6 Tips to Optimize Field Service for Better Customer Experience with Field Service Software

• • Optimize Scheduling and Dispatching

Customers today are not satisfied with quality service—-they want the best, and they want it now. So, if you are unable to deliver top-notch service on demand, you’ll eventually lose your existing customer base, let alone acquire new ones. So, you need to figure out a way to get the right person for the job and assign them as soon as possible.

The best way to address these issues is to make sure you’re effectively scheduling and dispatching employees. And that is only possible if you automate the process, i.e., use an FSM software solution that has a smart scheduling and dispatch feature.

The right FSM system accounts for job locations, travel time, and other jobs in a worker’s queue to help schedulers create and assign jobs in a way that’s efficient for all parties: Workers are only assigned appointments on routes that make sense for their daily queue, and customers are only able to choose appointment slots that align with what’s realistic for field employees. But more importantly, FSM software allows dispatchers to have total control over scheduling. They can see available technicians, assess the job details, assign the right technician for the job, provide them with job details and customer information, find the right tools, parts, and equipment for the job in the inventory, and even optimize the route for the technician so that they reach the job site in the least possible time.

FSM software systems can also send automated notifications to customers, informing them when to expect the technician at the job site. Also, it sends notifications to the field technicians so that no appointment is missed. It is like a full-proof strategy to deliver the best service and give your customers the best experience possible.

• • Improve Response Time

When a machine breaks down or requires repairs, customers need to get things back up and running as soon as possible. And since your response time to customer requests is one of the first impressions people get from your business, it’s critical to make sure it’s a good one, even for last-minute service requests.

If you are doing things manually, it will take forever to get back to your customer with the relevant information or support. But if you have field service asset management software, you can arrange site visits, consultations, and even repair work with just a tap on your computer screen. And if your FSM software has a predictive maintenance feature, you can find out and work on potential system breakdowns even before they occur.

• • Facilitate Real-time Communication

Communication throughout all stages of an on-site assignment is key to field service success, so it’s crucial to make sure this communication is as streamlined as possible. But when you have different technicians or larger field teams working in different parts of your service area, it is hard to maintain seamless communication with all of them at the same time. Besides, successful field service delivery is subject to efficient administrative support. Unless your field technicians are fully briefed and assisted by your backend staff, they can never have enough information to understand and troubleshoot the issue. Therefore, you need to have a multi-channel internal communication platform in place to facilitate smooth communication among the various departments.

This is one of the biggest advantages of field service management software small businesses can leverage. It provides your employees across various departments with a centralized platform to communicate and share information. This way, it fosters the most effective remote collaboration and optimizes field service to give your customers the best service possible.

• • Provide Remote Access to Information

Another way to help improve the customer experience is to ensure your employees have all of the resources they need to effectively complete the job. Information like job details can give field workers the necessary context to troubleshoot whatever issue prompted the appointment. Or, information like the customer’s historical data can give them an insight into the current issue.

The FSM software solutions, being equipped with cloud storage and mobile optimization, can give your field technicians access to all this invaluable information on-demand, right from the job site. This improves their ability to diagnose the problem, check whether necessary parts or equipment are available in the inventory, order them if they are not, and take necessary actions to get the job done faster. Overall, it improves both your service quality and your first-time fix rate.

• • Streamline Billing and Invoicing

If you ask your field technicians about the task that they dislike the most while on the field, the answer will be unanimous—all of them will tell you how much they don’t like to handle billing and invoicing. But this is an unavoidable part of the job. In fact, this is what you are working for in the first place—to get paid for your service. So, if you can find a more efficient way to simplify the tedious admin tasks for your technicians, they will thank you and their stars.

This is what an FSM software system can help you with. Like every other aspect of your workflow, it can also automate and streamline the billing and invoicing process. Once the job is completed, your field technicians can create the final invoice, even make modifications by adding additional parts and items to it, and send them directly to the customer with just a few clicks on their FSM mobile app. Not only does it make the process simpler, but it also saves time and effort for your technicians so that they can focus better on their primary task—delivering high-quality service.

• • Leverage Reports and Analytics

Perhaps the best way to optimize your field service is to understand how your field teams are performing and make adjustments accordingly.

An FSM software solution can help you significantly in this regard. It has a strong feature with reporting and analytics capabilities that helps you identify your teams’ strengths and weaknesses. It gives you a detailed analysis of important field service management metrics like productivity, first-time fix rate, response time, profitability, and so on. With this valuable data, you can make more informed decisions as to what areas need improvement. Eventually, it helps you come up with more efficient strategies to optimize your field service and enhance the overall customer experience.