Search...

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Tag: blog

September 26, 2022 | 6 Mins Read

Key Themes from the 2022 Service Council Symposium

September 26, 2022 | 6 Mins Read

Key Themes from the 2022 Service Council Symposium

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

At last week’s Service Council Symposium in Chicago, much of the conversation centered around people. Whether discussing how to better attract and empower talent, how to address and alleviate burnout, or how to give customers the connection they’re seeking, the Service Council’s Service is Humanity focus took center stage. 

This isn’t to say there weren’t ample informative conversations on digital transformation and opportunities to engage with those providing the industry’s modern solutions, but simply that the conversation broadened into some of the very important but often less clearcut topics companies are grappling with. I think this is important because, as I’ve often said, technological sophistication isn’t what is holding companies back from achieving their objectives around innovation – the layers of change and complexity involved are. And while no one attendee at events like this has all the answers, collectively as a community we can inspire, inform, and uplift one another to go back to the day-to-day reinvigorated to solve challenges and keep the ball moving forward. 

With that said, and in no particular order, I wanted to share some of the moments and insights that stood out to me at the event:

Elizabeth Dixon, former Principal Lead of Strategy, Hospitality and Service Design at Chic-Fil-A delivered a keynote based on her new book, The Power of Customer Experience: 5 Elements to Make an Impact. Elizabeth said during her session, “We have to remember that Customer Experience is nothing more than the overflow of our Employee Experience.” This is a reality I think many in our industry are reconciling currently. After many years of being very focused on cutting costs, we began to see the potential of service as a profit center – which shifted our focus to the customer. Now we’re realizing that we can’t deliver the customer outcomes we want, to drive the profits that are possible, without a frontline workforce that is engaged and satisfied. When you couple this with the shifts we’ve seen in the workforce and the challenges organizations have recruiting and retaining talent, it is clear that getting employee experience right is absolutely critical for service success in the coming years. 

Customer Centricity Can Require Organizational Change

Bob Feiner, SVP of Global Services and Jason MacIver, VP of Services Procurement at DELL Technologies delivered a great presentation on what happened at DELL when the company began focusing on Customer Experience. They learned that their siloed approach, where support, field service, and parts management all worked toward individual objectives and measurements of success, although effective historically, didn’t stand up to the needs of a customer-centric business. They shared how DELL worked through the complexities of organizational change and invested in technology to ensure that each function of the business is unified in strategic vision, approach, and measurement of success. 

Recognizing how imperative the employee experience is – and sharing stories of how disruptive change can be – leads us to the conversations around humanity. How are company cultures shifting to fit the needs of today’s workforce? In what ways do both organizations and leaders need to evolve to embrace the need to nurture and empower versus drive and demand? 

Stefano Folli, EVP and Head of Global Services & Solutions at Philips shared some of the ways Philips is working toward a human-centric company culture, but he also shared how he as an individual leader has had to self-reflect and grow. I really appreciated the way he surfaced the importance of individual leaders not only being willing to “change with the times,” but putting in the work to do so. He drove his points home with some specific examples of issues within his team where he realized he needed to shift his thinking or augment his skills. He also discussed how he practices reverse mentoring, because he realizes he has as much to learn from those he mentors as they do from him.

The Role of Leadership in Human Centricity

I would argue that the role of leadership in human centricity is even more important than a company’s commitment to any sort of programmatic approach. This point surfaced in the workshop I moderated on Monday afternoon on Workplace Mental Health & Wellness. I was joined by Emma Jellen, Interim Director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health; Chris Westlake, Director - Service Process and Digital Transformation at Generac Power Systems; and Sasha Ilyukhin, SVP of Customer Service Operations at Tetra Pak. We had an outline of prepared points to center the discussion around, but as soon as we introduced ourselves, questions from the audience started flooding in:

  • How do we make this more than a check-box exercise?
  • What is a leader supposed to do when they notice an employee is struggling – how do you handle those conversations?
  • What if a leader is “old school” and feels that being personal has no place at work?

The questions were excellent and prompted a very lively discussion around the fact that while a company focus on this is needed, and most evidenced in its culture, the role of the individual leaders is most important. Emma shared some excellent advice on what goes in to building programs, training managers to handle tough conversations, and alleviating burnout. All of the free resources she referenced in our session are available at www.workplacementalhealth.org. 

We know that one important facet of employee engagement is for employees to feel valued, appreciated, and heard. Karin Hamel, VP of Services, US Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric, demonstrated her commitment to improving employee engagement among the company’s frontline workforce at least year’s event by sharing about her creation of the Service Hero award. At last week’s event, Karin shared how she’s continued looking for ways to not only keep the field workforce engaged, but also to create an outlet for their valuable insight, and this past year has created a Field Service Advisory Committee to ensure the field service teams at Schneider can share their input, ideas, and feedback. 

Another element of employee engagement that was discussed repeatedly at the event is having a sense of purpose. Sasha Ilyukhin of Tetra Pak, who won this years’ Service Council Humanity in Service Award, gave a presentation that tied in another very important area of focus in service: Sustainability. Sustainability gives companies, employees, and customers a sense of purpose and, as Sasha expressed, has become a license to operate. For Tetra Pak, this is a significant area of focus both in how the company itself continues to focus on its environmental impact, but also how it helps its customers do the same. As such, Sasha spoke to how sustainability is such an area of opportunity in service. 

Technology Streamlines Complexity to Allow People Focus

These are just a few of the excellent points that were surfaced during last week’s event. At the close of day three, the Advisory Board answered a few questions around lessons learned, what they’re excited about, and what their top areas of concern are. Many of the members responded that their biggest concerns surround talent. Laura Mather, VP and GM, Global Services at STERIS Corporation made such a good point – she said, “Service is becoming ever more complex. If we want to have the capacity to focus on humanity, we must embrace the technology available to us.”

I could not agree with her more – the sophisticated technology at our disposal today can simplify some of that complexity. If you can leverage it in a way that gives you clear insights, automates menial tasks, and increases efficiency, it augments your ability to pour more time and effort into your people – which is a clear imperative for the industry. 

Stay Connected

Related Content

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

September 19, 2022 | 9 Mins Read

8 Facts About Mental Health at Work to Expand Awareness and Prompt Action

September 19, 2022 | 9 Mins Read

8 Facts About Mental Health at Work to Expand Awareness and Prompt Action

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

If you’ve been following Future of Field Service for any amount of time, hopefully you know I am passionate about the discussion around mental health. It’s such an important topic, one that impacts me personally, and thankfully one that is beginning to get more attention – and action – in the workplace. 

However, while I’m among the ranks that are thankful greater attention is being given to the need for better mental health support at work, there’s still much to be done. Many stigmas still exist, many organizations lag far behind what’s acceptable in accepting the need for more focus on mental health, and many individuals are still struggling without the resources and support they need and deserve. And therefore, the quest to talk about this topic in an actionable way continues!

To that end, this week, I am thrilled to welcome to the podcast Darcy Gruttadaro, Director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health, part of the APA Foundation. Our podcast episode is on six ways to address employee burnout and it’s a must-listen coming Wednesday. In the meantime, I wanted to share from my conversation with Darcy eight facts around mental health that I feel we all need to better understand and urge action on.

#1: We All Have Mental Health

This is such an important point to start with – that we all have mental health, and we all deserve for our mental health to be supported at work. “We all have mental health and mental health exists along a continuum,” explains Darcy. “So, our mental health may be in a really solid, healthy place even if we live with a mental health condition like anxiety, depression or another one. Or it may be slipping, and it may be that it's really not doing well at all. Mental health exists along a continuum.”

Whether you have an employee that is generally healthy but going through a hard time or has a mental health condition that is very well-managed, it’s important for them to feel supported in the workplace. It’s also important for employers and leaders to understand that many incredibly high performers achieve all they do while managing a mental health condition. “We know that people living with mental health conditions exist along the continuum from frontline healthcare workers to the C-suite,” says Darcy. “Having a mental health condition does not limit your ability to perform at an exceptionally high level.”

#2: We All Share Responsibility Around Mental Health at Work

Second, we all must accept that we have a personal responsibility around mental health at work. While companies should absolutely be prioritizing an investment in creating and expanding mental health programs, a lot of the foundational work begins with individuals. “There are myths and stereotypes that persist around mental health, that it's this dark scary condition that makes people act in ways that any of us would be sort of ashamed of in a sense, but that's all changing because more and more people are being upfront about the fact that they're feeling anxious, depressed, or they're struggling with the substance use issue,” explains Darcy. “The more people talk about it, the more others are willing to come out and say, you're not alone. I'm experiencing this too.”

