A rich history and an exciting future
Husqvarna is one of Sweden's most trusted businesses and brands with a rich history dating back to 1689. Over three centuries the company has designed and built a diverse range of pioneering products, from rifles and sewing machines to bicycles, motorcycles and kitchen equipment.
Today the company retains its reputation for groundbreaking innovation. It's a world leader in the development of robotic lawnmowers, with global sales now exceeding three million units.
The Husqvarna Group employs 14,000 people in 40 countries and, as well as the Husqvarna brand itself, includes leading outdoor brands like Flymo, Gardena and McCulloch, providing the tools and equipment to cater for every requirement in forest, park and garden management. The Group generates almost €5 billion in annual revenues through direct sales and its extensive dealer and retail networks.
Finding new ways to innovate
Not surprisingly for a business steeped in innovative product research and development, Husqvarna is now also leading the way with innovative services that are enabling citizens and businesses to care for their gardens, sports fields, parks and public spaces conveniently and sustainably.
Its concept of 'meeting the customer in their own garden' is just one outcome of a major shift to robotics, digitalisation and electrification as the company explores new as-a-service business models, great experiences for customers and partners and new ways of taking better care of our planet.
ServiceNow and its Gothenburg-based Premier Partner ProCori have been long-term supporters of Husqvarna on its ongoing entrepreneurial journey.
So, when the company launched a new venture offering its market-leading robotic lawnmowers to homeowners as an at home service basis, it selected Field Service Management (FSM) as the core technology platform and engine on which to build the business.
"Knowledge and use of robotic lawnmowers in Sweden is very high, at about 30% compared to less than 1% in the UK", explains Andreas Holm, Programme Director, BU Europe, Husqvarna Group. "Customers can buy robotic lawnmowers online, in consumer electronics and DIY stores and even in the big supermarkets.
"But we wanted to go further by reaching out to potential customers with a personal, convenient, on-site service in their own gardens. This way we could assess their lawn and recommend the best robotic lawnmower from our range most suited to their needs, on a purchase or lease basis and to choose additional services such as maintenance, servicing or storage".
The service would be delivered by the Husqvarna partner network of independent dealers from a Husqvarna-branded van and mobile workshop. Partners would use their van to visit customers to carry out garden consultations, complete installations, maintenance and repairs.
"This is completely new, for us, for our partners and for the market", explains Andreas. "No one is doing exactly what we're doing, spending time with customers in their own gardens taking care of their needs, at their convenience. And FSM is fundamental to the programme because it connects everything and enables the relationship between partner and customer to begin and develop, with trust and confidence".
Proving the concept and defining excellence
Launched in 2023 in nine locations in Sweden and eight in Germany, the service puts partners and customers in direct contact and facilitates each aspect of the customer journey without any central coordination or management required by Husqvarna.
"We decided to start with a small, carefully selected group of entrepreneurial partners first", says Andreas Holm. "We wanted to define a complete, smooth customer journey, train our partners in the personal and business skills they need and, with the support of ServiceNow and ProCori, share learnings and perfect the execution of the service before expanding into other areas". FSM provides a standardised, seamless, frictionless and, most of all, a satisfying experience for customers, partners and Husqvarna alike. Once a customer has visited the Husqvarna Garden Consultation website and selected the partner in their area, FSM's comprehensive, streamlined ecosystem and automated workflows take over.
Customers can schedule an appointment online, at their convenience, while the Husqvarna partner uses a mobile app to receive those appointments, access maps for the most direct route to each one and make sure they have everything they need for their visits. They can efficiently plan, execute and manage their activities for each customer, in one place, with the data securely stored and instantly available.
If a customer needs to reschedule an appointment, the system enables instant, automated communication and confirmation.
Says Andreas: "Our dealers appreciate the value of a standardised system like FSM, that they trust, that caters for all of their needs, simplifies their working day and enables them to get more done".
FSM also enables Husqvarna to follow each step of the engagement, from the first contact between partner and customer all the way to its robotic lawnmowers delivering beautiful, manicured lawns.
Huge potential for expansion
"With FSM we have 100% transparency at every stage", says Andreas Holm. "We can see when a customer is booking a garden consultation or a health check or when our partners are booking an installation. It's fantastic, we've never had that before. Now we have a much better way of supporting our partners to be successful. We get insights into how the service is being delivered, what's important for our customers, how they want to be served and how we can continuously improve what we do".
Dashboards are available for partners to review their own Garden Consultation projects and customers and for Husqvarna managers to assess how the service is being delivered, the scope and scale of activity for financial planning and to identify opportunities for service improvements.
"We have proven we have a very potent programme", says Andreas Holm. "Our customers are enjoying the service and have given us a satisfaction score well above target. The numbers show we have huge potential for expansion, both within our dealer network and with new partners.
"ServiceNow is delivering a very powerful system and we have momentum, but there are many things still to learn and many improvements we need to make to our execution to achieve the performance that we know the programme is capable of delivering.
"One of the ways we are learning is through automated customer surveys that FSM produces following a consultation or installation. "That feedback, combined with the visibility into the numbers, is extremely helpful in informing our conversations with dealers, based on facts, to explore performance and where improvements can be made. Our partners have been amazing as we have worked through the details of a new venture.
"The level of attention from ServiceNow and ProCori gives me a lot of trust going forward. ServiceNow is a global player, constantly innovating too, so we have a lot of reassurance that we are with the right partner".