What are the emerging customer needs for digital-services in the facility-management industry?

Problem

Facility Co. operates in a fragmented and complex industry where customers are risk-averse. To grow, the FM industry must demonstrate its solutions align with customer needs and have a strong business case. To achieve this, Facility Co. sought to create customer segments based on their unique needs, identify growth and demand drivers, and analyze industry trends for each segment. Additionally, they aimed to create robust profiles of customer segments to enhance their sales strategies.

Quick Summary

FacilityCo. sought support to determine potential areas for growth in their digital offering. Especially by mapping competition and identifying the unmet needs of their customers. The goal for FacilityCo. was to evolve from a service provider to becoming a strategic partner for their customer.

The key questions addressed in the project:

Q1. What are the market trends and drivers of the facility management industry?
Q2. What are the unmet needs in the market?
Q3. How can FacilityCo. serve those unmet needs of the market?

The Situation

FacilityCo. employed SprintlyWorks team to accelerate their understanding of the industry and the potential areas to expand their services. This sprint identified three major trends for FacilityCo.

SprintlyWorks utilized a three-phase project methodology:

##Phase 1: Identifying market trends and drivers
The team first conducted a thorough mapping of industry trends and drivers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the Facility Management industry. They selected two specific markets, Retail and Office, for a more detailed analysis, identifying trends and solution providers in each market segment. The team collected in-depth information on the products, features, functionality, capabilities, and benefits of current solution providers.

##Phase 2: Creating insights from benchmarks
Based on the collected information, the team consolidated market insights into five prominent themes, including the need for accurate data about occupants’ behavior in buildings, integrating systems to fulfill business goals, and adoption of sensors for demand-based maintenance.

##Phase 3: Mapping opportunity areas
The team then outlined potential solution areas for FacilityCo, which were drafted on a time horizon. For instance, the first horizon focused on improving the quality of information flow by identifying inefficiencies and recommending an automated workflow for faster work order creation. The team also identified three other solution areas for FacilityCo.

Results

The SprintlyWorks team conducted a case study to identify the key trends driving growth in the facility management industry, and provided concrete recommendations for each of these drivers. These recommendations were instrumental in supporting FacilityCo. in their strategy development process. As a result, SprintlyWorks was able to create a matrix that compared the cost-saving potential of various services with their adoption rates, as well as a service channel framework for each identified service. They also recommended software automation of services and developed a service data explorer tool.