Field management is the management of a company’s resources employed at or en route to the property of clients, as opposed to company property. It involves scheduling work orders, dispatching technicians, tracking labor hours and jobs status, as well as invoicing. Common examples of field service businesses include repair and maintenance, customer support, inspections, and consultancy.
Surprisingly, 52% percent of companies still use manual methods for the majority of their field service tasks, despite field service software capabilities that can easily streamline processes and upscale business. From greater customer satisfaction to improved data tracking, below are 9 benefits of using field service management software.
Benefits of Field Service Software for Your Business
Why the need for field management service software? It improves communication and ensures a consistent workflow, boosting productivity. Effective management yields higher customer satisfaction, enhances employee engagement and ultimately, cuts costs.
1: Operations Automation
Field management software allows processes to be done faster and more efficiently than before. Paper-based work orders and schedules leave room for human error and time-wastage, which automation can reduce. The benefits of field service software automation include:
- Increased field work productivity: Storing relevant information in one place offers convenient access to review orders or agreements without technicians having to inquire for details from managers.
- Real-time scheduling: AI allows dispatchers to assign jobs to suitable technicians in real-time.
- Short turnarounds: Remote asset monitoring and access to tutorials and valuable information allow workers to resolve issues faster.
2: Better Business Efficiency
Field management software standardizes key workflows, optimizing operational efficiency
. The digital processing of workflow makes paper trails a thing of the past. Assigning jobs to staff in the field, monitoring schedules and work order statuses, managing invoices, and tracking technician time can all be done from a single device, i.e., a tablet, smartphone, laptop, or desktop computer.
Workflow processes gain increased agility because operations can be updated more easily. Instead of multiple phone calls, technicians can view updates from their smartphones — this is just one of the benefits of field service software. Field operation businesses face challenges like ineffective communication, inefficient scheduling resources, and assigning technicians with various skill sets to different tasks, all of which can be resolved with field service software.
3: Higher Productivity of Your Field Technicians
With field service software, you can maximize your technicians’ schedules. The ability to monitor a technician’s progress without calling saves them time and keeps them on task. Because you have access to their progress, there’s no chance of overbooking, and you can schedule appointments to avoid traffic and too much time spent on the road. Strategic scheduling minimizes driving time and reduces their carbon footprint.
Managers can also set key performance indicators and base each technician’s performance on these standards. Access to technician data will clearly illustrate who is underperforming and perhaps offer insight as to why. This helps to reduce training or methods that don’t solve the root cause of performance. Occasionally, it can be as simple as not being assigned enough or strategic appointments, which is easy to remedy.
4: Reduced Costs
The benefit of field service is ultimately about optimizing sales and reducing overheads. Digitizing paper trails, minimizing back-and-forth phone calls with instant messaging, and streamlining processes save time and money. Costs are also reduced in the following ways:
- Real-time analytics help managers make quick and informed decisions
- Having optimized inventory to reduce overstocks and stockout
- Providing valuable information to improve first-time client visits
- Eliminating administrative manual labor and in-person reporting
- Decreasing training and recruitment costs.
But, field service management software isn’t just about cutting costs; it’s also about adopting digital transformation in a world that requires fast, accessible, and flexible service. It enables the future-proofing of business operations. Thus, eliminating time spent on monotonous administrative tasks allows technicians and managers to focus on doing business.
5: More Satisfied Customers
90% of Americans use customer service as a deciding factor in selecting whether to do business with a company. As eCommerce and online customer-service portals advance, greater pressure is placed on businesses to deliver exemplary customer service. Field service management software can enhance the customer experience in numerous ways.
Responsiveness, route optimization, mobile access to information, sending the most qualified specialist for the job, and rendering fast service contribute to high-quality customer service. Features like email reminders, automatic booking, and automated billing processes all improve customer relationships.
A modern, integrated digital solution leaves a good impression. In fact, over 80% of customers expect businesses to have an online customer service portal. When customers are well attended to, and their needs are met in a timely and professional manner, they are more likely to use the businesses again and refer it to others, increasing a company’s market share.
6: Optimized Scheduling
AI uses algorithms to determine optimal technician schedules. With field service management software, technicians have access to all the information they need on their smartphones, and they can view their schedules at any time. Routes are optimized according to traffic, technician activities, spare part inventory, and unexpected delays. Shorter travel times reduce technician fuel costs and vehicle wear and tear.
Dispatchers also gain a powerful virtual assistant with an overview of data, showcasing relevant constraints. Search capabilities, map layers, personalized views, notifications, shift management, and project scheduling are possible with comprehensive field service management software. Efficient scheduling eliminates double booking and allows the re-assignment of technicians for higher priority tasks, or if they are unable to do a job.
7: Improved Data Tracking and Analysis
Service response time, mean time to complete, first fix rate and completed vs. invoiced jobs, and other useful metrics can be tracked with field management software. A comprehensive overview of business operations will quickly reveal where and how efficiencies are lacking. You don’t have to worry about overlooking important data points.
Another reason why field service management is gaining popularity is that you can analyze field teams with real-time visibility, allowing for improved management of technicians and the ability to anticipate potential problems before they occur. For instance, when sales teams and field technicians have access to inventory on their devices, it is easier to keep those essentials in stock.
8: More Accurate Task Matching
Resource optimization is another one of the many benefits of field service management software. Assigning correct personnel to complete a job has a direct impact on profitability. Dispatch optimization enables crews to do as many jobs as possible and facilitates correct team selection by matching skill sets, certification, union work classification, contract service levels, proximity, and other important factors to each job. Additionally, access to a client base allows the assignment of specialists to clients they already know, and are therefore already familiar with the problem.
9: Cloud Data Security
Due to advanced encryption, cloud security is far more reliable than on-site data storage. According to cloud-based software company Salesforce, over 90% of businesses reported a significant improvement in security when switching to the cloud and significant ease in adhering to government compliance. Management software with a business-specific security strategy can minimize risks and avert security threats.
Conclusion
The right combination of service management software mitigates a growing customer base and high service delivery expectations, as well as balancing the moving parts that go into deploying teams to complete service work. With most companies adopting digital transformation and automation software, no business can afford to fall behind, especially since the pandemic has accelerated consumer digital adoption.
Streamlined service delivery may well be what places you above competitors in a highly competitive market. If you’re interested in customer relations management software that grows your customer base and closes more deals, take a look at serviceminder.io and find out how our integrated software streamlines business operations and performance.