Strategic Service Management

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

The good news is… looks like I’m not alone.

The bad news is…

Well, come on – people shouldn’t be dreaming dreams in 140 characters, or dream of the new iPhone hardware as they ponder whether to splash out or not. That’s not what the resting hours are for.

This is what happens to us when we overdose on technology. It happens to all of us, at some point – and the effects are clear to see. Because, fundamentally, we are hunter/gatherers, not e-mailers or twitterers. And, at least in our sleep, we should revert to our fundamental nature.

Our fundamental nature… are there aspects of it that we may want to dust off for the workplace? Or would that simply go against centuries of evolution theory?

Some of the most successful sales people I’ve worked with don’t appear to have embraced the great technological revolution. Their world doesn’t appear to move any faster now than it did five, ten years ago; they still listen and observe, like old-fashioned hunters. But wise hunters, who know that it will be easier to gather the prey when it approaches them rather than to chase it round in circles. (And they have embraced the good technology bits, by the way – just not the distractions.)

In a world where the divide between sales and service is increasingly blurred, similar key considerations apply. Sure, techs have to be more proactive. But, in getting the job done, they should never jeopardise the possibility to take in the environment around them, and consider how they may turn it to their advantage.

If today we live in the iWorld, then the ‘i’ can often be seen as standing for ‘instant’. And when great service is instant, everybody is happy – especially the customer. But, when a compromise has to be made between great service and instant service… compromise on quality at your peril. And, once you’ve got job done as quickly as possible, to keep your customers happy – why miss out on an opportunity to spend five minutes finding out what’s going on at a site? Why not try and gather further info that will increase your colleagues’ (and company’s) effectiveness?

If that’s what being hunters and gatherers is all about, then a “back to basics” approach (supported by technology for storage and analysis) is not necessarily a bad thing…

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

When the company that’s owned the top spot in the Interbrand Global Brand List for the past eight years makes a move, others follow. Or, at the very least, they take note.

Coca-Cola has released… no, not its secret formula, but the carbon footprint of its various brands. That’s right: we now know that “a 330ml can of Coca-Cola sold in Great Britain has a carbon footprint of 170 grams and the same sized can of ‘diet Coke’ or ‘Coke Zero’ has a footprint of 150 grams. A 330ml glass bottle of ‘Coca-Cola’ has a footprint of 360 grams”.

So - what does that mean? Does it make Coca-Cola green, because it’s facing up to its corporate social responsibility and working on programs to reduce its footprint? Given what happened when it tried to improve its formula in the 1980s, could this be a key strategy for the company - as it leaves the product alone and looks at how CSR can enhance the brand? That was the view the Chief Executive took last year…

Will you soon be surrounded by analysts measuring your company’s carbon footprint? Or is that already the case? Of course, not everybody’s customers react as strongly as Coke’s when products are tweaked - most welcome changes. And, in companies where funds are harder to come by, product managers are still likely to shout louder. Yet this announcement is unlikely to remain isolated… would you bet against carbon footprint becoming an integral part of Annual Reports, alongside EPS and ROCE, in ten years’ time? That’s the way the Environmental Protection Agency is heading in the US…

But don’t panic just yet. Service can play a major role in reducing carbon footprint - all along boosting profitability. Cutting unnecessary trips through routing and scheduling and by ensuring techs have the right part, reducing inventory levels, improving remote support… it’s only natural to look at this from a business perspective, and to how it improves first time fill- and fix-rates, or calls/day. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But you know what? There’s nothing wrong in acknowledging that it cuts down your carbon footprint, either. That’s when it all starts tying together. Neat, eh?

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

I wanted to expand on the concept covered in the previous entry to explore a key benefit of excellence in service - one that is all the more critical in the current climate.

We have seen throughout this blog how service delivers profitability on a sustainable basis. It helps you retain profitable customers at a time when, rightly or wrongly (don’t get me started on this one - not here…) marketing spend is typically cut; it offers differentiation at a time that product commoditisation is rife. Sure, mass customisation is happening; but technology makes that easier to copy than differentiation built on people and processes; differentiation, that is, built on service.

