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July 11, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Tetra Pak Shares 5 Considerations for Service Transformation Success 

July 11, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Tetra Pak Shares 5 Considerations for Service Transformation Success 

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

At the Future of Field Service Live Tour event in Stockholm, I was joined for a session by Berit Hallgren, Program Director at Tetra Pak. In her role, Berit is focused on driving the company’s strategic focus on service operations optimization. Berit has been with the company for more than 30 years and is an experienced change driver with vast experience in project management and people management. 

Berit’s demonstrated history of driving large, global business transformation projects within supply chain and services was clear in our discussion as she spoke to the many layers involved in achieving success with change at scale. As surfaces in many of my conversations, we touched on the fact that so much of a company’s success (or failure) with service transformation comes down to people. But Berit also shared some tactical tips that have helped her over her career ensure that a massive transformation progress through its phases to ultimately deliver the intended impact. Here, she shares her five considerations for successful transformation.  

#1 – Be Clear on Your Why

First and foremost, be sure you know why you’re doing what you’re doing – when the bumps in the road appear, and they will, you need to hold to your why to keep things on course. “Be clear on why you are doing what you’re doing,” says Berit. “What are the problems you want to solve? Because if that is not clear, how can you communicate to your audiences?”

Make sure your why considers the needs of all relevant stakeholders. For their current program, Tetra Pak began with a thorough analysis. “So, the first thing we did was an analysis. I brought together a team with finance, HR, market experience, service experience, and project management experience and myself,” explains Berit. “We did a detailed analysis to understand what are really the areas that we need to transform and how do we make that happen? Our objective came out through that analysis.”

#2 – Know Exactly What You Want to Transform

A vision of your ideal finish line is not enough to get you there, however. “And then, you need to determine what are the areas you want to transform in the end? It must be very clear for people, so they understand we are not going everywhere. We are going in these specific areas,” says Berit.

For Tetra Pak, the analysis resulted in four objectives and four levers, or ways in which the company will meet its objectives. This is clear and consumable, helping the company stay focused on the purpose of the journey and making the “how” simple to understand. 

“It’s exciting to have a clear vision of where we want to go, but we need to do that in a step wise journey. Always putting the customer first and putting the employees first as well. That's really what excites me – what we can bring to our customers, to our employees, and also to the company with this whole transformation and the new opportunities it brings for the future,” says Berit.

#3 – Get Outside-In Perspective

I believe this is a consideration that companies often fall short on, because there is immense value in outside perspective. “The outside in perspective is super important as well,” says Berit. “That I would also really advise. Successful companies can tend to focus more on themselves than on the customers and the outside input, but there is a lot of value that can come from doing so.”

Getting some outside-in perspective can also help you to benchmark where you are and where you desire to be to help guide the transformation. “Being able to show to the organization, ‘This is where we want to go. This is where we are.’ That becomes really, really powerful,” adds Berit.

#4 – Communicate Change in a Personalized Manner

It’s critical to communicate effectively around change but doing so in a personalized manner is the key to that communication being impactful. To do this, you have to know your audience well and communicate the aspects of the transformation that are relevant to them in a way that resonates. “‘What's in it for me?’ You need to be able to explain that for the customer, for your employees, and for the company as well, because it's not the same message to all of these people,” explains Berit.

Often a company develops one narrative around its change and uses that message with the masses, but this impersonal approach doesn’t take into consideration what matters most to each intended audience – which limits the ability to gain buy-in and commitment the way a personalized approach will.

“We have a clear communication plan for all of our projects, of course. Change and communications work closely together. We have a change manager for the program because if you don't take change management seriously, there is a huge risk for failure,” says Berit.

#5 – Have Courage

This was my favorite point of Berit’s, simply because it was so clear that it is a trait she exemplifies that has helped her track record of success over a long career at Tetra Pak. “And finally, have courage. That's probably one of my stronger skills. I'm persistent, ‘So, okay. It didn't go this way. Let's try the other way.’ Because you need that when you drive a big transformation. You have to be persistent, because it will take time. There will be challenges, but it will happen if you have decided it will happen,” she proclaims. 

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June 27, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

The Potential of Service Has No Limit

June 27, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

The Potential of Service Has No Limit

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

On this week’s podcast, we’ll share our first full session from the Future of Field Service Live Tour. This session is a conversation with Jean Claude Jobard, VP of EMEA, Marmon Link at Marmon Foodservice Technologies. Jean Claude has been involved in service for more than 25 years, having formerly held roles at Tetra Pak and Sidel. 

Our session in Paris centered around Jean Claude’s views of what he thinks field service will look like in 2025 and what companies need to be doing today to be ready. You can tell as soon as you speak to Jean Claude how passionate he is about the topic of service, which is something I both admire and relate to. Toward the end of our conversation, I asked Jean Claude what lesson he learned in his former roles that he feels will help him in his relatively new role with Marmon.

I loved his answer. He said, “A few years back, a supply chain head at the company I worked for told us, ‘efficiency has no limit.’ I believe this applies to service as well. Service has no limit. When you see the different level of maturity from one company to another, even the ones that are on top today are nowhere near the end of what’s possible. We’re only at the beginning. There is so much we can do, and it's not only about making money. That’s part of it and certainly possible, but this is also about delivering value to our customers through service. If you listen to your customers properly, you really embed that into your development, there is no limit to the ways you can help them.”

