EP 94 - Why the "Voice of..." Matters in Service Excellence w/ Harold Heald, Agilent

For service leaders, understanding the perspectives of frontline teams is critical to improving all areas of the business. But knowing what questions to ask and how to act on that feedback can be challenging, especially across complex, global organizations.Harold Heald, Associate Vice President, AFO Service Contact Centers for Agilent Technologies joins us on the next episode of the inService™ Podcast Live to discuss his organization’s journey capturing and utilizing the “voice of” the personas involved in the service experience. He will share how they have used it to support leadership decisions, technology investments, AI adoption, and staffing strategies across global service operations. Tune in on November 20th at 12pm EST to explore practical strategies for translating the voice of the frontline into targeted priorities, meaningful actions, fostering engagement, and balancing compliance with valuable innovation in complex service environments.Harold Heald leads the Americas Service Contact Centers for Agilent Technologies. Harold started in service as a Field Service Engineer with Dako, later acquired by Agilent. He went on to service as Regional Manager of the Americas for the Diagnostic Service team, and later as the Global Associate VP for the Biomolecular Service Organization helping to integrate several recent acquisitions. He completed Agilent’s Executive Leadership program in 2017. Harold served 10 years in the United States Marine Corps, working in Personnel Administration and as an Aviation Electrician, during that time he spent five years volunteering with the Young Marines of the Marine Corps League. Harold has a master’s in project management and recently earned his PMP certification.

Service leaders talk a lot about outcomes, but few see the numbers behind them quite like the Chief Financial Officer. Finance and accounting may be the language of business, but the real value comes from translating that knowledge into tangible actions that help the business succeed.Tune into the inService™ Podcast Live, Brian Christiansen, President of StationServ, shares what 20 years as a CFO with a strong operational focus have taught him about leading service organizations to success. Join us as Brian reflects on how connecting financial insights to frontline actions creates stronger performance and better customer experiences. He’ll discuss how to design service models for profitability and growth, balance ROI with long-term customer trust, and build cultures where teams understand how their daily work drives both business results and customer satisfaction.Currently the President of StationServ, Brian Christiansen has over 20 years of senior leadership experience, he has guided companies through growth, acquisitions, and performance turnarounds, delivering measurable gains in profitability, productivity, and customer experience by uniting financial discipline with frontline execution.

What can service leaders in EMEA and the Americas learn from each other about innovation, scaling, and staying ahead of customer expectations? Join us as we sit down with Jürgen Plessing, Executive Board Member of the Association for Services Management International (AFSMI). We’ll discuss the evolving landscape of service management across regions. From operational priorities to the challenges and opportunities shaping service organizations in EMEA and the Americas, Jürgen shares his perspectives on what’s driving change and how leaders can respond with agility.Whether you lead service teams, drive field operations, or shape customer experience strategies, this episode offers practical takeaways to navigate regional nuances, anticipate market shifts, and strengthen your organization’s performance on a global scale.Jürgen Plessing is an experienced program management expert with over 15 years of international experience in service leadership for major industrial manufacturers in Germany and Switzerland. As Head of Service, he implemented global service and logistics structures for demining and defence equipment and optimized component lifecycles for demanding field conditions (MineWolf Systems AG). He developed and introduced a comprehensive service strategy that transformed the service organization into a profit center and created a remote monitoring software for machine performance in remote minefields (AHWI Maschinenbau GmbH). He established a new project and service structure in Cuba, designed a long-term service strategy, and successfully aligned international stakeholders to deliver sustainable after-sales growth (PRINOTH AG). Jürgen has been serving on the Board of the Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) since 2024, contributing his expertise to advancing service excellence and leadership development across industries.

How can service leaders build organizations where humanity is not just a value but a daily practice? In this special episode, Service Council Founder and CEO, John Carroll, and seasoned service leader, Bob Feiner, unpack the roadmap laid out in their new book, Service is Humanity.John and Bob will explore the principles that define a “humanity mindset” in service and share real-world examples of where this approach has transformed teams, customer relationships, and entire organizations. From embedding empathy into operations to aligning technology and talent strategies with purpose, they’ll outline practical steps leaders can take to create cultures where service is both a business driver and a human commitment. This conversation blends strategy and story, leaving listeners with a starter kit for deploying the humanity mindset in ways that elevate both frontline performance and customer impact.

For service leaders, warranty and service contracts processes have long been a source of hidden cost, customer frustration, and frontline burnout. As equipment and the associated service offerings become more complex and customer expectations rise, the old way of stacking business rules simply can’t keep up. That’s why the shift to AI-driven warranty intelligence isn’t just about upgrading technology and updating business rules, but about having a lever for growth, efficiency, and experience that reshapes the overall service strategy.Tune in as we're joined by Josh Russell, VP of Products for ⁠Circuitry.ai⁠ to explore how AI is reshaping the service experience for complex and critical equipment. Drawing on decades of experience in warranty systems and service enablement, Josh will unpack why legacy approaches fall short, how AI makes a measurable impact across the service ecosystem, and what this transformation means for the maturity of service organizations.Josh Russell is an accomplished product leader driving innovation in the SaaS landscape. As Vice President of Product at ⁠Circuitry.ai⁠, he brings over 20 years of engineering expertise and extensive domain experience in after sales and support to deliver transformative SaaS software solutions. With a proven track record at Syncron, leading the Product and Consulting Excellence department, Josh has delivered solutions for Fortune 500 clients, including Philips Medical Devices, Cummins Engines, AGCO, and Kohler Power. His ability to optimize service lifecycle management while fostering a culture of continuous improvement has established him as a forward-thinking executive in product strategy and service fulfillment management. Josh’s blend of technical knowledge, collaborative leadership, and customer-first vision continues to push boundaries and elevate industry standards.

