential that employees know what products are available and recommended, have stock readily available if it is a physical item and can process transactions at point of sale.
Fully integrate mobile devices
The quicker each field service engineer can close and approve a customer work-order, the more a business can speed up cash flow. Engineers must therefore be equipped with mobile devices that enable immediate customer approval and closure or work-orders, but more significantly these devices must be fully integrated into the existing accounts receivable system to automatically generate customer invoices. With better integration of commerce platforms this allows for payments to be taken instantly.
Better manage inventory
Having business insights into overall part consumption, by job or product, can reduce inventory levels. The key for businesses to effectively manage their inventory is to ensure that they have the right parts on hand or have visibility of nearby stock on another van to improve ‘first time fix’ rates. This also helps determine which parts are fast moving or failing and allows a business to centrally stock the right levels.
Optimise service schedules
Optimising scheduling and on-the-fly routing are another necessity for a business that employs a high number of field service engineers and as a result handles shorter service calls. When routes are optimised this has great benefits in terms of headcount and fuel costs. Implementing on-the-fly scheduling engines allows businesses to react to real-world situations such as cancellations, urgent appointments, delays and traffic to ensure a high level of efficiency and customer satisfaction is maintained.
Where exactly in a value stream can field service help?
For businesses to achieve the true customer benefits that come with connected field service they need to know exactly where it can be integrated to add value to business operations. There are four main areas where its influence is most effective:
1. Repair
If a machine is broken, a service technician makes a field visit to resolve the issue. The repair may be covered by warranty or incur charges because of the time and parts consumed, but this is where field service is advantageous and cost-effective – problems are fixed at the first time of asking, in real-time. A business that can provide a service that is timely, when the customer requires it, is key to gain a competitive advantage.
2. Maintenance
Moving beyond customer expectations of timely maintenance and repairs, businesses can now shift towards offering maintenance on a predictive basis. Using smart IoT devices, machines can automatically inform both the business and customer that a malfunction is likely to occur and that maintenance is required. This is an especially valuable aspect of field service because breakdowns and operational downtime are reduced.
3. Installation and commissioning
This applies to products that need to be installed by a service technician. Once a product has been installed, the technician will run several tests to ensure the machine or device is fully operational –the commissioning process. For businesses operating in the B2C world, flexibility at this stage is especially important because customer expectations have changed – they expect to be able to purchase a product and schedule its installation at a convenient time for them in one, unified transaction.
4. Business consultation
A field service visit can also include a critical analysis of a business and its customer demands – it isn’t always a hands-on appointment with a machine or device. It is important that a business is connected in a feedback loop with its customers to better understand their requirements and further enhance future business operations – particularly because customer satisfaction is now considered the most important aspect of field service ahead of price and quality.
Flawless field service: A strategic enabler for customer satisfaction
To achieve an end-to-end, unified customer experience, an effective field service solution spanning repair, maintenance and installation and commissioning should be implemented.
During all stages of the field service customer journey, businesses need to make sure their field service engineers are empowered and able to identify and execute sales opportunities, as well as having the ability to capture customer feedback.
This is how businesses can consistently benefit from the revenue potential that comes with integrated field service, while ensuring customers are satisfied because they are getting the experience they have come to expect.
Gartner research suggests that by 2020 70% of organisations will cite customer satisfaction derived from integrating field service as a primary business benefit. But how, and even more importantly, where can field service be integrated into a company’s operations in order to reap these customer rewards? This article outlines the key elements that enable companies to increase their service revenue while keeping associated costs at a minimum, and explains how field service can be seamlessly put in place to add value to business operations.
The path to field service success starts with understanding the key aspects that contribute to both boosting service revenue and controlling service costs. These elements need to be implemented well and are an essential first step for any organisation considering how to integrate field service into existing business operations and systems.
Provide relevant warranty information
If a business has a largely manual warranty claim process, this is likely to result in ‘warranty leakage’ – where a warranty service is unintentionally provided beyond the remit of a business’ warranty program. This is typically due to limited visibility of accurate warranty data – from the perspective of management in terms of where warranty costs are likely to occur, and from a field service engineer’s point of view regarding what is covered by warranty. The implementation of technology and business insights in the form of auto-entitlement warranty checks are important, as employees benefit immediately from relevant warranty information whenever required.