What’s Holding Us Back?

I agree with Jean Claude. In my opening session at the Live Tour events, I spoke about the power of storytelling in service and one of the “stories” that I think is so compelling in service today is the wealth of potential that exists. Perhaps some companies are bound by their legacy in a way that prevents them from seeing that potential, but I believe many do see it and want to bring it to fruition.

But if that is the case, what is holding us back? Why are so many companies “stuck” in the status quo or struggling to create new services that meet different customer needs?

Well, Jean Claude pointed to a few of those reasons in our discussion.

Companies struggle with defining their modern service value proposition. “We have to understand we are not selling technology. We are not selling digital. I mean, maybe some are, but we should not,” says Jean Claude. “The way we work today is our digital team telling us, you know what, this is what we have developed. Now you go and sell it. But this is not service. So, what we want to sell – what we should be selling – are services supported by digital technology. This is where we really bring value to customers, not selling digital but by using it as a tool to better meet our customers’ needs.”

Companies lack strong leadership. “One of the biggest barriers is leadership. Leadership to set the vision. And I want to elaborate a bit on that one. Setting the vision. How can I imagine? I mean, you don't know what you don't know. If in your company you want to develop a service vision, you need to talk to other people that are far above what you do,” says Jean Claude. “Leadership has to see and set that vision and you need benchmarking. Then there are people at the management level who might not believe that in the suggested changes that can bring additional value to the service.” So whether your top-level leaders are lacking a vision for service, or they have a clear vision but middle management isn’t bought in, leadership that isn’t aligned on service strategy make it incredibly difficult for an organization to achieve its service potential. 

Companies see the potential but lack the courage to change. “This requires courage, because what we will do tomorrow is not what we do today. And there will be resistances. It takes courage to implement the change because it is a working role and it's not continuous improvement. It's really a change. You also have to consider selling the change to your customers, by the way,” adds Jean Claude. This is a topic I wrote about recently, discussing the fact that many companies want the benefit of service transformation but aren’t willing to put in the hard work required to achieve that change. There are no short cuts here that can get you to the benefit without the investment – if anything, we find companies who attempt short cuts to be set further back than they were when they began. 

Service remains siloed. “In many companies that have recognized that service can bring a lot of not only revenue, but margin, everybody's begun saying service first, service first, service first. But over the last two years in my previous company, on a quarterly basis we’d have the presentation of results. There was not one single presentation from service. This is where management needs to walk the talk,” says Jean Claude.

Despite these challenges, the future is bright for service and there is progress being made within many organizations to remove these barriers to its potential. 

Stay tuned for the full session with Jean Claude on the podcast this week!

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June 20, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

You Want Transformation, But Are You Prepared to Change?

June 20, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

You Want Transformation, But Are You Prepared to Change?

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I’ve become an avid Peloton user, and the other morning instructor Jess Sims shared a message in her class that resonated with me in a few ways. She said, “everyone wants the transformation, but not everyone wants to change.”

At the end of 2021, I realized I’d gained 30 pounds during the year. Now obviously I knew I’d gained weight, but I had avoided the scale because I wasn’t ready to face the facts. This was a combination of things – in late 2020 I had Covid which took me out of my healthy routines, that led into the holidays, the holidays led into another full year of Covid stress on top of other things and it simply snowballed. Going into 2022, I knew I needed the transformation, and I was ready for the change. 

I have lost all 30 pounds since and have been reminded how much better I feel – physically and mentally – when I exercise every day. I did a Whole30 in January to reset my nutrition habits and since that ended, I’ve simply focused on being mindful of my choices but not restricting or tracking what I eat, because that doesn’t feel right for me. There have been days that I have wanted to make short term choices that don’t support my long-term goals, but I’ve kept the end game in mind and have stayed committed to the (ongoing) change. 

What does this have to do with field service? Well, I’ve seen the same concept play out often – a company wants the value of transformation but isn’t willing to put in the arduous work of change. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they simply don’t realize the level of change required to truly transform. Other times you have pockets of the organization who embrace the change and others who resist, slowing and sometimes halting transformation. Maybe a company is stuck on a certain layer of change that is uniquely complex. Sometimes the intensity of it all causes a sort of burnout and efforts fizzle. And so on. 

In my years creating content in this space, I’ve been asked by technology vendors often: What’s the next big thing? We’ve already discussed X topic so much; we need to address something new. And I say: yes and no. There’s nothing wrong with being forward thinking and pondering what the future holds. But in service the reality is that there’s still a significant amount of quite foundational transformation that needs to be done before those companies can even consider what’s next, and that’s the case because the topics we’ve been discussing for five even 10 years seem super simple on paper but are incredibly complex to execute in the realities of the business. 

To See the Potential, You Have to Put in The Work

It’s true that there can be no transformation without change. When I ask a leader what held the business back from success or what was the #1 lesson learned, the most common answer is change management. We know change is hard, but we also know it’s necessary – so rather than avoiding it, we need to embrace it and to make it a fiber of our culture. 

