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March 11, 2019 | 2 Mins Read

Tips for Effectively Tying Staff Performance to Customer Satisfaction

March 11, 2019 | 2 Mins Read

Tips for Effectively Tying Staff Performance to Customer Satisfaction

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By Greg Coleman

When looking at how companies measure employee performance, it’s clear that there is wide variation across the industry in terms of incorporating customer satisfaction into the mix. In past years, we have observed that companies were generally doing a poor job in linking employee performance to customer satisfaction. While improvements in this area have been seen recently, many companies are still struggling to enhance their process for linking performance to satisfaction. In a recent study conducted by Service Strategies, only 57 percent of companies say they tie staff performance directly to customer satisfaction, and even fewer link satisfaction to management compensation.

One of the key factors required to link satisfaction to employee performance is having sound methods to collect customer satisfaction data. Companies that have poor customer satisfaction measurement methods have trouble linking the results to performance since there is either not enough data or the data is suspect. Without a reliable foundation of results, employees will resist efforts to link their performance to customer satisfaction.

Companies that are successfully tying satisfaction to performance are doing so for several reasons. Consider the following suggestions when examining your customer satisfaction and performance management processes:

  • Collect enough customer satisfaction data to support evaluating individuals or teams. If there is not enough data to measure the individual, then setting goals and measuring performance at the team level is a viable and sometimes preferable alternative.
  • Set measurable goals for customer satisfaction rather than “soft” targets based on perception. Having weak references to customer satisfaction in a performance review does not focus employees on delivering higher levels of service.
  • Ensure that customer satisfaction is a highly weighted component of performance evaluations. The weighting should have a direct impact on compensation for the employees. If possible, put a bonus program in place to reward the staff for achievement of desired customer satisfaction results.
  • Tie performance objectives to employee controllable elements as well as overall satisfaction. These would include knowledge and expertise, professionalism, quality of solution, timeliness of status updates and other factors in an employee’s control.
  • Regularly review customer satisfaction results with the staff and include them on performance scorecards or other productivity reports. This will ensure they are aware of current performance and enable them to focus on areas that need improving.

Following these simple suggestions will have a positive impact on your overall customer satisfaction program and drive your staff towards delivering improved results on a consistent basis. Programs such as the Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards can help drive improvements in this area and will help set specific measurable targets for customer satisfaction.

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March 8, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Women in Field Service: Harnessing the Untapped Potential

March 8, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Women in Field Service: Harnessing the Untapped Potential

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

In honor of International Women’s Day on Friday, March 8th, I have set out this month to interview some amazing women in the service industries in an effort to learn more about their journeys and to get their take on what the future of field service holds for women.

I started my interview series off with Maria Pallotta, Chief of Staff at Canopy Lawn Care. In her role, she is responsible for executing the overall business plan and leading the execution of systems and processes that will enable growth and scalability. She also leads the recruiting, onboarding, training and employee empowerment initiatives at Canopy. Maria joined Canopy about six months ago after spending nearly eight years with an agency called Coalmarch Productions that catered to service industries. While speaking at a conference, Maria met Canopy’s CEO Hunt Davis, and was struck by his authentic desire to run an innovative and inclusive field service organization. “One of the things I really love about Canopy is that our leadership team is fresh and open-minded,” Maria says. “We don’t have a deep history holding us back – we just have the future pulling us forward.”

Maria explained to me that, like many, she didn’t seek out a career in field service but rather happened upon it (through her time at Coalmarch). She is passionate about the industry because of the potential that exists. “There is so much room for growth in this industry – so much untapped potential,” she says. “The concept of making a career in field service more appealing not only to women, but to anyone, is an effort that as an industry needs work. The more work we all do on this front, the greater the overall industry’s ability to capitalize on the potential that exists.” Here Maria provides her advice for how to start tapping into that potential.

Acknowledge the Challenges

If you don’t put effort into recognizing the challenges that do exist in getting and keeping women in the industry, then you can’t take any steps toward making improvements. “The reality is that the industry is male-dominated, and to move beyond that requires most organizations stepping outside of their comfort zones,” Maria says. “Think of something as simple as the job descriptions you’re using – are they off-putting to women? Wording like ‘must lift 50 pounds,’ or ‘will encounter harsh conditions’ will deter women from even applying. That’s not to say lie if there are certain non-negotiable requirements, but be cognizant of how you’re communicating the role and responsibilities to ensure you aren’t ostracizing candidates unnecessarily.”

To get more women to apply, think about what is appealing to them. Flexibility, for instance, is a big draw. You also want to think through the candidate and new employee experience to identify potential issues. “It took me five months to get one female interview candidate,” explains Maria. “In that case, you want to ensure the interview experience is going to make that candidate feel welcome and comfortable.” Thinking through aspects of the job that you perhaps haven’t before – like whether or not there are female uniforms – will help to put a candidate at ease.