So these uncertain times call for proven solutions and methodologies. As President Obama said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Inauguration Day, “Our workers are no less productive, our minds not less inventive, our services no less needed, our capacity remains undiminished”. He was addressing a US crowd, but such statements ring true around the globe. Yet what these times are compromising is the critical link between that invention and the financial gains it stands to deliver.

Let’s take one simple example, since everybody else seems to be doing the same: Twitter. Do you tweet? I’ve only just started (feel free to follow me), out of a mixture of curiosity and fascination. The phenomenon itself is gathering attention, but so is curiosity over how it will make money. Indeed, is there any money in Web 2.0? I expect Apple and its network of independent iPhone Apps writers would merrily tweet ‘yes’. But, for many, the question mark (and the cloud of the previous dotcom crash) hovers.

With service, there are no such debates. There is room for constant improvement, in which technology (including Web 2.0) can play a significant part; but the fundamentals are a given. Look after your customers, and they’ll look after you. And, when the winds are howling and the levies are cracking, as is the case all around us, it’s imperative to ensure we excel at the basics before attempting to stretch. Many a great offerings have failed due to bad timing. But there is no such thing as a bad time for great service. Service always delivers.

That’s what makes service sexy. Because it’s not about comparing a sweaty technician with a funky website. It’s about knowing whom you can count on when it matters. And, if your customers can count on your service infrastructure to deliver, so can you - to deliver profits. And that’s always worth tweeting about.

By Shannon Rentner, Director, Servigistics

We’ve been saying it ever since I started working here: post-sale service can not only be a competitive differentiator, but it can also be a source of revenue. Yeah, yeah, and I sound like a broken record - oh wait, people under the age of 30 may not understand that reference to records….

In fact, service made the cover of BusinessWeek once again – but as fellow service blogger John Wild points out – “What was missing was the Business to Business sector in which extreme customer service is so important now.”

Wild also reminds readers that “the end business customers (those that rely on the equipment they’ve purchased or leased to remain performing or to be service ready) are a fickle bunch. They’re paying for performance (up time) and expect it. Let them down, and they’ll start looking elsewhere for products that perform better or that are serviced better. So this challenge hits right at home in the field service and service parts logistics environment.”

That means that the right part better arrive with the right technician at the right time at the right location…or else you’ll miss your SLA or the client will simply do business with someone else in the future.  

Why some many business publications fail to mention B2B post-sale service is perhaps due to the fact that it’s just not sexy.  After all, the fun comes from buying – not maintaining or repairing, right?

Wrong. Post-sale service  is sexy. It’s sustainable, socially responsible, profitable and catching on. Hope your business is ready!

Selling global strategic service management solutions requires worldwide travel. So in addition to our blogs about post-sale service and the related solutions, we also want to offer our readers valuable hints and tips about places that meet the necessary standards for cleanliness, Wi-Fi connectivity, and thriftiness - all the while ensuring you can actually tell when you’re in Amsterdam rather than Düsseldorf, Paris rather than London – off the beaten “chain hotel” path. You’ll also find information on local eateries, running locations, and offer transportation tip for the cost-conscious but curious business traveler.

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

ACCOMMODATION

Amsterdam is, unsurprisingly, awash with chain hotels - both in the centre and near Schiphol Airport. But the centre also features a number of small hotels built within traditional Dutch buildings. They lack the size and scale to command great star ratings, but how long are you going to spend there? Our favourite is the Bellevue, a recovered building with Wi-Fi throughout where the rooms offer comfort you’d expect for a lot more than the €77/night we paid (the beds alone just about warrant that…). But the hotel’s biggest asset has to be its location - just a few minutes’ walk from Dam Square, and literally two minutes across the road from Central Station. Breakfast is served from 7am on weekdays - when we were in town, the selection was broad (from cooked to staple Dutch ham and cheese), although the more time-constrained amongst you may need to allow for an extra few minutes as there was never more than one staff on hand.

FOOD

You won’t struggle to find a cuisine of your liking in Amsterdam. Indonesian and Argentine restaurants are all over the place, and there are even a few Italian and… er, Dutch places, too. On our last trip, we opted for an Indian meal at Moti Mahal, just five minutes from the hotel en route to Dam Square - and our hunch was rewarded with a fine selection.

