WBR’s Field Service USA Conference is an excellent opportunity to connect with business leaders, check in on old friends, and get a feel for how the industry is changing. I’m certain that there will be quite a bit of digital ink spilled on the topics uncovered at the event (We’ve already had a bonus podcast episode recorded while there), and there are quite a few things worth unpacking in the coming days and weeks. One…
Live from Field Service Palm Springs, Sarah hosts a roundtable conversation with David Douglas, VP of Service Management at Scientific Games, Buddy Saucier, VP HVAC Service at Johnson Controls, and Roger O’Connor, VP Product Support at Gosiger to discuss how the conference has changed, and what value that they’ve seen from this year’s events.
In this series thus far, we’ve discussed various aspects of how to ensure digital transformation success. Last time, we talked about the importance of building a positive digital reputation – and one of the keys to doing so is to make it personal for your employees. If you look back at the legacy of software deployment within organizations over the last couple of decades, with a keen focus on transactional systems, practitioners learned how to…
Charles Hughes, VP of Technical Site Services at Acuative, joins Sarah to share wise words on how to master the hybrid labor model. Charles says that the hybrid labor model is for everyone – no exceptions. He has years of experience leveraging contingent workers and with that experience has some valuable advice and lessons learned to share with you.
In the ever-changing environment that service businesses operate, there are many potential transformation initiatives available. But from all these potential choices, which are the best options to start with? Is there any low-hanging fruit that can help a service business to accelerate growth? Let’s look at the most effective practices that most successful service transformations typically start with. Understand Your Customers’ Service Needs It’s of critical importance that you understand your customers in order to…
Much of the conversation around technology investment for field service centers around two critical objectives: optimizing the customer experience and maximizing efficiency. There’s an important third aspect at play, though — how leveraging today’s technologies can help field service organizations mitigate risk. In an increasingly competitive landscape, the need to minimize risk and vulnerability is imperative. Here are three ways in which today’s technologies can assist field service organizations in protecting their businesses. #1: Knowledge…
Annette Franz, Founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc., joins Sarah to provide insight for companies at all points of the CX journey. Whether you’re looking to better formalize your CX strategy or make continual improvement on your CX efforts, Annette has a tip for you.
Acquiring and mastering customer and industry information should be a core competency for field service organizations. The success of these organizations rests primarily on their track record and their ability to “sell” new service concepts to distributors and customers, using sound data from a variety of credible sources. To be successful, services organizations need to implement comprehensive and efficient processes for utilizing customer and industry information. Specific strategies need to be developed for acquiring and…
Last year, I wrote an article in which I compared AI in video games—a phenomenon that’s been around for over 40 years—with AI in business applications—a comparatively new development. In it, I used the example of a two-brained approach to AI development. One “brain” manages an operational task, while the other manages a customer-focused task. I argued that this, ultimately, is what AI in service should look like. In exploring the most recent developments in…
Roy Dockery, VP of Customer Care at Swisslog Healthcare, joins Sarah to give his take on why field service organizations need to take more control over the talent gap. Roy has an interesting perspective that we don’t, in fact, have so much of a talent gap as an experience gap. He shares practical insights for more effective recruiting.
