Member Article

White van man: the new golden boy?

White van man has long been branded as the rogue of the roads, but as businesses shift their view of their field-based workforce from one of operational necessity to strategic value can he become the golden boy? Mark Forrest, general manager of Trimble’s Field Service Management Division explains how businesses are turning the infamous ‘white van man’ into a brand ambassador on the frontline.

The strategic importance of customer service

The link between customer service, customer loyalty and profitability is now widely acknowledged, and implementing a culture of service excellence has become a high priority for many organisations. Indeed, four in every five managers and directors operating large field-based work forces surveyed recently by Trimble agreed that that customers are more demanding than five years ago; showing a keen awareness of changing customer expectations.

The frontline workforce has, therefore, evolved from playing an operational role to one of significant importance to the overall strategy of a brand. Nine in every ten of Trimble research respondents agreed that mobile workers are the ‘company face’ and consider field staff to be important for the image of the business. But staff out on the road are often tarnished by a negative ‘white van man’ reputation, associating them with poor driving and a lack of courtesy.

It is a real challenge for UK businesses to overcome this stereotype but, encouragingly, many UK businesses are fully committed to improving field operations. Just under half (49%) agreed that the board is placing more strategic importance on field service excellence than it did a year ago, and 51% agreed with the statement that the board sees field service excellence as a key part of the organisation’s strategic vision.

Investing in frontline operations

Over half of the businesses in our study are investing in their field service operations in order to achieve this: 57% of the service teams we spoke to have grown since 2007; and an even higher percentage, 61% of the organisations in our study said that their service team would grow in the next five years; with one in five saying that it would grow significantly and nobody prepared to say that it would shrink in size.

However, our study also suggested that organisations are struggling to fully deliver on their vision for field service excellence; under half of respondents were on target to achieving their annual business goals.

Budget considerations emerged as a key concern for around one quarter of organisations. In 27% of cases, the board is fully committed to their field-based divisions, but finances mean they cannot follow through on planned vision, while a small minority (11%) felt that the board only pays lip service to field operations. Perhaps most tellingly, looking ahead to the future, 60% said they are worried they will have to do more with less, suggesting that ever-increasing customer expectations, an uncertain economic climate and rising fuel prices were putting pressure on internal resources.

Achieving service delivery excellence

The Trimble study found that organisations are using a number of different initiatives to achieve customer service excellence and turn frontline workers into brand ambassadors. Over two thirds of those interviewed ensure the mobile workforce is made aware of company campaigns, and regular training and coaching are also key to ensuring that those employees ‘out on the road’ reflect corporate brand values.

Nearly half of those surveyed hold regular customer service training sessions, and a further 31% meet frequently to discuss how to interact with clients. Simple things like sharing behavioural codes of conduct (33%) and providing a uniform/dress code (23%) are also important to presenting a consistent, respected image to customers.

In particular, 79% said that driving skill is taken seriously by the company and is strongly linked to representation of the brand in the public eye. Three quarters of businesses surveyed provide regular staff briefings on how to drive more safely, and 70% have a written policy on safe driving.

The role of technology in delivering service excellence

Achieving continuous improvements in customer service, while making the most of often restricted budgets and slim resources, is a huge challenge for UK businesses. The Trimble ‘Road Ahead – the Future of Field Service Delivery’ report found that a huge eight in ten managers and directors firmly believe that technology can help.

The Road Ahead study revealed that 58% of organisations use technology to monitor drivers in order to identify and deal with poor driving, with the majority of these using telematics for this purpose. This can go a long way to helping businesses eradicate the ‘white van man’ association.

Technology can also be key in keeping customers happy with prompt, reliable service. Providing an acceptable wait window was a priority for four in five businesses and, although the definition of an acceptable wait window may vary between organisations, it is no longer acceptable to say anytime during the day. In order to deliver such precise service, the right technology can help businesses manage unexpected events as they occur, allowing jobs to be reprioritised and reallocated as the day unfolds to keep service levels high. With effective scheduling you can get the right driver to the nearest location promptly, which keeps customers happy, boosts service productivity and ultimately drives business profits.

Technology is overwhelmingly recognised as an aid to achieving key strategic objectives and over 60% of managers and directors that we consulted had upgraded their technology systems within the last year, and a further 26% are planning to change at some point in the future. However, somewhat alarmingly, over half of the participants in our study (58%) are concerned that lack of investment in the proper tools and technology will hold back the development of their organisation.

Set up for success

Moving forward, organisations should be looking carefully at their frontline workforces to ensure that the ‘white van man’ reputation is not associated with their brand. With customer service now a top priority, there is a strong case for investment in technologies and initiatives that help to ensure frontline staff are business ambassadors. This will only become more important as the mobile workforce, and its role as the face of the business, continues to grow.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by John Cameron .