After enjoying your meal, you won’t be short of options should you care for a pre-bedtime drink - either in a traditional Dutch bar, or in a more ‘international’ environment (the city’s not short on Irish or British-style pubs, which can be useful if you’re missing a sporting event). Just remember that “Coffeeshops” are not the best places for a coffee…

GETTING IN AND OUT OF THE CENTRE

When arriving via Schiphol, Amsterdam’s ring road is no smoother than most others in Europe - hopping in a cab can cost time and money. Since trains connect Schiphol and Central Station every quarter of an hour and take between ten and twenty minutes, costing just over €3, the railways offer best value on all fronts. It is also the reason why we prefer to stay centrally and travel in the morning rather than stay near the airport, if we have to make that choice - with additional savings on hotel costs.

MIND MY BIKE

You have little to fear from car drivers in the Netherlands. But watch out for cyclists! They will rarely stop, and could come at you from any angle. The Dutch pedestrians have little problem with this - each and every one of them has been, or still is, a cyclist themselves. But, if you’re not used to it, make sure you take every care.

RUNNING OPTIONS

To maintain your fitness, get on over to Vondel Park - in the south-west of the city. It’s not bike-free, but it’s a safer option than most.

OTHERS

Oh, one could write a whole book on this section… But we won’t bother. Just enjoy the canals. And, if your watch has GPS and indicates sea level, don’t look - or you might get a sinking feeling.

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

For anybody who has just landed on Earth from a far-flung planet, here’s a very brief (and over-simplistic) overview of global economics:

• Once upon a time, people made things for people who would buy them. This was called the ‘Manufacturing Economy’;
• Then, as raw materials and labour, got expensive, people slowed down on making things, and spent more time selling things you could not actually touch or feel, such as financial products. This was called the ‘Service Economy’.
• Then a lot of people who had sold a lot of financial products suddenly realised there was a big hole in the economy, and thought that maybe making things was not that bad, after all. But people across the Service Economy had learned some valuable lessons about looking after customers once things had been made, too. So then…

Well, then is now. The next stage is the one we’re writing now. How is today’s history looking?

Our children, and our grandchildren, will be the ultimate of judges of that - if not in the classrooms, then certainly with their payslips, which will determine how many of our “financial programs” they find themselves funding. But some trends are already emerging - and could prove valuable for any Manager.

• Successful OEMs will need to master both Manufacturing and Service, providing both quality products and after-sales services. As Pierfrancesco Manenti at “Manufacturing Insights” predicts, “Manufacturers will enhance their capabilities as providers of services”. Excelling at either manufacturing or service may suffice in certain B2C industries, where replacement costs are ludicrously low; but they are the exception. And no strategy should be based upon exceptions;
• Successful OEMs must not forget what made them successful in the first place - and continue to leverage their core expertise while building new strengths around them. But that need not entail developing those new capabilities in-house - as we saw previously, collaboration is an effect of the downturn that has benefits to contribute in times of growth, too. And outsourcing / acquiring skills is nothing to be ashamed about if it allows companies to deliver excellence in the fields that made them leaders

Balancing the quest for in-house improvement with the ability to identify areas where procuring those capabilities externally is the wiser option will be a hallmark of any successful manager in the current downturn, during which ROI will be a key decision influencer. But this is a valuable skill that should not be thrown out with the doom and gloom when the economy starts to recover. Servigistics is a software solutions company, recognised as a leader in its field - a field that, while we may expand, we will generally stick to. Yet there are manufacturers who seek to maximise the value of their SSM operation by developing in-house solutions, when the cost of a Servigistics implementation could probably be covered by the savings realised in the additional development time of a bespoke product. I’ll leave you with that thought.

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

Everybody’s talking about it… and most people are doing it, more or less overtly. Are you?

 Consolidation (or its precursor - collaboration) is on everybody’s lips. Let’s take a snapshot of the automotive sector, where FIAT and Chrysler are heading down a route that covers both consolidation and collaboration, with the US giant handing over 35% of its equity in exchange for access to greener technology. Separately from this deal, FIAT have been rumoured to be in merger talks with French group PSA - talks both parties have denied, nevertheless enjoying a healthy rise in share prices as a result.

