Businesses are quickly waking up to the benefits of field service management. In fact, the global field service management market is expected to grow from $2.8 billion in 2019 to $5.9 billion by 2024.
However, most businesses still don’t have a strong grasp on what roles service management software impacts. In reality, service management software is about more than just workforce management.
What’s the Role of Service Management Software?
From the onset, most people know service management software can improve management. After all, “management” is right there in the name. Still, even though service management software does simplify management, an all-in-one system is much more versatile.
Yes, it streamlines management, but what’s lesser known is how it can reach the far corners of the business, bringing multiple departments together. Here are the lesser-known ways service management software affects the whole team.
Features for Dispatchers and Office Managers
If you’re an office manager or dispatcher, you need to know where your team is and what they’re doing. Otherwise, you’re left feeling like you’re flying blind. With manual systems, that means constant calls, jotting down updates, and interrupting workers in the field to make sure everything is on track.
What not every manager realizes is that software can make life much easier. With all-in-one software, office managers can see which techs are scheduled and their daily, weekly, or monthly progress. Instead of being left in the dark, wondering where everyone is, they can pinpoint a worker’s exact location on a map.
At the same time, an all-in-one platform simplifies day-to-day responsibilities. Suddenly, instead of having to stay on top of counts and inventory control, managers can use software to automate finances, invoicing, billing, and inventory.
What are the benefits?
First, field service management software makes workforces more efficient. In fact, businesses using fleet and field service management software have a 10-30 percent increase in productivity than those that don't use such a tool.
Beyond those broad results, automation can cut out tedious office chores. Imagine how much easier it is to have accurate inventory counts every day and get alerts when supplies are running low. Think of how much simpler life is when you know what is on each truck before sending a tech out on a job without the right equipment or enough parts to get through the job.
Cutting out those little frustrations makes a wave of difference in the world of an office manager.
Features for Field Techs
If you’re a field tech, think about how often you have to go back to a job multiple times to finish it. How many times have you run into a problem on a job and wished you had more complete notes, a deeper client history, or some kind of a manual to help you out?
With manual systems, it can feel like you arrive on the job scene with only part of the story. As a tech, you’re often left piecing histories together, asking questions to preoccupied customers, and pulling it all together for a diagnosis.
With software, customer histories and property information are updated and organized in one place. Suddenly, field techs can enter equipment updates, pull up notes from previous techs, and see all the past technical issues that have led to that point.
Plus, when a question comes up on the job, techs have manuals and resources right there, on hand.
In addition to making work more pleasant, these advantages lead to fewer on-the-job mistakes. They also save fuel and time by reducing callbacks.
At the same time, you don’t have to bother customers with questions they already answered with the last tech. That also saves time and makes it easier to deal with customers.
What can a tech do with the extra time? For one, it frees them up to focus on refining their soft skills—something that’s becoming increasingly important. Recent surveys say 50 percent of organizations rank a technician’s soft skills training as their top or second priority. Simply put, software lets techs spend less time on the monotonous parts of the job and more on the things that push the business forward.
Features for Owners
If you’re a business owner using paper systems, the piles on your desk can get overwhelming. Think of how much time and mental energy is spent trying to corral loose papers, not to mention the chaos you have to deal with if an important document goes missing.
Software improves the life of an owner by organizing data in one place. Because important documents are secured digitally, you don’t have to worry about losing them behind a desk or spilling coffee on them. At the same time, customers feel better when they know their information isn’t in danger of being lost.
Still, software goes beyond just cleaning up messy desks. It makes it possible to set up metrics and measure KPIs. It also means owners can trust the rest of their team with more responsibility. Because figures are easy to see and measure, it’s easier to explain what’s been in your head this whole time to the rest of the team. In the end, all of that results in better outcomes, happier customers, and a stronger company reputation, which means a more organized business and more opportunities for growth.
Owners care about their employees. They want them to have a steady flow of jobs. They want to give workers organized systems that make it possible to balance their lives—both at work and at home. Service management software helps owners grow the business, plan for the future, and meet their employees’ needs.
Benefits for Customers and the Business
Even if every person in every role is happy at work, it doesn’t matter much if the business isn’t productive and customers aren’t happy. The most important function of service management software is usually the most overlooked: its overall effects.
What’s lesser known is that service management software has the tendency to open up the lines of communication, and it unifies the team in the process. Because workers feel more connected and are more informed, the company culture is improved. It also means fewer mistakes, fewer squabbles, and a better workday.
All of this cooperation adds to another often overlooked benefit of using technology: optics. It sends a positive message to customers when you’re organized and communicating through modern systems. That makes the business look modern, crisp, and in the know. The result is a stronger reputation and a better customer experience.
Benefiting from Service Management Software
With the right all-in-one service management software, organizations can improve work through every corner of the business. However, all software is not created equal. Software should always have functionality that fits your industry and goals.
Ready to see how Davisware solutions can fit into your business? Set up a free demo today.