You also have to consider what happens once you begin having success and bringing women into the workforce. Will all appropriate measures be taken to ensure their experience is positive? Will they have mentors? Are there visible examples to those new employees of women succeeding within your organization, or industry? Is the language you use in your resources, meetings, and interactions inclusive? As hard as it is to get female candidates, you want to ensure you do all you can to make it a successful fit for both parties.

Build a Culture of Inclusiveness

“The best way to focus on creating a company culture that women can thrive in is to focus on creating a culture that anyone will want to be a part of,” says Maria. “If you truly consider what will make your employees engaged and happy, you will end up with an environment where everyone can succeed. This starts with ensuring everyone has a voice, and that those voices are heard. Asking questions and voicing opinions should be welcome and embraced by all.”

A strong company culture also includes considering how you develop a career path for your employees, rather than it being just a “job.” Canopy has done this by introducing a progression of six levels of promotions that field employees can achieve even before reaching management level. “Today’s employees are growth-minded – they are going to seek growth, period. You’d rather they do that internally versus externally,” says Maria.

Maria acknowledges the fact that while these words sound both practical and simple, the process is challenging. “Making the foundational changes necessary to welcome more women into the world of field service is very, very hard,” she says. “It’s natural to want to stick with what’s easily attainable – but the organizations that push beyond that comfort zone and dig into some of this hard work are the ones that will reap the reward of all of the potential that exists.”

Fighting battles of exclusion and inequality herself only spurs Maria’s fire for working toward a more woman-inclusive industry. “When I go to industry events, I always feel I have to prove myself more than my male colleagues. I feel judged on my appearance instead of on my words or my actions. Women in this industry have to fight harder than men to earn their credibility, and that has to change. It will change, and I am honored to be a part of that transformation.”

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March 6, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

The 3 Technologies I’m Most Excited to Discuss at Field Service Palm Springs

March 6, 2019 | 3 Mins Read

The 3 Technologies I’m Most Excited to Discuss at Field Service Palm Springs

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

Are you gearing up for a trip to Field Service Palm Springs next month? I am working on some cool things that Future of Field Service will be doing at the event, and it had me thinking about what I’m most excited to discuss while there. The thing I love about this event is that it enables me, and all of the other attendees, to connect with so many people at once – there’s really nothing like it. The conversations I have at the event give me a really good sense year to year of how much progress the field service industry as a whole is making, and where it’s heading next.

Often, the conversations I have with attendees show the “real deal” on where service organizations are really at when it comes to adopting and integrating the technologies the industry is buzzing about. This year, the three technologies I’m most excited to discuss at the event are:

  • IoT – While we’ve seen some traction in IoT adoption, there’s plenty of room for growth with the technology that has been abuzz for a number of years now. Even the organizations that have begun to adopt IoT have a long way to go before they are fully leveraging the benefits the technology can bring. True IoT adoption goes far beyond connecting assets to the value derived and leveraged from the data collected from those assets. In this regard, I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg of what IoT can do in field service.
  • AI and Machine Learning – Taking the need to more intelligently analyze and use IoT data a step further brings us to AI and Machine Learning. These tools are critical in organization’s taking the wealth of data IoT provides and feeding it into programs that can feed true business transformation. IDC recently released an AI-Based Automation Evolution Framework that is worth checking out. AI can also play a larger role in customer experience than it is currently among field service organizations.
  • Augmented Reality – When you look at the challenge most field service organization are facing with recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and knowledge transfer, Augmented Reality becomes a very compelling solution. Last year the progress made with AR adoption from the year prior was noticeable, and I’m looking forward to seeing this year how even more field service organizations have adopted and are using AR.

The great thing about this event is having the opportunity to talk face-to-face with companies that are tackling challenges head on, embracing new tools, and working hard to improve their businesses. There is always wisdom and new perspective gained, and it’s an event I look forward to every year. To see what Field Service itself has to say about the topics I’ve discussed and more, check out their 2019 Transformation Report.

Are you attending the event? If so, let’s meet up! Future of Field Service will have its own space at the event, so please stop by. Also, IFS is hosting a cocktail hour Wednesday evening at 7:45 PM – email me, I’d love to buy you a drink! See you in sunny California.

If you’re a service executive that’s not yet registered for Field Service Palm Springs, you can use code FutureFS20 to save 20%. Click here to learn more.

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March 4, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

How Societal Megatrends are Forcing Manufacturing Organizations to Offer Advanced Services

March 4, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

How Societal Megatrends are Forcing Manufacturing Organizations to Offer Advanced Services

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By Annick Perry

In a joint research study with the Advanced Services Group, a center of excellence at Aston Business School, Noventum explored how five societal ‘Megatrends' bring opportunities for business growth for manufacturing companies through advanced IoT enabled services. The complete research paper can be downloaded at Noventum’s website.

