New ways to think are crucial as we forge ahead into 2023. The economy has been weathering the storm, but even a downturn brings opportunities to see things anew. Revisioning is the way to stay the course and innovate. Field service organizations have learned how to cut back effectively. This time is different. Customer-supplier relationships are changing in new and interesting ways, creating trends to be aware of.
How Feature Functionality is Becoming Commoditized
Both the gig economy and COVID shutdowns have shown us how feature functionality is commoditized and how the new technology-as-service business models are accelerating. Executives must cut operating costs that don’t hinder progress, revenue generation, and productivity. Field service leaders must rethink business models, finding opportunities for business growth. The challenge in innovating can be a lack of data for the yet-discovered and unproven. To change, we must determine what truth is essential to implementing new ideas and working in this new and challenging business environment.
Challenges in Innovation: Finding Options
Field service organizations must ask: What are our options? This is where accessing new scenarios comes high on the list of importance. Evaluating scenarios from a different slant will yield new ways of thinking. We must see anew.
Two types of questions are important to ask: outside-in questions and inside-out questions. Outside-in questions examine the latest trends and untapped market opportunities and how they impact business. The inside-out questions ask about existing assets and potentialities that already exist in-house. Field service companies should apply both to the issue we all face in this economy: Where should we cut, and where can we find revenue?
Giving an overview of the strategic issue, as well as what the potential scenarios and trends are, is essential to understanding what must be valid for new scenarios to make sense. This is how to break free from the status quo and look toward unearthing and pursuing new business opportunities in our turbulent economic environment. Growing revenue is the key to future success. Field service organizations must focus on delivering faster resolution times to retain customers. Resolving is more important than responding. So, where should companies cut back?
Where to Trim
Remote support came to the forefront during COVID. This prompted field service organizations to use virtual support systems through telemetry. Businesses also learned the importance of having technicians participate in conducting reviews of product features, providing information regarding newly released features, and determining the kinds of enhancements customers want and need. Reducing costs also means evaluating the status quo and leveraging service skill sets when deciding to either lay off or utilize personnel. Also, organizations must determine how to reduce remote and on-site dispatch costs. Finally, companies must assess logistics from both vantage points of status quo and remanufacturing, always asking, what must be valid for this to be successful? What makes the most sense in the debate will help deliver the answer.
Finding New Revenue Streams Is a Creative Practice
Revisioning new ways of finding revenue is a creative process. Increasing your install base under contract is an excellent place to begin. In addition, monetizing and moving from “free to fee” is a starting point. Creating value can be found in faster resolution times, product and application support systems for additional training, and increasing coverage hours. You can’t bulletproof business plans for approval. The riskiest scenario may be the way you have always done it.
Successfully Navigating Business Transformations
Growth in revenue takes courage and thinking outside the box. We must educate management teams, assess the current performance of our technologies, prescribe recommendations to improve, and align key stakeholders on crucial business decisions. Ultimately, finding new revenue streams and cutting costs is paramount to surviving 2023. Therefore, exploring new ways of thinking about the status quo and trends is critical while finding methods to assess scenarios. Once understood, field service companies must focus on the most important aspects of their transformation into the land of new opportunities.