Changes, Implications, and Impact
In 2020, remote field service became an integral part of field service, and that trend is here to stay. Field service companies had to deal with remote services in the early days of the epidemic. Those that could adapt and embrace remote services were able to thrive in the shifting field service landscape.
Even though the epidemic has ended, it is apparent that the influence of remote field service will be long-lasting. In fact, prior to the pandemic, organizations that invested in virtual services technology were deemed best in class and ahead of the curve.
According to a recent report, the worldwide field service management market is expected to reach $29.9 billion by 2031, rising at a CAGR of 19.2% from 2022 to 2031.
With the emergence of advanced technologies and evolving customer expectations, along with the impact of the recent pandemic, the field service business witnessed a drastic transformation. Organizations now want to use data from connected assets to improve service resolution as they transition from traditional and standard service contracts in which technicians and service engineers physically install, inspect, maintain, and service equipment to a model in which resolution and quality experiences can be delivered remotely. The ability to track service performance and value delivered will become more critical.
Remote Field Service- A Friend with Many Benefits
Remote field service offers a number of benefits for companies, including improved customer service, increased efficiency and productivity, and reduced costs. It also enables businesses to provide customers with real-time access to service technicians and customer data, improving customer satisfaction.
Additionally, remote field service can help companies reduce costs by automating manual tasks, such as scheduling and dispatching, and providing customers with real-time updates on their service requests. This can help companies improve efficiency and productivity and reduce labor costs. Also, massive volumes of data are generated by field service firms from technicians, assets, equipment, clients, and logistics. If the data is not utilized to enhance a company’s operations, it is basically squandered.
Effectively harnessing and sharing field service data can enable more efficient field service operations—and, ultimately, a better customer experience.
Need of the Moment
Managing field service operations is a complex task. It requires strategies, tools, personnel, and resources to be effective. Legacy systems can push businesses towards obsolescence and lead to digital oblivion. Companies that don’t have a proper field service management system will inevitably struggle to keep up with their customers’ needs and may even face financial losses. With so many stakeholders involved in field service, implementing a clear adapt-and-response plan will be critical to sustaining day-to-day operations. Businesses that implement this will be able to retain revenue and satisfy KPIs.
In an environment where equipment seemingly doesn’t fail or where the physical presence of an onsite technician quarterly can lead to a customer’s diminished view of the value of service, seeing is often believing. Therefore, manufacturers and service organizations must ensure they can highlight the value of service even if it takes place in the background without the customer seeing any disruption to their operations.
Automating the “last mile’
Field Service Management systems automate the “last mile” between a service company and its customers, making the connection between the two more direct. It automates the job of field service technicians. However, “Field Service Management” is a catch-all phrase that masks the enormous advancements in the field service space. Field service management is essential for any business. It helps companies manage customer relationships, ensure customer satisfaction, and improve efficiency and productivity. It also helps companies reduce costs and optimize service delivery.
Field service management helps companies cut costs by making processes more efficient and reducing the amount of manual work that needs to be done. It also helps companies improve the customer experience by providing customers with timely and accurate information about their service requests. Field service management also helps companies make more money by giving customers better service and delivering services more quickly.
A modern, trustworthy FSM solution is one-of-a-kind in its capacity to allow service companies in any industrial sector to operate profitably while optimizing their commitments to deliver customer promises.
At its core, Field Service Management enables service organizations to:
- Consolidate all their work from multiple systems of record such as ERP, CRM
- Maintain data in one central environment
- Contain a view of all the available resources, parts, and materials
- Successfully deliver the service required
- Increase uptime
- Shorten mean time to repair and improve first-time fix rates
- Empower field service technicians
- Reduce field service costs
- Increase customer satisfaction
Strategies for effective field service management
Several strategies can help companies improve their field service management. These include:
- Automating manual tasks: Automating manual tasks, such as scheduling and dispatching, can help companies reduce costs and improve efficiency and productivity.
- Implementing customer feedback: Customer feedback analysis can help businesses identify improvement areas and adjust guarantee customer satisfaction.
- Optimizing service delivery: Collecting data from customer service calls and other sources can help companies optimize their service delivery and improve customer experience.
- Utilizing technology: Utilizing technology, such as remote field service, can help companies automate tasks and provide customers with access to service technicians and customer data in real time.
Competition is fierce in today’s changing business landscape, and customers want more. Field service operations must be agile so that your employees can deliver excellent service anytime and your customers know what to anticipate.
Conclusion and Final Recommendations
The field service industry is moving towards increasing customer satisfaction by improving service standards. It must be enabled by empowering service teams with a mobile on-demand solution that leverages real-time data from the field to streamline and automate processes. This gives field engineers the confidence to make data-driven and efficient decisions which can directly improve revenue growth, employee morale, customer satisfaction, competitive differentiation, and overall service quality. This will catapult real customer-focused service companies above the rest.
Remote field service can revolutionize field service management and provide customers with real-time access to service technicians and customer data. It also enables companies to automate manual tasks, reduce costs, and improve customer service. However, remote field service does come with a few challenges, such as lack of access to customer data, lack of visibility into customer service processes, and difficulty managing customer relationships. To overcome these challenges, companies should utilize effective field service management solutions.
Tavant brings its expertise in connected technologies, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to help companies cope with the new realities of field service operations.
As a strategic Salesforce implementation and consulting partner, Tavant can help you get the most out of your field service operations through continuous customer innovation.
Let’s Connect
Learn more about how Tavant can help you provide dynamic field service and enhance your client experience. Reach out to us at [email protected] to learn more or schedule a demo.