Offer service flexibility
Considering how a business typically segments existing customer markets, the service offered to each segment and how customers consume products is key to identifying new target markets. It is essential to remember that a customer’s business expectations are built on their personal experiences as a consumer, particularly in today’s connected, always-on world. Flexible service offerings will ultimately enable businesses to enter new market segments.
Capitalise on sale opportunities
Perhaps the most obvious way to increase service revenue is to take advantage of positive interactions with customers. Each time a customer service agent or field service engineer has a strong conversation with a customer represents a potential opportunity to up-sell – but agents and engineers must have the necessary tools to identify these opportunities. Whether it’s selling additional products during a service visit or selling an extension or improved warranty package, it is essential that employees know what products are available and recommended, have stock readily available if it is a physical item and can process transactions at point of sale.
Fully integrate mobile devices
The quicker each field service engineer can close and approve a customer work-order, the more a business can speed up cash flow. Engineers must therefore be equipped with mobile devices that enable immediate customer approval and closure or work-orders, but more significantly these devices must be fully integrated into the existing accounts receivable system to automatically generate customer invoices. With better integration of commerce platforms this allows for payments to be taken instantly.
Better manage inventory
Having business insights into overall part consumption, by job or product, can reduce inventory levels. The key for businesses to effectively manage their inventory is to ensure that they have the right parts on hand or have visibility of nearby stock on another van to improve ‘first time fix’ rates. This also helps determine which parts are fast moving or failing and allows a business to centrally stock the right levels.
Optimise service schedules
Optimising scheduling and on-the-fly routing are another necessity for a business that employs a high number of field service engineers and as a result handles shorter service calls. When routes are optimised this has great benefits in terms of headcount and fuel costs. Implementing on-the-fly scheduling engines allows businesses to react to real-world situations such as cancellations, urgent appointments, delays and traffic to ensure a high level of efficiency and customer satisfaction is maintained.
Where exactly in a value stream can field service help?
For businesses to achieve the true customer benefits that come with connected field service they need to know exactly where it can be integrated to add value to business operations. There are four main areas where its influence is most effective:
1. Repair
If a machine is broken, a service technician makes a field visit to resolve the issue. The repair may be covered by warranty or incur charges because of the time and parts consumed, but this is where field service is advantageous and cost-effective – problems are fixed at the first time of asking, in real-time. A business that can provide a service that is timely, when the customer requires it, is key to gain a competitive advantage.
2. Maintenance
Moving beyond customer expectations of timely maintenance and repairs, businesses can now shift towards offering maintenance on a predictive basis. Using smart IoT devices, machines can automatically inform both the business and customer that a malfunction is likely to occur and that maintenance is required. This is an especially valuable aspect of field service because breakdowns and operational downtime are reduced.
3. Installation and commissioning
This applies to products that need to be installed by a service technician. Once a product has been installed, the technician will run several tests to ensure the machine or device is fully operational –the commissioning process. For businesses operating in the B2C world, flexibility at this stage is especially important because customer expectations have changed – they expect to be able to purchase a product and schedule its installation at a convenient time for them in one, unified transaction.
4. Business consultation
A field service visit can also include a critical analysis of a business and its customer demands – it isn’t always a hands-on appointment with a machine or device. It is important that a business is connected in a feedback loop with its customers to better understand their requirements and further enhance future business operations – particularly because customer satisfaction is now considered the most important aspect of field service ahead of price and quality.
Flawless field service: A strategic enabler for customer satisfaction
To achieve an end-to-end, unified customer experience, an effective field service solution spanning repair, maintenance and installation and commissioning should be implemented.
During all stages of the field service customer journey, businesses need to make sure their field service engineers are empowered and able to identify and execute sales opportunities, as well as having the ability to capture customer feedback.
This is how businesses can consistently benefit from the revenue potential that comes with integrated field service, while ensuring customers are satisfied because they are getting the experience they have come to expect.
Chris Mean is COO at Columbus UK.
Aug 09, 2019 • News • Customer Experience • customer satisfaction • deloitte • report
Consumer confidence remains flat in Q2 amid continued economic uncertainty, according to the Deloitte Consumer Tracker Survey.
