Ask ServicePower Experts: Ensuring Customers Get Off on the Right Foot

Ask the ServicePower Experts: Neil Cook, VP of Global Services & Customer Support

Ensuring customers get off on the right foot.

We’re kicking off a series of Q&A with ServicePower leadership, where our executives will share a bit of their insight into some of the key issues driving their teams.

Our first post is with Neil Cook, ServicePower’s VP of Global Services & Customer Support. Neil oversees new customer implementation and adoption of ServicePower solutions. Having overseen countless implementation and digital transformation projects for Fortune 500, early-stage, and private equity-backed SaaS companies, Neil has really seen it all, and that breadth and depth of experience is critical to the success of ServicePower clients’ implementations.

How do you approach your implementations for new ServicePower customers? Is there a common game plan that you always follow?

Neil: I’d say we go into each new implementation with an understanding that each customer has its own unique requirements, expectations, and philosophies, and we really try to take these all into account during our implementations. So while there is a common theme – from gathering requirements, Q&A to really dive into how the organization works, project timelines, and the push toward Go Live – we know from the outset that no two customers, and therefore no two implementations, are alike.

Something that helps in particular is that we are almost always heavily involved in the sales process. So when a customer signs on with ServicePower, we are already keenly aware of that customer’s environment, goals, and biggest needs. There’s never a situation where we have a deal and it gets thrown over the proverbial fence to my team – we’re already beyond the starting line. From there, it’s a matter of digging more and more into the details and finer points of the organization and system we are building uniquely for the customer.

One thing that really helps us – and simultaneously is very beneficial for our customers – is that the team has a great deal of experience not only with the ServicePower products but in the field service industry and the specific domain. So the team members bring all their cumulative field service experiences as well as experiences from a particular industry, whether that is retail, appliances, insurance, or whichever. I’m of the opinion that you can’t be successful without a true passion for helping customers, and that’s what makes it a delight to lead this team of ardent members. Every day we wake up with a goal of doing the best job we can to help our customers succeed. Their success is our success.

It's hard to underestimate the importance of the implementation work Neil’s team does with our new customers, or when existing customers extend the ServicePower solutions they are using. Research from Everest Group indicates that over 70% of enterprise-level SaaS implementations fall short of delivering the expected ROI. Neil and his team work hard to ensure ServicePower implementations are not one of the 70%.

Neil understands that the adoption and integration of field service management software into an existing tech stack or business workflow is a highly critical and highly visible undertaking. That’s why the upfront work around business goals, requirements, and business benefits are heavily considered, as Neil mentioned. A study by the Harvard Business Review found that when IT and business units aren't in sync, projects are 50% more likely to fail. 

Neil also understands that even with all the implementation work and business alignment, that’s not the end. Implementing change – and acceptance of the change – is also crucial. People are often typically and naturally comfortable with their existing processes and workflows. Even when they understand a new way of doing things is the right thing to do, it still takes a change in mindset to move forward. The good news -- a study by Prosci found that projects with excellent change management effectiveness were six times more likely to meet objectives than those with poor change management. 

And then there is ongoing training and support. A report by Forrester Research found that inadequate training is a leading factor in the failure of SaaS implementations. No matter how good or intuitive software is, users generally want to be held by the hand, at least initially.

ServicePower takes pride in the solutions we have designed and developed over the years, with Gartner stating that “ServicePower has significant depth compared to competitors.” Still, without a matching implementation team and effort to support the solutions, our customers would not be able to achieve the success they do.

Looking for more insights? Download the free IDC White Paper: Field Service Excellence Drives Enhanced Customer Experiences and Outcomes.