Generally, I think the issues lie less in companies not being willing to put in the work than not recognizing which areas will demand focus or to what extent. Here are a few points to consider:

  • Start with clarifying the purpose of your transformation (and make sure it is crystal clear for the purpose of communicating to others)
  • Determine what success looks like and how you’ll measure progress (be realistic)
  • Involve stakeholders early to validate your thinking, surface objections, and create buy-in
  • Ensure the team you have involve is cross functional as this is one way you’ll avoid disjointedness and surprise challenges
  • Be committed to the change but not to the methods – be flexible enough to consider that the path to success may wind, but as long as you’re making forward progress you are doing it “right”
  • Communicate early and often and over and over. If you think you’ve said it a million times, say it again – and always with your audience’s “why” in mind
  • Own the fact that you must make your transformation personal for everyone in your business you expect to carry it out. Unless you can reach the finish line alone (and you can’t), it needs to matter to them as much as it matters to you. How will you achieve this? Communication is key, but so is employee engagement, recognition, incentives, input and leadership
  • Expect bumps in the road and normalize failure

There’s so much more I could add, but this is a start. Seeing the industry’s progress from a bit of a distance over more than a decade, I recognize how we’re collectively moving along the path. There are leaders who have truly successful transformed service to be a customer-centric, digitally capable profit center and who are ready to innovate above and beyond. There are some who have tried and failed because they weren’t ready for the change, who must pick themselves up and try again. And many in between. 

What excites me is the potential that I believe lies just on the other side of this hard work of transformation. Yes, the work is never done – and that’s OK. Part of evolving to be a modern business is recognizing that the change is really ongoing and that the transformation is never “complete.” Embracing that is what fuels your journey and allows you to surpass your initial objectives time and time again.

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June 13, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Redefining “CIO” for the Modern Digital Age

June 13, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Redefining “CIO” for the Modern Digital Age

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

About a month ago, I came across an interview on LinkedIn that Carin Forsling, Managing Director of Boston Consulting Group, did with Mats Hultin, CIO of Ericsson on business-led digital transformation. During the interview, Mats states that he views is role as CIO not as Chief Information Office but as Chief Integration Officer. 

This point stood out to me, for a few reasons. First, surfacing in more and more conversations I’m having is the importance of a role (or roles) to coordinate, choreograph, align, or harmonize the strategic efforts within a business – particularly as it relates to both digital transformation and innovation. Second, we know that when companies see their digital transformation efforts fall short of expectations, it is very often due to organizational siloes. 

Mats viewing his role as one of integration is indicative of a deep understanding of what it takes to succeed in today’s digital world; it exudes an awareness that the information (i.e., technology) is only impactful if it is well integrated into the business. And, while I’ve also heard said the new role of the CIO is Chief Innovation Officer, I like Mats’ description far better – because even innovation, when siloed, cannot scale without integration.

“Not only is the CIO’s role to build bridges between the business and IT,” says Mats, “but it is also about understanding and coordinating the needs, objectives, and opinions of various stakeholders. To be impactful, it is important to have a holistic view and then create a cohesive approach that everyone is bought into. This is how you avoid the detrimental siloes.”

While I was in Stockholm for the Future of Field Service Live Tour, I had an opportunity to sit down with Mats to ask him some of my own questions about Chief Integration role. We know that historically there is often a great divide between the business and IT in many companies – the business feels IT “doesn’t get it,” and IT becomes frustrated that the business thinks it knows best. This is the first area in which the concept of integration is so powerful. “A significant part of the CIO role is coordinating efforts – working to build bridges between the business and IT,” says Mats. 

Three Key Areas of Focus

When he thinks of the integration responsibilities within his CIO role, Mats points to three major areas of focus. First is addressing the different perspectives that exist in any business. “Not only is the CIO’s role to build bridges between the business and IT,” says Mats, “but it is also about understanding and coordinating the needs, objectives, and opinions of various stakeholders. To be impactful, it is important to have a holistic view and then create a cohesive approach that everyone is bought into. This is how you avoid the detrimental siloes.”

The second area of focus is around customer journeys. While it is quite widely understood that transformation and innovation are most effective when done from the outside in, not every company takes that approach. “I see an important part of my role as the understanding of our customer journeys to ensure that we are making investment and prioritization decisions on what will benefit them most,” says Mats. 

Finally, of course Mats is responsible for the integration of technology. As the sophistication of technology increases, so too does the onus to keep centered on business value, usability, and purpose. “We need to be sure that our systems are well integrated to meet the needs of our employees, our customers, and ultimately the business,” says Mats. “We rely on core partners to deliver foundational systems, we look for opportunities to leverage the latest in AI and automation, and most importantly we focus on how all of our technology works together seamlessly.” And while each of these three areas requires its own integration, all three require overarching integration to tie customer needs to the business views and then tie strategy to execution.  

A Look to the Future

I think Mats has hit the nail on the head in how he views his role. He realizes that there can be numerous “brains” in the operation, but if wonderful ideas aren’t knit into a plan, companies spin in place. He also knows that there’s incredible potential in digital, but that it must be tied to business needs, and integrated into business practices, for that potential to come to life. 