Being open about struggles and needs is one way the conversation takes hold and reduces or eliminates those long-standing stigmas, but even if you have no current personal mental health challenges to speak of, you should be contributing to creating a supportive workplace for those who may. “It’s important to remember that the workplace is what we make it and that all of us have a contribution to make in creating a caring culture,” Darcy emphasizes. “Whether you are brand new to the organization and at an entry level or are at a C-level, you can make a difference. It really is about caring for each other and asking, ‘Are you okay? You don't seem like yourself. I'm just checking in to make sure everything's good.’ And the more we do that, the more we create that caring culture that people want to be part of. It’s important to remember every little bit counts.”

#3: Improving Mental Health at Work is Key to Your Talent Strategy

Are you aware there is a greater expectation among younger talent that companies have structured mental health programs and ample support in place? Putting effort into a mental health program will not only help you to ensure your existing talent is engaged, supported, and healthier, but it is becoming a facet of recruiting new talent as well. 

“We know from surveys that younger generations are more comfortable talking about this. They have an expectation that the workplace will address these issues,” says Darcy. “They're looking for programs when they're making decisions about careers and where they want to work. The expectations are growing that organizations will provide mental health services and support. That it will be visible, that it will be talked about. They are really looking for that. And because we know 4 million people left their jobs during the pandemic, we are in a very competitive work environment and candidates have choice. So, you want to be the place people want to go to and be part of every day.”

It's understood that high performers can have mental health conditions, so for companies looking to attract and retain high performing talent, having support in place can help these employees stay ahead of any issues and take care of their needs. “Right now, employers are really looking for high performing individuals in the service industry, in the tech industry, in the finance industry. And we know that people who are high performers may have mental health conditions,” says Darcy. “So, companies recognize the increased need for services and support.”

Finally, employers should understand there is a connection between mental health support and employee engagement. “If you're an employee in an organization that shows they care about you, not just your physical health, but your mental health too, you're going to go to work every day and feel much better about the fact that your organization cares about you. In turn, you will be more likely to be a high performer, whether you live with a condition or not,” says Darcy. “Employees in the field, they are representing the brand of the organization. And the more they feel good about what they're doing because they're being treated well and they're in a culture that cares about them, the more they're going to project a positive image for the brand.”

#4: Male Dominated Industries Lag in Addressing Mental Health 

When you consider that much of our audience is comprised of industries that are still male-dominated, it’s important to acknowledge the reality that these industries tend to lag in normalizing mental health and creating at-work support. “Stigma is associated with mental health conditions in many industries. I think industries that tend to be male dominated, like many that have people who work out in the field, there can be perceptions that you should be tough. Just stick it out, suck it up,” explains Darcy. “There’s this tendency to want to send the message that they're strong and they're tough and that somehow mental health can be linked with weakness. We still all must work at breaking down some of those stereotypes and breaking down the stigma.”

How do we do this? There’s no quick or easy way but recognizing the impact of opening up personally and being willing to engage in conversation is an important start. “There's a real opportunity, but we have to chip away. It's not like we're going to wake up one day and the stigma will be gone. We all have some responsibility, like we're doing here, to have conversations about it and to say it's not a matter of weakness. It could be really a matter of strength to seek help when you need it,” says Darcy.

#5: Mental Health Initiatives Don’t Need Require a Huge Investment

I find this point to be so very important, which is mental health initiatives do not need to be based on a big budget or huge investment. This could be a barrier for organizations in taking action, so I appreciated Darcy pointing out that companies of any size, scale, and financial status can take steps to have a positive impact. 

“A focus on mental health is not a massive investment. This is recognizing human nature and reminding employees they're appreciated and rewarding them when the time is right,” explains Darcy. “I mean, one simple piece of advice is for managers and leaders to ask themselves, is this an organization that I feel good about being part of on a daily basis? And if it's not, what minor changes can we make to make it more so?”

Just starting there is starting – and that matters far more than feeling you must have a perfectly planned formal program to “begin.” Darcy also suggests asking your employees for their input. “Think about surveying your employees because they have really good ideas,” she says. “Believe it or not, it's often not about a lot of frivol that'll cost a lot of money. It's sometimes just simple policy changes that are very workable that can make all the difference in the world. And this all hits the bottom line when it comes to retention and recruitment and really meeting the organizational goals.”

#6: Leadership Sets the Tone on Mental Health at Work

While it is important to ensure your company is taking a programmatic approach to prioritizing mental health and providing employees support, it’s also important to remember that authenticity and a personal touch can be the difference in how that program feels to your employees. “A check-the-box approach does not work well. If you do one training and say, we did a mental health training, we are good, that is not going to make a big change for your organization. And leadership sets the culture,” cautions Darcy. “So, the more leadership is visible in talking about mental health, the more it's happening at a leadership level and operational and managerial level.”

We all get busy, and often leaders are juggling immense responsibility. But making a human connection with your team a priority is well worth the effort. “It's really important to recognize we all get busy and sometimes we forget,” says Darcy. “Create simple reminders around I'm part of the culture, I need to be real about making it a mentally healthy culture, and so on.”

#7: Burnout Isn’t an Individual Issue

As I mentioned, the podcast with Darcy that will publish on Wednesday is discussing six ways employers can alleviate burnout. I won’t give too many spoilers here, but I will say that Darcy expressed that we must recognize that burnout isn’t simply and individual issue – and that it was becoming a major issue even before the pandemic. “Burnout became an issue of major concern in 2019 when the World Health Organization announced a new definition. It is not a product of COVID-19,” explains Darcy. “It's important to know that because we were already heading into concerns with occupational burnout and that has obviously been intensified.”

While every individual has a responsibility to take care of themselves and speak up if they need support from their employer, Darcy stresses the fact that we cannot blame burnout solely on individuals or expect the issue to resolve without the shared ownership of employers. “I think when people think of burnout, they think individuals should just get over it. More exercise, more sleep, better diet, don't take stress so seriously,” she describes. “What the research shows is that, yes, we have individual responsibility when it comes to burnout, but there's a huge amount of responsibility that comes from organizational change, operational change.”

#8: There Are Ample Resources to Support Businesses Making Mental Health a Priority

Before I was introduced to Darcy for the podcast, I wasn’t familiar with the Center for Workplace Mental Health or the resources it provides – free of cost. So, if you are struggling with where or how to start or feel your employer is lacking in their efforts around mental health, know that there are resources to help increase awareness, provide information, and assist in creating impactful programs. Learn more at www.workplacementalhealth.org.   

Stay Connected

Related Content

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Are XLAs the Key Metric You’re Missing? Part Two

Automation vs. Autonomy: 4 Ways to Ease Concerns Around AI in Field Service

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

September 12, 2022 | 10 Mins Read

The Role of the Modern CSM in Delivering Outcomes for the IIoT

September 12, 2022 | 10 Mins Read

The Role of the Modern CSM in Delivering Outcomes for the IIoT

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I recently talked with Scott Weller, Partner of Mossrake Group, after reading an article he’d written on LinkedIn that caught my eye. In his article, he touches on some of the intricacies that come into play when a company moves toward guaranteeing outcomes on connected digital assets. You may remember Scott from the podcast, he joined me for episode 122 where we talked about what it takes to bring the As-a-Service opportunity to life. 

Scott has extensive experience in the industry, having served in leadership roles at Xerox, IBM, HP and HPE prior to co-founding Mossrake Group to aid companies on the As-a-Service journey. Reflecting on how things have evolved over his career, we discussed that, in the age of the IIoT, companies must take terms that have existed for ages – like “outcomes” and “CSM” – and redefine them to fit today’s realities. In the following Q&A, I ask Scott to share his perspective on key considerations for companies aiming to succeed at an outcomes-based approach in the IIoT era.

Sarah Nicastro: When we talk about delivering outcomes, can you share your perspective on what that means today and why it's so important?

Scott Weller: It seems everywhere you look these days, there's evidence of a secular trend away from asset ownership economy to outcomes economy. Whether you're talking about air conditioning or jet engines, or IT, sports cars, and so on, it's everywhere. It demonstrates that people, both consumers and businesses, are starting to really calibrate around what matters most to them.

For businesses, it's understanding what's core to what they do versus perhaps critical assets or capabilities beyond the business they're in. Defining what it is they don’t want to focus on; they don't want to be famous for. And in those cases, really thinking more in terms of what the outcome is they want and to get that from a partner versus working to assemble themselves all the things required to achieve that outcome. They decide to give that to somebody else to worry about.

Sarah Nicastro: So ultimately customers want more peace of mind?

Scott Weller: Yeah, I think that ties in with the CSM discussion. So, let's say you've signed up to receive a certain outcome. The way that gets delivered to you is both the tangible features or capabilities, but also the experience. And ultimately things do go wrong. Things happen, particularly if there's an asset underneath. What you really want to know is, everything is being handled and will be okay.