Consumer confidence remains flat in Q2 amid continued economic uncertainty, according to the Deloitte Consumer Tracker Survey.
Findings from the Deloitte Consumer Tracking Survey has revealed the UK consumer confidence index is -8 per cent; down four percentage from this time last year. Customer experience expectations, however, show no signs of slowing, with over half of UK consumers feeling more loyal towards brands that show a deeper understanding of their preferences and priorities. This means that now more than ever, businesses will be focusing on providing a seamless digital customer experience, optimising customer engagement.
While technologies like AI and automation will be critical for businesses to remain competitive in these times of such low consumer confidence, it is important not to overlook the importance of in-person human interaction. Retailers with omnichannel strategies retain an average of 89 per cent of their customers, according to Teleperformance DIBS, and any businesses failing to focus directly on customer experience will struggle with customer retention.
Rajnish Sharma, from Teleperformance Digital Integrated Business Services, comments: “With people so worried about their personal finances in the increasing economic uncertainty, it will take a lot more than just a good product or service to persuade the average consumer to hand over their cash. Consumers are looking for frictionless, hassle-free and personalised customer experiences. In fact, in the next year the customer experience will be more important than product and price. To remain competitive in these times of economic uncertainty, businesses need to be available to provide round-the-clock, real-time service – at the consumer’s convenience. While AI bots are widely being introduced to improve engagement and streamline communication, it’s important to note that human interactions are not just cognitive, but social and emotional.”
Sharma continues: “Regardless of whether the consumer is interacting with a brand from behind a screen, over the phone or in-person, they want their issue or query solved as quickly as possible. 96 per cent of customers who have to expend a high level of effort to get their issues resolved become more disloyal, compared to just 9 per cent who have a low-effort experience, according to Gartner.
“AI-powered chat bots act as an enabler for customer service teams and companies need to ensure they do not underestimate the emotional intelligence which only comes from human agents. While confidence in the economy remains low and the rate of spending growth slows down, it’s the businesses that recognise the human nuance that will be the ones that stay afloat in the UK’s extremely competitive marketplace.”
Jul 30, 2019 • Features • Management • Customer Expectations • Customer Experience • customer satisfaction • Customer Service • Mark Brewer • mobile workforce management • Digital Transformation • Experience Economy • field service • field service management • IFS • Service Management
In his previous article for Field Service News, Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director, Service Management, IFS introduced the concept of the experience economy, now he outlines why digital transformation is the key to driving it forwards...
In his previous article for Field Service News, Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director, Service Management, IFS introduced the concept of the experience economy, now he outlines why digital transformation is the key to driving it forwards...
Here's a scary statistic. The average person clicks, taps or swipes a mobile device 2,617 times a day. It shows just how much time we now spend interacting with the online world. Banking, booking holidays, shopping, socialising and so on, we increasingly live our lives through a screen. And with every interaction, we expect a particular level of service in return.
With digital technologies continuing to advance rapidly, along with consumers' understanding of the possibilities they enable, people demand an immediate and seamless experience whenever and however they make contact. These expectations, which are already prevalent in the home, have now evolved in the workplace. This has major implications for the planning and delivery of service, and specifically how companies look to drive customer loyalty (and ultimately retention) via a superior experience.
Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have a significant role to play here. AI isn't strictly new of course. But what is new is the way it influences today's experience economy by affecting outcomes, driving engagement and in many cases scaling the human.
Superior engagement
A comprehensive customer contact strategy is essential for any service organisation. Traditionally, this has focused on voice or email; now it includes an entire omnichannel capability with multiple media touchpoints. As you'd expect, this evolution is being driven by younger age groups. 26 per cent of millennials use social media and 29 per cent use texts and messaging apps to reach out for service, while three-quarters of all people over 44 years of age prefer using more traditional means such as emails or phone calls.
For example, if you want to book an appointment for someone to come and service your boiler, you can organise it without having to speak to anyone, online. A chatbot replaces the 'real' person. This is more convenient for you, more cost-effective and efficient for the organisation you're talking to - but it also raises your expectations.
This means responses must be faster, and there's no room for error. There's no time for long calls with operators or the patience to be passed from department to department. And gratification must be swift and successful, however you interact - whether via a web portal, email, virtual assistant, or even an instant messaging service like WhatsApp.
