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

The post Preventative Maintenance for Business Promotion – Step 2 appeared first on jimbaston.com.

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Through the years working with Service providers across several industries, I have found that there are 5 common mistakes that service companies make when asking technicians to promote their services. These mistakes can cost the service company in lost revenues, reduced customer retention and higher technician turnover.

Engaging technicians in promoting services is a focus of many service organizations today – and for good reason. A program of this nature can be a significant differentiator in a highly competitive environment. Technicians who use their expertise and knowledge to recommend products and services that help their customers achieve their goals provide tremendous value. They help their customers recognize that they are better off for having known them. And, a customer who recognizes this value in the relationship is very unlikely to take their business elsewhere.

However rewarding providing this type of service might be, even with the best of intentions, engaging technicians in this manner is not easy to achieve. Here are the 5 most common mistakes I have found that service managers make that prevent them from realizing the full potential of this initiative.

Mistake # 1: Language tends to focus on the sale and not the service. Identifying ways a customer can make improvements that will help their business is a critical part of the service that we provide. When technicians recognize this, they are more likely to engage in conversations with the customer to promote services that will benefit them, even though it may be a bit uncomfortable at first. However, our language may suggest that what we are asking them to do is sell. (For example: “Next time you conduct a service, have a look around to see what other services we can sell them.”) When technicians perceive we are asking them to sell, they will be more reluctant to engage in this type of customer conversation.

Mistake # 2: Failure to follow up in a timely fashion. I am surprised by the number of service companies that tell me that they are embarrassed to admit that they do not follow up on all opportunities in a timely way. In fact, sometimes they fail to follow up at all. When an opportunity is brought forward, it is critical that it is addressed immediately. When we fail to do so, we are really just telling our technicians that we were “only kidding” when we said this was an important part of the service.

Mistake # 3: Providing no feedback to the tech. This mistake is related to Mistake # 2. During our workshops it is not unusual to hear techs comment that they rarely get an update on what is going on once they refer an opportunity to the office for follow-up. They often find out the status from the customer themselves. And, when a sale is made, many will lament, the salesperson takes all the credit. This Mistake #3 negatively impacts our efforts in two ways. The first is that lack of feedback can discourage the technicians from speaking with their customers. The second is that we miss an opportunity to shine in front of the customer. If a technician is apprised of what is going on, they can discuss the opportunity positively with the customer and explain what is taking place in order to put the proposal together. Contrast that with a technician who is not kept up to speed with the progress of the opportunity. How do they respond when the customer asks them how the proposal is progressing? What does it say about our internal communications?

Mistake # 4: Assuming the technician knows what you do. This is an understandable mistake. We are often so immersed in our company and our services that we assume that our people will also know about all of our services and be comfortable talking about them to customers. The reality is that our technicians rarely know enough about all of our service to be comfortable about bringing it up to a customer. And, when they don’t, they won’t.

Mistake # 5: Failure to reinforce and encourage behaviour change. Coaching and supporting new behaviors plays a critical role in new skills adoption. For some, taking a more proactive approach to discussing opportunities with customers is a challenging task. It takes time and practice to become comfortable. Without coaching and reinforcement, our technicians will simply revert back to their old ways and our efforts will be lost. Think of coaching as a form of maintenance. You would never expect a piece of equipment to run very long or very well without maintenance so why would you expect your service team to perform well and consistently at new skills without coaching?

For more suggestions and ideas on successfully engaging your techs in promoting your services, check out my book or some of the articles on my website.

I’d love your feedback! And as always, please feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one via the commentluv feature 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

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

– Albert Einstein

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“Actually John”, I replied, “they pay you for both – fixing things and looking good.”  John was not convinced.

I asked John if he had been to a wedding recently and it turns out he was just the month before.

“What did you wear?” I asked.

“Sports Jacket and dress shirt – no tie.”

“What day of the week was it?”

“Saturday.  Why?”

“Is that what you usually wear on a Saturday?”

“You’re kidding, right?”  John responded.  “It’s usually torn jeans and a stained T-shirt”.  John smiled broadly and looked around the room at his peers.

“Really?” I asked in mock astonishment.  “Why didn’t you wear those to the wedding?”

“Because you just don’t that’s why.  You dress up for a wedding.  It shows respect.”