Particularly if it falls into that category of things you don't want to be famous for – just tell me everything's fine, and if it's not, tell me what you're doing to bring it back to all good. So yes, I completely agree. Peace of mind doesn’t feel like a technical term, doesn't feel like anything that a business would promise, but in the end, that's what we're talking about. Peace of mind on those things that I don't want to be famous for, so I can get on with my business and focus on the things I do want to be famous for.

Sarah Nicastro: So, if the idea of delivering outcomes has been around for a long time, what is different about doing so with connected assets?

Scott Weller: In the end there are a few aspects to this. One is the expectations of the outcome, not in terms of day to day, am I receiving the outcome I want? But how is my supplier looking at this relationship? In the digital world, it is no longer possible for the outcome to be just a transaction. First, you have enablement for a much richer experience, but also the expectation that you're on top of things. You're watching things, you're ahead of the game, you're doing predictive analysis, you’re doing everything you can so that the outcome isn't disrupted in any way. So, I think it's both on the demand and supply side that things do change given a digital environment.

We talk a lot about the value of data, but the smart suppliers know the value isn’t data in its raw form. In fact, a lot of times what the customer needs to know isn't even in the raw data that they're seeing. It must be formulated, it must be developed, and it has to be communicated back in a very simple conversation to the customer. This is part of the expert advisor role that a CSM should play.

Sarah Nicastro: What is your synopsis of what the CSM role should be in this scenario and how is that maybe different than what some people's perception of that role would be historically?

Scott Weller: I wouldn't want to claim that we have the perfect design, but over many clients what we see are, some customer success managers are essentially a little more than brand ambassadors, after-sales brand ambassadors. And I think that's probably okay in some domains. The most common kind of CSM role description leads to them being very reactive. I call it the wailing wall. Every problem that a customer has, whether it's germane or not, goes to the CSM community for them to resolve. 

What’s different about the CSM we’re talking about here is that they aren’t just a “nice to have.” But a requirement in delivering outcomes, particularly on digital assets. This is someone who's quite proactive, someone who speaks the language of the customer's business, not just the technology that they're using to deliver the outcome. They tend to have a good “bedside manner.” They are viewed as an expert advisor – someone the customer has total confidence in, ideally, and trusts in their ability to address issues and deliver the outcomes. We see the CSM as being the point person for the supplier in delivering the outcome. It's their responsibility to make sure it gets done.

Sarah Nicastro: So, we talked about an important point that today's customers expect a lot more than just an individual that is passing along data, right? How would you say that this modern CSM needs to be enabled to be effective for role they should be serving today?

Scott Weller: Customers often have access to the raw data themselves. To interpret that into either everything's okay or we think there may be an issue in the future and we're going to do this or that about it, that's the real value that a CSM can provide and is often baked into an outcome solution.

And so, the data set is part of the enablement for modern CSM. But they have to do smart things with it, turn it into a proactive operation. Predictive analytics should be interpreted directly by the CSM and conveyed in simple insights. Some will have a lot of experience, but as we all know, skill shortages drive us to trying to codify some of this institutionalized knowledge into analytics that can be shared with others. So, enablement is a combination of really great tools; the underlying products being digital themselves, so that they're talking about themselves in real time; and doing that in a centralized data lake way. And then the other analytics that can be done on top of that. That's all key to supporting a great conversation between the CSM and the end customer.

Sarah Nicastro: When you hear a company say, "We want to be a trusted advisor,” what are they trying to accomplish?

Scott Weller: Well, the cynical response would be that this is a term that every sales team wants to use. But at the end of the day, there's definitely truth in it. Customers ultimately want to trust their suppliers, not only to give them fair pricing, but also to do what they say they're going to do

Cynicism aside, it is something that every supplier should aspire to because it leads to all good things. It's better for the customer, it's better for the supplier. But this is where trust is one of those things that's earned. And I think a supplier that does what they say they're going to do is proactive, does interpret the data into the language of the customer's business. These are all things that build that trust.

Sarah Nicastro: It’s almost a status that you can claim, but you really only achieve if your customers view you that way, right? Whether or not your customers would describe you as a trusted advisor is the real indicator of whether you're providing the type of value you should be providing in the outcomes economy.

Scott Weller: What we see within an outcomes-based solution is the ability for that CSM to become part a route to market. Because they're known not to be sales folks. They're focused on ensuring the customer gets the value, receives the outcomes that they've contracted for. When there are issues, the CSM demonstrates high integrity and getting those resolved timely. That all leads to a natural conversation of, "Hey, I've got another site that I want this outcome delivered to," or "I want more help here," or "I'm going to tell my colleagues in the industry."

It's the notion of what we call "land and expand." Once you've established that trust and you've established the solution, it's not long before customers do see that, "Wow, this is great, and I just want this everywhere." And we're even having clients ask us, "So how do I get my other suppliers to do what you guys are doing for us?"

And that's why I say this is a secular trend that will snowball going forward. It's unstoppable now. But of course, it all comes back to, is the person, is the company delivering what they said they were going to do? Delivering outcomes is, I would say, an advanced topic for a lot of companies still. And that's where we spend a lot of our time, helping them get there.

Sarah Nicastro: When you think about your clients that are using CSMs in a modern and impactful way, are there best practices people should be thinking about?

Scott Weller: I'm not sure we've landed on a training guide for CSMs. We are in fact working on one for one of our clients, but I think recognizing that this is a different kind of individual or perhaps a different experience, that is key. One of the clients we worked with really struggled with the role, because the typical source for these individuals was out of the service delivery organization and the pay scales for the kind of individuals we needed were above what anybody there was getting paid. 

It was almost like we were looking for director level people, and it was just unheard of that you'd have director level people in a CSM role. This is an example of a standard that needs to be recalibrated to really be successful in today’s landscape. But I do think it's like any profession, there are people who are just naturals at it and others you have to cultivate and the real question for most of our clients is, "Well, what do we do if this new As-a-Service offer really takes off? Where are we going to source all these people?"

I've been talking about what I call a CSM university. How do you get these people through a program where you can take high potentials put them through a program like this? Typically, you’d find them in traditional services, but it could be from anywhere actually, if they have the technical knowledge and the other attributes, they can be successful. I think it is a new profession.

Sarah Nicastro:  If you were to look ahead three or five years and anticipate what the role of the CSM will look like in delivering outcomes, what are your thoughts?

Scott Weller: I think we'll see a lot more people in the profession as we've sort of defined the new version of the classic role. I think we will see some formalizing around maybe not a CSM university, but some sort of training programs that reorient people, maybe who've done a CSM role in the past or not. But to orient or reorient people to what we've been talking about, having to learn the customer's business language. Learning how to have that bedside manner, how to summarize data and insights to, ideally, being able to say, "Everything's fine." When there’s an issue, here's what we're doing to address it. Understanding that peace of mind is key. Otherwise, you really haven't achieved what you promised because now the customer thinks they've bought something that lets them focus elsewhere, but they're still caught up in the drama of owning a bunch of assets. And that's the last thing that they want to have.

We will have to hire more senior level or be willing to promote into more senior level people to these positions, because what doesn't work is if the CSM goes into a situation and the customer’s first reaction is, "We want to talk to your boss." You shouldn’t get to that point often at all if you have the right kind of person in front of the customer who can assuage these situations and have the confidence of the customer to do what they said they're going to do. And that's a confidence or trust that's built over time.

Stay Connected

Related Content

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Are XLAs the Key Metric You’re Missing? Part Two

Automation vs. Autonomy: 4 Ways to Ease Concerns Around AI in Field Service

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

August 29, 2022 | 9 Mins Read

10 Reasons Service Innovation Fails: Part Two

August 29, 2022 | 9 Mins Read

10 Reasons Service Innovation Fails: Part Two

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service 

This is part two of a two-part article discussing some of the reasons that service innovation fails. No, it isn’t meant to be depressing – but to give some food for thought on common missteps and roadblocks so you can avoid them. If you haven’t yet read part one, do so here.

(If you refuse to read part one first, just know that the insights featured in this article are from innovation thought leaders Frank Mattes, author, advisor & founder and CEO of Lean Scaleup and Dan Toma, award-winning author of the Corporate Startup and Innovation Accounting, and co-founder of innovation advisory firm OUTCOME.)

