Preparing for the WHITEPAPER Connected...

Astea Whitepaper: Preparing for the Connected Customer

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Preparing for the Connected CustomerAn Astea International White Paper

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!1 Minute Away

It’s no secret that the level of digital connectivity has exploded. For your

service customers, the pervasiveness of that connectivity is accelerating

and heightening expectations when it comes to service quality.

Introduction

This is the era of the connected customer—consumers

who are used to having the entire Internet at their

fingertips, who can instantly interact with friends and

associates via text or social media, and who can quickly

summon a ride, make restaurant reservations, or order a

gift with a few clicks and swipes on their phones.

Connected customers present both challenges and

opportunities for field service organizations. Their

expectations have increased based on their experiences

interacting with other types of service providers such as

Amazon.com, Uber, FedEx, and Zipcar. These customers

want more information, along with faster, better service,

and more control over their experience.

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Connected customers are intimately familiar with the capabilities of mobile computing technology in a way that they were not 10 years ago. They expect field service technicians to be able to access those same or even more advanced mobile capabilities.

When it comes to service, these customers expect:

Rising Expectations of the Connected Customer

Technicians that will arrive armed with their individual customer

histories and preferences

Technicians that have full access to the repair information and parts that they

need to complete the job

A service organization that can respond quickly to

emergency calls

The ability to receive real-time updates on the status of their service, both online

and via their mobile phones

Real-time alerts when technicians are on their way

to the job site/residence

Mobility is at the epicenter of engaging your field service customers. While mobile technology in and of itself once offered a competitive advantage, mobility is now basic table stakes when it comes to field service. Field service management solutions that leverage mobile technology provide an opportunity to distinguish a service organization from competitors and unlock new streams of revenue. By satisfying the needs of connected customers, service organizations can improve the customer experience, enhance their reputation, and reduce churn.

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Enterprises are rapidly embracing mobility. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, 47% of North American businesses have at least 11 different mobile worker apps deployed, and 88% plan on introducing at least one new employee-facing app within the year.

Why are they deploying so many mobile applications? Because the benefits are widespread, clear, and easy to measure. According to Frost Sullivan’s data, companies have found that key mobility benefits include: More efficient business processes (49% of respondents), more productive employees (46%), improved collaboration (46%), cost savings (45%), more satisfied employees (44%), enhanced customer engagement (43%), and competitive advantage (42%).

The rapid adoption of a wide variety of mobile apps has been enabled by the emergence of more powerful mobile devices (including smartphones) that can run enterprise-class applications, as well as the development of more powerful and responsive wireless networks.

Leveraging Customer Connectivity

Key Benefits of Mobility for Enterprises

Cost savings 45%

More satisfied employees

44%

Enhanced customer engagement

43%

Competitive advantage

42%

Improved collaboration

46%

More productive employees

46%

More efficient business processes

49%


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Having a mobile solution in place does not automatically enable a service organization to effectively serve the connected customer. Focusing on cost containment, productivity, and efficiency are no longer the end game when it comes to mobility. While reducing costs and completing more jobs per day are good for the bottom line, they don’t necessarily assist in improving customer satisfaction and are not always in line with value creation in the long-term. In some cases, cost containment and efficiency strategies can actually undermine customer relationships.

Why is this? Because cost/efficiency improvements tend to be internally focused; the fact that the service organization saved money on fuel or can bill more jobs per month doesn’t benefit customers.

Service customers want reliability and visibility. Did the service organization get the technician to the job site quickly, armed with the right parts and repair knowledge? Were they able to complete the repair in one visit? Was the customer able to stay updated on the status of the technician and the work order? How easy was it to schedule the service visit?

Cost Containment

Productivity

Efficiency

Service Reliability

Visibility

Ease of Interaction

Organizational Benefits

+

Customer Benefits


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By leveraging analytics, the input your connected customers provide can help you understand consumption patterns and deliver a personalized solution.

Every decision the service organization makes should be weighed against a backdrop of the overall impact to the customer. The fact that customers are now highly connected makes it easier for service organizations to meet their needs, provided that they have their own robust mobility solution in place. By making it easier for customers to access and use their services more easily, they can open up untapped markets and intelligent insights.

Connecting with these consumers requires ongoing feedback. With that feedback, service organizations can optimize service processes based on actual customer needs, and empower their customer-facing employees to provide the best service possible.

By leveraging analytics, the input your connected customers provide can help you understand consumption patterns and deliver a personalized solution—and potentially do so at a premium, creating new pricing models and differentiated service models, and establishing new revenue streams in the process.