For service leaders, achieving interpreted visibility and widespread trust in supply chain data is more critical than ever. And yet, Service Council research shows that less than 20% of executives rank supply chain metrics among their top 3 KPIs for controlling the overall health of the service business or to drive strategic decision-making, even though these metrics strongly influence revenue growth, profitability, and customer experience (CX). How can companies evolve from an efficiency-driven approach enabled largely by supply chain automation, to a more mature state that capitalizes on the data that is collected across the network to fuel the reliability and value from simulating complex scenarios, incorporates resilience as a strategic decision, and proactively identifies trends and performance improvement opportunities in the network which would otherwise go unnoticed? On the next episode of the inService Podcast Live, Priya Sharma, supply chain expert and Director of Global Product and Innovation for DHL, explores why connecting and digitizing supply chain performance is essential to anticipating the consequences of uncertainty, proactively assessing and optimizing networks, and quickly responding to complex challenges such as geopolitical shifts and evolving customer expectations.

In a business environment where customer expectations evolve faster than ever, organizations are being challenged to move beyond basic service delivery to create holistic, emotionally resonant experiences.Join us on Thursday, August 21st, as we welcome Antonia Hock, President & Founder of The AHA Group, to explore the powerful convergence of service, experience, and hospitality—and why understanding the distinction between these often-conflated concepts is critical for organizations aiming to deliver transformational value. We’ll offer cross-industry lessons that B2B companies can learn from the consumer and hospitality sectors, as well as a practical framework for organizations seeking to evolve from transactional service providers to relationship-centric experience leaders.Antonia Hock is a globally recognized customer experience designer, luxury innovator, and transformation leader who has driven over 200+ high-impact initiatives across industries. She is the former Global Head of The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center and has held executive roles at Microsoft, HP, and Siemens, where she led major transformation efforts for Fortune 100 clients. Known for creating groundbreaking experience models and IP adopted by top global brands, Antonia blends deep cross-industry expertise with a passion for delivering unmatched customer journeys, sustainable strategies, and results that endure.

In today’s service landscape, predictive intelligence is no longer a futuristic vision — it’s a critical differentiator. Yet many organizations are held back by inconsistent data quality, unclear outcomes, and a widespread lack of trust in their own systems. This leads to a dilemma that many service leaders are grappling with: should they wait for perfect data, or should they start building momentum with the data they already have? How can they achieve and capitalize on “good enough data”?Tune in on Thursday, August 7th at 12pm EST, as we’re joined by Alice Bowen, Senior Portfolio Manager, Optra IoT – Connected Products at Lexmark. Drawing from real examples of customer success, Alice outlines how companies are overcoming knowledge base limitations, using AI to clean and connect service intelligence, and identifying new revenue streams through proactive data use. If you’re a service leader working to turn data into impact, this conversation offers actionable strategies to move forward with confidence, no matter where you’re starting.As a Senior Portfolio Manager at Lexmark, Alice is responsible for the development and go-to-market strategy of their innovative solutions for connected products that leverage AI and IoT technologies. With 20+ years of experience in strategy, sales and operations, Alice has a proven track record of delivering value to customers, partners, and stakeholders across the globe, and is passionate about finding new ways to solve customer challenges.

Every service interaction is made up of countless micro-moments: brief, high-impact tasks that either move the job forward or slow it down, ultimately coming together to form an experience. Whether it’s simplifying documentation, streamlining parts ordering, delivering relevant insights or surfacing revenue opportunities, these micro-moments are critical to frontline success. For service leaders, the question isn’t just how to adopt AI, but how to apply it meaningfully to positively impact technicians and drive efficiency and growth.Tune in as we’re joined by Edwin Pahk, SVP of Presales and Customer Success for Aquant. He’ll discuss how organizations are rethinking process clarity, frontline empowerment, and even commercial strategy by meeting techs where they are and reducing friction at every turn. Whether you're a service leader navigating AI strategy or a frontline advocate looking for smarter solutions, this conversation offers practical insights and strategies for transforming the frontline experience through AI.Edwin Pahk is the Senior Vice President of Presales & Customer Success at Aquant, bringing over a decade of expertise in sales and product marketing within the tech industry. With a distinguished background in leadership positions at Salesforce and ClickSoftware, Edwin specializes in deploying and scaling AI solutions across enterprise organizations, ensuring their successful adoption and impact.

For service leaders chasing efficiency, profitability, and better customer outcomes, there’s one lever that’s often overlooked: service parts. Despite its central role in uptime, technician productivity, and customer satisfaction, parts strategy is rarely treated as a strategic priority. But amongst top performers, that’s changing—and fast.Tune in as we’re joined by Cole Sutter, VP of Global Customer Success for Syncron. We’ll explore why service parts are becoming a critical pillar of modern service operations. Cole will share insights from the field on how companies are rethinking their approach to spare parts—not just as a logistics challenge, but as a driver of profitability, retention, and long-term customer value. Whether you’re focused on operational excellence, servitization, or workforce stability, this conversation will challenge how you think about your parts strategy—and what it could unlock.Cole Sutter is Vice President of Global Customer Success at Syncron, where he leads customer satisfaction, retention, and value realization across the company’s global portfolio. Syncron empowers OEMs to sell more parts, more profitably, through aftermarket intelligence that seamlessly connects planning, pricing, warranty, and service. His career spans consulting, product operations, and customer success leadership, including previous roles as Syncron’s Chief Operating Officer of Products and Chief of Staff.