Management Support is the Lubricant

Our initiative to engage our field team in business development needs regular lubrication too.  Lubrication is vital to prevent premature failure of our efforts.  Management support is the lubricant of the initiative.  Consistent and engaged management support will contribute to the efficiency and longevity of the efforts of our field service team.  Initiatives that are poorly supported by management will never achieve the planned performance levels and will lose whatever momentum they have quickly.

As you assess management support as part of your PM program, consider the following:

• How often do you speak of the initiative? Is it part of most conversations?
• Do you speak of service promotion by field professionals as part of the overall strategy to serve the customer? Are the proactive efforts of the field team referred to as a service to the customer?
• Do you regularly provide training for your team to enable them to perform capably and comfortably?
• Do you offer reminders and refreshers to keep the initiative fresh? Do you provide an opportunity such as role-playing to let your field service professionals practice their customer conversations in a safe environment?
• Do you make time to regularly coach the team on the desired behaviours?

Providing the coaching and support needed to maintain momentum and achieve desired results is difficult.  Because coaching and support is not “urgent” (like responding to an emergency breakdown for example), and the results of the efforts tend not to be immediately visible, it often takes a back seat to other opportunities.  Management must be disciplined.  The effort is worth it, however.  Research shows that the most important component of any initiative requiring behaviour change is how management introduces and supports the initiative, not the quality of the initiative itself.[1]

Next time we will consider the importance of spare parts and how providing the security of this backup will help keep the processes running smoothly.

Let’s Connect

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. You can connect with me via telephone or email or leave a comment right here on the site. If you are reading this blog post via email, you will need to locate this post on my website by clicking here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find the comment section.

Jim Baston

“Learning is not compulsory… neither is survival.”
– W. Edwards Deming

[1] This series of blogs is based on an article published for Field Service News – https://www.fieldservicenews.com

[2] James Kirkpatrick, Transferring Learning to Behaviour

The post Preventative Maintenance for Business Promotion – Step 4 appeared first on jimbaston.com.

This series of blogs discusses the application of preventative maintenance in order to maintain our field team’s product and service promotion effectiveness. [1]

Step 3 – Checking Alignments and Readjusting if Applicable

Engaging our field service professionals in business development requires processes and systems with many moving parts.  In order to keep those parts working smoothly and ensure our field team is delivering at its highest levels, we must conduct periodic preventative maintenance (PM) services.  One of those services is checking alignments and readjusting if applicable.

In the service we provide to our customers, aligning equipment is a critical part of the PM services we provide.  If left unaddressed, unaligned equipment will result in premature bearing and belt wear, energy loss and equipment failure.

Aligning Our Business Development Efforts

The same is true for our business development efforts by the field team.  In many cases, opportunities will be referred to other areas of the business for fulfillment.  For example, a business opportunity might be referred to the sales department to follow up with the customer and to provide pricing and a formal proposal.  In others, part or all of the field team’s recommendations will be delivered through a separate department (e.g. a small project may be executed by a “projects” division rather than the “service” department).  If these other areas of the business are not aligned with your business development efforts, then you will not achieve the potential of your efforts.

Despite the criticalness of these alignments, many companies fail to address them.  One firm that I worked for, for example, had sales compensation plans that actually discouraged the salespeople from following up on opportunities from the field.  Needless to say, the field team and their customers were frustrated by the lack of response from the sales department and this caused their early efforts to engage their field service representatives in business development to fail.  In another case, the field service team did not trust the executing department to treat their customers with the same level of care and attention that they provide.  The field service team was fearful that they might lose the customer.

Conduct Regular Reviews of Your Business Development Alignments

As part of your PM, it is prudent to review these alignments to confirm that they are running smoothly.  Talk to the leaders of the other departments to ensure that they understand what you are doing and how it will benefit them.  Strategize together on how to reduce any obstacles and to build a stronger partnership between department members.  Review your processes (like sales compensation plans) to see if there is anything in the works that may be holding things back.

If a problem comes to your attention, address it immediately with your departmental counterpart to get it resolved.  Avoid laying blame on the other party (for example saying “Typical!  Those guys just don’t care about us!!”).  This only serves to cause the field team to question why they bother.  Dealing with interdivisional alignments, it is always good to follow the motto, “If it is to be, it’s up to me!”

Next time, we will look at lubrication of moving parts as the next step in our PM service for the business development efforts of our field service team.

Let’s Connect

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. You can connect with me via telephone or email or leave a comment right here on the site. If you are reading this blog post via email, you will need to locate this post on my website by clicking here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find the comment section.

Jim Baston

“If it is to be, it’s up to me!”

– Anon

[1] This series of blogs is based on an article published for Field Service News – https://www.fieldservicenews.com

The post Preventative Maintenance for Business Promotion – Step 3 appeared first on jimbaston.com.

This series of blogs discusses the application of preventative maintenance in order to maintain our field team’s product and service promotion effectiveness. [1]

Step 2 – Replacing, Refurbishing or Cleaning Wearable Parts and Consumables

In order to help our customers to be better off for having hired us, we must continually be on the lookout for ways that we can help them achieve their business goals.  Our field service team is in the best position to do this because of their knowledge of the technology, our company’s capabilities and our customers’ challenges and goals.  However, in order for our team to be effective in making proactive recommendations, we must have the system and processes in place and working smoothly.  Regular preventative maintenance (PM) of our systems and processes will help ensure that our field service professionals continue to provide recommendations that will be appreciated by our customers.

Last time I wrote about conducting a high level assessment before getting into the details of the PM.  This time, I would like to focus our attention on the parts of the initiative that wear and need refurbishing or replacement – the opportunity capture and management systems and processes.

Opportunity Capture and Management Systems and Processes

Opportunity capture and management systems and processes are the backbone of the business development initiative and are the parts of the overall initiative that is most subject to wear and tear.  If the systems are not working smoothly, then opportunities get lost, field professionals get frustrated and customers become disappointed.  Failure to maintain the processes and systems will be a sure way to bring the entire initiative to a grinding halt.

Capture Opportunities

To keep systems and processes operating in tiptop condition, check to ensure that there is a clear and simple process to capture opportunities and that the process is clearly understood. Look for any opportunities that may have fallen through the cracks.  Identify opportunities that are in limbo and the clarity and effectiveness of the process to follow-up.

Feedback Loops

Look at the feedback loops. Check to ensure that the feedback loops are working properly so that the field service professional is informed on opportunity status when visiting the customer.

Response Times

Ensure that management is responding quickly to address any anomalies when problems in the process do occur.  Failure to address concerns about the processes and systems will communicate to the field team that you are just not that serious.

Simplify the Efforts of the Technicians

Speak with the technicians to explore for improvements in the process that will simplify their efforts.  They are the ones who live and breath within the system and irritations, no matter how small, will slow down their efforts and discourage the desired behaviours.

Taking the time to check and address worn parts and consumables will ensure that the core of the initiative is working smoothly.  Next time I will discuss checking alignments and readjusting if necessary.

Let’s Connect

As always, I welcome your comments and questions. You can connect with me via telephone or email or leave a comment right here on the site. If you are reading this blog post via email, you will need to locate this post on my website by clicking here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find the comment section.

Jim Baston

“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I would
spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.”

– Abraham Lincoln

[1] This series of blogs is based on an article published for Field Service News – https://www.fieldservicenews.com

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