If your business involves sending operatives out into the field to serve customers, these tips are for you. Even supposing that all your field service workers are dedicated and efficient, the way in which you manage them will make a difference to their capacity. Can you help them to achieve more? With the right tools and a commitment to realizing efficiency, it may well be! Try these methods to get you started.
1. Field Service Management Software for Better Planning
Field service management software can take the headaches out of your planning and make progress reporting a breeze for your operatives. With some computer-smarts at your service, planning routes, scheduling, and following up on progress is simplified. Now, it’s just a matter of keeping your customers informed.
2. Information at their Fingertips
Smartphones make it possible to access information on the go. But have you placed the necessary information where it can easily be found? Centralize information that your field service operatives may need on databases they can easily access, and include a platform that allows them to reach out for help, either from head office, or from the partners whose products your business supports.
3. Follow Up With Customers
The best place to find out how effective your field services are is directly from the customers you serve. Find out how they felt about the service they received, the people who delivered it, and its outcomes to help your business strive towards optimizing efficiency. As an added advantage, your customers will see your follow-up as part of the service package – an indication that you care about their experiences with your business.
4. Listen to Field Service Staff
You may think you’ve provided everything your field service agents need to get their jobs done efficiently, but the best way to be sure about it is to ask. As the people who are at the coalface, they are likely to have ideas and suggestions that are based on their real experiences, making them one of your most valuable sources of information and ideas.
5. Work to Get it Right First Time
Whenever a field service worker is unable to assist a customer on the first visit, look into the reasons why this happened. If necessary, dig a bit deeper with the help of root cause analysis. For example, if office staff misunderstood the customer’s needs and dispatched the wrong technician, helping them to assess customer needs could be a solution. If your field service worker didn’t have the right equipment to get the job done, add that piece of equipment to their toolkits.
6. Manage Inventory Effectively
There’s nothing worse than making promises you can’t fulfill because you have insufficient inventory. With digital inventory management tools available to you, there’s no reason why you should ever experience inventory surpluses or shortages. Collaborate with your suppliers, use automated alerts, and track inventory in real time. There’s no reason to stick to the old-fashioned manual stocktake, and using the latest stock control methods will save time and money while ensuring that personnel have what they need to finalize their work.
Software Tools? Of Course!
Managing field workers and ensuring that your customers are getting the service you want them to receive doesn’t take as much legwork as it did in the past. While getting specialized software means investment, the time and money it saves and the way it enables you to boost service levels makes it worth the cost. Whether your field service workers are consultants, technicians, or healthcare workers, tech tools boost efficiency and make their (and your) tasks easier than ever before.