There are five societal megatrends we explored in this research, and they are:

• Value change
• Green and resource scarcity
• Health and Aging
• Globalisation and the need for community
• Inequality and Social Exclusion

In this article, we’ll focus in on the Mega Trend ‘Value Change.’ Value change is defined as the increasing importance of transparency, diversity, individualization and freedom of choice, as well as demand for meaning and connectedness. Here we’ll discuss some of the ways that the mega trend of value change is impacting manufacturing companies as it relates to their service offerings.

Customers’ perceptions of value are changing

Consumer habits are changing. We are becoming more tech savvy, less connected to ownership of products and in favor of experiences delivered by service providers operating new business models, like Airbnb. Expectations of a personalized experience are higher, which means companies must respond to customers’ needs faster and in a unique way. This change is passed on by B2C customers towards their B2B suppliers and partners. For manufacturers, this means staying alert and being proactive. As Anders Mossberg of Scania Trucks stated in our study, “Talk to your customers’ customers because they are the ones that will drive the trends in the future.”

Customers want to Buy “Everything as a Service”

Manufacturers are recognizing the need to find new ways of offering value to customers. Their offerings are changing from a product focus to a service focus, which emphasises providing the customer with the capability to achieve their business goals, instead of emphasising product features. They are now competing through a combination of products and services, enabled by technology, tailored to meet the customer’s needs. Rolls-Royce, for example, sells hours of flight time for its jet engines rather than the more traditional purchase of the engine. These are more sophisticated, higher-value contracts, based on outcomes. They are also higher risk for the manufacturer but with higher potential to create a competitive advantage.

New technologies enable response to changing needs

New developments in technology are enabling the value chain to be redesigned. Embedded sensors and processors in assets and devices are increasingly capable of transmitting data to control centres to signal the need for repair or refurbishment. Research participants cited the introduction of driverless vehicles, some of whom mentioned that this is already a reality in some situations and will increasingly be the case in the future. It will provide the opportunity for companies to take leadership and redesign the value chain to increase efficiency and added value. New configurations of networks allow companies to redefine their role in the value chain.

A transformation is needed

Delivering such advanced service requires fundamental changes in the manufacturer’s operations, relationships, organisational structures and potentially a change in their culture. Denis Bouteille of Fives addressed this in our study by saying, “Talking to the customer, we need people who can really develop the empathy, the listening and the deep understanding.”

This exploratory research concludes that societal megatrends can drive opportunities for manufacturers to compete and grow through advanced services. To realize those opportunities, it’s important that companies exploit the implications of new trends together with their customers and explore what the impact of societal trends might be on future needs. The megatrends explored in this research show a significant potential for companies to develop advanced services and strengthen the competitive position of companies. However, some key factors need to be taken into mind when manufacturing companies take the decision to invest in developing advanced services:

  1. Before companies can start developing advanced IoT enabled services, top management needs to support the development of advanced services and provide clear leadership to staff in the mind-set appropriate to the development of the new capabilities
  2. Stay close to your customers to identify opportunities for advanced IoT enabled services by understanding how value perception and needs are impacted by societal trends:
    • Understand your company’s role in tackling global social and environmental challenges
    • Explore the opportunities of the ‘circular economy’
    • Recognize the impact of IoT on your customers value chain
  3. When you are developing the business models around advanced services make sure that:
    • The tacit knowledge of the very experienced but aging workforce is transferred into technical solutions to deliver advanced services
    • Your company thinks global, but acts local and delivers a superior customer experience

Noventum Service Management provides best practices, training, guidance and inspiration through our Service Transformation Centre and our Service Transformation Projects. Visit our website www.noventum.eu or contact us via info@noventum.eu or +31 297 566 241 for more information.

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March 1, 2019 | 5 Mins Read

The 5-Step Process To Field Service M&A Success

March 1, 2019 | 5 Mins Read

The 5-Step Process To Field Service M&A Success

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

For field service organizations looking to dominate in their industry, conquer customer satisfaction, and embrace the latest technologies, the process of an acquisition can be both an exciting and daunting one. On one hand, you are investing in the potential for growth and eliminating from your competitive set. On the other hand, as field service navigates a new service landscape, adding a team that has differing ideas, varying ways of work, and completely disparate technologies (or even paper-based methods) has the potential to cause major headaches.

Kevin Anderson, EVP of Active Pest Control, has practiced and nearly perfected the art of M&A. Active has become one of Georgia’s leading pest, termite, rodent, and wildlife control companies. Today, Active has over 45,000 customers and twelve offices located in Metro Atlanta, Athens, Rome, Columbus, Middle Georgia, and Sugarland, Texas.

Active has grown tremendously over the past few years, from a $4.2 million dollar business in 2006 to 21.4 million in 2018. Part of Active’s growth can be attributed to the fact that it has acquired four companies in the past four years. The company has a very particular operating process in addition to a well-defined and continually-improving technology strategy, so I was interested in Anderson’s take on how to streamline the M&A process. Here he’s sharing his top five tips to smooth some of the challenges of M&A activity.