74 per cent of companies offer some form of self-service for customers - and the majority have implemented it specifically to improve customer experienceThis has implications for businesses looking to maintain positive customer relationships. An operation which has traditionally focused on contact centres, predominantly powered by phones (i.e. voice), must now deploy a comprehensive, omnichannel communications suite capable of serving a wide range of contact media, anytime and anywhere.
This can be problematic. Many companies can't afford to extend their contact centre facilities to multiple locations, or cater specifically to every market they're working in.
However, help is at hand with virtual contact centres which can make efficient use of distributed and varied workforces, automatically matching agents with requests and customers. This also drives a more responsive, agile, and scalable workforce where agents can engage in multiple simultaneous conversations using multiple chat sessions and providing consistently high service levels.
The B2C world already does this pretty well. 74 per cent of companies offer some form of self-service for customers - and the majority have implemented it specifically to improve customer experience. B2B organisations need to follow suit. The rewards are big for those who do it well. Companies with effective omnichannel communications enjoy 28 positive customer experiences for every one negative experience, while companies without this experience just two positive experiences for every one negative*.
It's a no-brainer. Doing omnichannel well can create up to 14 times more positive customer experiences. Crucially, this also influences customer loyalty. To look at it another way, your business will potentially only lose one in 29 customers, as opposed to one in three!
Powering the experience
The driver here is digital transformation, enabling new levels of service provision. Customer interactions differ based on age, demographics and preferences. Digital supports them all. It's no longer just your customer services department talking to these customers, it's your equipment, IoT sensors, AI, chatbots and more: predicting behaviour, recommending actions, solving issues, intuitively. The more it does this, the smarter it gets.
This technology is transformational and can bring huge benefits to your business. However, you need the right infrastructure in place to manage it.
So, what next?
To see examples of how IFS has helped customers drive digital transformation in their operations, and understand how omnichannel customer engagement can improve your customer’s experience, visit ifsworld.com.
*Forrester: The role of emotion in customer experience
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Jul 30, 2019 • Features • Coresystems • Customer Expectatioon • customer satisfaction • Future of FIeld Service • manuel grenacher • remote service • field service • field service technicians • Internet of Things • IoT • SAP • Service Engineer • Service Management
In today’s society whereas consumer’s we are becoming increasingly used to and expectant of instant results is an obvious challenge for field service organisations but can remote services help bridge the gap? Manuel Grenacher, CEO, Coresystems ...
In today’s society whereas consumer’s we are becoming increasingly used to and expectant of instant results is an obvious challenge for field service organisations but can remote services help bridge the gap? Manuel Grenacher, CEO, Coresystems discusses...
With the pervasiveness of the Internet of Things (IoT), everything from device performance to customer interactions has become faster and more connected. Devices that require maintenance and repair now operate on an accelerated timeline of immediately notifying the user when service is needed. Because of this, customers expect real-time responses, leaving little to no time for a field service technician to travel to the site, troubleshoot the issue and fix the device. Therefore, to maintain and improve customer satisfaction, technicians are exploring ways to provide the same level of onsite, but while remote.
The idea behind remote technicians stems from the technician’s ability to diagnose a problem, determine possible solutions, and lay out a plan for issue resolution - all before they take one step onto the worksite. In a perfect world, remote technicians essentially only have to leave their workstations once to perform tasks that require a high level of skill, or perhaps not at all for routine maintenance and repair. Naturally, this drastically cuts down the amount of travel cost and time and total project duration needed to solve an issue with a customer’s device, streamlining the entire service request from issue detection to resolution.
Field service technicians no longer need to blindly infer what is happening on the broken device based on descriptions from less experienced users, nor do they need to fumble through repair instructions over the phoneField service technicians no longer need to blindly infer what is happening on the broken device based on descriptions from less experienced users, nor do they need to fumble through repair instructions over the phone. Indeed, the remote technician takes full advantage of tools such as augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and even the IoT itself to deliver the same experience as a technician standing in front of the customer would.
So how does it work? It starts with putting the proper infrastructure in place to allow technicians to troubleshoot issues on devices and machines from afar. Taking issue detection as an example, remote technicians can use augmented reality to share a mobile phone screen with a customer for a visual walkthrough of the issue. From there, the remote technician can schedule an onsite appointment if needed and manage the parts orders needed for specific projects, ensuring all the necessary assets are in place well in advance.
