The front-line field force is often held as being the face of the organization, or to a degree, the best link to the customer a service organization or manufacturer has. Field technicians' daily interactions with customers are viewed by those of us who are passionate about field service as the cornerstone of the customer relationship, which adds value to the customer experience. But too often it ends there, with puffery or marketing speak.  Continue Reading..

Optimization of the customer experience carries with it a plethora of opportunities and challenges for an organization.  One challenge is managing omni-channel communication with customers, which savvy service organizations leverage to manage customer conversations to reduce friction for their customers and outpace their competition.  In fact, 51 percent of companies surveyed by Aberdeen use at least eight channels to interact with...  Continue Reading..

The most disruptive and compelling technology that will facilitate better service to customers from a predictive enablement perspective is the Internet of Things (IoT). This refers to connecting any device with power to the Internet. It includes phones, household appliances, automobiles, machinery, medical instruments, and almost any electronic device you can think of. To understand the magnitude of this technology, Gartner predicts that, by...  Continue Reading..

The “People, Process, Technology” framework has effectively guided many initiatives and projects over the years and produced valuable data for reports and business metrics.  Now, we are innovating the service delivery process with artificial intelligence, the use of drones, smart devices, and sensors which make data collection and analysis a design element to change the service delivery process.  Continue Reading..

Product-oriented businesses review and value their “product roadmap”. The vitality of a product-based company depends on the on-going development of a product roadmap and continuous innovation.  Future market growth and company valuation are, in part, determined by this roadmap.   Continue Reading..