by Rosemary Coates | Sep 30, 2013 | Strategy & Leadership
We are wired. We can search topics, brands, and business issues pretty much anytime, anywhere in the world. If your customer wants to know about your company or your competitors, he or she can do some fast online research. This environment makes keeping up with what...
by Megan Van Vlack | Sep 27, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Sleek and slim, the redesigned Ford Transit Connect is one of the most modern light-duty models ever produced. On the outside, it looks more like a small car than a commercial van, with a front-end that’s reminiscent of Ford Fiestas. Inside, the Transit Connect...
by Rosemary Coates | Sep 24, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
What is the best way to find out what your customers want? Ask, of course. Field service organizations should not make assumptions about customers. World-class field service organizations ask for feedback relentlessly. Marriott Corporation asks every guest every time...
by Krysten Crawford | Sep 23, 2013 | Strategy & Leadership
How is the health of the field service industry heading into the last three months of the year? Fairly good on several key fronts — from service revenues to cost control to customer service satisfaction, according to a new quarterly report from The Service Council....
by Courtney Buchanan | Sep 19, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Field service managers are always looking for ways to make their techs more efficient and productive. While reducing driving time from one job to the next and having the right parts inventory on hand can help, an oft-overlooked factor is organization. While...
by Megan Van Vlack | Sep 19, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
HVAC engineers won’t get very far these days without a digital manifold to help install and maintain a refrigeration unit. Unlike the analog manifolds of yore, today’s manifolds can instantly calculate both superheat and subhead cooling temperatures and...
by | Sep 18, 2013 | Service Transformation
The Problem: As customer oriented organizations extend their service delivery processes not only to their own service techs, but also to their customers and partners via portals, there is a compelling need to provide interactive and data driven field service process...
by Megan Van Vlack | Sep 17, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Last week we wrote about some grim government statistics on work-related fatalities: field service positions make up seven of the 10 deadliest jobs in America. And the leading cause of worker deaths overall? Transportation-related. Field service workers spend an...
by Rosemary Coates | Sep 16, 2013 | Strategy & Leadership
You will build customer loyalty in field service — if your service is responsive and effective. No one wants a product to fail, but it happens. The way you deal with failure can create significant opportunity to enhance customer loyalty. But, if handled poorly, it...
by Megan Van Vlack | Sep 12, 2013 | Mobile & Tech
It’s got the same drivetrain as that cute all-electric Nissan Leaf, but the new Nissan e-NV200 commercial van is equipped with industrial features and equipment add-ons that can turn it into a field-service workhorse. Scheduled to enter production in 2014,...
by Maeghan Ouimet | Sep 10, 2013 | Field Service Spotlight
Forget “Dirty Jobs.” How about deadly jobs? The government recently released a list of the top 10 deadliest professions in 2012, and — guess what? — seven of them are in field service: Logging workers — No. 1 on the list, with about 128 deaths per 100,000...
by Courtney Buchanan | Sep 9, 2013 | Strategy & Leadership
Providing top-notch customer service is so much easier said than done. Field service companies spend years building loyal customer relationships and trying to perfect the art of superior service. Shep Hyken, customer service guru and author of The Amazement...