1. Do Your Due Diligence

“Anyone considering an acquisition is doing due diligence in terms of reviewing financials, assessing customer lists, and so on – but we also do due diligence in terms of being strategic about the companies we are acquiring,” says Anderson. “Meaning, we look for companies that are well aligned to our operating environment, or that we think will be easy to transition.” When researching potential acquisitions, Active looks for companies that are marginally profitable that it feels it can quickly and easily amplify by layering on its paperless, digital-first technology strategy. So Anderson’s advice is that beyond an on-paper good fit, you need to think about how the operating conditions in present day can be translated to quick payoff when migrated to your environment.

2. Invest Time Up Front in Change Management

“You can avoid a lot of headaches with an acquisition by just investing a little time up front,” Anderson explains. “On ‘takeover’ day, myself, our owner, our COO, and our HR director spend the entire day on-site at the new business. We spend some quality time talking with the new team about who we are, how we do things, and what we expect of them.” Active is sure to discuss aspects of their company that they know the new team will be particularly interested in, such as benefits and incentives. The company completes all new-hire paperwork while on site, and introduces in person much of the change that will take place allowing all new employees to ask questions directly. “We are all short on time, but this initial investment in your new company is critical and will prove time well spent,” says Anderson.

3. Fast Track Technology Alignment

Active considers itself leading-edge in terms of technology adoption for the pest industry. The company is paperless, using WorkWave’s PestPac suite of cloud solutions for field operations, back-office, sales, marketing, customer experience, and reporting. Active is also in the process of rolling out WorkWave’s GPS solution. As Anderson explains, it’s important to waste no time getting the new business up to speed on the technology Active uses – particularly because this technology is what Active feels gives it a competitive edge. “With the technology we use, we are able to attain between $100,000 to $110,000 revenue per employee due to our operational efficiency. We employee 30 to 40 percent fewer employees as the average pest company our size, and we will be able to grow to upwards of $30 million in revenue without adding any additional administrative staff.”

So how does Active prompt its new team to adopt its existing technology? “The weekend before we take over, we input all of the new company’s customer information into PestPac,” he explains. “We run one month in tandem and audit at the one-month mark to ensure all new technicians are using the solution. By 60 days, we’ve abandoned whatever their previous processes were, be it another solution or paper.” This art of “ripping off the band-aid” if you will sets the expectation early on of what the new operating conditions will look like, and allows Active to catch quickly any new employees that are more resistant to the new ways.

4. Master the Art of Delayed Gratification

Another critical aspect of an acquisition is customer retention. In the pest industry, Anderson explains that it isn’t uncommon for customers to build loyalty to a brand and have emotions about a new company taking over. To maximize customer retention, Anderson suggests the approach of embracing delayed gratification. “We do early outreach to introduce ourselves to customers and get a feel for whether or not they have any concerns,” he says. “If they do, we personally go to visit them and offer their next service on us, explaining that we know we can make them happy and if for any reason they aren’t they can cancel afterward. Our retention rate is well over 95 percent.”

Anderson points out that another benefit of the company’s operational efficiency is the ability to leverage savings in examples like this – standing behind its services by offering a free trial. “I can beat my competition to any appointment, and our savings allows us to offer free trials or compete on price when we need to,” he says.

5. Put Effort into Maintaining a Cohesive Culture

Active maintains an advisory board that includes representation from all functions of the business, and incorporates new representation from each organization that is acquired. This helps to ensure that on an ongoing basis, the new businesses are in the loop and have a voice – things that are important to fostering a cohesive culture after an acquisition. “We want our employees and each of our locations to know they have a voice,” says Anderson. “The advisory board meets four times a year to discuss everything going on in the business so that everyone feels a part of decisions and is aware of the direction we’re headed. This helps to keep everyone on the same page.”

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February 27, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Self-Service and the Changing Definition of Technician Empowerment

February 27, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Self-Service and the Changing Definition of Technician Empowerment

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By Tom Paquin

How do you define self-service for your service organization? Is it merely the act of a customer resolving an issue themselves? Is it a phone conversation with a support representative walking them through the process?

If you’re leaving your customer there, then you’re leaving your customer behind, and there will certainly be competitors who are ready to take them away from you. Self-service is going to be a key component of maximizing efficiency for the future of field service, so it’s time to start thinking about it now.

Taking self-service to the next level requires a duality of thinking. First, what will you do to actually help increase no-dispatch resolutions? Second, and more complicated, is how will you define the challenges and opportunities that this creates among your technician base? We’ll start with the first.

Increasing No-Dispatch Resolutions

Naturally moving beyond the simplicity of talking through resolutions remotely, organizations have found numerous ways to encourage remote resolutions through smart technology investments. We’ll talk about two comparatively new technologies here: IoT, and Augmented Reality.