 Is the landscape much different in other industries? Hardly. From airlines to financial services, from recruitment to IT (where it is viewed as the “CIOs’ Top Priority for 2009″), whether you’re making stuff or selling services, the world around us seems to be experiencing a reverse tectonic shift.

 Determining the extent to which the trend will benefit consumers would keep the conversation flowing at many academic dinner parties. For the time being, we are still a comfortable distance from danger; and the times demand the type of knowledge-sharing in which some corporations are proactively engaging, and to which others are being called by government, such as the UK automotive sector, whose financial aid is subject to investment in green technology.

 Consolidation is changing the rules. What are its implications for Strategic Service Management?

 As with most challenges, it offers opportunities. Manufacturers can share common service parts and manage both those and their bespoke parts through common tools. Even before the commoditization of product, while the end results that we deploy at home and at work may be unique, the individual components rarely are - the art lies in their combination (and marketing), but a bolt is a bolt just like a 60Gb hard drive is a 60Gb hard drive. And, regardless of the logo on the machine on which you are reading this, your brand of hard drive or processor may not be dissimilar to that of the guy two floors below you, checking the weather forecast on a totally different machine.

 Creativity is also expanding outside of R&D departments, and into the CFO’s office. Is owning your own inventory compulsory? No - providing you are still able to deliver first-class service. And if you can do that by pooling your inventory with other companies in your field… who loses out?

 There is nothing blasphemous about this. Times of crisis often bring sworn enemies together for the greater good. Over the coming months, this will often keep M&A lawyers busy - with the emphasis more on ‘acquisitions’ than ‘mergers’, regardless of the press releases. But, now that the technology enables it, keeping conflict at bay, there remains ample scope for cost-efficencies through collaboration.

Shannon Rentner, Senior Manager, Servigistics

Driving home from work the other evening I was listening to the radio and heard a commercial for AT&T’s new service: ConnecTech. Now, when I first heard the announcer say ConnecTech, I honestly thought he was saying “Kinetic” but with an initial “o” sound.  So it’s a difficult to pronounce name, it goes to show that service is selling.

Forget about Target partnering with Zip Express. The new belle at the ball who claims to “out-Geek” Best Buy’s Geek Squad (forgive the mixed metaphors) is AT&T’s ConnecTech, which is now available for residential customers in all 50 states, whether they use AT&T or not. Customers can request home theater installation, computer and home network setup, and a host of TV, computer, and network repairs - all right at home.

So, I may not need AT&T as my cell phone carrier and I may already have a DSL provider, but I certainly will need help at some time for a malfunctioning computer or a broken plasma TV that I won’t want to lug into the local electronics store.

So once again, it comes down to the service - especially when spending for new products is almost nil.

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager EMEA, Servigistics

Long-term… How do you define long-term?

Whatever your answer, I have little doubt that it is a shorter timeframe than the one you’d have volunteered five years ago - and equally so that it is a greater timeframe than the one you might volunteer in five years’ time. On the most basic of graphs, we can imagine an inverse relationship between how we perceive “long-term” and the impact of uncertainty - in itself, rising:

Fig. 1: The Growing Burden of Perceived Uncertainty and Short-Termism

This, in itself, is nothing new -

jump in a time machine and you’ll find the graph holds true throughout history. That’s why I cautiously talk about a ‘perception’, rather than a reality - and show those two components plateau out, as beyond a certain level they cannot continue their respective paths. However, some argue that, whereas in the past periods of disruption were followed by stabilisation, as keeping up with the pace of progress set by revolutionary advancements was simply impossible, we have now entered “the age of constant disruption” - with technologies continuously evolving at a constant rate. Add into the mix the speed at which information can flow and people be mobilised, the interconnection of our financial markets, and you have to seriously question whether “long-term certainty”, as prior generations understood it, will ever return.

So - why bother with strategic planning? Why not live from one day to the next? After all, whether you’re an outgoing US President, an embattled UK Prime Minister or any other world leader, you’re probably blaming the state of the economy on factors beyond your control. And if the White House and Number Ten aren’t in control of their destiny, what chance have you or I got?

