The field service industry has undergone a massive evolution over the years. Technological advances, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) have dramatically changed how field service organizations run their business and customer and employee expectations. To be successful, organizations need to find ways to improve internal operations, production output and customer satisfaction.
One of the biggest pains for field service organizations is precise scheduling. For example, when using traditional tools such as pen and paper, disconnected systems, and outdated technologies, scheduling the right technician, with the right equipment at the correct location is difficult. With field service software organizations can improve planning, enhance communications, and increase self-service. Improvements in any one of these areas will have a significant impact on customer satisfaction.
Let’s look at the three ways to improve customer satisfaction in detail:
Improve Planning
Service organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve scheduling of service jobs. However, in order to do this, they need improved planning for their technicians and equipment. A mobile field service solution enables organizations to dispatch the right technician with the right abilities, and the right equipment. This is crucial in improving first-time fix rates. Improved planning for technicians and equipment accelerates the process of service jobs which increases productive time, ultimately improving customer satisfaction.
Enhance Communications
Disparate systems are a nightmare for any organization and create a host of communications issues and inefficiencies. Integrating front office and back office systems is critical for service organizations. A mobile field service solution enables both employees and customers to more easily access information. For example, in the case where another task needs to be made on the same job, customers can communicate directly with front office who updates service technicians. This boosts productive time, improves satisfaction and enables service teams to operate more efficiently.
Self-Service
Streamlining service operations improves organizational efficiency. Having to request a service job or accessing past invoices of an installation is a hassle and time consuming. One way to streamline operations is by providing self-service options. These include a self-service portal, enabling users to directly request service jobs, see the status of a job, view past invoices, pay invoices online, and view past service orders and reports. Self-service portals not only streamline service operations, but also significantly improve customer satisfaction.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, NAV, F&O/AX, and GP are powerful ERP systems. (For more on the differences between some of them, read this .) When combined with a mobile field service solution from ExpandIT, service organizations have the ability to optimize business operations while improving customer satisfaction.
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Written by John Macdonald, Group CSO and Regional President North America, ExpandIT