Your mileage with IoT will vary depending on the sort of serviceable assets supported. IoT has gained a natural foothold in areas like manufacturing, telecommunications, and energy, while there are numerous areas where IoT’s usability doesn’t align with remote resolution. Nevertheless, connected sensors, when paired smartly with the right equipment, can help organizations mitigate issues through several means.

One scenario is that connected sensors indicate a temperature spike on a machine, which could imply that it’s being used improperly. Either through automation, or a quick phone call, a service organization can inform the customer, thus preventing a breakdown before it happens. This is a win-win, avoiding downtime for the customer, while protecting technicians’ time.

Another scenario is a bit more specialized, and it involves more than connected sensors. In the event of some sort of machine breakdown, remote workers can run power cycles or make firmware updates to keep systems running effectively. Obviously, this requires remote access to the controls of a machine; A step further down the technology rabbit hole.

AR, on the other hand, could eliminate the need for a remote worker altogether. Many AR modules today are designed to walk customers step-by-step through simple repairs. Simply point your phone’s camera at your serviceable asset, and appropriate areas will highlight as it cycles through directions. This way, customers can get equipment up and running without even having to wait on hold.

These are only a few of the myriad of solutions available, and any of these are further scalable through the implementation of automation and other complimentary systems. Nevertheless, these represent ways to put more power in the hands of your customers. But how does it impact your technicians?

The Newly-Empowered Technician

By re-routing simple tasks away from in-person technicians, there’s a sense that the lightened workload devalues a service technician in some way. This would imply a decided lack of empowerment; a move away from the authority that technicians once felt over their service domain. Will technicians even be needed in the future?

With self-service, powered by some of the previously-mentioned tools and a grab bag of others on top of them, organizations can eliminate unnecessary service appointments. Will this lead to the ultimate end of field service? Not with the tools available today alone. There will always be a need for nuanced in-person interactions in service, usually around complex service functions. It’s in these moments, when organizations are struggling with challenging issues, that you want them to see the face of your business.

Some technicians may balk at the infrequency of simpler jobs, meaning their days are more packed with higher-stress, higher-challenge labor, but the fact of the matter is that service organizations on the whole are struggling to hire and train new technicians, so wherever inefficiencies can be eliminated they should be.

For those technicians who go into the field to handle the more complex jobs, there should be, for them, a sense of empowerment. This is true personally, as their skills as a trusted resource are being valued and challenged. It should also happen practically, though, as these technicians, too, can benefit from some of the ancillary technologies created for self-service. IoT can give much greater insight to in-person techs on a job site. Combine that with Augmented Reality, and the future of heads-up displays of system integrity and step-by-step directions for new technicians make the future even brighter. To get those techs on board, though, it’s up to the organization to articulate the value that they bring to the table.

With all this in mind, organizations have a great opportunity to begin to employ some smart technologies to support self-service. The benefits of laying the groundwork today will pay dividends in those direct service gains, but also offer excellent trickle-down opportunities to support technician empowerment as well.

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February 25, 2019 | 5 Mins Read

Digital Transformation: How to Avoid Being Crippled By Choice

February 25, 2019 | 5 Mins Read

Digital Transformation: How to Avoid Being Crippled By Choice

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By Greg Lush

If you’ve missed my earlier posts in this series on digital adoption, you can read here what we discussed about The Hierarchy of Digital Adoption and Building and Fortifying Your Digital Reputation. Next in the series, we’re discussing an important aspect of digital adoption: How to avoid being crippled by choice.

During Winter you often hear people say, I can’t wait for the warm weather; in the Summer just the opposite, it’s too hot! Business systems are similar — years ago we wanted to have more choices and the freedom to choose our own path. Now, our trouble is that we have so many options it can be downright overwhelming. At first blush, our concerns are not getting locked in as with monolithic systems of yesteryear. Instead we try to find a platform which serves our needs today with an eye towards the future. When contemplating the selection of a cloud platform people fall into two camps: cardigans and cobblers.

Cardigans represent “the establishment.” Just five years ago I would have agreed that placing yourself in this community meant significant compromise. Giving in to “the man” with the largest organizations. However, today, as transactional and valuable (referring to all other software, personal productivity, artificial intelligence, IoT, etc.) tools get more degrees of separation, your accounting system does not have to dictate the other value packed tools within your business.

Cobblers are defined as those constantly seeking software, which appears low cost on the front end yet has no continuity between applications. A few years back I gave some credence to those in this community. Ready at any cost to fling the bird at the man, just because they are frightened to lose their station as the “go-to person.” Cobblers yearn for the glory days when the organization was held completely captive by their almost magical talents.

Keep in mind that the selection of a platform has one ounce of technology and nine ounces of people. You must understand your demographic and plan accordingly. Having a split camp will be exponentially more challenging, thus your first task is to get everyone singing, or at least humming, from the same hymnal.

