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Field services offered by a business vary from one industry to another. However, there are some common activities done during field services. They include conducting sales, providing customer support, scheduling and dispatching field technicians, inspecting and repairing equipment, managing assets, and tracking the technicians' progress in the field.
All these activities need to be monitored, recorded, updated, and organized for the optimum performance of a business. Traditionally, field experts would collect data manually, and the field managers would input it into spreadsheets as records. The two parties would also have to make frequent, tedious phone calls for updates on the job.
Even though these traditional methods worked in the past, today, they are redundant. Industries have evolved, and there's a new demand in the market. Moreover, these methods require more time and resources to execute, and they are still more prone to human errors, which means that they are inefficient. So, there's a need to streamline your field service management to meet the current customer demands.
The core of making your field service management efficient is automating the process. Field automation refers to utilizing modern technology to perform field service management tasks.
Automating the process frees up the field experts and the managers, allowing them to handle more pressing issues that hinder the business' success. It also helps to reduce the time, resources, and labor used in executing some of these activities.
Since automating the process can be broad, here are some of the best practices you can adopt for field service management:
As a field manager, you can leverage the intelligence of today's modern devices to the advantage of your business. Devices used today, including the dishwasher, refrigerator, vehicles, are fitted with a language for communication. As such, they can give their users warnings of incoming technical hitches.
That's where you come in. Once you build connected systems that can extract data from such devices, your field technicians will be able to identify a system failure before it occurs. This, therefore, means that experts can plan their work schedules so that they don't arrive at the field with no idea what kind of problem awaits them. Work schedules also help technicians prepare for work with relevant tools and information.
Other than that, identifying pre-failures helps reduce downtime of the devices that may be a nuisance to your customers. When the machines fail to work and the inspections and repair service aren't prompt, the customers may feel frustrated and give a bad rating to your business. One negative rating can drive away potential customers, which will result in poor sales and poor business performance.
Cloud computing software is one of the most efficient ways to manage data from all business departments, including field operations. The software allows different users to access data from shared computed devices or resources. Therefore, field staff, managers, and customers can enjoy real-time communication with cloud computing, which streamlines the field service management process.
Real-time communication also benefits the customers since they can report issues and have them fixed without delay. Besides that, this software connects the back office and front office to the manager, allowing seamless access to data and information that inform decisions concerning field operations.
Part of managing a field operation is keeping a record of the location and condition of the equipment. As a business with multiple field operations sometimes happening concurrently, the manager can barely be on the ground to track all the equipment. Therefore, it helps to invest in an application that updates you on the state of the equipment.
Both the field technicians and the manager will have access to the application, where one updates on the condition of the tools while the other approves. Should the tools and equipment need any maintenance, the information can be updated on the application. In return, maintenance is done early enough to avoid inconvenience during operations or accidents.
It's quite demanding to expect the manager to handle payments by knocking on the client's door. Similarly, you can't leave the billing work to field staff since they have other work to do. Should they be left to deliver bills, pick payments, and issue receipts, the probability of making errors increases.
On the other hand, customers are looking for the easiest ways to fulfill their responsibilities. Nobody wants to have to visit the offices, so they can pay bills. It not only wastes time, but it also wastes resources like money and fuel.
Therefore, one of the most convenient solutions is automated payment. A client can pay for field management services from the comfort of their home.
Technicians offer their services, the customer pays, and the manager takes charge of closing the project upon payment. This is an ideal and streamlined field service management process.
Streamlining your field service management refers to making the process efficient. It's achieving the field operation goals while using minimal resources and time. One of the most effective ways to hold this kind of operation is by capitalizing on modern technology and integrating it throughout all your field-related tasks.