Do not be mistaken - the overwhelming strength of external forces is no justification to abandon ourselves to their pull. Quite the opposite: now more than ever, strategic planning is fundamental to success. Equally critical, however, is the ability to plan with flexibility - and review individual components on a daily basis without compromising on the bigger picture.

That is why Strategic Service Management (SSM) is critical during a downturn. SSM brings together the tools to measure progress towards goals for “old school long-term” and daily, indeed hourly, operational KPIs - the performance that matters to customers, more concerned with your ability to meet 4-hour SLAs than 3-year grand plans. Companies that lock those grand plans in a cupboard for a thousand days are unlikely to succeed not only in the current downturn, but also in subsequent periods of growth (hold on tight, they will come) - for they too will be uncertain, and require swift action. Where yesterday rapid reaction sufficed, today preemptive action is necessary - and that’s what Servigistics’ solutions enable, across all levels of management, delivering tangible results.

From having the right part to pricing it correctly, from having the right technician on the job to optimising the flow of information and enjoying a holistic view of your service business, even when it seems as if the world all around you is crumbling there are plenty of key components of the jigsaw you hold securely in your hand. Servigistics provides proven SSM tools to place them in the right place - and claw back some of the certainty for which you so rightly long.

By Sebastian Urbina, Product Manager, Servigistics

With the worst economic crisis in decades, it is understandable that companies, and people, for that matter, are looking for all ways to reduce expenditures, too bring costs down.  However, is this the best of ideas? 

However, there is a flip side to this.  Consider this situation.  You are choosing between two plumbers, both seem to be equivalent in terms of skills, knowledge and functionality; however, one is 15% more expensive than the other.   But what happens when you your toilet backs up at midnight after you are paying for the night of bad Mexican food?

Who is most likely to show up quickly before the water exits the bathroom onto the bedroom carpet?  The plumber that charges an average price to or the one that charges above average prices.   Remember, both can get the job done.   Since both you and the expensive plumber know that you could get it fixed cheaper, you’d expect the expensive plumber will provide better service to ensure repeat business.

This phenomenon has been studied in terms of paying employees more.  Efficiency wages have been discussed extensively since deciding to pay $5 a day, doubling the salary of most workers in 1914.  There are all sorts of benefits from efficiency wages, but they can be summarized simply by “those who get paid more work harder.”

I believe the same occurs when you pay for service or anything that is continual and will result in repeat business.   It becomes particular important when you are paying for use of a resource that is constrained.  Consider you are one of the many airlines that run on the same engines.  In an airport, there is a freeze over that breaks the engine of all airplanes on the ground.   All the airlines have a maintenance contract with the same manufacturer.  However, since this is an unexpected event, the manufacturer can not provide service to everyone.  Who do you want to be, the company the pays the lower maintenance fee or the one the pays the highest.  Even if the contract is the same for both, who do you think will be able to fly the planes faster?  Without a doubt it will be the one that pays the most money.  When decisions need to be made on how to allocate resources, resources get allocated to those that produce the most revenue.

Another example is software licenses.  You pay for maintenance upgrades, improvements and support.  Let’s say two companies are asking for different enhancement requests of equal complexity.  They both run the same software and have similar contracts.  However, there is a fixed number of developers that can get the enhancement finished.  Who do you think is going to get their request finished first?  Everything else being equal it will be the client that pays the most.

Paying more has its benefits.  You are able to demand more.  However, this only works when there is a promise of continual business.  Paying more for the same computer from Best Buy if it comes with a service contract will be worth far more than some cheapie off the internet - at least when a virus wipes out your hard drive and you need it repaired/recovered.

As times become worse and if the economy doesn’t improve, consider when you to cut costs what it actually means to pay less.   In theory, when you cut the cost it might not been much, but in situation when you need the service, it might just no be worth it.

By Giacomo Squintani, Marketing Manager, EMEA, Servigistics

Measuring Intangibles to Drive Customer Satisfaction and Sales

WBR recently hosted “Strategic Service Management 2008″ at the quirky, yet endearing, Hotel Le Plaza in Brussels. At the end of the event that combined the previous parts-focused Interlog and the field technicians-oriented Field Service to offer a more holistic (and relevant) view of the service business, Hilbrand Rustema of Noventum led a panel of industry leaders, including  Hans-Werner Albrecht of Pentax Europe, Harald Hofstätter of Gambro, Richard Burgess of Oracle, Ole Buus of Xerox and Paul de Swaef of Baxter Healthcare discussing the balance between tangible and intangible issues in Strategic Service Management.