To be fair, managing a workforce of remote technicians is no easy task. In order to optimize your field service operations, it is extremely beneficial to be able to automatically assign the most qualified and available technician for respective service requests, taking into account expertise, location, and availability. As a fail-safe, the onsite technicians should have easy access to online product specifications and other assets needed to complete service requests. Additionally, similar to how remote technicians use augmented reality to connect to the customer for issue detection, on-site technicians can connect to more experienced journeyman technicians back at headquarters to troubleshoot unforeseen issues. This creates a network of knowledge that will keep project duration to a minimum, improving efficiency for the technician while onsite.
The way in which field service technicians work has evolved and is continuing to do so. The next generation of technicians are prioritizing independence, autonomy, and flexibility, on top of foundational knowledge and customer service experience. As the IoT continues to grow, so will the need for remote technicians, and the field service industry assuredly has the infrastructure to maintain the high level of customer satisfaction that we strive for today.
What are your experiences experimenting with a more remote field service workforce? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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Dec 19, 2018 • News • 4G • 5G • Customer Experience • customer satisfaction • Future of FIeld Service • Cloud services • Ericsson • IoT • SwissCom • Daniel Staub • Expert Analytics
Ericsson has been selected by Swisscom, the largest telecommunications service provider in Switzerland, to enhance the consumer experience for its subscribers through deployment and integration of the Ericsson Expert Analytics solution into its...
Ericsson has been selected by Swisscom, the largest telecommunications service provider in Switzerland, to enhance the consumer experience for its subscribers through deployment and integration of the Ericsson Expert Analytics solution into its existing big data ecosystem.
Ericsson’s solution will deliver data analysis and actionable insights for the service provider’s 5.3 million 4G mobile broadband subscribers using video and other OTT applications on the nationwide mobile network.
Daniel Staub, Swisscom, says: “Delivering a superior experience to our customers is at the very centre of Swisscom’s strategy, and Ericsson Expert Analytics will help us to pursue this vision even further by providing us with end-to-end visibility of our services across our 4G mobile broadband network. With this solution, we will now be able to monitor and proactively optimize our service level performance, as well as take action on any issues we see."
Arun Bansal, President and Head of Ericsson Europe and Latin America, says: “Satisfied customers are loyal customers. Not only will Ericsson Expert Analytics enhance the customer experience and improve network quality for Swisscom, but it also paves the way for smoother entry to 5G, IoT and cloud services with the solution’s advanced capabilities. We will continue to provide Swisscom with the most advanced network technologies and support as they move rapidly toward commercial availability of the next generation of connectivity.”
Swisscom is a pioneer for 5G services with Ericsson as its strategic partner. The two companies have already achieved a number of significant milestones in making 5G a commercial reality, highlighted recently by Europe’s first end-to-end, multivendor 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) data call on 3.5 GHz band. Swisscom was also the first announced customer for Ericsson’s strengthened end-to-end mobile transport solutions.
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Dec 14, 2018 • Management • News • customer satisfaction • Customer Service • field service • field service technology • Service • Coldtraila
The UK’s largest provider of fridge and freezer trailers has launched a new 24-hour emergency service specifically for the care home industry to provide extra storage space ahead of Christmas.
The UK’s largest provider of fridge and freezer trailers has launched a new 24-hour emergency service specifically for the care home industry to provide extra storage space ahead of Christmas.
Coldtraila has just launched the unique service for care homes across the whole UK in desperate need of extra space to store meats and other produce in the build-up to Christmas, whether that be due to their freezers malfunctioning or just running out of space.
Ross Pushman, Managing Director of Coldtraila, said: “This new Christmas service will ensure care homes won’t run out of storage space this winter.
“We know how vital this time of year can be for care homes as they look to keep residents warm, comfortable and well-fed in the harsh winter months. That’s why we decided to offer a bespoke 24-hour emergency service to ensure they can provide more than adequate space for their turkey and geese ahead of the big day.
“If a trailer is needed, our new service will ensure it will be delivered and set-up within 24 hours of contacting us. That’s the Coldtraila promise.”
