Around 1,0000 field service professionals kicked off the new year at the WorkWave Beyond Service User Conference on Jan. 7-10 in Orlando, Fla., to learn how to think beyond simply serving their customers and how to better engage with them.
"This conference is about connecting, learning, networking and celebrating. It's all about feeling empowered," said David Giannetto, CEO of WorkWave. “Think beyond service and meet with peers from other industries. You have more in common than you think. It's about getting information, ideas to propel your business forward and interaction with leaders and peers."
Overall, the event boasted 1,083 total registrants from the following industries: lawn care and landscaping, pest management, janitorial services, security and more. The conference also included a multitude of educational sessions each day, networking opportunities, after-hours activities and a partner collaboration hub.
Topics of the sessions included the current state of the industry, how to incorporate more women into the field services industries, how to use artificial intelligence tools and much more.
During the opening session, Giannetto and David Ittner, chief technology officer at WorkWave, discussed WorkWave’s recent successes and where the company is headed in the future.
In 2023, WorkWave added the following features to its software: Real Green Dyanamic Routing, an AW Customer Portal, RG Mobile 2 and more. Looking ahead to the coming year, Ittner said the company will focus on features that relate to cloud infrastructure, modernization and scale, performance and stability.
Ittner also discussed how the various platforms under the WorkWave umbrella allow the company to incorporate updates into the software quicker and more efficiently.
“With the scale of Workwave, we can break down silos to become a more powerful engine," Ittner said.
Keynote speaker David Avrin, speaker, author and consultant about customer experience, also tied into the idea of companies going "beyond service," as he discussed customer engagement, matching the increasing demands on quality and service and using this combined knowledge to enhance customer experiences at every opportunity.
“Consumers have more choices and expectations have risen,” Avrin said. “If you developed processes 10 years ago, think about how much has changed. It’s a phenomenal time to be a customer; it’s a hard time to be in business. It’s not just about being friendly but about how convenient you are. Don’t delude yourselves into thinking you will win on quality. You have to become ridiculously easy to do business with.”