Now that you are harmonizing fantastically, it is time to peel this onion back a bit and get into some details. When selecting a platform, to run your valuable applications, you may consider some of these elements. I like to make decisions and communicate change as objectively as possible, so assigning value numbers to each of the elements is advised. Although your list may vary, these will get you on the right track to making an informed and deliberate decision regarding your valuable platform selection(s):

Availability. Without question, your environment needs to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Listen with an open mind — as security has changed with cloud, offerings often do not require sophisticated VPN connections.

Compliance. Legal and HR must be involved in this element. I encourage you to consider that most of your cloud platform partners will be dealing with similar challenges. Don’t hesitate to ask how your partner is addressing common issues.vSo often we see an uninformed legal or IT security organization strangle any potential of innovation as the result of thinking “this is how it always used to work.” Also, get comfortable around compliance issues which may be your concern within the next handful of years, a notable example is the general data protection regulations (GDPR).

Encryption. Our ability to pass a key, issued by the publisher and passed to the consumer, has been protecting information for years. Depending upon your industry, and in many cases your customers’ requirements, encryption strategies will vary significantly. Choose an organization which has a positive track record of encryption with their keys and allows you to manage and control your own encryption keys if so desired.

User Experience. My expectation in today’s day and age is that I will be able to digitally “pick up where I left off” from any device, anywhere and the tools will be the same. The way in which I interact will not be impacted by the size of my screen, which is much easier said than done. If in your selection process users are expected to understand different user interfaces and experiences from application to application, get ready for a steep adoption climb.

Integration. Very commonplace within transactional-based systems (accounting, HR, work order management, purchasing, etc.) and becoming more mainstream with valuable applications as well. Graphing is the new term and process, an evolution of a services-oriented architecture (SOA). Set your sights high as your ability to leverage features across valuable applications is becoming the ante to participate in the cloud platform game.

Master data. A perfect computing environment, regardless of the variety of applications, will always have one version of the truth. One account record, one contact, and one place to go for the latest insights. As with many things over time, cost and availability become more of a reality for the masses. The trick is not placing or enforcing the data to be stored in one location but instead the convenience of leveraging this single bit of data in multiple applications. You must demand this functionality within your cloud platform.

Partners. The ecosystem of partners surrounding any cloud platform is important especially if you plan on extending the out-of-the-box functionality. Today, those jumping straight into customizing systems have not taken the time to really learn their platforms. In 2019, except for highly regulated industries, those choosing customization over configuration are often driven by their egos or attempts to make themselves irreplaceable (shame, shame).

Visualization. Your platform, out-of-the-box, must have a vehicle for you to visualize the information, period. These visualization tools, commonly known as dashboards and reports, shouldn’t just be created as “eye candy.” Rather, these tools must derive action, allowing people to visualize their business in a unique way. Avoid the consideration of tools which make your users a slave to the data, turn it around and make sure your visualizations can help users manage by exception instead.

These elements, when weighted and scored by those within your organization, will provide direction and support for your cloud platform selection and help you from being paralyzed by the wide range of options you have.

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Knowledge Discovery: Deriving Value From Your Data-Rich Environment

February 21, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Knowledge Discovery: Deriving Value From Your Data-Rich Environment

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By Bill Pollock

These days more than ever, businesses are operating in data rich environments. Data emanates from everyday business operations, sales and customer account activities, service call activity, financial and economic transactions, regulatory reporting and all the other events that are routinely captured and stored in databases. Existing global databases are adding terabytes of new information daily. Every moment of every day bank transactions and electronic funds transfers, point-of-sale systems, hospital tests and procedures, factory production lines, airline reservations, service calls and even electric meters and gasoline pumps are creating digital records that are stored somewhere in a database.

The vast majority of this data, however, will never see the light of day. More often than not, data will be stored for a specified period of time, in some cases as required by law, and then purged to make room for more current data of the same kind. This process is likely to repeat ad infinitum. Yet in many cases this data can represent a rich ore of valuable information and knowledge about the domain from which it has been taken.

What better source is there to learn about patterns of customers' preferences and buying habits than from the customers themselves? Not just what they tell you they need or like in a customer survey, but what they actually buy. What better source is there to learn about equipment failures and service requirements than from the equipment itself? Not just from what your field technicians tell you, but directly from the equipment. What better source is there to learn about the risk in lending or extending credit than from your business's own financial successes and failures? Not just from what your banks or creditors tell you, but from your own financial experiences, both good and bad. The list goes on and on.

Organizations are always searching for knowledge that can advance their cause and keep them abreast of the market, anticipated trends and the competition. Marketing managers would love to know what makes their customers tick. Manufacturing managers would do anything to find out how they could improve the quality of their products, even by just a fraction of a percentage. Not to mention the securities traders who would "sell their corporate souls" just to keep a half-step ahead of the pack in being able to detect a change in trends.

