4 Best Practices for Field Service Operations

Field Service businesses require a well-functioned, well-organized operation to run smoothly. From management to technicians to customer and client communication, businesses have to maintain a strong centralized process and mitigate potential problems at all levels that can lead to dissatisfied customers and irritated employees. We want you to avoid inconveniences, so we compiled a list of the 4 best practices for Field Service Operations.

Best Fit for the Tasks

Starting with the simplest but still very much worth mentioning, having the best technician for the job is of vital importance. Different situations call for different ways to solve them and knowing the problem and your technicians’ strengths and weaknesses will ensure that you assign the jobs to the right person. The last thing you’d want to do is halt your customers’ business or day-to-day routines by sending a technician that doesn’t have the solution to their problems and having to schedule another appointment.

A first time-fix is very important for customer satisfaction and well-worth the attention to ensuring everyone’s time is not wasted. If you’d like to learn more on the importance of first time-fixes, read about the subject here.

Ensure Your Technicians Are Satisfied

The bulk of work and customer communication will be done by your technicians. To ensure your customers have are satisfied, keep your technicians satisfied!

Communication between management and the technicians is key, and with today’s technology, this has been made so much easier with 96% percent of Americans owning some kind of cell phone. Leveraging the technology at your disposal can improve so many facets of a business to help maintain that stream of communication which is key for jobs to be completed. Keep the technicians equipped with the right information rather than being blindsided by something that could have been avoided by a simple phone call.

Furthermore, tedious data entry can take up a lot of the technician’s time after working in the field. Why bog down your technicians’ time with administrative tasks when they can be streamlined by software solutions such as Field Service Management?

Implement Field Service Management into Your Current Systems

Field Service Management (FSM) is a powerful tool that can enhance work productivity and efficiency. Finding the right solution for you can greatly impact your business. Below is a shortlist of the general capabilities that FSM does for you:

1. Scheduling and dispatching
2. Fleet tracking
3. Collaboration and team communication
4. Inventory Management
5. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
6. Work order management

Each FSM solution comes with its own strengths and weaknesses but having these fundamental functions integrated into your business can make an enormous change to your day-to-day business productivity. Consider viewing options by booking a FREE Power Hour with one of our expert consultants today!

Understand Your Field Service Management Software

Another simple but important practice is to know how to manage your Field Service Management (FSM) software solution. Aside from the fundamental functionalities, different FSM software come with different strengths and capabilities, and with multiple options comes the opportunity to choose an FSM solution that best fits your business. Understanding the assets that your FSM can bring to the table and utilizing them can increase efficiency and improve Field Service productivity.

If your business functions on data-driven information, FSM software can diagnose a large amount of information at your fingertips and keeping you up to date on inventory, schedules, jobs, and much more. If you’re looking to focus on efficient scheduling and dispatching practices, FSM software can take care of that as well. 

However, these capabilities are only worth it if you and your team understand how they work. It’s well worth taking a few days to deep dive into the perks of your FSM. Consider putting some time aside to fully understand how your FSM software works to ensure you’re getting the best bang out of your buck!

Ensure Accuracy by Automating Simple Tasks

The point of FSM software is to make your business run more efficiently and easily. One of the great ways it can do that is by automating the tasks that are simple and easier to carry out with the trust of programming. 

For example, if a new job comes in for a technician to service, rather than calling which technician is in the field and where they might be, the FSM software can track your technicians and assign the closest one to the service site. This way, you save the technician, customer, and your own time by letting the software automatically complete tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming.

Along with tasks being automated, FSM software allows for easy data entry. With today’s technology, entering data can and should be a streamlined operation. With the right FSM software, you can reduce the time it takes to execute tedious data entry tasks. As the process is automated, the probability of human error is reduced as well, providing you with easily accessible data that is reliable and accurate.

By now, it should be obvious that Field Service Management software is a necessity for your business. However, finding the best software solution can be a long and daunting task. Luckily, at A Digital Earth, we have got you covered! We specialize in helping businesses find the best software solutions that will streamline day-to-day processes. Check out our Field Services page or sign up for a FREE Power Hour to speak with one of our Business Software Consultants and explore your options today!