As we look ahead, there’s no doubt in my mind that a greater focus on “integration” will help to eliminate the organization siloes that are holding many companies back not only from digital transformation ROI, but also business model evolution and broader innovation. Putting leaders like Mats in place who recognize the power of different perspectives, but feel a personal responsibility to build those bridges, is the way forward. 

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June 6, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Leading Change Vs. Leading Innovation

June 6, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Leading Change Vs. Leading Innovation

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Linda Hill, researcher, professor of business administration, and chair of the Leadership Initiative at Harvard Business School, speak in late 2019 at the IFS World Conference in Boston. I found not only her insights but her passion for her work very compelling and have been following her on social media ever since. 

Not long ago, Dr. Hill was a guest on Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead podcast – and I will pause here to tell you that reading my write-up on one of the points they discussed is no substitute for going immediately to listen to the full episode. The discussion was around “Leading with Purpose in the Digital Age,” and throughout Dr. Hill shares a wealth of perspectives she gleaned while conducting research and writing her book Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation (named one of the 20 best business books by Business Insider). 

Being a fan of both women’s content and work, it was super interesting for me to hear them become more aware of the ways in which what they each do intersect (Dr. Hill being focused on business leadership and innovation; Brené being well known for her work on vulnerability, courage, and creativity – both as individuals and as leaders). In a nutshell, they arrive early on in the conversation that success – or failure – with digital transformation and innovation has little to do with technology and a whole lot to do with people (and human interaction, communication, company culture, etc.). I was suppressing screams of “YESSSS!” while listening, because of course I hear this exact point play out on a very regular basis. 

Again, in the episode, they dig in to so many topics that are valuable to go and hear firsthand – digital literacy, power dynamics, creating a culture of change, how to fuel innovation, how to lead well in relation to all of these things, and much more. But in addition to sharing a resource that I think is an excellent listen for you all, the one point I wanted to touch on here briefly is the wisdom Dr. Hill shares on the differences between leading change and leading innovation. 

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Historically, we’ve looked at leadership as a whole. Is the leader a good leader? Are they empathetic, do they have high emotional intelligence? But in today’s business landscape, the reality is that digital transformation and immense disruption have created the need for us to better define how to lead based on what it is we’re trying to accomplish. In the episode, many of the emotional struggles Brené picks up on Dr. Hill speaking about are created by ambiguity. This ambiguity can be cleared by better defining what type of leaders we need in which areas and phases of the business, and what skills make for success based on our goals.

Dr. Hill says, “Leading innovation and leading change are different. When you lead change, you have a vision, and you are trying to inspire people to follow you to the future. When you’re trying to innovate, you don’t actually have a vision. You can’t inspire people to get there because you don’t know where you’re going. What you have is a purpose, and a purpose is why you’re going and what you’re trying to do versus where.”

Just based on this clarification, you can begin to see why there’s no universal fit for leadership. What makes a leader very strong at driving change and another successful at spawning innovation are very different, and it is highly unlikely that a leader would be skilled in both ways. 

Dr. Hill adds, “Innovation is about how you get people to co-create the future with you, not follow you to the future. It’s a very different process. So, what’s co-creation about, versus vision and followership? We need to build the capacity to collaborate, which his about diversity and difference. The other piece is can we experiment and learn together? Can we adapt and pivot when we need to? This is about culture and capabilities – being able to flex those muscles.” Dr. Hill shares that she’s working on a new book, Scaling Genius, that digs further into this topic. 

Perhaps your focus is on digital transformation, and if so, knowing how to lead change well and inspire your employees to embrace your vision is important. Or maybe you’re looking to encourage larger innovation, and if so, you need not only different leadership skills but likely different organizational structures, accounting measures, and working processes to succeed. Many companies are working simultaneously on both, and then it becomes increasingly important to know what type of leadership works best where. We know that people and culture are the crux of what makes us successful, so gaining clarity on what types of strong leaders are best suited to spearhead your goals is very important. 

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An Employee Appreciation Brainstorm

May 31, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

An Employee Appreciation Brainstorm

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

As I’ve traveled from city to city on the Future of Field Service Live Tour, there are some central themes that have surfaced in nearly every conversation. One of them is the need to focus more on employee engagement and experience, including:

  • Evolving how we train, upskill, and continually improve
  • Putting more focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Incorporating more empathy and human centricity into our leadership
  • Prioritizing the need to listen more to employees’ ideas, challenges, and feedback
  • Getting more creative about how we make our employees feel appreciated, recognized, and valued for what they do

In this article, I want to do a bit of brainstorming on that last point. I think what happens when we think about employee appreciation and recognition is that we went to think big – and while that isn’t a bad thing, it also isn’t always necessary. Often it is the smaller and more personal acts that have the bigger impact. So, while we can certainly think big, we shouldn’t shy away of thinking small and really just removing any preconceived notions about “what’s been done before.” It is, however, essential to do the thinking – and then the acting – on this important topic. With the competition for talent at an all-time high, and the role of the frontline workforce imperative to your customer experience objectives, ensuring your employees feel valued for their contributions has never been more important. 