“But surely John, you weren’t invited to look good, you were invited to share the joy of the bride and groom’s big day.”  I stated, paraphrasing what he had said earlier.

“This is different!  I was talking about work and the need to get something fixed.  My customers wouldn’t care if I came in boxer shorts so long as I fixed the problem before I left!”

“Okay John.  How about this?  Have you seen your doctor in the last 12 months?”

“I just had my check up.  Why?

“What was he wearing?”

“Nice pants and a dress shirt – white I think.  He also had a phone on his belt and a stethoscope around his neck.”

“Any bloodstains on the shirt?”

“What????  No!!!”

“What if there were?  What if your doctor was wearing clothes with bloodstains and that looked like they had been slept in, wore a two-day beard and had unkempt hair?  How would you feel about that?”

I went on to explain to John that the service that our customers’ experience is derived from two distinct yet inseparable components.  One is the actual service performed – the troubleshooting and repair, the maintenance activities, the installation, etc.  This component is the service outcome.  It is the reason that the customer called us in the first place.  It was what John was thinking about when he spoke about the fact that customers don’t pay him to look good.

The second component that makes up our customers’ service experience is how the service is conducted – the smile on the tech’s face, the cleanliness of the work area, the quality of the repair description and even how the technicians chooses to present him or herself.  This is called the service delivery.

Because in most cases the customer can’t truly assess the quality of the actual service outcome, they look to how the service is delivered to determine the quality of the service provided.  In effect, they use the service delivery as the lens through which to view and assess the service outcome.  Both service delivery and service outcome are important and cannot be separated.  Together they add up to the total service experience.

Therefore, since customers are paying for the total service experience, it is fair to say that customers do pay us to look good AND fix things.  It is up to us as managers to ensure that they are getting what they are paying for when purchasing services from us.

I’d love your feedback! And as always, please feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one via the commentluv feature 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

“Your appearance, attitude, and confidence define you as a person.  A professional, well-dressed golfer, like a businessperson, gives the impression that he thinks that the golf course and/or workplace and the people there are important.”

– Lorii Myers, Targeting Success, Develop the Right Business Attitude to be Successful in the Workplace

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It is important to keep in mind that, as managers, we are not measured so much by what we do, but by what our employees do.  That means that we should be trying to spend as much of our time as possible in helping our employees do their jobs better.  However, the reality is that we are in a fast-paced, real-time business that often forces us to put coaching and development activities aside to address more urgent matters.  When we allow this to happen too often, we find we spend little or no time providing the critical support that will truly help our employees excel.  And that can be costly in terms of our team’s effectiveness and therefore our overall performance.  Some research has demonstrated that with new skills adoption, as much as 75% of an initiative’s success will be dependent upon the actions of management to support and coach their employees.  A large association of training and development professionals found that training, followed by coaching, showed a four-fold improvement in skills adoption.

Coaching isn’t the only factor that will determine how well our team adopts and contributes to a Proactive Service culture.  We must ensure that we also “walk the walk”.  Leading by example makes it clear that we are serious and that this is not just another management fad.  It also provides a reference for the team in understanding exactly what is expected of them.

Coaching and leading by example to support new behaviors plays a critical role in new skills adoption.  For some, taking a more proactive approach to discussing opportunities that will help the customer run their facilities more effectively is a challenging task.  It takes time and practice to become comfortable.  Without coaching and reinforcement, most of our technicians will simply revert back to their old ways and our efforts will be lost.  It is helpful to think of coaching as a form of maintenance.  We would never expect a piece of equipment to run very long or very well without maintenance so why would we expect our service team to perform well and consistently at new skills without coaching?

I have written an article that summarizes the key steps I have written about in the last several blogs for instilling a Proactive Service® culture in your service team.  I thought it could be a handy reference.  If you are interested, you can download a complimentary copy by clicking here.

I’d love your feedback! And as always, please feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one via the commentluv feature 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

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”

– Mahatma Gandhi

The post Step 6 of a Proactive Service® Culture – Coach and Support appeared first on jimbaston.com.

Technicians who seem naturally gifted at selling their company’s products or services do not see their efforts as selling at all – they recognize their recommendations as the valuable service that they are.  To them it is a service activity.

Many service managers, however, treat business development efforts as a selling activity and this subtly undermines their efforts in three ways.