#6: Companies Believe Innovation Will Detract from the Core Business

There’s no denying the fact that juggling the demands of today’s business while planning for the business of the future is complex. But in today’s competitive landscape, it is also necessary. What companies sometimes overlook is that, if structured well, it is possible to focus on innovation without detracting from the performance of the core business. “If you look at the broad scale, companies are investing 70% in keeping their existing products and services relevant. Modernizing them, integrating speech interfaces and touch screens. Adding in one more functionality,” explains Mattes. “That’s perfectly fine, right? But the point is that it still locks the company inside the box. If the box changes, then it becomes hard. Therefore, we need to think wisely about where and how to spend the 10% innovation budget. That’s the average for innovation that is aiming at changing the order of things.”

These metrics clarify that innovation doesn’t have to detract from the core business in terms of budget, but it also doesn’t have to detract from the core business in terms of talent. In fact, Mattes has found with many of the organizations he worked with in writing the Lean Scaleup that for a company to innovate well, it only needs a small percentage of its workforce that are geared toward innovation. “Three of my clients said, ‘Well, Frank, we don’t need 100% of our staff to be really innovative. It’s only 4%, 6%, and 12%.,’” he says. “That’s what those three companies said. Four percent was an automotive company, six percent was a bank and 12 percent was a telecommunications company. You only need a fraction of people who understand innovative ideas and how they could be translated into the machine of the day-to-day business.”

Finally, we’ve seen in companies we’ve interviewed for the Future of Field Service podcast that even when more innovative offerings are introduced – say As-a-Service – you don’t have to rush in moving away from how you serve customers with your core business. In Kaer’s story, for instance, Dave Mackerness discusses the slow transition from core business to the As-a-Service concept to transitioning entirely to Cooling-as-a-Service. 

#7: Companies Fail to Scale Innovation

“It turns out, it’s quite easy to drum out ideas and do some small-scale experiments,” says Mattes. “But, when it comes to really making it big, this is where seven out of eight of big ambitions fail.” What Mattes has centered his focus on is helping companies to scale innovation because he’s found that the majority of the challenge isn’t in developing innovative ideas, but in making them work at scale within a traditional business. 

“These companies have built their organization as a machine, executing the same processes over and over again. Over the years, they have fine-tuned what they need to do, doing that flawlessly and most efficiently. There’s a lot of expertise in there, creating, delivering value at scale, and earning the margins,” he describes. “The problem is, when these companies set up their innovation ambitions, they found an innovation center or a digital lab, or an incubator, accelerator, or a corporate venture builder – there are several concepts and terminologies out there. But, for the sake of simplicity, let’s say there’s a little garden where smart people can think about the future. Then you have two systems. On the one side you have your day-to-day operations. Where customers log in their orders, which are then processed. The supply chain does its work, and the stuff is being shipped and serviced out in the field, et cetera. That’s a day-to-day business. And on the other side, you get those crazy ideas. There’s no problem in that. The problem arises when you try to make those bold ideas that should change the order of things big.”

When I talk with our audience in manufacturing who see the potential in Servitization, I think many would agree with the feeling of fighting against a “machine.” And this barrier to innovation isn’t anyone’s fault – that machine is what has led the company to its success thus far. However, staying stuck within the machine can also be what keeps a company too deeply rooted in its legacy to see what’s needed to continue its success into the future. 

The changes that need to be made to allow for Servitization to grow from concept to reality often fight against the nature of a proven business, which is typically very short-term numbers driven. “The management system that you have, that you need for that day-to-day business is about efficiency, productivity, short term views and no risk. Risk is not a good thing if you want to have those processes,” says Mattes. “Now the people who have been playing out in that innovation playground come and say, ‘Let’s make this big. Let’s build a factory. Let’s build processes. Let’s recruit new people to sell that new stuff.’ This really conflicts with the management system that you have for the day-to-day business.”

Hope is not lost, however. Many companies are determining how to take those innovative ideas and integrate them in a way that they can scale – and mindset can’t be underemphasized. “When you want to achieve scale, you need to have a different thinking. The thinking rooted towards the running day-to-day businesses with a monthly, quarterly, annual horizon needs to shift to look at how you leverage all the good things that you’ve built up in the last 30, 40, 100 years of your corporate history. If you look at it, there’s so much there of corporate assets and corporate capabilities that could be the foundation of that future. With new value pools and new revenue streams,” says Mattes. “Innovation isn’t a conflict about people, but a conflict about systems. You need to establish a collaboration model. You need to define what is to be done in that transitional phase. It is a phase, when the ‘blue shirt’ innovators gradually hand over the responsibility for scaling up, and then actually running it at scale to the ‘red shirts.’

#8: Leaders Lack Courage

If you think about the layers of change that adopting not only a new mindset but a shift in systems and collaborative processes means for an organization to become adept at true innovation, you begin to understand the critical role leadership plays. To lead a company through innovation, especially if it is a company that has is working to modernize beyond its legacy business, takes courage. And not only courage, but tenacity. Not every leader is willing to take on what is necessary to succeed at innovation and this is another reason we see companies lag. 

“Apart from the right thinking, tools, culture, and management systems, it takes courage to leave a little sheet of ice where the company lived comfortably over the last 30, 40, 50, maybe even 100 years, and venture out into the wild. Into the unknown, because some leaders recognize that the little sheet of ice is based is getting smaller and smaller by the year,” says Mattes. 

But today’s leaders have a choice. “If you don’t take your future into your own hands and future-proof the company, the forces of the market will determine your future. In many cases this will not be the better option,” cautions Mattes. “Leadership plays an essential role in here. You can have the best process with all the jumps in between, all the validation, all the technology, you might even have a set up a collaboration model. But once leadership doesn’t support it, it all cracks. If you look on our website, leanscaleup.com, there’s a visual where we say out of the many cog wheels that run in the day-to-day business, leadership is that cog wheel that takes it out and creates that environment for the unfair advantage. It’s a leadership task, and in my view, it’s THE leadership task, to answer the question, how can we win today? How can we win the now? While at the same time, future-proofing the company, creating the NEW. Everything else delineates from there.”

In my conversation with Howard Bowland of Schneider Electric, we talked a lot about the traits leaders need to spark and sustain innovation as well as the traits of those who make for a strong team to spearhead innovation in a legacy business. 

#9: Short Sightedness is Fueled by Unrealistic Expectations

We discussed that the core business is structured to focus largely on the short-term. In his latest book, Innovation Accounting, Dan Toma discusses why innovation and standard accounting don’t go well together. “In innovation, we are essentially trying to build things that are not that heavy on assets and financial accounting, looking at the value of a company or value of an idea through the number of assets it employs. With innovation, we’re doing the exact opposite,” he says. And this can be a hurdle that is hard for companies to overcome, because when they seek to measure the success or failure of innovation based on their standard accounting practices, they aren’t allowing the room companies need for innovation to develop from idea to concept to value. 

Toma, who has led numerous start-ups, relays what businesses looking to innovate must learn from the start-up mentality. “We sought to build a complimentary system to financial accounting, that’s able to account for early-stage innovation. If we started a startup tomorrow, we are probably not going to be profitable for the next quarter or for the next two years,” he explains. “So, we need to have a system that allows us to say, ‘Yes, this idea is going to be successful, but in the future, not now, let’s not discontinue it.’”

A measurement system for innovation that takes these points into consideration helps leaders who are supporters of innovation protect the company’s investment of time, money, and resources into seeing the process through. “Otherwise, we might fall into the classical corporate trap where we value everything through the lens of financial accounting, and guess what we’re going to do?” asks Toma. “We’re always going to prioritize the core business and investment in the core business. And we are going to do that by always putting on the back burner innovation until we actually need them. And when we need them, we’re going to be sitting there and looking at our ourselves and say, ‘Okay, so where’s the innovation that should have saved us now?’ Well, it’s nowhere to be found. Why? Because we just used the wrong metrics whenever we had to take investment decisions.”

I am not an accounting expert by any far stretch of the imagination, so I expected Toma’s book to be a struggle for me to read. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the book’s readability, due in part to the analogies and anecdotes used. “I always give this simple example: if we take our kids to a swimming competition, they have their own benchmarks for their age bracket. We are never going to evaluate a 10-year-old swimmer or a 15-year-old swimmer for the performance of somebody that just won a medal in the Olympics, because it’s just impossible for a 10-year-old to compete with a 20-year-old and be able to hit the same benchmark,” Toma describes. “So, if we do that in sports, why don’t we do it with businesses, with innovation? Why do we compare an idea that was essentially founded three months ago or three weeks ago, or three days ago with a core business that we’ve had for a hundred years? We should never do that because we’re going to be super disappointed by what we have in front of us, what we’ve learned. And because of that, we’re just going to invest in the core business.”

#10: Companies Ignore the Reality that Innovation is Iterative 

Finally, we need to fight the urge toward complacency and learn to never rest on our laurels. In the digital age everything moves faster, including the need to innovate – which means companies need to build an innovative mindset, culture, and system that can work iteratively over the long term. Not every innovation will be of the disruptive sort but focusing on creating a machine that fosters creativity versus nurtures the legacy is an investment in your future. 