I recently interviewed Arran Stewart, Co-Founder and CVO of blockchain-powered recruitment platform Job.com for the podcast and asked his input. “I truly believe that you should do regular reviews and always look to recognition and reward. You should build a recognition and reward culture. Celebrate small wins and make it publicly known what that human being achieved so that throughout the company they feel like they have been recognized,” he says. “And I know companies try and do it with things like employee of the week, employee of the month. I think you can be a lot more creative than that. I also think that rewarding people can be very simple in a sense like, hey, did you know that you’re being taken out for lunch today by the boss? That makes people feel great. It does.”

Arran also gave the excellent suggestion of never overlooking the value of polling your audience when you’re looking to make changes and be more creative. He gives an example in regard to recruiting: “Try and use that bottom-up feedback to maybe more senior ranking members of the company to realign the strategy around benefits, packages, attraction methods, work conditions, work style, all these different components that might then readjust, realign the dials in your hiring and recruitment strategy that will make it work for you,” he says. “I think that’s probably the best way. Listen to the candidate. That’s the best. The source of truth is right in front of you. You can read as many articles as you like, you can look at as many bits of information as you like. Go talk to the source. They’ll tell you. And if you see a trend, then you know that’s what needs to change.”

Think Outside the Box

This advice can also apply to understanding better how your employees would like to feel appreciated. If you aren’t sure what will resonate, ask! If you’re hesitant to do so, let me share a variety of ideas I compiled from a discussion on social media:

  • “A nice, handwritten note and food.”
  • “The best thing a company every did for me was gift a hotel and flight points for both myself and my spouse so that we could go away for a long weekend after months of working on an exhausting project. I was quickly headed toward burnout, and it helped that they saw it and wanted to make a difference.”
  • “Extra time off.”
  • “Wellness days. One day off a month or some regular interval with $100 toward spa, massage, or fitness.”
  • “It must start with fair compensation.”
  • “I think the biggest key to feeling appreciated is having a manager who listens to your ideas, gives you credit for them when they are worth pursuing, helps me achieve work/life balance, and trusts me to do a good job.”
  • “Don’t forget to say it – often simple communication is overlooked.”
  • “My company gives awards which have associated points that you can then use to buy a ton of different things.”
  • “Just saying thank you goes further than most realize.”
  • “Public shout outs or recognition for hard work are nice so that you feel you can be celebrated not just by a leader but by your teammates.”

Maybe some of these seem feasible for your organization and others don’t. There are also countless other ideas that you could come up with given a bit of effort. And that’s the point – make the effort! Never underestimate the value of the simplest things, but don’t be afraid to think differently and think big. Ultimately, making your employees feel appreciated goes a long way toward a positive company culture which will pay dividends in engagement and retention. 

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Maybe What Field Service Needs is a Dose of Fresh Perspective

May 23, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Maybe What Field Service Needs is a Dose of Fresh Perspective

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

As I’ve traveled from city to city the last two months for the Future of Field Service Live Tour, I’ve been reminded how much perspective is gained by meeting new people and seeing different places. By getting out of your comfort zone and removing the lens of familiarity. I grew up in a small town and I didn’t take my first flight until I was in college (my father still has never flown) so the opportunity to soak up these experiences is one I always cherish.

The feedback I’ve received from those who have joined us at the Paris, London, and Frankfurt stops of the Live Tour has echoed the value of perspective. Points such as “the event was insightful,” “I left re-energized about my objectives,” “this gave me food for thought AND food for action,” and “there’s so much power in collaborating in person this way,” have not only made me feel thankful for the ability to bring Future of Field Service to life in this way but have also reminded me of the power of fresh perspective. No one in attendance has all of the answers or a universal blueprint for success, but the act of stepping aside from the day-to-day for a few hours to engage with peers and share ideas has sparked new insights and new energy.

Thinking about the value of fresh perspective, I wonder if it is exactly what field service needs right now. Organizations spinning their wheels rather than achieving their objectives are almost always thinking too small, acting without input, or working inside siloes. Each of these challenges could be alleviated by seeking out more perspective.

For instance, I mentioned at last week’s Frankfurt event that it’s my opinion we need to stop hyper-focusing on “field” service and instead broaden our perspective to all of service. How does the organization operate? Field service shouldn’t be a silo. How is the value proposition presented to customers? Service should be seamless (which it isn’t when siloed). Do our customers only care about a positive field service experience, or a positive experience overall? In this scenario, taking in the perspective of the customer can point us to what changes need to be made within our strategy, execution, technology mix, or skills to ensure we are meeting today’s demands.

Perspective is also critical when it comes to recruiting, hiring and retention – as well as change management. Do you understand your employees’ wants, needs, and feelings? Do you try to put yourself in their shoes? Today’s talent is far different than that of even five years ago. Broadening your perspective on what they want and why they want it will help you achieve better results in a tight labor market. And when it comes to managing change, keeping the perspective of your employees top of mind is in many ways the key to success.

How Perspective Aids Change Management

At last week’s event, Marc Ringwelski, Product Manager at REMA TIP TOP shared how he has gained traction in the company’s journey to delivering outcomes-based service. The initial phase of this journey was to introduce the IFS platform to improve data accuracy and availability and to standardize processes. To help manage this change, he spent ample time doing ride-alongs with field technicians. When asked by the audience how he determined which feedback of theirs to incorporate, he said “I really tried to put myself in their shoes, and I was able to do that far better by seeing what they needed firsthand by joining them on the job.” The perspective he gained from this investment of his time not only helped the company to make improvements to the solution, but it showed the employees how much he valued their input.

