Achieving certification under the SCP Field Service Standard requires organizations to meet specific criteria that represent best practices in the industry. The standard measures 13 areas of performance, each of which contains a set of business elements associated with it. Included below is a brief summary of the criteria.

Customer Feedback
Customer fFeedback involves all the activities associated with collecting, analyzing and acting on feedback provided by the customer. Feedback from customers is a vital tool that the management team can use to drive change and improvement in their service delivery process.

Service Delivery Processes
Service delivery processes are the processes used to communicate with customers, manage and resolve customer problems and handle other aspects of the customer relationship necessary to deliver high quality service. Setting customer expectations and proactively communicating with customers are key aspects of managing these relationships.

Performance Metrics
Measuring performance is a key aspect of managing any field service organization. Without quantitative measures for key performance indicators, it is difficult to determine how well an organization is meeting customer and business requirements. Field service organizations should establish clear goals, and then track their performance against these goals.

Employee Development
Employee development is a critical part of any field service organization. Properly trained field service personnel can have a significant impact on how customers perceive the quality of service provided by a company. If not adequately trained, staff may take longer to resolve issues, thereby leading to customer dissatisfaction. Therefore, managing the development of the service staff is critical to the success of the organization.

People Programs
People are the single largest resource in any field service organization. The business of delivering service is all about people, and the service staff represents the product delivered by the company. Personnel costs also represent the single largest expense of most field service organizations. It is critical that the staff feel they are contributing to the success of the company and that they are respected for the role they play within the organization. Field service organizations must ensure that they have processes, procedures and programs in place to effectively manage personnel.

Corporate Commitment & Strategy
In today's competitive marketplace, it is critical that companies demonstrate a strong commitment to deliver top quality service to customers. In many instances, service can be the differentiator in the product purchasing decision. Therefore, companies must ensure that they provide the highest levels of service possible and maintain a strong commitment to satisfying their customers. The strength of commitment to deliver exceptional service must begin at the executive level.

Productivity Tools
Field service organizations need automation and productivity tools to assist in delivering quality service to their customers. Productivity tools provide the necessary automation to streamline access to qualified field service personnel, record critical customer and product information and accurately estimate time and cost of service activities. By defining organizational objectives and understanding how the technologies will be used within the field service organization, management can ensure they have a smooth and effective process for budgeting, acquiring and implementing advanced productivity tools.

Quality Management
The quality of the service delivered by a company can significantly influence its ability to acquire and retain customers. Field service organizations have become differentiators in the current marketplace. Companies need to implement processes and procedures that ensure that every customer interaction is a quality one that leaves the customer feeling positive about the company they are dealing with. By implementing processes and procedures to monitor and improve service quality, companies can drive higher performance and generate greater customer loyalty.

Support and Product Development Interface
The relationship between field service, support and product development organizations is a key factor in the success of any technology company. The relationship should be one of open communication and provide for knowledge transfer between the three groups. By having clear lines of communications and strong working relationships between these three groups, identified issues can be addressed rapidly and changes incorporated into product updates and future releases.

Sales and Professional Services Interface
The relationship between field service and the sales and professional services organizations is a key factor in the success of any technology company. Sales, professional services and field service are typically the most customer facing organizations in a company. Since the sales and professional services organizations set the customer's initial expectations, it is critical they have a full understanding of the services that will be delivered by the field service organization. By having clear lines of communication and strong working relationships between these three organizations, customer expectations can be set properly.

Logistics and Inventory Effectiveness
Several trends contribute to the increased importance of effective logistics and spare parts management for field service organizations. The cost to maintain inventory and ship parts are increasing and customer tolerance for downtime associated with parts replacement is waning. The field service organization should have a well implemented and monitored system of maintaining spares inventories and getting needed spares to the customer in a timely manner.

Financial Management
While field service is often considered a net contributor to the operating costs of the company, many organizations have come to realize that service can also contribute to bottom line profitability. It is increasingly important for the field service organization to effectively manage both the tangible fundamentals of cost, revenue and profitability as well as less tangible elements such as customer satisfaction and loyalty. It is important for the field service organization to examine each one of these and make sure effective processes and measures are in place.

Partner Management
The field service organization routinely depends on outside vendors and partners to carry out service activities and service request resolution. Whatever the extent of a partner relationship, the field service organization should have processes and programs in place to effectively set expectations of the partner, manage the relationship, and monitor the partner performance during the course of service activities. Managing partners to behave in a manner consistent with the company's strategic service delivery levels helps present a consistent face to the customer during a service activity.

Leveraging SCP Standards helps to improve the capability and performance of service operations, while letting customers know that the company is committed to excellence and willing to adhere to global standards. So who should participate in the SCP Standards program?

Companies Looking to Increase Efficiency and Productivity
The SCP Standards focus on optimizing performance in a wide range of business process areas necessary to deliver top quality service and support. By enhancing performance in these areas, your organization will become more efficient and effective at meeting customer needs.

Companies Looking to Maximize Financial Performance
SCP Standards create value by focusing your organization on results that directly affect financial performance, such as improvements in operational effectiveness and significant contributions to customer retention and acquisition efforts.

Companies Looking to Achieve Global Consistency
SCP Standards provide a catalyst to drive consistency throughout service and support organizations and across functional areas. Regardless of the size of your operation, SCP Standards can enhance operational performance, optimize business process and drive increased efficiency and productivity.

Companies Looking to Integrate Industry Best Practices
SCP Standards establish a community of companies committed to delivering exceptional service and support. The programs provide the framework and language for communication of best practices among participants and create a network of professionals actively engaged in driving higher levels of service within the marketplace.

Companies Looking to Create a Competitive Advantage
Participation in the SCP Standards provides an opportunity to demonstrate to clients, shareholders, investors, and prospects the commitment your company has made to service excellence. Certified organizations have the rights to use the SCP Certified logo in their marketing materials to help communicate the message.