Stay Connected

Related Content

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

August 18, 2022 | 13 Mins Read

10 Reasons Service Innovation Fails: Part One

August 18, 2022 | 13 Mins Read

10 Reasons Service Innovation Fails: Part One

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

It’s exciting when we see the success of service organizations who are embracing the opportunity to innovate and seeing the impact of their efforts. Take, for example, the stories of how companies like Baxi, Kaer, and Schneider Electric have introduced As-a-Service offerings to replace their historical transactional models. 

But while there’s inspiration and wisdom to be gained from triumphs like these, there’s also value in understanding the trials – what is preventing companies from succeeding? 

It helps to understand the complexity that exists around service innovation. When we’re talking about bigger-picture, disruptive innovation we’re typically referring to a company that has a long history with a particular business model looking to completely reinvent the way it goes to market, sells, and services. It’s not only an identity shift but also a process that in many ways goes against the momentum of the “machine.”

I’ve recently had the pleasure of connecting with two innovation thought leaders that I’ve learned so much from – Frank Mattes, author, advisor & founder and CEO of Lean Scaleup and Dan Toma, award-winning author of the Corporate Startup and Innovation Accounting, and co-founder of innovation advisory firm OUTCOME. Frank and Dan both cover different perspectives and have so much knowledge to explore – they are both worth a follow.

From my handful of conversations with them, I have put together a list of 10 reasons that service innovation fails. This isn’t an exhaustive list, by any means, but it gives you some cautionary points to be aware of and consider. 

#1: Companies Ambiguously Define Innovation

“Innovation is the creation of new value,” says Toma. “Digital transformation is around keeping existing business models and processes valuable in the digital age, which improves customer satisfaction and lowers operational costs. Confusion comes in because companies think innovation is a one size fits all type of word, but one of the big lessons learned for us is that when you want to start doing innovation, the first thing you need to do is to define what innovation means for your organization.”

There are different ways to define innovation, but one thing that tends to happen is that a company wants the benefits of bigger, more disruptive innovation from the efforts of more incremental improvement. Digital transformation is one example of more incremental improvement – it, in and of itself, isn’t changing the core business, but rather improving upon it. Yet companies expect that once they’ve invested in digital transformation, they’ll see the results of bigger innovation – which is only possible if that investment is used to drive further change in the business, aka disruptive innovation.

“Innovation is a game that you play three to five years in advance,” says Mattes. “I define innovation as capturing the value from meaningful insights via new offerings that change the order of things. It’s not about ‘new stuff’ – it’s about value, and value is defined by the customer. It’s also about capturing the value or collecting the dollars and the cents of that value. The last point, new offerings that change the order of things, means new business models, new go-to-market strategies, etc. We are talking about big steps here. Changing the order of things, thinking outside of the box, if you will. If it’s in the box, if it doesn’t change the order of things, and then we have incremental innovation.”

#2: Companies Fail to Realize Service Innovation = Business Transformation

Within our audience specifically, one of the issues we see is that companies think they can innovate within service as a silo. While this is possible, incrementally, in the form of service transformation, if the company desires the more disruptive innovation of a shift like Servitization or moving to an As-a-Service model, the conversation changes. At this point, it becomes critical to reconcile the fact that what we’re really talking about is business innovation – not service innovation. This means that it’s a journey for the entire organization, not for service alone.

What today’s customers are demanding from companies are outcomes, guarantees, peace of mind – and that is a different way of doing business than transactional service. This is prompting companies to examine the layers of business transformation needed to evolve fully to a new value proposition. Aspects like go-to-market, financing and revenue recognition, sales and marketing, customer success, and many more arise as a part of bigger-picture service innovation. 

#3: Companies Expect Operational Talent to Lead Innovation

I’ve seen pressure on service leaders to juggle both the needs of the day-to-day business while creating a strategy for innovation. Not only is this an impossibly tall order, but it also often isn’t realistic to ask your operational talent to think as creatively as necessary for true innovation. 

“The skill that you need for digital transformation, the capabilities you need for digital transformation are not going to be sufficient once you’re trying to innovate. Let alone the talent. If you are trying to hire somebody and that particular person has an amazing track record of helping organizations digitally transform, they’re not going to be the right person for disruptive innovation. You need different skillset, different personalities. This is another reason it is important to make the distinction before you start investing,” says Toma.

Mattes explains the importance of each type of talent, as well as the degree to which overlap is needed, by segmenting into “red shirts” and “blue shirts.” This terminology was born of the book Blue Ocean Strategy, published in 2004 and written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, which describes a new market with little competition versus the “red ocean” of cutthroat competition. “As we consider innovation, it’s helpful to say the day-to-day operations are the people working in the red oceans or what I call the ‘red shirts.’ Those working to find new value pools, they are the ‘blue shirts.’ You need both. You need to own the business NOW and in the future in the NEW,” explains Mattes. “One is not good and the other bad, they are both important. They are living in different systems that were designed for different purposes. So, we come to that million-dollar question in the truest sense of the word: how do we make them work together?”

#4: Companies Narrow Their View of What’s Possible 

Another stumbling block of innovation is that companies unintentionally, even subconsciously, limit their perspective of what is possible. This can be habitual, rooted in legacy, a factor of long-term talent, sticking with examples only within one’s industry, or a variety of other reasons. To embrace disruptive innovation, we must be more comfortable thinking out of the box – often this can be prompted by expanding your perspective and seeking inspiration beyond your own industry. 

“I think of some work I’ve done with a 150-year-old insurance company out of Germany where the head of the innovation lab was tasked to think beyond core and to build the insurance of the future,” retells Toma. “The problem for him was that despite the new lab that he had, the new processes that he used, all the thought leadership that he brought in, HR was only hiring people that had insurance written on their CVs. People that worked with other insurers in the region, sometimes even brought them from abroad. And he said, ‘I can’t innovate with these people, because these people can only think insurance in the way that insurance has been for the last 100 years. I need to have people that come from automotive. I need to have that come from the music industry, from entertainment, from travel, people that think differently about insurance, because they don’t have that legacy.’”

If your objective is disruptive innovation, often fresh perspective is incredibly important. 

#5: Companies Attempt to Define Value (Versus Accepting that Value is Defined by the Customer)

If you aren’t innovating from the outside-in, you’re taking incredible risk in missing the mark. Your customers’ needs should dictate where you focus your efforts. This doesn’t mean your customers know exactly what they want or need five years from now – it usually isn’t as easy as simply asking. You will need to be creative and determine what value will hit the mark in three or five- or ten-years’ time – but the point is, it should all be centered around their challenges, opportunities, and needs. 

“So many organizations are building it backwards from what we were used to doing in the outside world, in the startup scene,” says Toma. “Essentially, they were starting from a business plan. Financing the whole thing based on this plan and then after six months, they would put a prototype in the hands of a customer only to learn that it doesn’t work.”

This type of inside-out innovation is costly and can deter a company from future innovation because rather than the particular approach being deemed a failure, the overall effort is categorized as such.

Stay tuned next week for part two!

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

It’s exciting when we see the success of service organizations who are embracing the opportunity to innovate and seeing the impact of their efforts. Take, for example, the stories of how companies like Baxi, Kaer, and Schneider Electric have introduced As-a-Service offerings to replace their historical transactional models. 

But while there’s inspiration and wisdom to be gained from triumphs like these, there’s also value in understanding the trials – what is preventing companies from succeeding? 

It helps to understand the complexity that exists around service innovation. When we’re talking about bigger-picture, disruptive innovation we’re typically referring to a company that has a long history with a particular business model looking to completely reinvent the way it goes to market, sells, and services. It’s not only an identity shift but also a process that in many ways goes against the momentum of the “machine.”

I’ve recently had the pleasure of connecting with two innovation thought leaders that I’ve learned so much from – Frank Mattes, author, advisor & founder and CEO of Lean Scaleup and Dan Toma, award-winning author of the Corporate Startup and Innovation Accounting, and co-founder of innovation advisory firm OUTCOME. Frank and Dan both cover different perspectives and have so much knowledge to explore – they are both worth a follow.

From my handful of conversations with them, I have put together a list of 10 reasons that service innovation fails. This isn’t an exhaustive list, by any means, but it gives you some cautionary points to be aware of and consider. 

#1: Companies Ambiguously Define Innovation

“Innovation is the creation of new value,” says Toma. “Digital transformation is around keeping existing business models and processes valuable in the digital age, which improves customer satisfaction and lowers operational costs. Confusion comes in because companies think innovation is a one size fits all type of word, but one of the big lessons learned for us is that when you want to start doing innovation, the first thing you need to do is to define what innovation means for your organization.”