While valuable, perspective isn’t always easy to gather because as humans we often like to believe we have it all figured out. The first step toward our own fresh perspective is realizing the value of thinking differently. From there we need exposure – you can’t change your perspective with the same-old, same-old. Whatever you’re needing to think differently on, step outside of your norm – go somewhere new, look outside of your industry for ideas, spend time with different people, ask varied opinions. Then work on listening to your gut on what you must hold true to and what beliefs or opinions or ideas it is time for you to make a shift on.

So much of service, of field service, is changing and fresh perspective can help take us outside of the view of that change being scary or daunting and instead help us see that it holds a wealth of opportunity.

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How Will Customer Success Roles Expand in the Future of Field Service?

May 16, 2022 | 3 Mins Read

How Will Customer Success Roles Expand in the Future of Field Service?

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

When I wrote my synopsis of Field Service Palm Springs, one of the themes I mentioned is a discussion around Customer Success. In an ask-me-anything session, an audience member asked the panel if their organizations currently have customer success roles and, if so, how they are structured – what the responsibilities entail, where they report into, and how they are funded. 

Keeping the panelists anonymous, let me share some of the highlights of the answers: 

  • “Yes, we have customer success managers within the aftermarket team and they are responsible for putting together a cross-functional team to help achieve customer outcomes. Each customer success manager is responsible for three to four accounts and we’ve had this in place for about 10 years. They are funded within the value we receive from large customer contracts and we’ve had success with this approach.”
  • “We have customer service managers within our IT services. They perform quarterly business reviews on each customer and generate a lot of data, including customer satisfaction. We focus on ensuring the data is actionable and their cost is built into our services.”
  • “Our customer success managers exist fundamentally to deeply understand customer expectations and to translate that into service requirements. Their cost is built in.”

These answers make me think about what the future of customer success within field service may look like. As we progress more toward delivering outcomes and rely more heavily on the use of self-service, remote service, AI and ML, we know the role of the frontline technician will evolve. Yes, evolve – not disappear. But with less unnecessary on-site visits and a move toward more technical versus mechanical work, those resources will be freed to spend some degree more time on value-add efforts.

Would it make sense for some of that value-add work to include aspects of customer success? It may. Of course every industry and every company varies, so it is impossible to give a universal prediction or recommendation. That said, in the present-day world of outcomes being customers’ primary focus (versus products or services), the purpose of customer success in ensuring outcomes are being delivered, customer expectations are clear and satisfaction is understood, and ample data is compiled on value delivered are all very important. 

During our Paris Live Tour event, we talked quite a bit about what the future of the field technician role may look like. And I brought up the point that perhaps what we need to be considering is some sort of segmentation – rather than a “one role does all” approach, as the value being delivered shifts from transaction to outcome, perhaps we need to examine the potential of a combination of roles. You could still have the technician, who does the hands-on, on-site work when required. You could have a sort of customer success role, who handles some of the remote service work and also ensures expectations are being met. And then you’ll need to determine if a third, relationship-focused role is required – essentially someone responsible for selling and managing the account by developing relationships with key stakeholders within the customer. 

Some sort of segmentation may work well when it comes to leveraging talent, because not all traditional field technicians have the inclination or even capacity to do more of the customer-facing, relationship work. Maintaining a role that is more technical and mechanical and leaving the trusted advisor status to someone with more passion for building relationships could work best in certain scenarios. Again, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but we’re piecing together a puzzle of many pieces including service evolution away from break-fix, customer expectations for outcomes and insights, the need to modernize service with self-service and remote service capabilities, the talent gap, and the development of the traditional field technician role into something – or multiple things – different. 

For today, know that those questioned at the event are not only using customer success in service but finding real value in doing so. If you have moved beyond a transactional model (which hopefully you have or are!), I think putting customer success in place is an important step to ensuring your customers achieve the outcomes they’re looking to you to provide and feel you are invested in their success. 

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Key Topics at Field Service Palm Springs 2022

May 2, 2022 | 4 Mins Read

Key Topics at Field Service Palm Springs 2022

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Last week, as the last of the Coachella-ers left Palm Dessert, the attendees of Field Service Palm Springs arrived for what felt like the event’s real post-Covid comeback. While WBR did put on a November session of its historically April-timed event, it didn’t quite feel then like the industry was ready to be back. Last week, it did. Attendance was strong, energy was positive, and it felt like as close to the “before” as we can expect. 

The three-day event was filled with some great presentations and discussions, although I was disappointed to see some early morning sessions sparsely attended likely due to too much fun the nights prior. Even after years of attending this event there were some really insightful, impactful points and thoughts that made it into my notebook (yes, I still take notes on paper). 