Coldtraila recently acquired two new trailers exclusive to the UK market; the Chill-Tow and Freeze-Tow.
The trailers’ heavy-duty chiller capabilities, which include surplus cooling power and rapid temperature recovery, offer the most cost-effective solution to storing frozen produce.
They also come equipped with a special multifunctional digital display unit that can manage and control the temperature of produce being stored.
For more information on the new service, call 01684 311811. Alternatively, for more information on Coldtraila, please visit https://www.coldtraila.co.uk/.
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Dec 07, 2018 • Features • Management • Customer Experience • customer satisfaction • Customer Service • mobile workforce management • Bill Pollock • field service • field service management • field service technology • Strategies for Growth
Bill Pollock, President of Strategies for GrowthSM gives us five questions that we need to be able to answer if we are to meet our customers’ service expectations...
Bill Pollock, President of Strategies for GrowthSM gives us five questions that we need to be able to answer if we are to meet our customers’ service expectations...
Help build the next Strategies for GrowthSM analysis report by participating in their current benchmarking research project by clicking this link and taking their current Warranty Chain Management survey...
The margins on hardware, software and services revenues continue to compress due to increasing competitive pressures, and as customers are becoming more knowledgeable about the growing number of support options available to them.
As a result, customer service is now an even more important factor in establishing and maintaining a strong position in the overall services community.
Every day, more services organisations are relying on customer service to differentiate their otherwise commodity-like offerings in order to bring customers in, keep them happy, and make them loyal. However, while it is not “rocket science”, any services manager can look like an “Einstein” if he or she embraces the rudimentary aspects of customer service throughout all phases of services marketing and promotion, sales prospecting, writing the contract, and managing the customer account over time.
"Every day, more services organisations are relying on customer service to differentiate their otherwise commodity-like offerings in order to bring customers in, keep them happy, and make them loyal..."
While there are many ways to go with respect to defining and establishing a strong customer service mentality within the organisation, the most direct path to determining whether your organisation is on the right track is to test yourself on a number of questions that will indicate how well positioned your organisation is from a customer service perspective.
The basic questions that any sales, marketing or customer service professional should be asking, and a corresponding set of guidelines for addressing each of them, may include:
Does your organisation have a formal customer service or customer care department? Does it have a well-defined customer service mission or charter? Is it adequately staffed and empowered?
Surprising as it may seem, some services organisations have no formal customer service or customer care infrastructure. Even in cases where other departments may be “managing” portions of the company’s customer service activities (e.g., handling complaints, responding to inquiries, etc.), there may still be no formal company-wide procedures or processes for managing customer service. As a result, any customer service activities provided are probably not being performed in a consistent manner. Further, in cases where customer service is performed essentially as a “secondary” activity to the department’s otherwise self-defined “primary” activities, lack of adequate staffing, empowerment and accountability may become major inhibiting factors.
Is there a formal process for handling customer service activities? Are specific responsibilities defined and assigned? Is there accountable ownership?
All functions within the organisation require formal processes to ensure effectiveness. Documented processes are even more important when they involve customers and other external parties (e.g., vendors, dealers, etc.). But processes, in and of themselves, do not get the job done. They must be followed by specific personnel, with specifically defined roles and responsibilities, in order to be effective.
The capability to track who actually has “ownership” of each customer service activity as it is being performed will be critical in measuring overall company performance, as well as providing an ongoing record of success (or failure) in meeting the company’s customer service goals and objectives.
Does your company management promote and encourage customer service? Are there incentives for doing it right, or sanctions for doing it wrong?
Regardless of where your customer service personnel get their primary inspiration, they must still be fully supported by management at all levels. However, this is clearly a case where actions speak louder than words. Management must do everything possible to articulate and communicate its philosophy of customer service throughout the organisation in order to empower its customer service personnel to get the job done – and reward them for being successful at it.
How interactive is your organisation with the customer base? Does it communicate with them enough? Does it provide them with a means for giving their customer service input and feedback?