There are different ways to define innovation, but one thing that tends to happen is that a company wants the benefits of bigger, more disruptive innovation from the efforts of more incremental improvement. Digital transformation is one example of more incremental improvement – it, in and of itself, isn’t changing the core business, but rather improving upon it. Yet companies expect that once they’ve invested in digital transformation, they’ll see the results of bigger innovation – which is only possible if that investment is used to drive further change in the business, aka disruptive innovation.

“Innovation is a game that you play three to five years in advance,” says Mattes. “I define innovation as capturing the value from meaningful insights via new offerings that change the order of things. It’s not about ‘new stuff’ – it’s about value, and value is defined by the customer. It’s also about capturing the value or collecting the dollars and the cents of that value. The last point, new offerings that change the order of things, means new business models, new go-to-market strategies, etc. We are talking about big steps here. Changing the order of things, thinking outside of the box, if you will. If it’s in the box, if it doesn’t change the order of things, and then we have incremental innovation.”

#2: Companies Fail to Realize Service Innovation = Business Transformation

Within our audience specifically, one of the issues we see is that companies think they can innovate within service as a silo. While this is possible, incrementally, in the form of service transformation, if the company desires the more disruptive innovation of a shift like Servitization or moving to an As-a-Service model, the conversation changes. At this point, it becomes critical to reconcile the fact that what we’re really talking about is business innovation – not service innovation. This means that it’s a journey for the entire organization, not for service alone.

What today’s customers are demanding from companies are outcomes, guarantees, peace of mind – and that is a different way of doing business than transactional service. This is prompting companies to examine the layers of business transformation needed to evolve fully to a new value proposition. Aspects like go-to-market, financing and revenue recognition, sales and marketing, customer success, and many more arise as a part of bigger-picture service innovation. 

#3: Companies Expect Operational Talent to Lead Innovation

I’ve seen pressure on service leaders to juggle both the needs of the day-to-day business while creating a strategy for innovation. Not only is this an impossibly tall order, but it also often isn’t realistic to ask your operational talent to think as creatively as necessary for true innovation. 

“The skill that you need for digital transformation, the capabilities you need for digital transformation are not going to be sufficient once you’re trying to innovate. Let alone the talent. If you are trying to hire somebody and that particular person has an amazing track record of helping organizations digitally transform, they’re not going to be the right person for disruptive innovation. You need different skillset, different personalities. This is another reason it is important to make the distinction before you start investing,” says Toma.

Mattes explains the importance of each type of talent, as well as the degree to which overlap is needed, by segmenting into “red shirts” and “blue shirts.” This terminology was born of the book Blue Ocean Strategy, published in 2004 and written by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, which describes a new market with little competition versus the “red ocean” of cutthroat competition. “As we consider innovation, it’s helpful to say the day-to-day operations are the people working in the red oceans or what I call the ‘red shirts.’ Those working to find new value pools, they are the ‘blue shirts.’ You need both. You need to own the business NOW and in the future in the NEW,” explains Mattes. “One is not good and the other bad, they are both important. They are living in different systems that were designed for different purposes. So, we come to that million-dollar question in the truest sense of the word: how do we make them work together?”

#4: Companies Narrow Their View of What’s Possible 

Another stumbling block of innovation is that companies unintentionally, even subconsciously, limit their perspective of what is possible. This can be habitual, rooted in legacy, a factor of long-term talent, sticking with examples only within one’s industry, or a variety of other reasons. To embrace disruptive innovation, we must be more comfortable thinking out of the box – often this can be prompted by expanding your perspective and seeking inspiration beyond your own industry. 

“I think of some work I’ve done with a 150-year-old insurance company out of Germany where the head of the innovation lab was tasked to think beyond core and to build the insurance of the future,” retells Toma. “The problem for him was that despite the new lab that he had, the new processes that he used, all the thought leadership that he brought in, HR was only hiring people that had insurance written on their CVs. People that worked with other insurers in the region, sometimes even brought them from abroad. And he said, ‘I can’t innovate with these people, because these people can only think insurance in the way that insurance has been for the last 100 years. I need to have people that come from automotive. I need to have that come from the music industry, from entertainment, from travel, people that think differently about insurance, because they don’t have that legacy.’”

If your objective is disruptive innovation, often fresh perspective is incredibly important. 

#5: Companies Attempt to Define Value (Versus Accepting that Value is Defined by the Customer)

If you aren’t innovating from the outside-in, you’re taking incredible risk in missing the mark. Your customers’ needs should dictate where you focus your efforts. This doesn’t mean your customers know exactly what they want or need five years from now – it usually isn’t as easy as simply asking. You will need to be creative and determine what value will hit the mark in three or five- or ten-years’ time – but the point is, it should all be centered around their challenges, opportunities, and needs. 

“So many organizations are building it backwards from what we were used to doing in the outside world, in the startup scene,” says Toma. “Essentially, they were starting from a business plan. Financing the whole thing based on this plan and then after six months, they would put a prototype in the hands of a customer only to learn that it doesn’t work.”

This type of inside-out innovation is costly and can deter a company from future innovation because rather than the particular approach being deemed a failure, the overall effort is categorized as such.

Stay tuned next week for part two!

Stay Connected

Related Content

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

August 15, 2022 | 5 Mins Read

What Can We Learn About Service from Wayne Gretzky?

August 15, 2022 | 5 Mins Read

What Can We Learn About Service from Wayne Gretzky?

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I’m confident in saying my husband doesn’t regularly consume the content I create, but if any article I’ve written catches his eye, it will be this one. He played hockey in high school and college and is a die-hard Pittsburgh Penguins fan. Early in our relationship, he tried tirelessly to persuade me to fall in love with the sport – but once our sons were born, settled for watching a game here or there in silence. 

While my appreciation for hockey is via my husband’s passion for the sport, I’ve always loved a good quote. So, when Frank Mattes referenced a Wayne Gretzky quote during our recent podcast, I knew I needed to seize the opportunity to create an article from it. The quote he brought up is, “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”

I don’t know many service organizations today that would claim they are satisfied with “good” and don’t desire to be “great.” Quite frankly, customers won’t allow that kind of complacency. So, if our aim is to be great, we need to determine where the puck is going to be and work on getting there. These are three areas of service where I feel it is especially important for organizations to think about how to get ahead. 

All Outcomes, All the Time

Where the Puck Is: We recognize that customers desire more than just products and services and are really demanding more outcomes. They want overall solutions from companies that meet a particular need, solve a specific challenge, and compliment the areas of expertise they have by filling in gaps of expertise, execution, or insight. Essentially, they want you to be able to guarantee you’ll deliver value in whatever form that is you provide. Transactions have become less appealing, partnerships more. Companies today are at varying stages of sorting through how to meet these more advanced needs. This is complex, because it requires not only service transformation but business transformation – which brings about layers of change. 

Where the Puck is Going: With few exceptions, I believe we’re going in the direction of almost everything As-a-Service. Customers want to be able to pay you for the value you deliver, no more. They want transparency on exactly what that value is, and that means the value it brings them – not the value of the output. To determine where your puck is going, you need to think about what your service does for your customers – what does it enable, solve, or change? That’s the outcome they want to purchase from you – not a line item of product or service. There are some great examples of organizations making strides toward where the puck is going, like Kaer, Baxi, and Cubic Transportation. 

Technology-Powered, People-Focused Service Delivery

Where the Puck Is: To consider where the puck is, let’s think about where the puck has been. Historically, field service was a manual effort – you relied in many ways on your people to go out into the world and do what you needed them to do. There was little to no visibility into when, where, or how it was done, but you and your customers trusted your workforce to get the job done. Then came digital transformation, and our focus shifted entirely to how digital could change the game. What can we automate? How can we drive efficiency? How do we connect, assess, and deliver insights in real-time? To some degree, we took the focus off our people and became distracted by digital in the sense of considering the tools we could use to control our workers rather than enable them. Today we are reconciling the reality that service success is technology-powered, but people-focused. 

Where the Puck is Going: Organizations who deliver outcomes realize they cannot do so with manpower alone. Mike Gosling of Cubic Transportation said so himself in our interview, “Adding field engineers to meet the demands of outcomes is not reasonable – technology is critical in today’s service landscape.” We need the power of modern digital tools to create the future of all outcomes, all the time – but where the puck is using digital to arm our employees with knowledge that compliments their passion for helping customers. To automate basic tasks that they find daunting or frustrating, so they can spend more time on what matters. To capture their incredible insight in a way that it can be shared easily with others. As much as our customers want the seamlessness experiences and real-time reactions that digital allows, they also want relationships with someone they trust. The puck is going to where our frontline workforce is more of a knowledge worker, a relationship builder than just a hands-on repair technician. 