I plan to expand on some of these points and topics in the coming weeks, but for now I am simply going to share a compilation of some of my personal favorite highlights. In no particular order, here are some of the things that stood out to me:

  • Today’s leaders must embrace change and understand the value of kindness and compassion. Kacy Drury of Everi discussed how and why so many leaders avoid change, and the negative impact this is having on the industry’s potential. She also spoke about how the emotional distance many leaders were accustomed to keeping prior to the pandemic is a thing of the past – today’s leaders can thrive by being kind and compassionate.
  • Technology can be a culprit or a solution to organizational siloes. During a panel discussion about “Scrapping Siloes,” leaders from Cincinnati Inc, Everi, and Hobart discussed the ways in which technology can support organizations eliminating siloes (by democratizing knowledge and offering a common language) or fuel them (with disparate systems and poor processes).
  • Stories can drive digital acceptance. Serendipitously, Alban Cambournac of Schneider Electric spoke just after my opening session on storytelling to share three stories of how digital impacts the world in very human ways. He spoke about how by focusing not on the tech, but what the tech can do in people’s lives, we can go further. 
  • “If data isn’t actionable, it shouldn’t exist.” This was said by Marlene Kolodziej of RICOH Digital Services. Data was a hot topic of discussion, but Marlene’s quote summarizes quite well the consensus – whether we’re talking about data as an internal enabler or an external value proposition. Leaders seemed to agree that while nearly every business today recognizes the criticality of data and has taken steps to collect it, many are still struggling with what to do with it. This was discussed in relation to connected device data that sits siloed, technician knowledge that is inaccessible, and customer-facing data that is cumbersome. 
  • Despite pervasive connectedness, people feel isolated – because we are humans, not machines. On a panel I moderated with leaders from Acuity, IBM, Source Support, and Skyllful, we discussed how the role of the frontline technician is changing and Justin Lake of Skyllful shared that on a recent ride along with a technician, the technician said, “I feel like I’m on an island.” Mindy Booknis of IBM shared some cautionary words about ensuring you don’t over-automate in a way that your customers miss the people connection and personal touch. While our connectedness and access to information is incredibly powerful, we must balance it with human centricity. 
  • Remote service is a priority, but still being sorted. Many leaders brought up their use of various tools to remotely diagnose and resolve issues and to allow company to customer or company to tech virtual experiences. However, no one seems to have the remote-first strategy perfected. Across industries it is in varying stages of refinement with companies addressing issues of change management, communication to customers of the different value proposition, and in some scenarios access to customer data. 
  • Customer success is a growing service function. During an ask-me-anything panel, someone asked if any of the leaders’ organizations have customer success roles for service. All four did, and each shared some points of success as well as things to consider. The opportunity for customer success to compliment, augment, and in some cases even replace field service roles seems to be a growing trend. 
  • Customer satisfaction demands equal emphasis on employee engagement. Many sessions were dedicated to discussing the need to put more effort into the experience, engagement, and satisfaction of the frontline workforce. And while this is driven in part by the immense challenges to recruit, it’s also due to the realization that the frontline worker is instrumental in a company’s mission to drive customer satisfaction. 
  • Diversity, and inclusion, of talent in field service is a must. Laurie Battaglia of Aligned at Work interviewed Stephanie Peters of Hobart about the steps Hobart is taking to drive diversity. The company has introduced a new program and is taking intentional action not only to bring diverse talent into its organization but to ensure equity and inclusion of it’s employee base. It was a powerful example of the importance of improving diversity in this space, not only to help solve the talent problems but to expand diversity of opinions, ideas, and thought that will only improve a company’s ability to evolve and innovate. 

Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks, and if you want to save the date for any of the upcoming events (besides, of course, the Future of Field Service Live Tour!) here are the dates and locations:

  • Field Service Hilton Head – August 16-18, 2022
  • Field Service Asia (Singapore) – November 15-16, 2022
  • Field Service Europe (Amsterdam) – November 30-December 1st, 2022
  • Field Service Palm Springs 2023 – April 25-27th, 2023

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Identifying the Root Cause of 5 Common Field Service Hurdles

April 25, 2022 | 7 Mins Read

Identifying the Root Cause of 5 Common Field Service Hurdles

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

You know the saying nothing worth having comes easy? It applies to our world of field service, too. There are hurdles you’ll face on the journey of service transformation that will test your commitment, tenacity, and resolve. Those who dig in to understand these hurdles and overcome them are far more likely to succeed than those who take the hurdle at face value and become deterred from their goal.

Not long ago, I welcomed onto the podcast James Mylett, SVP, U.S. Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric, for an in-depth conversation on meeting the demands of modern leadership. The two-part discussion was full of valuable insights, but one point that really stuck with me is in part two where he discusses his tendency toward root cause analysis. Here’s a synopsis of what he shares: “I want to make sure that our team is focused on root cause analysis for problem solving. Like most organizations, 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.”

Sounds totally sensible, right? It is, but here’s why many overlook a fairly simple but critical and sometimes arduous process. “It takes hard work to really dig in and to get the root cause. And it takes courage to face into the data when it doesn’t support what you thought the root cause was, and that happens a lot. It happens to me – I’ve got my mind made up that we should be moving in this direction but when we dig in the data doesn’t support my assumption. As the leader, I want to follow what the data is saying. The challenge is to not get paralyzed by the data, but it has to have role in the conversation.”

The pace of change today’s leaders face I believe compounds the tendency to skip or rush root cause analysis, because there’s pressure to think quickly and move fast. But hurdles like those I often hear below really cannot be overcome without an accurate, genuine understanding of what’s causing the problem. So, while root cause analysis may take a little time, challenge your thinking, and send you on a path different than what you assumed – it’s well worth it to ensure the path you take is one that will deliver outcomes. 