The key point was how the focus of field engineers appears to be shifting away from traditional KPIs, such as number of visits/day, towards spending time developing relationships, gathering sales intelligence and keeping the competition out of the door. The participants agreed that they want field engineers to strengthen the corporate brand, the service brand; they want them to push additional services, gather information, and turn customers into our salesmen. They want them, pretty much, to add account management and pre-sales skills to their repertoire. That’s quite a (r)evolutionary shift…

Albrecht commented that “service is too often focused on the logic. There is a need to establish an emotional link”; Hofstätter spelt out the implications even more clearly, stating that “in my industry [medical], it’s worth spending half an hour with a doctor or a nurse for that emotional connection… it is dangerous to focus on optimising the number of visits/day”. Considering that scheduling optimisation is a key benefit of Servigistics’ Workforce Management Solution, I won’t deny that this suggestion sounded almost blasphemous… at first. Give it a few seconds to sink in, though, and it makes perfect SSM sense - as we’ll see shortly.

Burgess painted a typically British perspective, stating that Avery Weigh-Tronix found that its techs had served the company for an average of nineteen years. But their background and their British nature meant that their inclination was to “get in, fix the job and get out - it’s what we do”.

Ole Buus then crystallized the panel’s thoughts by stating that “Strategic Service Management represents the shift from technical service management to business management, from solving technical problems to solving customer issues”.  Neat. But how will this evolution be managed - and does the downturn threaten it?

I put my concerns to the panel, who appeared upbeat about the shift’s chances of survival. Albrecht replied that Pentax had processes in place to measure customer satisfaction. Great - because improving customer satisfaction is one of SSM’s true deliverables, with proven ROI. But what if the emphasis on ‘intangible’ means you can’t measure the benefits? Will Boards continue to support it without visible ROI?

Don’t get me wrong, the shift represents unquestionable progress and makes long-term sense. Techs are ideally placed to gather such intelligence, and should be encouraged to do so. But many visionary long-term strategies have been the victims of short-term-ism in troubled financial times.

How will companies balance management’s strategic vision with the risk of technicians abiding by more traditional, operational KPIs to protect their jobs? If this is not addressed, and the CFO orders a 20% headcount reduction, time spent helping their Sales colleague book their President’s Club tickets could suggest they’re slow and unproductive….

This is why I believe another way will prove to be the true SSM way, safeguarding the visibility and measurability that companies have spent years establishing. By breaking down the critical intelligence gathered by field technicians into basic components and feeding that into the corporate CRM system and processes that have so far been the primary domain of Sales and Marketing personnel, that intelligence can be measured, rewarded and acted upon. It can also ensure engineers are coached throughout an evolution that is asking them to move out of their comfort zone while continuing to promote the company’s values. And there is nothing intangible about this strategy - or about the results it can deliver if successfully executed.

This is why Hofstätter wasn’t being blasphemous after all. There is more to Workforce Management than scheduling optimisation. Leveraging mobility and Knowledge Management, it provides the necessary interactivity to capture the metrics that in Brussels were defined as ‘intangible’, ensuring they become actionable intelligence and avoiding the danger of another buzzword failing to deliver ROI.

SSM looks at the bigger picture, leveraging synergies. Whereas in the past technical and psychological barriers meant that CRM systems were the kingdom of Sales and Marketing staff, ERP systems were the kingdom of Finance and Administration, and Service used whatever disparate tools were left, in this brave new world those old barriers have been knocked down and common platforms established. That is one of the cornerstones of SSM, which delivers cross-functional decision-making support throughout an organisation to facilitate maximising service and profitability even as your employees’ skills (and needs) broaden.

Anyway, enough from me… what about you, and your organisation? Are service technicians broadening their role? How are you ensuring the time they spend developing relationships is measured? Is there increasing convergence between how your Sales and Service personnel are managed and rewarded? Let me know by commenting below. Let’s talk SSM.