Oftentimes the answers to these questions are contained in the data that businesses routinely collect, store and discard from their ever-growing databases. Many companies have already recognized the potential of this source of knowledge and have invested
substantial effort and significant amounts of resources to uncover the precious knowledge “hidden" in their data. Among the various emerging technologies being utilized, some employ a combination of both the traditional and newer paradigms in a field known as knowledge discovery, or database mining.

Digital marketing companies use related methods to create more targeted and effective lists for the products and services they are promoting to improve their overall effectiveness. Automotive companies use the same techniques to discover patterns of failures and corresponding information to incorporate into the proprietary knowledge bases that they distribute to their authorized dealers and licensed mechanics. Many more applications of a similar nature span across businesses and industry segments of all types under the banner "let the data work for you.”

The analogy of database mining to quarry mining is very appropriate too. In ore mining the process goes through tons and tons of dirt in order to extract one precious gram of gold. Similarly, in database mining, one may also need to go through very large quantities of data just to get to the one piece of information that makes it all worthwhile.

Machine Learning Enables Efficient Data Mining

Machine learning techniques, developed under the umbrella of Artificial Intelligence (AI), were originally patterned after a unique human intelligence trait – the ability to acquire and create new knowledge. From this basis, new and highly sophisticated AI techniques have been developed using a broad array of disciplines and strategies, and reflecting various levels of success.

Today, knowledge discovery tools and methods employ a broad range of technologies and methodologies. Neural networks are probably the best known and most widely used approach to machine learning. The technology is quite versatile, relatively mature and has been used very successfully in a broad array of applications ranging from the screening of credit card applications, to placing geographically-based advertisements in national magazines, to reading handwritten addresses and routing the mail. Other discovery methods are based on technologies such as information theory, fuzzy set theory, rough set theory, nearest neighbor metrics and others.

Why knowledge discovery? Your organization may be sitting on a goldmine of data which could be converted into useful knowledge – knowledge that can be used to help you focus your strategic and marketing planning efforts; monitor and improve the quality of your production and service delivery processes; and explain your customers' sensitivity to your competitive pricing structure, customer service performance, brand name recognition, advertising and promotional campaigns or anything else you would like to learn about the markets in which you operate.

Many organizations have already recognized the potential benefits of these new technology applications and are utilizing these tools to lead them to smarter, more efficient and more productive operations. The list of such companies is growing every day – and your organization should also leverage the knowledge to join them.

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February 20, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

6 Key Implications of The Internet of Things

February 20, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

6 Key Implications of The Internet of Things

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By René Boverhuis

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to smart, connected products (hardware, software, sensors, etc.), which improve reliability, increase capabilities and help us use products much more effectively and efficiently. IoT allows these smart connected products to generate data that can help you deliver unprecedented value to your customers.

This data can be gathered, analysed and delivered in a way that can be used to your and your customers’ advantage. For example, MAN Truck & Bus is able to collect their trucks’ raw data in real time and then translate it into simple and meaningful reports that are offered as a paid service to customers.

IoT is changing how companies compete, and the field is evolving quickly. As a result, remaining competitive means companies need to stay ahead of the trends. Based on our strategic foresight and research, we highlight six future trends that will impact your business:

1. New and better products that impact the value chain

The use of IoT enables the creation of new and better products and services (Daniel Burrus). According to Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann, IoT changes the value chain through modifications in product design, manufacturing, after sales service, etc. These changes require data analytics and other new activities which in turn will bring even bigger improvements and evolutions to the industry. These new evolutions will bring further profitable growth to companies that embrace this transformation.

2. Improved ability to meet customer needs

According to Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann, continual progression of IoT gives companies the knowledge and abilities to get closer to satisfying the needs of customers, even if the customers have not identified their needs themselves. It’s like having a magic wand.

With products that can be used to their maximum capabilities with greater reliability, safety and in the most economical and ecological way, meeting increased customer needs will be possible.

3. Knowing your customer better

With digitalization, we are now able to gather more information about our customers and their interaction with us than ever before. We can identify all the touch points a client has with our organization, for example we can know when a customer has made a call to the support desk, what their problem was, whether they were provided with a solution, or redirected to a specialist.

This access to information allows us to map the customer experience and redesign it as required, bearing in mind that the better the experience, the more satisfied the customer is. This means you have a better chance of a repeat purchase, a renewal of a service contract, and better chances of benefiting from positive word-of-mouth.

Ric Merrifield predicts that as clients see the increasing benefits of IoT, they will be more willing to give you access to more information. This will lead to greater expectations on their behalf, and as a result, generate even more data.

4. Provide the ability to predict and prevent

Daniel Burrus suggests that IoT will affect every single industry, including manufacturing, healthcare, energy, financial services, consumer goods and the information technology landscape that supports all these industries.