Hurdle: Leadership doesn’t view our company as a service business. 

Potential root cause: This is one I hear often from service leaders within manufacturing organizations who see the potential to servitize the business but face some resistance or differing opinions among senior leadership. We often talk about the importance of alignment and breaking down siloes, but to do that you first must understand why it is leadership doesn’t share the view of service potential. 

As with all these hurdles, there can be many different root causes. One common scenario is that if senior leadership has been in place a long time they can be very emotionally tied to the legacy of the business. This is natural and must be handled delicately – showing how incorporating a service focus into the core business strategy can augment and strengthen the company’s value proposition, not take the place of manufacturing excellent products. Ask more questions than you do give input and see if you can better understand the emotions around senior leadership’s views to influence how you articulate the role of service in the business.

Also keep in mind, though, that overall, the directions that things are heading is that not only do customers not care so much about products, but they don’t care so much about service. They care about what either – or both – can do for them. Taking the outcomes-based view here may help you in highlighting how the overall customer relationship needs to evolve rather than staking a claim on service alone.

Hurdle: We can’t get the investment we need to evolve service. 

Potential root cause: We all know evolving service is important, but chances are you are not speaking about doing so in a language that resonates with top leadership. You need to understand the objection, which means digging into the root cause. A few ideas come to mind. First, have you (or prior service leaders) made investments in technology to evolve service that have failed? This can be a huge deterrent in further investment, and it’s a tough topic to unravel because while you must deal with the realities of that failure, you also must express the opportunity cost of not rectifying what’s already been done. Finally, you need to be prepared to have a detailed plan for how you’ll avoid failure a second time.

Another potential root cause is related to hurdle number one, which is that perhaps top leadership doesn’t see the value in evolving your service offerings. This happens not only in manufacturing organizations looking to servitize, but in service businesses where some are happy with the status quo and don’t see the need to move beyond “what’s working.” In either scenario, looking outside of your organization for examples of success – viable, measurable success – can help address these objections. But only after you’ve dug in to understand them. 

Hurdle: Our employees resist change. 

Potential root cause: Sure they do! It’s human nature. And in the spirt of a little tough love, the aren’t resisting change – you are doing a poor job managing it. What is the root of their emotions? Is this the first major change they’ve faced in a very long time and it’s just completely uncomfortable? Do they feel they haven’t had a voice in the change that is underway? Do they feel not valued overall? Do they fear for their jobs? Are they burnt out or frustrated because they aren’t adequately recognized or compensated?

Your initiatives, whether a new service offering or a new technology investment, will fail if you don’t prioritize change management. It’s your responsibility to do so. Invest the time to understand the emotions, listen to the feedback, and show – through actions – you hear your workers, and you care what they have to say. Recognize the value of your frontline and treat them accordingly. Finally, know that another critical aspect of change management is ensuring they are not only understood but properly equipped for the change. This means an investment in education, training, and whatever else they need to be fully capable of what it is you’re asking them to do differently. 

Hurdle: We can’t hire enough talent to support our growth goals.

Potential root cause: This is a challenge for nearly every company today, but the fact that it is a measurable reality doesn’t permit you to shirk responsibility to do what you can to offset it or to set aside your growth goals for this reason. Besides the labor market facts, what are the other potential root causes for your struggles around talent?

Could it be that you are still relying on hiring based on experience? News flash, that’s an outdated practice that is a surefire way to remain short-staffed. Are you offering a compelling employee value proposition? Today’s workforce desires different things than the technicians you hired 20 years ago, and you need to step up to understand and meet those needs. How strong are your onboarding, training, mentorship, and career development programs? 

How engaged and satisfied are your current employees, and what’s your retention rate? If these numbers aren’t good, you absolutely have to understand why in order to identify where and how to improve. What’s your company culture? Talent is an area where companies really need to step up their efforts, focus, and investments to ensure they are positioning themselves to do well with what today’s realities are. The best way to dig into root cause here, at least the version you can impact, is to ask your employees and prospective employees for feedback. And listen!

Hurdle: We’ve already “transformed” and we’re the best at what we do.

Potential root cause: This statement bums me out. Sometimes I have folks who say, oh yeah, we moved from reactive service to X% proactive service contracts, so we’ve transformed and are happy with where we are. Not to discredit progress, but the potential for service evolution is so very big! It’s really a journey of continuous learning and improvement, which is just an operational process that’s foreign to many organizations. 

There are several reasons for potential root cause here. Could be a very simple lack of awareness of the real opportunity around service. It could be that leaders are weary of the effort transformation takes and want to stay in a state of complacency for a while. It could be back to number one where the overall focus of the business is on something else. Most likely it’s a company culture and mentality issue, where leaders are living in a reality of 10+ years ago where the status quo could work for quite a while. That isn’t our reality anymore – disruption is real, change is continuous, and competitors will evolve even if you won’t. Looking at how your business operates and what the mindset is around continuous transformation and evolution is really important. 

What hurdles would you add to this list? And do you do a lot of root cause analysis? I’d love to hear! Send me an email with any insights you’re willing to share. 

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