Why Should Field Service Businesses Invest in Digital Transformation?

Digital transformation in field service is gathering pace. Many field service management organizations have saved approx $20 million in annual cost savings by utilizing new digital approaches. They gained insight-enriched customer relationships and advanced data analytics.

Field technicians are using mobile apps to provide better services, which has increased customer satisfaction. Field service organizations have gained new customers, reduced their operation costs, and provided better delivery schedules through digital technologies.

Digital technology has freed up customer service agents. They are now able to focus more on essential tasks such as making sales calls.

I aim to show you how field service digital transformation will revolutionize the field service industry in this blog. Let us begin!

Why Field Service Companies Must Invest in Digital Transformation

Many businesses are not giving their customers proper convenience, personalization, and connectivity in field service. Why? It’s because they are still using whiteboards for drawing calendars, managing schedules on spreadsheets, and sending field service workers on the ground with clipboards and heaps of paper forms.

For customers, the experience that companies provide is as essential as their products and services.

When we want to travel, we request pick-up via a ride-sharing app on our mobile devices, get a driver assigned quickly through the mobile app, see where they are on a map, get notifications, and leave real-time feedback. Field service organizations too should provide these kinds of field services.

The field service industry needs to invest in digital transformation. But what kind of steps can companies take to bring this change? Here is how they can do it.

1. 1. Field Service Management Should Invest in a Mobile Workforce

      Nowadays, many companies are focusing on delivering a better customer experience. It’s no longer about concentrating solely on the product anymore. They provide in-person services as it connects them directly with their customers, a significant competitive differentiator.

      Field service management should streamline their services. The experience that the customer will have with your field service workers is the reflection of your brand.

      71% of businesses are investing in improved technologies and increased headcount. But, on-field workers are still experiencing issues.

      • Only 50% have access to connected devices
      • 49% still toggle between screens to complete their task
      • 45% have wasted significant time because of inaccurate or outdated job information

      If you provide your technicians access to updated customer information, they will deliver a better service. Hence, invest in a workforce mobility solution as it will help you fulfill customer demand.

1. Take Advantage of Connected Field Service Solution

   Digital transformation will connect the entire workforce of an organization. With a connected workforce solution, companies can unify customer data, from communication preferences to service history. It will provide a complete picture across the entire field service operations.

   So, what will be the result? Customers will have access to streamlined communication, dispatchers will be efficient, and field service technicians will resolve cases faster with access to the latest information.

   Be customer-oriented: Allow your consumers to self-schedule the services from your website or app. With self-scheduling practices, customers can create, change, and update requests regarding the services you offer.

   Automate notifications: Service providers should not keep their customers in the dark regarding the status of their appointments. They should provide them with information about the current status of their field workers. Artificial intelligence and location tracking will work together on the backend to deliver these announcements and keep the customers in the loop, which frees up dispatchers from field calls on location status.

   Schedule Intelligently: Dispatchers can automate scheduling with field service management software. They no longer have to waste their time searching for technicians based on skill, time, location, equipment, and scheduling meetings through manual processes. By using the tool, dispatchers can ensure on-time appointments and route optimization for technicians.

   Reschedule appointments easily: Customers can use an online portal, app, or any communication channel to reschedule their appointment. Dispatchers will get the alert and reassign the technician in the field through real-time notifications.

   Empower workers in the field: Technicians on the field can use the mobile capabilities of their phones to get visibility into current job information, schedules, inventory, tasks, and customer data. They can log updates before, during, and after visiting the consumer. Also, field workers can take advantage of offline features if internet connectivity is unavailable to fetch customer data.

   Close the feedback loop: Customers can use your website, app, or any other channel of communication to provide feedback. It can cover everything.

2. Determine Success Metric

   For digital transformation, companies need to invest in technology and resources to provide better customer experiences. They can use the set of metrics to measure the effectiveness and determine whether the customer experience is getting better.

   The decreased call volume: The call volume will diminish if consumers have the option to reach out through favored channels and get updates on their appointments automatically. It will free up the dispatchers, who can concentrate on top priorities and assign jobs instead of giving status updates.

   Improved first visit resolution: Workers will resolve issues faster if they have accurate information on the customer and the job. If they can’t rectify the problem, there should be an option to connect with an expert who can guide them on solving it. It will reduce the chances of repeat visits.

   Minimized windshield time: With workforce field scheduling, the on-ground technicians won’t have to sit idle. Dispatchers will have the data on who is available in the field, and they can immediately assign the task to those who don’t have a job. Customers can even connect directly with the field workers if the issue isn’t complex, which minimizes the truck roll.

   Increased opportunity: Your technicians can identify new opportunities to boost revenue. If a customer requires a repair or new part, the worker can share the options and steps they can undertake.

   Improved customer satisfaction: Receive feedback directly from the customers, and you will understand how the experience was and get the data you need to improve your business processes.

4 Benefits of Digital Transformation in Field Service

Digital transformation will optimize and modernize your field service business. Your workforce will be more efficient. With this technology, business users will solve traditional problems like data collection, unproductive time, poor customer experience, and inadequate communication.

By using digital tools like FieldCamp, you can implement digital transformation in your field service company. That too in a cost-effective manner. Here are four benefits that you will get from this change.

1. Better Communication

   Companies rely on manual processes to share information between back-office systems and the field. Service providers have to contact the office, track appointments through paper processes, scan the paper, and email it back to the office to record valuable information. All this is unnecessary.

   With FieldCamp, the data gets automatically processed and shared between the company and the field.

   This digital transformation establishes an automatic mode of communication. It will improve efficiency for top field service companies.

2. Highly Personalized Service

   Good customer service is essential for a company’s success. For customers, a great experience is as important as the services and products that a business offers. But, service centers would send the technicians completely blind. They would have little data on previous appointments and equipment history.

   With FieldCamp, workers will have accurate information on field operations. Digital transformation will provide services with a personalized touch and help appointments move efficiently and smoothly. Ultimately, this is what consumers want from field service management.

3. Saves Time

   Digital transformation will save time, which will improve the efficiency of field service organizations. But how does that happen? Well, it will connect the back office software with a mobile app for field workers. The result is that the workflow will be more productive and also conserves time.

   Technicians often have to toggle between multiple windows to find the information they need to complete the job. It wastes a lot of time. Digital transformation puts an end to manually filling out work orders and reports on paper. The solution automates such field service processes.

   Hence, your workers will have more time to complete their jobs and provide excellent customer service.

4. Accurate Data

   Manually recording data leads to error-prone manual calculations, human error, and wrong information. With FieldCamp, all the data gets stored in the cloud. Hence, transferring data will get easy with digital transformation.

Conclusion
Other companies are prioritizing expanding mobile services. Hence, it’s high time for you to be aware of how digital transformation can positively impact your company.

By using FieldCamp, your company will fulfill customer expectations and boost the revenue by a great deal. Schedule a free demo with this field service management software today!!