6 Field service management challenges ways to overcome them

• Kiran Kumar
• 10min read
• 15 Dec 21

Field service management challenges are inevitable, it doesn’t matter if you’re a field manager, worker, or back office staff, every aspect of a field team has its own set of problems. Field technicians need to make sure they’re on pace to meet deadlines and that no steps are missed to avoid a repeat trip, while operations managers require accurate records of the job being done to advise supervisors and report back to customers. Lacking access to critical field data causes issues and prevents you from making educated judgments. Billing cycles are slowed, quality assurance and customer satisfaction are at risk, and work schedules must be adjusted.

These are some of the typical issues and obstacles that your field crew has, as well as how you can solve them by using a mobile forms solution to automate procedures and increase operational efficiency.

Achieving higher customer satisfaction

The major field service management challenge is keeping track of many workers in multiple places of dispersed teams. Customers are accustomed to high levels of connection these days, and they have high expectations for their service requests, as well as insight into specialists’ job progress.

Managers and customers can’t tell in real time if a technician is fulfilling those objectives in the field without the proper technologies. A connected field service management system, on the other hand, may provide managers with real-time visibility into job completion and allow customers to view updates as they occur.

Access to Real-Time Data

Traditional manual data input has long since passed us by. Field managers nowadays want instant access to real-time business data at their fingertips. Coordination between on-site employees and operations managers, on the other hand, is a challenge. Duplication of effort and mistakes can occur when field data is manually transferred to computer systems.

Field service management software allows workers to gather and store data in real time.
It allows you to enter essential factors like time spent, parts required, and budget.

Client digital signatures may also be collected using modern field service management technologies. They save before and after photos of the job site, as well as other important project information. This information may be synchronized with back-end systems to improve work engagement.

On-demand Assistance To Field Technicians

On-demand service delivery is one of the most faced field service management challenges in the field service industry. Clients are used to receiving competent service calls. They don’t want an inflated price or service representatives who aren’t well-versed in the basics. Inefficiencies and widespread customer discontent might result from having an unprepared technical base.

The nicest aspect of purchasing field service management software is that it is Field-based mobile app-friendly. This allows for work monitoring, precise information, and fewer repeat visits.
Field service management software makes it easier for professionals to provide accurate quotations and product estimates. Managers can use GPS to track the real-time position of technicians. This facility allows for smooth item scheduling and dispatch. It’s a wonderful approach to make the entire service process go more smoothly and profitably.

Dropping FTFR

It’s not easy to obtain first-time repair rates. According to reports, 24% of field service assignments necessitate a second visit. Every visit to the field is a cost to the firm, therefore it only makes sense to have the technician or delivery person do the work correctly on the first try. According to studies, an organization’s average field time fix rate is 77%, which means field technicians must make follow-up visits for at least 23% of service calls.

This might be due to the technician’s lack of knowledge, his inability to bring the correct components for the task, or simply a system misunderstanding. Whatever the cause, this might have a long-term negative impact on the bottom line for businesses. Companies are increasingly using technological automation to plan and perform better in the field to maintain service quality without putting a strain on performance expenses.

Precise Scheduling

The daily tracking of your field workers and ensuring that they stick to their allotted timetables is critical to the overall success of your field operations. And it’s often a difficulty for businesses, especially if they’re still scheduling field tasks manually. Automated scheduling using an FSM tool can assist in tracking real-time coordinates of your field force and assigning assignments to them on the fly. This improves workload distribution while also limiting potential deviations.

Manual Documentation

Work orders, scopes of work, and equipment requirements are traditionally maintained on paper forms and handed from management to technicians in conventional service firms (and back, when the job is done). Is this, however, an effective approach to managing the service process?
Certainly not. This style of management leads to human mistakes, wastes time, and prevents the firm from attaining shorter mean time to fulfill orders and completing more activities per day. The fact is that all paper data can be moved to mobile applications and subsequently to the reporting system, saving hours of wasteful work time and enabling performance tracking.

While these problems were formerly considered a “cost of doing business” in the field service industry, they no longer have to be a hindrance to your firm. Learn how Fieldy may help you achieve greater success by addressing these revenue, efficiency, and customer satisfaction issues. Request a free demo to see for yourself.