Whether you’re a small business just starting out, or a medium/large-sized business looking to expand, Field Service Management (FSM) software can be an invaluable tool in helping you overcome these challenges and achieve success.
Inefficiency
One of the biggest challenges that businesses face when it comes to field service management is inefficiency.
This can manifest in a number of ways, such as long wait times for customers, slow response times for service requests and a lack of communication between field service technicians and the office.
Field Service Management software can help to address these issues by automating many of the processes involved in field service management, from engineer scheduling and dispatch to invoicing and customer communication.
Visibility
Another common challenge for businesses is a lack of visibility into field service operations.
Lack of visibility can make it difficult to identify areas where improvements can be made, or to track the performance of field service technicians.
Real-time tracking and reporting – providing businesses a clear picture of what is happening in the field – is a real benefit of FSM software; helping to increase visibility across the business and its operations.
Growth management in small businesses
For small businesses, one of the biggest challenges can be managing growth.
As a business grows, it can be difficult to keep up with the demands of new customers and new service requests.
Automation of engineer scheduling, stock renewal, invoicing and customer communication allows small businesses to focus on other aspects of their business, such as sales and marketing, while still ensuring that their field service operations are running smoothly.
When choosing FSM software, it is imperative that the chosen solution has the ability to grow with the business. It is advisable to choose a solution provider located in the same country as your business and preferable to choose provider that authored the software, as opposed to a reseller.
Maintaining quality of service in medium to large sized businesses
For medium/large-sized businesses, one of the biggest challenges can be staff retention and the subsequent loss of knowledge in your engineer and call centre base.
Ideally, you should have a system in place that holds a lot of the information required to make an informed decision, even by relatively new staff members with little training.
In the Call Centre, the engineer scheduler within the FSM software should automatically provide a list of the top three choices and the reasoning behind each choice to the Call Centre Operator, making the final decision much easier with no risk of mistake.
For the on-site engineer, their mobile application should have offline access to all the information required for that specific call out. This can include specification documents, images and even video or audio guides provided by the product’s supplier, or perhaps by the engineer that previously worked on that site or the same product.
In conclusion, Field Service Management software can be a valuable tool in helping businesses overcome the challenges they face. Whether you’re a small business just starting out, or a medium/large-sized business looking to expand, Field Service Management software can help you to improve efficiency, increase visibility and manage growth. Exel offers Field Service Management software that can help businesses of all sizes to overcome these challenges and achieve success.
