How Field Service Management Software Can Improve Your Customer Operations

Customer Success via Field Service Management Software

When you run a field service company, you often need to juggle the schedules of multiple dispersed parties: front-line workers, frontmen managing them, and customers in different locations. Quite a challenge, isn’t it?

And your field service company may be offering any of the followings services:

• construction;
• house cleaning services;
• gardening and lawn care;
• city infrastructure services;
• car fixing and
• many other field services.

No matter the industry you operate in, your field service management platform must work two-fold.

Firstly, you need to track your field workers – we describe this issue in detail in our previous blog post: 5 Common Challenges in Your Field Work Business to solve with Field Service Management Software.

Secondly, a perfect solution includes a customer-facing app as well—one that offers your clients easy time scheduling and service status tracking.

Based on our long-lasting experience in developing workforce management software, we prepared an easy guide on possible challenges and potent solutions for a booking and status-tracking platform that your users would love.

3 Common Customer Operations Problems You May Face

As your field service company grows, you are bound to face several challenges connected with your client base.

Problem 1: Your end-clients do not know when exactly the crew will come

Does your service require a client’s presence? Or at least letting your field workers into the client’s property and showing them what exactly is to be done?

If so, your customers can face the same inconvenience as with delivery guys – they know only the date of the scheduled service and have to wait all day, not able to leave the house even for an hour in case your crew arrives exactly the minute they left.

Problem 2: The clients are not updated on the field service progress

Field services often take a long time to complete or include multiple stages. In many cases, the work site is also far from where the end client lives or works. This means, you will need to find a way to inform customers on work progress without actually seeing them face to face.

Let’s say you work in the construction business, building a new house for your clients who currently live in another part of the city. They are curious how the work is going so they can either call you multiple times or visit the site every now and then, adding to your customer service’s labor.

Problem 3: Managing so many new bookings becomes a mess

As a business owner, of course you want your company to grow. But once it crosses a certain threshold of bookings in a given time, managing all of them becomes difficult with just a pen and pencil or even an Excel file.

With a simple spreadsheet, there is a chance that the record will be accidentally overwritten or deleted. And if you make paper notes, they may get lost or are unreadable for other members of your team. Booking via phone calls is also prone to mistakes. Your foreman may accidentally enter incorrect spelling of the name, address, or invoice data. And all this scheduling takes a lot of time for your crew.

Field Service Management Software Is a Solution to Your Problems

Even though customer service in small and medium-sized field service companies can seem overwhelming at times, do not get discouraged. Your workforce management system can be easily expanded with a client-facing app that will help you solve all these problems and better support your customers.

One app with all location and status information

Thanks to location tracking, your end-client will always know exactly when your field workers crew arrives at his door. Real-time status tracking can even show him the crew route on a built-in map.

The status reporting is easily accessible as well. Your foremen and crews just add task status updates into the system using their mobile devices and your end-client gets multi-stage status tracking in real time. No more unnecessary phone calls between your field crews, foremen, and customers.

After the work is done, the client can also get a report summarizing the service provided. When combined with your field workforce management system, the report can include photos or videos documenting the state before and after the work was completed or a short description with all the services listed.

Effortless scheduling for customers and foremen alike

Those who never made an error taking down customer details or scheduling services for a multi-crew field service company, cast the first stone. Managing customers’ data can be challenging so… let them write it down for you themselves. 

Instead of numerous phone calls, a client-facing app can include a contact form for customers to fill. This way, basic information is already entered into the system. And if you decide to add a virtual calendar, your customers can even choose dates most suitable for them within your working hours.

Data archiving to handle disputes

Working in the service industry can be challenging. The quality depends on the people performing the service and it is much more difficult to standardize procedures than in the production industry. Of course, there is the subjective factor of customers’ opinions as well. So how to make sure you maintain the high quality and settle any potential disputes with your clients?

In a workforce management software, your field employees can easily gather proof of the work site looks before and after the work is done. They also have digital forms for field service paperwork so that everything is in one place and ready to show to the client in case of disputes. And once you gather enough data, data analysis can help you optimize your crews’ future work.

How Will A Booking and Status Tracking Software Help Your Business Grow?

Are traditional methods of managing your field service company not enough? Are you looking to expand your business and require a dependable solution to streamline your operations? Workforce management software with booking and status-tracking features offers multiple benefits.

Greater customer satisfaction thanks to real-time service updates

In today’s fast-paced world, your customers require the highest quality, fast service, and up-to-date information. That is why providing real-time service updates to your end-customers can be a game-changer. Not only does this save them time and effort, but it also frees up your team from unnecessary phone calls.

No more logistics issues with a location tracking app 

If your service requires a client’s presence on-site, a location tracking app helps you to make sure they are available when frontline workers arrive. It also saves the end-client’s time as they no longer need to remain in one place throughout the day, waiting for your crew.

Phonecall-free experience with a user-friendly client-facing app

Did you know that making phone calls is becoming less and less popular nowadays? A good alternative can be a user-friendly client-facing app where customers can conveniently book a service, know exactly when the crew arrives, and track service status – all without multiple phone calls and stress.

Outdoing competition with top-grade customer operations

Distinguishing your field service company from competition can be challenging, particularly if all service providers in the area offer similar quality and prices. But did you know that top-notch customer operations can be a good Unique Selling Proposition, too? Automate it with a user-friendly app and stand out among competitors.

Efficient work automation to optimize time spent

Phone calls and manual scheduling are prone to errors and take long hours for your frontmen. Instead, with a client-facing app, your customers can effortlessly input the necessary information themselves, making the process more efficient and saving your team’s time.

Data analytics within a single workforce management software to learn, forecast, and select the best

The data is the king. And gathering it in one workforce management software not only provides valuable insights from your historical data but also has the ability to learn from it and proactively recommend the most efficient solutions.

Summary

The way you handle customer operations is not just a nuisance. It can make or break your field service business. Fortunately, a good workforce management system includes a user-friendly customer-facing app, which will not only address scheduling and data entering challenges but also provide your customers with real-time information.

Does it sound like a good fit for your business? Are you wondering if such a solution would be applicable to your business? Do you want to know if it is possible to adapt the application specifically to your business? We are here to help. Send us a message and our expert will contact you to answer all frequently asked questions:

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