For home maintenance and repair service companies, technology has become a fundamental ally to increase productivity in all areas. Thanks to this technology, they have been able to automate their business processes through FSM (Field Service Management) systems, control numerous teams remotely through the Internet of Things (IoT), industrialise their customers’ sensitive information and monitor their technicians and vehicles at all times thanks to geopositioning tools. With these advances, the companies or Field Services departments have stopped being merely departments focussed on offering a service to the customer, to become generators of significant economic benefits for the organisation.
How to make your Field Services provision more productive?
Like any other business, the field services sector has the aim of increasing their billing and the satisfaction of their customers. However, they also face the challenge of constantly improving technicians’ productivity. In this article from our blog we offer 8 keys to increasing productivity thanks to FSM software and, in addition, we invite you to watch our webinar “More productive teams with Task4Work” (Spanish).
- Automate most of the processes. Becoming paperless is the cornerstone of the success of a modern Field Services organisation. The information written on this medium by technicians is subject to numerous risks: loss, damage, duplication of the time necessary for its handling (noting down at the customer’s home and subsequent entering onto the system), transcription errors, etc. The implementation of a Field Services management software like Task4Work digitalises all of these processes and offers a much greater accuracy and agility for handling the information associated with the services, as we noted in a blog article about this solution.
- Empower the technician. If the software is the touchstone, the technician is the main actor: enabling them to record their activity in real time through a mobile device (smartphone or tablet) is one of the great advances in the sector, as we discussed in a previous article. Thanks to this, the technician can check the necessary information for the incidence before solving it, complete resolution forms along with the incidence they have attended, and even entering a comment about the customer that contributes to improving and personalising the service. With a mobile device, they gain precious time that can be used to solve more incidences and increase their productivity. Finally, a further advantage: for 72% of Field Services companies, the best use of technicians and dispatchers is one of the main factors of the return on investment in solutions of this type (source: Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management).
- Integrate the different systems linked to the Field Service. The integration of the different tools used in supplying services in an FSM system enables both the technician and the dispatcher not to have to move from one application to another checking information and wasting very valuable time for solving incidences. One of the most notable cases is that of the integration of geopositioning tools, such as Google Maps Platform, essential for optimising routes and the technicians’ daily work. This improvement in efficiency is one of the main objectives of managers who want to grow the business of FSM companies.
- Take advantage of the information that comes from the Internet of Things (IoT). In a previous article on this blog, we showed you that the IoT provides an invaluable volume of data to Field Services companies. Sensors located on the machines send information to the field services company, who can compare it with the values and act in the event of dangerous deviations or carry out the necessary maintenance. Managing this information successfully increases the number of tasks for technicians, and consequently, their productivity.
- Plan and assign the activity intelligently. An FSM system like Task4Work facilitates the planning and allocation of tasks. Having previously registered the file for each customer (with data such as the SLA taken out, preferred service hours, address, etc.), it is possible to plan the activity and allocate it to technicians automatically depending on these variables and the experience, knowledge, estimated location and availability of the technician (the latter, searchable in the technician’s diary on the system). This automation also enables interventions to be prioritised (both preventive and reactive) to comply with the customers who have signed the most demanding SLAs. For more information, you can consult an article about this issue in the Task4Work blog.
- Optimise the service time, guaranteeing the best customer service. Baltasar Gracián, a Golden Age writer, made famous the phrase Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno (the good, if brief, is twice as good). Applied to the provision of services, this translates into the optimisation of time dedicated to solving each incident, An FSM system helps to reduce the total time dedicated to this task, since:
- It quantifies the average time needed for standard types of operations, which enables deviations to be detected
- It suggests the necessary spare parts, which avoids uncomfortable waits at the customer’s home
- It facilitates recording the customer’s observations or comments that enable interventions to be carried out in the near future, preventing them from being resolved unexpectedly.
- Analyse the information in each case. Field services which include maintenance or repair operations are an excellent source for gathering relevant data, as we mention in an article on our blog. An FSM solution like Task4Work, integrated with a Business Intelligence tool, offers control panels that help to make the most of the data thanks to analytical reports, using combinations of unique KPI for the business. This way, it is possible to have an accurate understanding of the performance of the teams and technicians, correcting common errors and deviations: for example, which technicians spend a lot of hours driving, which take longer to complete their tasks or those who have the most downtime…
- Provide the customer with a self-service portal for small matters. Often, a customer calls customer service to request information about the service which has to be provided in a few minutes, the identity of the technician, etc., which affects the productivity of the technicians who are receiving calls. Offering customers a self-service portal for small matters and to check information about services enables the technicians receiving the calls to increase their productivity and focus on the tasks that provide more value to the organisation.
Task4Work is a comprehensive Field Service Management (FSM) software which offers businesses in the sector the necessary features so that they can increase their productivity easily and quickly. It stands out for its integration with other systems and technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Google Maps Platform for the optimisation of routes (including traffic information in real time) and powerful analytics based on Business Intelligence. Do you want to see it in action and see how it increases productivity? Don’t miss our webinar “More productive teams with Task4Work”.
And if you want to find out about this FSM solution before the webinar, contact us and we will show you how it can benefit your business.
