Waiting for a service technician to show up and fix a critical piece of equipment is frustrating for all involved. Customers must absorb losses associated with equipment downtime, while service providers have to manage and maintain costly field operations teams. Now digital tools are enabling B2B companies to reimagine field operations and service delivery through remote connectivity.
A number of major companies, including manufacturers and software firms, are already offering remote or virtual assistance services to their customers. And the business case for reimagining field operations is growing ever stronger, as organizations grapple with an approaching “silver tsunami” of retiring field workers,1 changing customer expectations in the post pandemic era, as well as new opportunities from digital technology and generative AI (gen AI).
Costs are a concern, too. The underlying struggle with an aging field force has intensified, and growing competition for experienced technical resources has seen technician wages in North America increase 16 percent over the last five years.2
Reimagining field operations through a unified equipment life cycle strategy
Much of the pressure to change how service is delivered was born during the global COVID-19 crisis, when operations went through a period of accelerated digitization that enabled many organizations to continue servicing equipment without putting technicians at risk. This caused a whiplash effect, however, as B2B customers experienced more digital interactions and remote support—raising their expectations for B2B channels to reach the digital maturity of B2C channels.
Despite the benefits to B2B businesses and their customers, many organizations still struggle to offer a true digital and remote experience for their customers given a number of issues, ranging from multiple legacy systems to unclear opportunities for monetization.
To effectively shape the future of field operations, companies could look to reduce their overall field operations by taking an end-to-end approach that brings together digital, IT, product, and services functions to orchestrate a “unified equipment life cycle strategy” that reduces the need for field servicing.
This reimagination of service delivery could ultimately help increase service capacity without requiring additional field resources, while also harnessing technology and data to inform new ways to provide the experience B2B customers increasingly expect.
One global manufacturing company is doing this by harnessing digital tools—including cloud and augmented reality—to provide customers with operations and diagnostics support from anywhere in the world. Begun during the pandemic, this approach has been rolled out to all customers globally, minimizing travel-related costs and time, and speeding up customer service.
Other B2B companies looking to reimagine their field operations through a unified equipment life cycle strategy could consider four key elements to get started:
- Redesigned value proposition. Businesses would need to redesign the value proposition to build an equipment offering that clearly articulates the benefits of higher uptime and remote connectivity versus traditional siloed field interactions.
- Technology-backed remote servicing. Product and IT functions would need to collaborate to enable higher serviceability of equipment by increasing connectivity and remote capabilities.
- Overhauled commercial model. As well as redesigning the pricing strategy to match the higher value generated for customers, organizations would need to train the sales force to sell new value-based offerings, and work with existing and new customers to fully migrate to the new value proposition.
- Optimized operations. Key to success is taking an end-to-end approach across the service funnel to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of each channel—from automated troubleshooting to self-service digital channels and remote operations that ultimately increase field productivity with better information and tools.
Those companies that truly invest in digital enablement—and harness the catalyzing power of gen AI, wearables, and digitization through a holistic approach—could pull ahead of their peers. Moving with the tide of change, instead of resisting it, could ultimately enhance their capacity to service equipment and increase their right to win as the true owners of equipment and operational insights.
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1 2023 Voice of the Field Service Engineer Report, Service Council, October 2023.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics for Industrial Machinery Installation, Repair, and Maintenance Workers, 2019-2023, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed April 2024.