A one-way street for customer service is never adequate. A services organisation’s customers must also be able to articulate and communicate their concerns to the organisation, and they will need to know how to do so. Accordingly, the organisation should have a formal process in place for soliciting and receiving customer service input and feedback from customers. The process should be well-documented and promoted, easy to access, user-friendly and sincere. Most importantly, all communications coming from the customer base must be quickly and satisfactorily answered. It is generally also a good idea to summarize some of the customer feedback and related company responses in a communicated format such as a company newsletter or Blog, or on the company Website (e.g., FAQs, Customer Service Update, etc.).
Are your customer service personnel properly trained? Do they have all of the necessary tools to get the job done?
Just because certain individuals are “good with people” does not necessarily mean that they are fully equipped to handle all types of customer service situations. It may mean that they have the “right stuff” – but they will still need to receive the “right training.” Even with the proper training, a customer service representative is often only as good as his/her ability to get the job done. This requires access to all of the necessary customer service and support tools, such as guidebooks and procedure manuals; software systems that allow them to log in calls, and track how and when corrective actions are taken; and state-of-the-art mobile communications capabilities.
As you can imagine, there are dozens of additional questions that will still need to be answered before you can be certain that your organisation is addressing all of its key customer service issues. However, these five questions should be at the head of your list in order to make an initial assessment of exactly where your company stands with respect to its customer service philosophy.
Visit Strategies For Growth SM website @ https://pollockonservice.com/
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Dec 03, 2018 • Features • Management • CSAT • Customer Experience • customer satisfaction • Kevin McNally • mobile workforce management • field service management • field service technology • Service Management
Oftentimes field service directors and managers can see the importance of investment within a dedicated Field Service Management (FSM) ahead of their colleagues in the boardroom. In this series of articles Kevin McNally, Sales Director, Asolvi...
Oftentimes field service directors and managers can see the importance of investment within a dedicated Field Service Management (FSM) ahead of their colleagues in the boardroom. In this series of articles Kevin McNally, Sales Director, Asolvi outlines how to build a case for investment to drive your field service operations forwards.
In the first instalment in this series, we looked at how FSM systems can deliver easy Return on Investment, in part two we explored how investment in FSM solutions can help you achieve better staff retention and in part three we explored how the implementation of an FSM solution can improve worker health and safety.
Now in the final part of this series, we look at the benefits an FSM system can bring to Customer Engagement as well as offer some concluding thoughts on the series...
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Customer experience and customer engagement have become buzz phrases of recent times amongst senior executives within almost all organisations and the good news for field service professionals is that this shift of focus on service has meant an increased importance on ensuring field service management teams are able to deliver their service programs as efficiently, and effectively as possible.
Service indeed has now become the core differentiator within industry and field service is an excellent opportunity to make your service standards shine.
By investing in an FSM solution you're enabling your field service engineers to be true brand ambassadors of your organisation. By investing in an FSM solution you are giving them the tools they need to understand the specific needs of the customer they are visiting/history/asset history etc.
By investing in an FSM solution you are giving your field service engineers the tools to deliver the service excellence that will keep your customers loyal.
However, customer experience can also be enhanced through the implementation of FSM solutions in other ways than by empowering the field service engineer...
For example, many modern FSM systems also allow you to provide dashboards to your customers to offer greater visibility into how their assets are performing and how your service organisation is performing against any set SLAs.
Such transparency is very much valued in today’s digital economy where such metrics are becoming increasingly less of a USP and more of an expectation.
Indeed, many of the aspects of automation that an FSM can bring to your service delivery such as automating creation and delivery of work reports, messaging updates on engineer arrival times or even invoicing will improve both the efficiency of your service delivery and the levels of customer satisfaction you are able to achieve.
Conclusions: Avoiding a Competitive Disadvantage
For a long time, the key sales point for investing in an FSM solution was to gain competitive advantage.
However, we must now acknowledge that this is a maturing market and that maturation has been increased by the development of the Cloud-based systems.
So the question now is how much of a competitive disadvantage will you be in if you don’t implement a modern FSM solution – whether that be moving away from manual processes for the first time or upgrading to a new solution from a legacy product.
Investing in an FSM solution can improve your ability to meet health and safety requirements and protect your staff, make your customer’s happier, reduce field service employee turn over all while paying for itself within a relatively short time frame.
The question is no longer if you should invest in an FSM solution, but how to identify the right solution provider for you.
Want to know more?! There is a full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!
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 who may contact you for legitimate business reasons to discuss the content of this content.
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