By Sarah Nicastro, Founder and Editor in Chief, Future of Field Service
I was joined on the UNSCRIPTED podcast last week by Dave Clement, Partner at Simon-Kucher, to introduce a joint project we’ve been working on together behind-the-scenes for the last few months. Simon-Kucher was founded in Germany in 1985 as a university spinoff by Dr Hermann Simon, Dr Eckhard Kucher, and Dr Karl-Heinz Sebastian with the vision of helping companies grow using scientific methods to address real-life business challenges. Today, the global consultancy has more than 2,000 employees operating in over 30 countries.
Future of Field Service and Simon-Kucher joined forces to conduct a research project looking at the state of commercial strategy and growth in field services. The study polled 180 executives globally, primarily across North America and Europe. Participants cut across company sizes from mid-market firms to multinational enterprises, and spanned environmental services, mechanical work, facilities management, and beyond.
Positive Outlook on Service Growth Potential
Perhaps the most striking finding from the research is the degree of optimism permeating field services: the majority of surveyed executives express genuine optimism about the future. Eighty-four percent of respondents share that services represents a growing portion of their long-term business trajectory; 15% report it is stable; and only 1% see services diminishing.
Moreover, on a 1 to 7 scale with 7 being strongest, 83% of firms ranked “field service as a differentiator” to their business as a 5 or higher. "The magnitude of optimism was higher than I expected, transparently. That is genuinely high. In this day and age, that's something to celebrate," notes Dave.
In the podcast, Dave and I discussed some of the factors that are likely fueling this optimism. First, leaders recognize that the tools to drive transformation are more accessible than ever. Even five years ago, the level of sophistication available in technology today seemed nebulous and aspirational; there are now success stories of a truly impressive caliber setting the bar.
Second, the macro environment has forced organizations to become more agile and resilient. The past few years have brought uniquely challenging circumstances with COVID disruptions, labor market upheaval, inflation shock, and more. But, on the upside, these circumstances have created organizational muscle memory around managing volatility and change which leaves organizations more adept at meeting evolving customer expectations.
Third, the competitive playing field is surprisingly level. Research shows that most organizations face similar challenges and haven't yet fully optimized their commercial engines, creating conditions ripe for the most agile and innovative firms to use to their competitive advantage.
The Challenges: Overcoming Operational Pain Points
About those challenges, though. One finding from the research stood out as genuinely surprising: despite surveying 180 executives across diverse geographies, company sizes, and service verticals, the core challenges and priorities remained remarkably consistent.
"I thought we'd see more variance," Dave admits. "US companies versus European companies doing things differently. Multinationals versus nationals operating differently. HVAC services versus waste management taking different approaches. But we didn't see that. The consistency was striking."
While companies should feel comforted by the fact that, relatively speaking, no one has it “all figured out,” the challenges at hand are complex and layered.
More than 80% of firms surveyed expect cost increases in YoY, with technology investment, labor, and input costs cited as the top drivers. Respondents list their top five operational pain points as:
- Workforce shortages – 68%
- High operational costs – 51%
- Limited adoption of automation/technology – 41%
- Higher complexity repairs – 40%
These challenges are compounded by the need to keep pace with customer expectations, which have evolved much faster than most service organizations. They want real-time visibility before arrival. They expect personalized service recommendations based on history. They compare each digital experience to Amazon Prime and Uber, and frankly, most are losing that comparison.
We’re at an inflection point where the rules of competitive advantage in field service have fundamentally shifted.
What separates leaders today? The ability to layer commercial innovation *on top of* operational excellence. That means knowing your customers intimately, pricing your services based on the value you deliver rather than the cost you incur, cross-selling intelligently based on customer needs, and using digital tools to enhance rather than replace human expertise.
"It's not that operational excellence isn't important anymore. It absolutely is. But it's table stakes now instead of competitive differentiation,” says Dave. “So now you need people that can come in and say, 'This is amazing. Keep being excellent. But how we differentiate is actually going to be X.'"
The Actionable: Exploring Best Practices Across Industries
The research digs in to some of the actions companies with the strongest success are taking. Digital transformation, both from a foundational and more advanced perspective, is crucial. Fifty-four percent of respondents are currently upgrading core technology and 68% are investing in AI and automation.
But, as we know, technology alone won’t get the job done. The study highlights how firms with disciplined integration of both commercial and digital levers consistently outperform peers on revenue and margin expansion.
It also explores how respondents are navigating commercial topics like account segmentation and prioritization, value selling, enablement, offer design & construct, pricing best practices, and much more.
(additional findings will be published in early 2026)
Finally, Future of Field Service and Simon-Kucher are co-hosting a Service Growth Executive Summit in NYC on February 3rd. This live workshop among an exclusive group of service leaders will provide an opportunity to deep-dive into more findings from the research, share perspectives across industries, and hear firsthand success stories. Spots are very limited, but if this is of interest, please email me.