Field service businesses often rely on their customers to thrive. Bad customer service results in bad customer relationships, fewer scheduled jobs, negative customer reviews, and a lower chance to be referred to potential customers. With advances in technology allowing companies to serve their customers with exceptional service, it is vital for field service businesses to follow and compete with other service providers on the same level. When you understand what makes your customers happy (or unhappy), you will be able to serve them better, and allow your field service business to thrive.

In this blog we will discuss what to avoid doing while servicing your customers in the field, as well as solutions to help your service experiences echo with your customers.

Wait times

There is nothing worse than waiting hours for your field technician to arrive, without any notification or heads up. Wait times are often caused by disorganized scheduling or a severed connection between your field technicians and office staff. Scheduling that is done manually on paper can be tedious and difficult to update when last minute changes in appointments are made. Scheduling software as part of a field service management solution can significantly help with reducing waiting times for customers. Assigning field technicians to jobs, even last minute, with an easy-to-use scheduling tool eliminates errors and double-bookings which sometimes create long waiting times. A field service management software also provides a stronger connection between field workers and office staff, allowing them to update each other with information quickly.

Return trips 

Field technicians who have to make multiple trips due to missing inventory are not being as productive and efficient as they could be. With trips back and forth, customers are left waiting with half-completed work. Errors in equipment and inventory management can result in return trips and cause downtime, especially if paper processes are still being used. A field service management software provides the platform to manage and maintain inventory and equipment, reducing chance for return trips. The ability to view inventory and equipment status on a mobile device assists with reducing the number of required trips field technicians take to complete jobs. Inventory and equipment information in the hands of your field technicians results in less errors and ultimately less customers left waiting to be served.

Echo with ServiceEcho 

Technology is becoming more and more common in field service business operations. Customers expect to be served in a timely manner and are less forgiving when left waiting for hours and hours. Your field service business can make your service experiences echo with your customers by implementing a field service management software, like ServiceEcho. The easy-to-use drag and drop scheduling tool allows you to assign technicians to appointments quickly, and the strong connection between the office and the field will reduce waiting times significantly. The inventory and equipment management feature will allow technicians to access updated and accurate information at any time, reducing return trips. If you would like your service experiences to echo with your customers, book a demo below to learn more about ServiceEcho.