If you’re reading this, chances are good that field service isn’t just a box to check. For you, the ability to offer great service is non-negotiable. There is no replacement for having an employee on site and taking care of your customers.
But doing field service right can be tough. There are lots of moving parts—literally and figuratively—and executing well often comes at a high cost. Maintenance and operating costs, the risk of wasting time on the road, and the occasional impersonal touch that comes with a hectic traveling schedule can all result in a headache of both financial and customer service varieties.
Fortunately, there are ways to better manage your operations. Streamlining your field service activities to be more efficient is a major benefit in itself, but what if there was even a way you could save a little money in the process? Below, you’ll find 4 ways to save money through field service management software.
FSM Software Save Time
You’ve heard the adage, “Time is money.” But the complete saying is “Time is money, and money is time. When you waste my time, you waste my money.”
Cost-effective field service operations must balance the demands of maximizing profitable work on-site with the customer service required to maintain good relationships with the account.
Field service management software (FSM) is a time-saver in a lot of different ways. With smart scheduling and dispatching, FSM software can help ensure that your employees are optimizing their time when they head out into the field, ordering up calls based on staffing and complexity. GPS tracking for trucks and route optimization technology can also aid in making the most of time on the road and helping plan the day’s calls to minimize wasted time on the road and maximize face-to-face time with your clients. Your techs ultimately spend their time doing what matters most.
And the time saving goes well beyond the road. With automated options for things like logistics and some client communication, everyone in your organization will be able to save time typically spent on small tasks and focus more on the big picture.
FSM Software Cut Operating Costs
From automating back-office operations to streamlining workflows and reducing hardcopy paperwork, field service management software can help you save money across the board. Think about the money you used to spend on paper and printing along with filing, scanning, storage, mailing—all things document management related. Simply moving to a fully paperless contract system for your clients can help you save a good chunk of change.
FSM software can also help trim travel costs. With more efficient routes and fewer return trips to the office as a result of smart scheduling, you will save on gas and maintenance for your fleet. Sales and outreach costs can also be reduced since field service providers will be able to communicate directly with clients and customers, typically while still on site, about things like billing, scheduling, and satisfaction.
FSM Software Can Strengthen Your Cash-Flow
Using FSM software is not only going to help you cut costs, it can also help earn your company some extra money along the way. FSM solutions can be deeply integrated into your customer relationship management (CRM) system. With every contact, your knowledge about an account grows, and the CRM system is the place to store that growing data set.
Because your sales or account reps have access to the entire customer database, they can proactively reach out with service reminders, system updates, and more. Too, your CRM system can automate many standard procedures like scheduling follow-up calls, sending customer satisfaction surveys and more.
Too, the longer you work within an FSM platform, the larger a data set you’ll collect. Over time, analysis of work orders and time tracking can identify areas where additional work is going uncompensated. This kind of real-world data driven insight can help you tweak your estimating systems to more accurately monetize calls.
FSM Software Drive Efficiency
Perhaps the most valuable improvement an FSM software will bring to your company is the boost in efficiency that you will see almost immediately after implementation. With better planning, less wasted time, eliminating paper, and deep integrations with your other business systems, you’ll spend less time “doing the work” of work. Eliminating the silos that typically keep work ticketing, AP/AR, estimating, time tracking, routing and CRM data from playing nicely with each other. Simply eliminating the time spent switching between systems may help your new FSM solution pay for itself.
These are just a few of the reasons to look into field service management software. The right solution can allow for easier automation of certain tasks. Your techs can spend more time servicing the account. And it increases efficiency for everyone. While those perks are all reasons enough to get on board with FSM software, nothing beats the biggest benefit of all: saving your business money.
Laura Hudgens is a writer for TechnologyAdvice.com. She is a communications instructor and freelance writer who studies and writes about technology, media, science, and health.
