Ways To Boost Productivity In Your Field Service Business

As a field service business, you want to maximize productivity, that is, your people and assets. For that, you need to succeed at coordination, teamwork, and logistics. However, numerous challenges like ineffective communication, high operation costs, lack of control of your field teams, and others can hinder productivity.

 But there is good news. You can implement things in your field service business to overcome most of these challenges and improve productivity. Here are five ways to help you get started in the right direction in boosting productivity and profitability for your business:

 

1. Automate routine processes

Leveraging technology is the foundation of successful field service in a modern-day business. Part of the ways you can automate processes is by going paperless. When information is recorded on paper by your field or office agents, it becomes susceptible to many risks like damage, loss, and duplication, to mention a few.

 Similarly, the handling process of using paper is long and error-prone. Imagine when your teams have to write down necessary information at a customer’s home or business and wait to get to the office to enter it into the system. Taking the leap into using specialist online tools like this plumbing business software from Jobber, will help you digitize a sizable chunk of your routine tasks while offering higher accuracy and using less time. 

 Automation helps reduce the paper trail, time, and resources involved in creating and submitting reports. There’s also better coordination with the office and field teams, boosting efficiency and reducing delays. Lastly, there’s a huge chance that you may no longer experience duplications, lost quotes, and misunderstandings since everyone reads from the same script no matter where they’re stationed. (1)

 

2. Empower your field team

If utilizing technology is crucial to your field service business, your team members are the main actors. But their efficiency and productivity depend on the information and tools provided to complete the tasks. First, they need to have full access to customer history data and collaborate with other field members and the office team in real-time. Therefore, the technology your business invests in needs to enable these functions.

Team members can check task status before visiting a customer. Even when a team member is new, they’ll have access to all the information they need, such as customer preferences. Besides, the right technology will make your business more flexible and quicker in responding to customer needs. (2)

3. Promote a culture of data-driven decision-making 

Data is at the center of strategic planning and decision-making in any business. Data helps you gain insights, and your team leaders can leverage it to drive action. So, promote a culture of proper data collection, analysis, and utilization. Encourage those involved in decision-making to use the data, too.

 When your field business isn’t collecting sufficient data for its consumption or giving meaningful insights to improve decisions, productivity will be affected. In addition, you won’t be able to utilize the field teams efficiently. Thus, it helps to have the right data collection and analysis tools to get a complete view of the business’s productivity. This will enable the business to identify the gaps in workflows and service delivery. 

For example, using smart technology on equipment can send information to the office in real-time. You can use this data as a pointer to focus areas and those to let go of. When you manage data successfully, you can use the best and most cost-efficient method to deliver services and improve productivity in the process.

 

4. Schedule and assign the tasks intelligently

Traditional methods of planning and assigning tasks are laborious and time-consuming. You can spend days working on it and still not get it right. In field service management, assigning tasks, scheduling, and dispatching requires a more modern and dynamic approach. Your dispatching team must be aware of all field activities, late or pending tasks, and other changes as they happen.

 When you can plan, assign, and track tasks, your team is better positioned to be productive. Teams won’t have to waste moving about only to find that a customer had canceled. Also, having a smart system can help you schedule and assign tasks based on location, performance, skills, traffic, or weather, effectively boosting productivity. (3)

 

5. Set SMART goals and measure them

Setting goals in a business is the first step towards boosting productivity and profitability. But having SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely) goals is even better. Ensure that your goals should fall within these parameters. (3) (4)

 If you’re getting 50 responses on your quotes in a month, your SMART goal should be to enhance that to 80 in three months. If you want to improve productivity, it’s crucial to track your progress. Set aside time each week or month to go through the metrics to see where you are. When you notice that you’re far behind, assess your whole plan.  

 Conclusion

Productivity is crucial to profitability. Hopefully, this article has shared practical ways you can use in your field service business to boost productivity. All in all, improving productivity must focus on your overall business goal, customers, and teams.

 

References:

 

1.   “Empowering Your Field Workers with Field Force Automation”
         https://www.selecthub.com/field-service-management/field-force-automation/ 
2.   “4 Tips to Improve Your Field Service Workforce Productivity”
         https://www.amazingworld.network/2021/07/4-tips-to-improve-your-field-service.html?m=1
3.   “5 ways for field service businesses to boost productivity”
         https://blog.kerridgecs.com/5-ways-for-field-service-businesses-to-boost-productivity#:~:
4.   “How to Increase Productivity with Field Service Management Software”
         https://www.commusoft.us/increase-productivity-field-service-business/