1. It puts the focus on what more the service company can “get” out of their customers.  We may look at the opportunity in terms of “… let’s leverage our customer relationships to win more business.”  There is nothing inherently wrong with this and of course, it is the objective of every business development activity.  However, this is a short term, tactical approach, which can obscure the much larger opportunities to build a differentiated service offering.
2. It positions the technician as a salesperson.  I don’t know about you, but I have not met many service technicians who appreciate being called a salesperson.  In fact, most are insulted by the title.  To be successful we need our technicians engaged and enthusiastic and this is pretty hard to do when the technician doesn’t see it as his or her job and is insulted by the expectation.
3. It adversely impacts the relationship with the customer.  If the technicians do take the “selling” role to heart, we risk alienating our customers.  The harder the technician tries to sell to the customer, the less effective they will be in building new business.  The reason is that, the moment the service tech starts to “sell”, he/she transcends that bond of trust that has been forged with the customer.  Regardless of how genuine the service technician is, the very reason the customer trusted the tech in the first place – the fact that they aren’t out to sell them anything – is suddenly no longer the basis of the relationship.

The preferred approach is to treat business development as a service.  Like the technicians on our team who seem to create an endless stream of opportunities, we need to get all of our technicians to recognize that identifying ways for the customer to run their facilities more effectively is a critical and valued service and not a sale.  There is a subtle difference here, but an important one.  When the technician understands that using their heads as well as their hands to help the customer is a service, they will approach the role with more enthusiasm and focus.  And customers, when they see that the technician is providing valuable suggestions aimed at helping them operate more effectively, will recognize and welcome this as the valuable service it is.  Certainly some technicians will be uncomfortable in engaging the customer in conversation so may have some difficulty in executing the plan as effectively as we might like, but that can be overcome by skills development like our Proactive Service® workshops, mentoring and support systems.

Maintain focus on this approach to business development by using every opportunity to repeat the mantra to the techs that identifying opportunities and bringing them to the attention of the customer is a valuable service.  Let them know that if they don’t think it is “right” for the customer, then they should not have the conversation.  Make it clear that you are not interested in sales for sales sake but simply want to ensure that each customer receives the benefit of having someone of their caliber in their facility.  Take this approach and the sales will take care of themselves.

I’d love your feedback! And as always, please feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one via the commentluv feature 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

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

– Muhammad Ali

The post 1st Step in Creating Proactive Service® – Focus on Service, Not Selling appeared first on jimbaston.com.

Engineers have just discovered that maintenance of mechanical and electrical equipment is not needed to keep equipment running at peak performance.  “You’ll get better performance by ignoring the equipment altogether.  The equipment will run better and you will save money on not having to pay those service bills!”  This is great news for building owners and process managers.  They can now take a hands-off approach and while getting excellent performance from their equipment.

Sounds a bit silly, doesn’t it?  Who could possibly believe that the equipment that we lovingly maintain for our customers could possibly perform better if left un-serviced?  It’s almost like saying that the law of gravity no longer applies.  In real life, without maintenance, filters will clog, belts will break and electrical connections will overheat.  The cost of keeping things running, let alone performing at their peak will go up exponentially.  Ultimately, everything will grind to a halt.

And yet, as business owners and service managers, we sometimes have similarly unrealistic expectations when it comes to the performance of our service techs.  Not only do our service techs need to be technically excellent at their job but through their interpersonal skills, they play a major marketing role for our companies as well.  They represent our firms and define the customer’s service experience.  They are often the reason for retaining a customer or losing them.  In most cases, they actually ARE our companies.  Their interpersonal performance matters!

Yet, what are we doing for the technician to help them to “maintain” this high level of interpersonal performance?  What have we done to provide them with the critical people skills needed to excel?   What tools and techniques have we given them to interact well with our customers and to handle the challenges of interpersonal relationships while working under pressure – sometimes extreme?  What efforts have we made to eliminate processes and policies that detract them from providing exceptional customer service?

As business owners and managers, we have a choice.  We can leave it to chance and cross our fingers that the “law of gravity” does not apply to our technicians.  Or, we can take the initiative to define the service experience we want our customers to have and provide interpersonal skills training and support for technicians to make it a reality.  The choice is ours.

I’d love your feedback. Feel free to leave a link back to your own blog as well via the commentluv feature here on the site.

Jim Baston

“We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.”

– Wernher von Braun

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