In this article Steve Downton will examine the rapid assimilation of mobile solutions and how they are being used to re-engineer the management of service operations to deliver the core values of increased revenue, reduced cost and greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Managing a field service operation in today’s environment requires different skills and attributes of leadership and management than used to be required. The environment used to be less demanding and it was often possible to second-guess problems with the product, customer or engineer as the number of variations was relatively limited. In the modern service environment all three aspects have become more complex and it is much harder to predict a given outcome. Mobile solutions are leveling the playing field, reducing the number of unknowns and facilitating closer management of a complex environment, helping to achieve success through close relationships with engineers and customers through a reliably informed environment. Front-line staff can be utilised to develop a people-driven operation, affording success through long-term personal relationships that will provide the ability to understand and address specific customer needs and co-create solutions that will generate customer centricity and intimacy.
In the hands of skilled service operation teams, the latest available technology tools are beginning to enable information flow and responsiveness to customer requests in a much more efficient and effective manner, supporting and bringing about a significant shift of how and what is managed in the service operation, and by whom. This shift has come about for a number of reasons, but includes increased information flow from the field about all aspects – from customer needs to parts requirements to product failure issues. Probably the biggest reason for the shift is the new-found ability of operations to manage their engineers much more closely and to support them with more appropriate and effective processes, driving up efficiency and customer loyalty. Change in the environment has required much more reliance on the quality and calibre of the individual, putting the focus on development of engineers beyond adapting to technology and activity management, and using processes and structure to support effective command and control. Managing the activities is important when there is a stress on productivity and cost reduction; and mobile solutions help ensure the delivery of leading-edge service. Mobile solutions also provide full insight into a raft of measures including process quality, customer and engineer loyalty (brought about by working closely with your staff) which brings the customer closer: as a result the impact of processes are able to be monitored, are more manageable and easier to improve.
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