Elite EX 

Where the Puck Is: I haven’t spoken to a business leader in ages who isn’t struggling with the talent gap. We can brainstorm new ideas for where and how to recruit the next generation of employees, but the reality is that without really digging into your employee experience, you won’t win the talent war long term. Most organizations today realize that to meet their CX objectives, they need to take a harder look at the engagement and satisfaction of their employees. On a podcast with Eduardo Bonefont of BD, we talk about how the company dug into what its employees were frustrated with and took real action to improve the EX and what benefit that has brought. 

Where the Puck is Going: To win the talent war sustainably, we need to genuinely acknowledge the irreplaceable role our frontline workforce plays in not only our service success but our brand persona and customer experience. Where the puck is going is a frontline workforce that is acknowledged, respected, and rewarded commiserate to the value they provide, particularly as companies shift toward the trusted advisor nature of outcomes-based service. Where the puck is going is a collaborative relationship with these employees versus top-down management because they hold insights about your customers – and a perspective on your business – that no one else does. 

Stay Connected

Related Content

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

August 8, 2022 | 3 Mins Read

Considerations for Fortifying Service Businesses Amid Economic Turmoil

August 8, 2022 | 3 Mins Read

Considerations for Fortifying Service Businesses Amid Economic Turmoil

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

While we could all use a break from anxiety-inducing headlines, business leaders have no choice but to digest and react to the news about our economic state. The degree of economic turmoil varies across the world, but with talk of numerous countries entering or nearing a recession, proactive steps to bolster business are important for all service organizations.

This McKinsey article suggests that no matter your current business outlook, “To start responding to the challenges of the present, any company can benefit from establishing a core team to read and comprehend the economic signals, translate them into a range of business implications, and serve as the fulcrum for agile decision making.” It goes on to provide thoughtful guidance for companies specifically in the United States looking to build resilience. 

The term agile is an important one, and my hope is that our collective experiences building muscles of resilience and agility throughout COVID have left companies in a stronger position to survive economic turmoil. During the pandemic, we became accustomed to new information every day – and were forced to learn how to react adeptly to continually changing circumstances. Those lessons weren’t learned with a temporary purpose, but to forever change the competence businesses have in adapting and overcoming challenges.

As I think about what could help service businesses weather an economic storm, a few things come to mind:

  • Keep your customer focus. The companies during the pandemic that I spoke with that experienced the least negative impact were those who reacted quickly to how their customers’ needs had changed. They focused in on the opportunity to tout the value of service in extending the lifespan of assets. They offered greater flexibility and played up OpEx offerings. They brainstormed creative marketing to highlight their abilities to meet new customer needs. When a panic button is pressed, the instinct to turn internal can be strong – but don’t forget that your customers are what will pull you through. Staying in tune to their needs, and how those needs may be evolving due to current circumstances, is critically important.
  • Make targeted investments to increase efficiency. Spending money to save money can seem counterintuitive when pressures are high, but there are ample scenarios where a targeted technology investment can achieve quick and significant ROI if you have particular areas of the business where productivity could really be bolstered. In this Deloitte article about resilience in manufacturing, there’s discussion around how targeted investments to increase productivity can be worthwhile. In fact, their data in this sector shows that higher investments before recessions bear higher returns during recovery periods. 
  • Protect company culture. When stress is high, often the burden can be passed to frontline employees, which can have a negative impact on productivity. In economic turmoil, your employees are just as stressed as you are – and often feel powerless. Remain conscious of their emotional wellbeing, and work to protect company culture. This doesn’t mean paining a rosy picture where there isn’t one, but rather communicating openly and honestly and – most importantly – remembering to acknowledge their hard work and effort even when the bigger picture might not be overly positive. 
  • Stay data driven. Insights and data should be prioritized over emotions and be used as the cornerstone of decision making. Being proactive is important, but so is being patient and pragmatic. It’s important that the entire company have an accurate picture of where things stand at any given time, both for decision making and general awareness. 

I wish you all the fortitude and stamina to face any challenges you’re up against. If there are topics that would be helpful for us to find experts to interview, please reach out and let me know. 

Stay Connected

Related Content

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

August 1, 2022 | 3 Mins Read

The Power of Problems

August 1, 2022 | 3 Mins Read

The Power of Problems

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Do you remember the two-part podcast I recorded with James Mylett, SVP, U.S. Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric? If you haven’t listened, there are many nuggets of wisdom throughout the conversation. I read an article the other day, though, that brought back to mind one of his points – how much he values root cause analysis (and how often it is rushed past). During the podcast he said, “When you think about a problem, everybody wants to go to ideation, and we don’t spend enough time first identifying the root cause of the problem. And so, my bias is to start at the problem and work backwards from that and put a solution in place that’s supported with data.”

This article by Sabina Nawaz in Harvard Business Review examines an even deeper layer of leadership misstep than failing to analyze root cause – discussing leaders who insist employees “bring me a solution, not a problem.” As Nawaz states in the article, this mentality can be chalked up to wanting to avoid employees complaining or “whining” and the hope to empower employees more by forcing them to solve problems. 

But there is power within problems, and leaders who don’t want to dig into root case – or worse, don’t want to even hear about problems – are overlooking a critical source of insight and perspective. Now of course we don’t want to create a culture where employees are whining about every minute “problem” they encounter – but if we are hiring strong talent and empowering them, would they? Doubtful. The problems your employees surface are important to them for a reason – and being open to listening and engaging is not only key to employee satisfaction but can reveal opportunities that would otherwise lie dormant. 

The Frontline Perspective

In field service, the importance of this topic is amplified because you are relying on a mostly remote workforce to be the face of your brand. The deal with customers often and encounter questions, thoughts, opinions, and yes – problems – others within your business don’t. They have an especially powerful line into what customers think, want, and need. Their take on what problems customers have can point you in the direction of how to improve and evolve your service offerings. 

At the same time, they play an especially impactful role in the Customer Experience; so, listening to their “problems” is also important. If there’s a frustration or issue keeping them from doing their job well, a leader should want to understand that so that it can be resolved and the employee experience – and customer experience – protected. 

This tendency of leaders to want to silence problems feels like an outdated mentality in a category along with fear of failure. Modern leaders who recognize the importance of culture and value the perspective of their talent don’t want to avoid hearing of problems, they want an openness to surface issues along with a collective willingness to dig in and solve them. They know that innovation doesn’t occur without failure and encourage employees to talk and think and try because they know if the responsibility to make the business better is shared, success is more likely. 

I often say, a problem doesn’t go away because you aren’t willing to talk about it. Employees who feel silenced will stew about whatever it is that is challenging them – and that will inevitably cause diminished performance than what they are capable of. We need to be not only able but committed to digging into problems because we see every one as a learning opportunity, and we need to take James’ advice to really understand their root cause before we jump to a solution. 

Stay Connected

Related Content

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Are XLAs the Key Metric You’re Missing? Part Two

Automation vs. Autonomy: 4 Ways to Ease Concerns Around AI in Field Service

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

July 25, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

It’s Time to Solve the Field Service Branding Problem

July 25, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

It’s Time to Solve the Field Service Branding Problem

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service 

Shortly before I left my post at Field Technologies, I wrote this article about the need to redefine the field service role. The need has only increased in the four+ years since I wrote that article, yet I don’t see a huge amount of effort being put into how we articulate and sell – in other words, brand – the field service opportunity. 

If you follow our content, you know that recruiting and hiring is a primary challenge for 95% or more of our audience. There are many reasons for this, but one that we have discussed is that field service has a bit of a branding problem. There are two common responses when field service is positioned – one is cluelessness as to what it even means, the second is a misperception that it consists entirely of “dirty,” grueling, low-paying work. Either response poses a huge problem for companies looking to recruit talent at impossible paces. 

The exciting news is that field service holds more potential not only for organizations but for individuals in its frontline roles than ever before. Further, the way we define, perceive, and incentives field service roles is rapidly evolving. What we need to do with this reality is seize the opportunity to work on a brand refresh of sorts so that we can convey not only what field service is, but why those looking for a new career opportunity should take note. 

What’s the Elevator Pitch?

In the article I linked earlier, I focused on things companies should consider about making job postings more inclusive, ensuring the proper prioritization of soft skills, and reflecting on whether or not incentives are relevant and enticing for today’s target employee. These are all still valid points, but what I’m thinking about today is a taking a step back and considering how we articulate what field service is a bit better. We need a good elevator pitch. 

At a friend’s recommendation, my husband and I have been watching the show Halt and Catch Fire. It was an AMC show, described by the network as, “Set in the 1980s, this series dramatizes the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas' Silicon Prairie.”

