Field Service Management that Doesn’t Stress You Out

Field service management is like a compicated machine. Coordination between technicians and your company can easily become a complex tangle of communication and miscommunication when one or more parts don’t work well. When coordination with field service professionals relies on manual labor to process work orders, schedule technicians, log data, monitor processes, and manage inventory, it easily gets out of hand. 

 

Your field service management (FSM) is one of the most important client-facing facets of your company. Your customers depend on timely technician response, effective processes, and open communication. 

 

There are many reasons manual processes can cause your field service management to be harder than it should be. Human error is always a risk- one that increases with every function that depends on humans, no matter how excellent you strive to make your operation. 

 

Factors that Make Field Service Management Complicated 

You might relate to some of the following: 

 

1: Too many separate documents create confusion

Whether you are dealing with physical documents like forms and checklists or digital documents like work orders and logs, separate documents are difficult to manage. Have you ever sent the wrong form with a technician or the wrong file to a customer? What a nightmare! 

 

2: Paper forms are inefficient and hard to organize

Paper forms are so frustrating, they need their own paragraph. It’s a hassle, and an expense, to print the forms, keep them organized, and ensure sufficient form inventory. Beyond that, paper forms that are filled out in the field need to be collected and processed by hand. That’s time and risk of error you shouldn’t need to deal with. 

 

3: Invoicing and payments are hard to track

You can’t run your business if you don’t get paid. You won’t get paid unless you send out accurate, timely invoices. All small business owners know how tedious it can be to juggle invoicing and track payments for many customers. However, you can’t avoid this crucial task.

 

4: Manual field team scheduling is difficult to control

It’s so important to make sure your team members go where they are supposed to, when they are supposed to. They represent the part of your operations that works directly with customers, after all. Your customers don’t deserve delays and miscommunication, or worse, problems resulting from incorrect information. Scheduling and communication of so many moving parts can be tricky indeed! 

 

5: Your contact database is not centralized

Customers, suppliers, team members, prospects…each of these contacts are crucial to keep track of. Physical address books or even Excel sheets are just too hard to maintain and could slow down your communication. 

 

How to Improve your Field Service Management

As we mentioned above, manual processes are hard to manage. Thankfully, there are ways to make those processes easier, faster, and more automated. 

 

Try an online platform, for example. You can create and manage digital documents, such as forms, checklists, and work orders from one place. This saves you the issue of having to keep track of a bunch of separate documents. Your business processes will be so much easier and faster if you start with a centralized database of contacts and tools. Ideally, you’ll be able to keep track of many different processes at once, such as invoicing, scheduling, work orders, quoting, and many other necessary tasks for a successful FSM company. 

 

The Right Field Service Management Software is Efficient and Effective

Many of the common challenges of field service management can be addressed by combining, consolidating, and automating. Ideally, you would find an online platform with a mobile option that lets you do these crucial tasks effectively, efficiently, and centrally. Managing your company in the field can be tricky, but luckily there are plenty of digital solutions that can optimize the process.