23 Feb Field Service Expert Interview: Michael Blumberg
As part of our Field Service Management Expert Interview Series, we ask field service management experts about their views on the industry and what the future of field service management holds. Today, we interview field service management consultant Michael Blumberg. Michael is the president of Blumberg Advisory Group, Inc. and is a recognized expert in field service management and reverse logistics. He is a Certified Management Consultant with considerable experience in strategic business planning, market research, mergers and acquisitions, benchmarking, systems analysis, and productivity and efficiency improvements.
Michael’s thought leadership, service system planning and strategy formulation have positively enhanced the profitability of many organizations across various industries including IT, energy, telecommunications, medical electronics, banking, and retail and consumer electronics. He is also well-known author and speaker.
In what ways do you think field service management is changing? What are the future areas of growth?
Field service is becoming a technology-intensive business function. Technology enables field service organizations to build “Uber” like service offerings which are always available on-demand and in real-time. The future growth will come from adopting disruptive technologies like mobile, augmented reality, GPS, IoT, etc., to make this happen.
Speaking of IoT, what role do you see it playing in field service management?
I see the Internet of Things playing a very important role in field service management. It provides field service organizations and individual field service engineers with real-time visibility into status, health, and the condition of equipment they must support within their installed base. With this knowledge, field service organizations can be more effective at solving issues remotely, and field service engineers can be certain to have the right skills and resources (e.g., spare parts) with them when they arrive onsite to resolve an issue.
How are mobile technologies changing the way FSM organizations interact with their customers?
Mobile technologies provide field technicians with instant access to information about equipment history, spare parts availability, and technical knowledge. This helps them be more effective in doing their job for customers. In addition, they can use the technology to receive real-time updates and alerts about customers’ equipment. Furthermore, field technicians can utilize mobile technology to capture business intelligence about their customers that can then be utilized to upsell and cross-sell additional services.
You mention upsell and cross-sell. How can field service organizations use mobile these technologies to drive revenue and competitive advantage?
Field service organizations can use mobile technologies to capture information about their customers’ machine population. For example, they can record data about what equipment they own, how long they’ve owned it, whether it is under a service contract, when the service contract expires, and their level of satisfaction with their current service provider. This information provides market intelligence that can be used to upsell and cross-sell additional products and services. Companies can also drive revenue and competitive advantage by using mobile technology to capture customer satisfaction data and other relevant market research that would help improve performance and lead to the development of innovative products and services. Organizations should coach and train field technicians on how to sell and establish sales oriented KPIs for the organization.
How is the broader economy affecting field service management? How do you see this changing over time?
The current economy has a very positive impact on field service management. In an “up” economy, such as the one we are currently in, customers usually invest heavily in new equipment which means more service in the form of installations and service contracts. They are also more likely to spend more on services by purchasing premium service offerings that they may not have purchased in a down economy. I see the economy and the field service industry remaining strong for the next several years. However, even a down economy can have a positive impact on field service. Investors view field service as a defensible business in the sense that it is not hurt by cyclical economic trends in the way that industries like automotive or luxury goods are. Customers still need field service even when the economy is performing poorly. In fact, they are likely to increase their dependence on field service to extend the life of the equipment they currently own instead of buying new products.
What is the role of the Chief Service Officer and how will this position evolve going forward?
The role of the Chief Service Officer is to drive customer satisfaction by managing service delivery against KPIs. In addition, their role is to serve as an internal advocate/champion within their organization for service. This means they work toward obtaining investments and resources when needed to improve customer satisfaction and service delivery performance. The role is evolving in the sense that CSOs are being tasked with responsibility for managing field service as a profit center as well as taking a leadership role in developing business strategy and driving innovation within their organizations.
What are the top three KPIs that you recommend FSM organizations focus on now?
My top three KPIs are First Time Fix (FTFR), Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), and customer satisfaction (CSAT). In the future, as field service generates greater value for companies, the KPIs are more likely to focus on financial metrics and customer outcomes such as gross margin, uptime availability, contract attachment, and renewal rates.
How can FSM organizations integrate big data without becoming bogged down with information overload?
They should consider the problems they are trying to solve before trying to find a big data solution. Once they have a clear understanding of the problem, they can determine if a large data set is required to solve it and, more importantly, identify what types of big data analytics are required. Does the problem require descriptive, diagnostics, predictive, or prescriptive/cognitive analytics? Lastly, they must understand that from a data solution perspective these analytics build upon each other. In other words, you can’t run until you learn how to walk. Trying to implement a prescriptive/cognitive big data analytics solution is pointless unless you have effectively addressed problems that can be solved through descriptive, diagnostic, and predictive analytics.
To learn more about Michael’s consultancy, visit Blumberg Advisory Group, and follow Michael on Twitter.