Field Service Management (FSM) is a system used to control field tasks such as order management, dispatch, inventory management, monitoring of vehicles, scheduling, and more.
Despite the details and specifications of each company, some common issues occur in any company that provides field service solutionsof some kind:
When all reporting is done in Excel or on paper, the lack of process control and overhead with the paperwork does not provide sufficient analytics. It can lead to duplication or missing data.
- Dispatching issues lead to overlaps in scheduling, mismatching technician skills with ordered work, and failure to respond to urgent requests.
- Due to the absence of monitoring, unoptimized routing, and stealing, unregulated fuel consumption, and mileage.
- Invoice delays because technicians fill in the system with details at the end of the working day.
- If the technician leaves or retires, you risk losing your customer base.
- And a couple more things that we’re going to explore more, below.
- It is time to think about incorporating a field service report app into your work process if you figured out your pains in this chart.
A correctly customized landscaping business scheduling software enables three major problems to be solved:
Customer satisfaction
Now that people are pampered with Uber-like apps that show the car’s location in real-time, the time to the destination, and the booking phase’s final cost, all other services need anything like this. However, technicians actually lack the required means to provide the 5-star customer experience standard as they first concentrate on their job and interpret the organizational formalities not as seriously as expected. The use of mobile applications for field service management improves the interaction of customers and technicians.
Standardization of workforce
First of all, Field Service Management enables business workflow to be standardized: from dispatching to invoicing. An oil and gas engineering services firm, T H Hill, is a good example of this. Thanks to the Field Service Management approach, they report overcoming their teamwork problems and having 38 percent revenue growth in 2011 and 34 percent in the first seven months of 2012.
Invoicing
Invoicing is one of the most critical and, simultaneously, the most challenging elements of an organization delivering field services. It can take weeks to analyze the work performed, as all data is manually collected and measured.
Technicians may automatically submit all work information documents from the field, such as using parts and components, a customer’s electronic signature, and pictures of job performance, using a Field Service Management system. Field Service Management software can also determine the price automatically, taking warranties, special pricing terms, and discounts into account.
Let us tell you about one of our customers, a Dutch company offering technical support and repair services for cattle farm robots. To facilitate the process of payment processing, they decided to develop a Field Service Management app.
Cost reduction
You see that you work hard with your team, that your rates are reasonable, that your bills are paid on time, and that you rake in cash. So why is your net profit so wretched then? Why aren’t you already floating in a pool full of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck?
That’s very bad if this is a typical situation for your business! It is time for the gap in your budget pipeline to be found. This is where Field Service Managers will assist, bringing the running expenses, fuel usage, spare hours, road mess, etc. under control.