As an aside, it’s a good show and worth a watch. But this article isn’t about the show! In an episode we watched recently, one of the main characters, Joe MacMillan makes the statement, “Modern society sits on a foundation of services we take for granted.” That is field service. Field service: the services across a variety of industries that are the foundation of modern society. For example, [insert your industry’s service and what it enables here]. 

From this simple elevator pitch that highlights the importance of this group of industries no one knows by name, we can then begin to explain how it has evolved and continues to evolve and what that means in terms of the potential that exists in today’s careers. This is the point also where we need to reflect on how we are positioning roles we are recruiting for, what we’re offering in terms of career progression, and how we describe benefits and incentives. But starting with a simpler description for what field service means I believe is an important step. 

If you take the sentences I started with and consider how you would expand, you can begin to brainstorm all of the ways you can communicate the exciting things that have taken place in field service in recent years paired with what you’ve learned about what your target candidates value. Things not limited to, but along the lines of:

  • Explaining how equipment has transitioned from less mechanical to more digital
  • Discussing the role of the frontline as a knowledge worker, relationship builder, trusted advisor
  • Emphasizing career progression based on the ways we know service delivery is evolving in coming years
  • Ensuring communications are written in a way that appeals to and encourages a diverse set of candidates
  • Playing up important aspects like company culture, company and role purpose, flexibility, benefits and growth opportunities, and so on

Perhaps I am biased because I love this space and love what I do, but I think the positives to convey around what field service is and what it is becoming are abundant. I do think, though, that starting with a strong elevator pitch would help to create a greater awareness of not only what field service is, but the major role it plays in all our lives. What do you think?

Stay Connected

Related Content

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Are XLAs the Key Metric You’re Missing? Part Two

Automation vs. Autonomy: 4 Ways to Ease Concerns Around AI in Field Service

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

July 18, 2022 | 6 Mins Read

5 Notes to Take from Husky’s Introduction of Predictive Service

July 18, 2022 | 6 Mins Read

5 Notes to Take from Husky’s Introduction of Predictive Service

Share

By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service 

If you missed my recent podcast with Tony Black, President of Service at Husky Injection Molding Systems, it is worth the time to go back and listen. Tony relays firsthand the company’s recent efforts to create and rollout a new, predictive service model. As you know, I believe strongly in the value that comes from sharing our journeys and perspectives. While I’d never assume that Tony’s retelling of Husky’s path and lessons learned can serve as a blueprint for anyone else, I do believe there are nuggets of wisdom in these stories that can make a real difference.

I talk to many leaders who have passionate visions of how their company’s service model and service delivery can evolve, but struggle with execution. As such, what I want to do here is give my take on some of the points from Tony and I’s conversation that I think serve as important food for thought for others looking to take their visions to reality.   

#1: Predictive Is (or Soon Will Be) Essential to Remain Competitive

Husky’s introduction of its predictive service offering, Advantage Plus Elite, was a direct result of looking to meet modern customer needs. “We’re already a really good service business with talent founded on high responsiveness, really strong global infrastructure of technicians and service centers, and really close to our global customer base. But the real opportunity was to transform our service business with more predictive and proactive solutions, centered around delivering on our commitments to our customers and maintaining those commitments through the life cycle of our product,” says Tony. “Our customers operate their facilities 24/7 for the most part and produce very high volumes. Any performance erosion or unplanned downtime is really unacceptable. Coupled with complex technology, material changes happening in our industry, and the skilled talent shortage, our customers have come to us and said, ‘We really need you to help us maintain our performance with all these dynamics happening, but please do it in a proactive way. We can’t afford to do it the old way.’”

Whether you call it predictive service, proactive service, outcomes-based service, Servitization or XaaS, the through line is that customers today care far less about your products and even services and are beginning to demand uptime and peace of mind. Companies like Husky who are taking this demand seriously and evolving to meet today – and tomorrow’s - needs will leapfrog the competition that continues to embrace the status quo.

#2: Service Maturity Requires Digital Adeptness and Automation

You can’t achieve baseline acceptable service performance today without a reliance upon digital tools, let alone a predictive or outcomes-based approach. The level of sophistication that Husky is aiming for – that any company looking to progress along the services maturity continuum is – cannot be achieved by scaling manpower alone. It requires a strong digital strategy and proficient use of technology, as well as a reliance on automation. 

“Advantage Plus Elite is powered by technology we call NSM. NSM is developed by a full-time team of SMEs here at Husky. They’ve identified, through their experience, the key variables to monitor, the tools to use to detect trends, and the dashboards to monitor, and then proactively see the potential issues, but also do this at scale,” explains Tony. “We launched this officially a little over a year ago. Since then, we’ve stood up monitoring centers here in Bolton, Canada, in Luxembourg, in Shanghai, Mexico, Japan and Brazil all staffed with monitoring center specialists. When those specialists, using the NSM detect a trend or a problem, potential problem, they issue a ‘We Call You’ to the customer’s plant in local language. And this is all done 24/7. That ‘We Call You’ explains the issue, and then the solution is also explained. Sometimes this alone gives the customer enough information to resolve the issue themselves. If not, we connect and aim to resolve it remotely. The third option is, we send in an informed technician and sometimes even send the part in advance as well. In all of these cases, we then monitor the solution and verify that we’ve really found the root cause.”

#3: People (Human Centricity) Must Balance Technology

While Husky’s offering relies on automation, Tony was sure to emphasize the critical role people play in the success of the company’s new service model. This is a point echoed in many of the conversations I have – we know that for customers, it isn’t just about the guaranteed uptime or performance, but also the relationship. Customers want human touch and a level of knowledge and insight that helps differentiate the company further than simply predicting and proactively resolving issues – this is where the ‘trusted advisor’ term we hear so often come into play.

“We balance the technology with Husky people, people power. Each contract has a dedicated program manager, and that program manager facilitates a weekly and a monthly 30-minute standup meeting with the plant to go over the prior week’s We Call Yous. They use a standard weekly performance report showing the trend of unplanned downtime, OEE, energy usage, and so on,” explains Tony. “That weekly meeting combined with the technology allows our customers to be hardwired into the Husky knowledge base 24/7. That combination has really proven to be powerful.”

#4: Remote Service Does Not Threaten Service Jobs

When we start discussing the role that connected assets, remote monitoring, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence play in service today – and how their role is rapidly expanding – it often causes tension or angst among the frontline workforces. They fear technology will replace their jobs. That is absolutely not the case, and an important initial step in managing change is to ensure they understand and truly believe that.

Will there be less on-site service work over time? Of course, but it remains an important service delivery model even with a remote-first strategy. In new models like Husky has introduced, any reduction in on-site work is balanced by ample opportunities for new service roles. “It’s a fallacy to think you can just have this magical AI and bots and automation, auto emails. There is always going to be a requirement for a tech base close to our customers, period,” emphasizes Tony. “The type of techs and the number of super techs you need, the mix is going to change, but they will always be needed. And again, what we’re doing is we’re creating more informed technicians.”

What’s exciting, though, is how Husky’s story illustrates the way a mature service model will create new service roles that can be filled – in part – by service technicians who no longer desire to be on-site. “There are three new roles with the introduction of this solution. There’s the program manager, there’s the monitoring center specialist, and then we have connectivity specialists who are located closer to our customers,” says Tony. “The program manager role is creating new opportunities for employees inside Husky. We have a really strong group of program managers, a complete cross section of people with different backgrounds, all have good program management skills, but a real high energy group, good with customers, but also understand how to work with the SMEs. These new roles are being filled by technicians. Not just technicians, others as well, but there’s a good mix of technicians who are really interested in doing this.”

#5: Execute Before Expanding

A final point Tony made in the conversation is around keeping your focus as you begin your transformation journey to a predictive or outcomes-based model. As he says, it can be tempting to get wrapped up in the potential and try to take on too much too soon, but it is best to keep things simple at the start while managing the internal and external change.

“Focus is important. As you go down this path, it’s really easy to start thinking about a lot of things that you want to do and can do. And what can happen is you just kind of get paralyzed and you don’t really get anything done really well,” says Tony. “So, my advice here, very specifically, is just focus on several key insights. Just one good insight can provide enormous value for our customers. And it builds you. It builds a platform to expand on. So, don’t worry about having 50 great insights. Have one and start. And customers will see value. It’s a journey, right? It’s a continuous journey. And you keep innovating and adding insights as you go and as you learn.”

Stay Connected

Related Content

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?

Most Recent

As AI Unlocks the Promise of IoT, It’s Time to Double Down on Service Innovation

From IoT to GenAI and Beyond: Advice for Building Intelligent Connected Solutions

What Does It Take to Thrive Vs. Merely Survive in the Experience Economy?