While this sounds intimidating, there are benefits if you can anticipate the impact and prepare your organisation accordingly. One of the biggest opportunities is your increased ability to predict and prevent problems. MAN Truck & Bus, mentioned earlier, provides predictive vehicle maintenance, which allows its clients to know when an engine fault will occur, specifying what the fault will be, and where the nearest repair shop can be found reducing down time saving the customer time and money.

5. New business processes and skills will be required

IoT is bringing new ways of automation and Bill Chamberlin explains how this automatically means new business processes and skills will be required.

Companies that hop onto the IoT fast track earlier on will benefit from improved productivity, operating efficiencies and customer experience, leading the way to service innovation and leaving competitors way behind.

6. An innovative mindset required across the organization

As new processes come about, new best practices will make the ‘game’ even harder to compete in. According to Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann, smart connected products will need to be incorporated into products and services, thereby affecting the whole value chain and setting new, higher standards for operational effectiveness.

Your industry will sooner or later be influenced by IoT and the opportunities that arise on the horizon are countless. So, the question is: do you want to be an innovator or a follower? Get to know more about this new revolution, prepare your people and take the leap to transformation.

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Keep Your Customers Close And Your Employees Closer: 3 Critical Employee Engagement Questions To Consider

February 18, 2019 | 4 Mins Read

Keep Your Customers Close And Your Employees Closer: 3 Critical Employee Engagement Questions To Consider

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By Sarah Nicastro, Creator, Future of Field Service

We’re living in a world of customer-centricity, which I think is amazing. Customer experience and satisfaction are topics that I really enjoy learning and writing about, and I’ve witnessed the field service industry’s progression toward more customer centricity with glee. Seeing organizations in industries like manufacturing and utilities looking to companies like Amazon and Uber for inspiration on how to deliver what their customers’ want illustrates just how far we’ve come in embracing a world that revolves around delivering not just excellent service but an outstanding experience.

That said, what I fear is often an unfortunate byproduct in the quest for customer mastery is that a company becomes so hyperfocused on the happiness of its customers that it forgets about the happiness of its employees. Not only is this unfortunate, but it is counterproductive to the overall mission because achieving customer satisfaction with disengaged and unhappy employees just isn’t going to happen.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” and in the journey to customer-centricity it is imperative to keep your customers close and your employees closer. THEY are key to you accomplishing your customer experience objectives. Here are three questions to ask yourself about the level of satisfaction your employees have in their roles.

How Happy Is the Face of Your Brand?

Your frontline employees have more contact with those customers you’re trying to make happy than anyone else. How engaged, happy, and valued your employees feel will have a direct impact on how they treat your customers. Those customer centricity goals you have will be far easier to meet if you put the energy into employee engagement. I’ve had interactions with technicians that are frustrated and disenfranchised, and I assure you having to listen to someone complain about their supervisor, schedule, company, lack of support, and so on does not a good customer experience make!

Think about what tangible steps your company takes to make your employees feel valued. Perhaps you are having trouble thinking of many, or any? Or maybe you can think of a number but question whether or not they are working. If in doubt, ASK. Ask your employees how they feel and what they need. The best input from which to make improvements is their own.

How Do You Equip Employees for Success?

A large portion of employee satisfaction particularly in field service is feeling equipped and enabled to get the job done. Nothing will cause satisfaction to plummet faster than trying time and time again to please management and customers only to be left without the necessary tools, information, or assistance. We talk a lot about investing in technology that will please customers, but it is equally important to invest in tools that empower your frontline workforce.

Think about what it takes to set your employees up for success. Are they onboarded and trained properly? Once in the field, do they have easy access to customer history to be informed and to any knowledge library they may need to perform the job at hand? If they have a question, can they easily communicate with a colleague or support staff to get the help they need in real-time? And again – are you asking them what it is they need from you?

What Voice Do Your Employees Have?

I would argue that the #1 cause of employee frustration is that they don’t feel that their voice matters. This can be attributed to situations in which employees aren’t asked for feedback and rather just given directives, but is equally prevalent in situations where employees are asked for feedback but ignored. In the increasingly demanding service landscape, it is essential to work collectively as a team. The business transformation that most service organizations have underway can only truly be effective if your organization is working as a team, where everyone has a voice and every voice matters.

There are countless effective ways to communicate with your employees – yet communication is a key element that is overlooked in so many organizations. Whether it is one-on-one meetings, group sessions, company-wide webinars, use of social tools, whatever – ensure it is happening and that each and every employee feels comfortable and confident voicing their needs.

These points aren’t important solely as it relates to customer centricity. Field service organizations have even more motivation to focus on employee engagement, and this is in the fact that there’s a significant talent shortage in field service. You aren’t in a position to lose capable workers when there already aren’t enough to go around. Making an effort to focus more on employee engagement will not only help your customer efforts, but it will minimize the strain on your organization of recruiting, hiring, and training new workers that are increasingly hard to come by.

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