Customer Interactions

Customer Input

Analytics

Service Process Optimization/ Personalization


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There are a number of ways to leverage customer connectivity to improve service operations and enhance the overall customer experience. While these can vary by market, some of the key ways service organizations can directly impact the customer satisfaction include:

Online Scheduling

Whether it’s via a mobile app or the service organization’s website, customers want flexibility and control over scheduling their service appointments, and don’t necessarily want to wait on hold with a call center representative. Online scheduling requests can feed directly into advanced automated scheduling and work order management solutions.

Technician Arrival Tracking

A number of telecommunications providers have already rolled out technician tracking apps for their customers, giving them the ability to see how far away the tech is by looking at a map on their phone—much like similar functionality provided by Uber. Instead of waiting at home during a predetermined two- or four-hour arrival window, customers can receive alerts when the tech is within 20 minutes of arrival, and then meet them at their residence. While that type of solution doesn’t directly benefit the service company, it solves a massive customer pain point.

Proactive Service

Not only are customers more connected, but so are the products they use that require service. By tapping into the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor asset conditions, service companies can track and monitor how customers are using products at a much deeper level, and provide proactive service by recognizing maintenance and repair needs before there is a failure.

Open Communication

In some markets, customers want to be able to communicate directly with the service organization via text, e-mail or voice—and may even want to communicate directly with the technician. For key contracts, that type of personalized communication can generate significant value for the customer. Field service management solutions with customer portals can also provide automated alerts and updates to customers so they can easily keep track of the technician’s progress from any location.

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Meeting the Challenge of the Connected CustomerEngaging effectively with connected customers requires an investment in field service management (FSM) and mobile technology that can keep pace with the technology in which your customers already have access. There are a number of challenges involved in that process, including:

Navigating a fragmented and confusing market. Service organizations that are new to mobility, or that have not updated their solutions in several years, may be intimidated by the diversity of technology now available, including different software deployment models, different hardware form factors, and multiple operating system options. Be prepared to research multiple solution providers to determine where you should obtain your hardware, software, and wireless access.

Predicting customer needs. The market is moving quickly, and it can be challenging to get in front of it. Service organizations should have a structured approach for gathering feedback directly from their customers to get a better idea of where to invest their technology dollars. Otherwise, they could wind up missing important customer pain points—a failure that could cost them business later on.

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Determining the best technologies to deploy. Emerging technologies are also going to play an important role in field service over the next five years. While some of them aren’t quite ready for wide deployment, it’s important to evaluate them early to determine how they might benefit your organization, and whether your competitors may be preparing to invest in them.

Predictive analytics, for example, are already being used to help service organizations sort out future demand for services in order to adjust hiring and scheduling practices. Other industries are investing in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to manage scheduling or to diagnose equipment failures. Wearable technologies such as cameras, smart watches, smart glasses, and displays can be used to help technicians keep their hands free during repairs, or to provide visual information in real-time for collaborative processes. Augmented reality (including 3D visualization) can be used to guide repairs or for remote technician training/assistance.

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Wearable Cameras Smart Watches Smart Glasses

Connected customers have much higher expectations of their service providers

than in the past. With mobile technology and field service management

automation, service organizations can meet or exceed those expectations by

taking a customer-first approach to their service operations.

Conclusion

According to Frost & Sullivan, only 5% of surveyed service organizations have expressed any

level of dissatisfaction with their field service management system, a number that has been

relatively stable for several years. In addition, 67% of companies plan to expand their mobile

deployments in the next 12 months. That level of satisfaction and forward movement should

erase any hesitation other service organizations have about making new investments in mobility

in order to meet the demands of their increasingly connected customer base.

67% of companies plan to expand their mobile deployments in the

next 12 months.

Only 5% of service organizations have expressed any level of dissatisfaction with their field service management system.

Having a complete picture of the customer experience is critical. Your technology systems

should allow seamless engagement between all of your customer touchpoints to improve the

customer experience and gain insights into customer behaviors and preferences.


Astea International is a global provider of software solutions that offer all the cornerstones of service

lifecycle management, including customer management, service management, asset management, forward and

reverse logistics management and mobile workforce management. Since 1979, Astea has been helping more

than 600 companies drive even higher levels of customer satisfaction with faster response times and proactive

communication, creating a seamless, consistent and highly personalized experience at every customer

relationship touch point.

About Astea

www.astea.com

Copyright © 1996-2017 Astea International Inc. All rights reserved.

All other company or product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

To be relevant in the future, companies must focus on leveraging data to create a single instance

of truth when it comes to customer information, and then make that information available to all

of the relevant stakeholders. Your technicians can have smarter, more informed conversations

with your customers, while having the flexibility to quickly adapt to meet their needs—whether

that is selling additional services, correcting an error, or being to able to quickly order parts or

solicit technical assistance while on site.

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