How field service management software drives business growth

Key Takeaways:

Here’s a quick overview of how field service management software drives business growth:

• Growth relies on two interconnected elements: reduced operating expenses and increased technician productivity, both of which FSM software provides.
• Optimizing routes with features such as SmartScheduler saves time, fuel, and vehicle wear and lowers the risk of accidents.
• Paperless processes save on paper, printing, and storage, and help achieve CSR goals while minimizing typing errors.
• Real-time operations enable technicians to perform more service calls per day and keep customers informed, improving customer satisfaction.
• Industry-specific KPIs and analytics dashboards let you measure progress and continually improve first-time fix rates and SLA adherence.

It’s no secret that business growth is the ultimate goal of every company that offers field services. However, to grow and improve performance, you must create a business dynamic that allows you to simultaneously cut costs and increase productivity. Software as a Service (SaaS) management software helps you achieve this virtual circle.

How do streamlined operations cut field service costs?

Growth is vital for businesses. And whether growth is driven by strong markets, increases in market share, or success in new markets, two interrelated factors are always needed to improve business performance:

• Lower operating costs
• Higher field service productivity for field teams

Field service industry software that’s delivered in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model helps you achieve both goals. You have a computerized, cloud based field service management software that provides multiple new ways to improve performance and significantly cut costs.

Optimize travel routes

With field service management software, field technicians always have access to the information they need on their smartphone or tablet. And field service dispatchers have access to the technologies needed to improve the efficiency and performance of your teams in the field.

For example, a field service management platform, such as the one offered by Praxedo, uses geolocation capabilities to track technician locations in real time. As a result, your staff can simply use the SmartScheduler module to instantly and automatically optimize the travel routes for large numbers of service calls in just a few seconds.

• Each field technician can see his or her updated schedule at any time.
• Routes and travel times are optimized according to traffic conditions and technical activities
• Field service dispatchers can easily adjust technician schedules to deal with urgent or unexpected requirements.
• Field service dispatchers can see the real-time location of every technician on a map.

Shorter travel times reduce fuel costs and wear and tear on your vehicles. And, because technicians are using a field service mobile app to ensure they are always traveling on the least congested routes, the risk of accidents is also reduced.

Adopt paperless processes

Moving to a field service management platform lets you evolve to completely paperless operations. While the move to “zero paper” operations was advocated at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference and is an important part of many companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, it’s also considered to be a considerable challenge.

However, with a field service management software such as the one offered by Praxedo, many of the challenges associated with going paperless disappear. You have the technology needed to:

• Move to electronic invoking
• Store your data online in the cloud and access it through your enterprise resource planning (ERP) or corporate information system
• Capture field data in pre-formatted and photo-enriched forms that automate information input to avoid typing errors
• Use instant messaging to keep field teams and service center staff connected

You enjoy immediate savings on phone calls as well as the cost of paper, ink cartridges, printers, faxes, and photocopiers. You also save the space that was previously required to store all of those paper files by generating an electronic field service report.

How does higher productivity accelerate business growth?

Saving money is an important aspect of business growth. But, field service management software also helps you increase field service productivity. And higher productivity has real business benefits.

Drive your business in real time

When you can respond in real time, regardless of the size of your vehicle fleet or the number of people involved, the benefits of more efficient operations are magnified:

• Field service route optimization: Technicians arrives faster at customer sites and waste less time in traffic jams this will also improve technician performance.
• Optimize service times: Online and offline access to customer details and spare parts information reduces the time required for each service call.
• Optimize technician workloads: The ability to work more efficiently without sacrificing quality of service means technicians can perform more service calls in a day. With the Praxedo platform, technicians can even add service calls to their own schedule.

Improve customer satisfaction

With field service management software, your employees can work more independently and play a bigger role in helping to increase field service productivity. Instead of thinking about the logistical hassles associated with itineraries and unexpected events, they have a field service mobile app that helps them become more responsive and work more efficiently.

The field service mobile app also helps technicians improve communications with customers. For example, technicians can use the app to advise customers about possible delays in their service and to keep them informed about progress. They can also send an electronic field service report to customers in Word or PDF format when the work is completed.

These improvements help to increase customer satisfaction and contribute to the virtual circle that is so conductive to business growth.

How does industry-specific data help measure growth?

To grow your business, you need the Real-time tracking ability to measure your progress.

Identify your key performance indicators.

Each industry has very specific key field service management (KPIs). When you choose a field service management solution, make sure you can integrate these business parameters into the platform.

Customer experience improvement and the first-time fix rate are widely considered to be the most important field service KPIs. When technicians have to make several visits to the same customer, your costs are much higher and customer satisfaction is lower. With the right field service management software, you can identify the root cause of multiple visits and use that information to improve efficiency.

Analyze KPI data to continue improving

Once you’ve identified your field service management KPIs, make sure your FSM software can easily recover and analyze reliable field information. For example, Praxedo offers an analytics module that processes data and provides insight into your KPIs, including:

• The number of service calls performed
• Adherence to service level agreements (SLAs) for factors such as on-time arrivals at customer sites, service calls durations, and guaranteed fix times

With analytics dashboards, you have the data needed to improve performance and increase field service productivity, efficiency, and responsiveness — everything required to foster business growth.

Conclusion

Growth is not about working harder; it’s about working smarter. Field service management software makes that virtuous circle possible: reduced costs through optimized routes and paperless operations, increased productivity through real-time mobile tools, and continuous improvement through KPI analytics. These gains combine to create a more powerful, more competitive, and more profitable service business.

From SmartScheduler to mobile apps to a built-in analytics module, Praxedo has it all in one platform that helps field service companies grow. Request a demo to see how it can accelerate your business.

FAQs:

1. How does field service management software drive business growth?

It reduces operating costs and increases technician productivity simultaneously, creating a virtuous cycle of efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profitability.

2. How does FSM software reduce operating costs?

It optimizes travel routes to reduce fuel and vehicle costs, allows for paperless processes, and saves on paper, printing, and physical storage.

3. How does field service software increase technician productivity?

Access to schedules, customer information, and spare parts information in real-time enables technicians to perform more service calls per day without compromising quality.

4. What are the most important field service KPIs?

Customer experience and first-time fix rate are generally regarded as the most critical metrics, as repeat visits increase costs and reduce customer satisfaction.

5. How does FSM software help measure business growth?

KPIs such as service call volume, on-time arrivals, and SLA adherence are tracked on analytics dashboards, providing managers with the data they need to enhance performance over time.

6. How does going paperless benefit field service companies?

It saves paper, ink, storage space, and time, helps achieve CSR goals, and minimizes data-entry mistakes with pre-formatted digital forms.