Field service businesses often have the luxury of being less bureaucratic than larger organizations because of their size. They can be more nimble with implementing changes. They have the ability to deliver a great customer experience because of how personal the business is to them.
With that being said, there are times where the blinders get put on and we don’t look at the bigger picture. Most business decisions should be based on numbers, accurate numbers. One of the best ways to collect business information is by using a field service software for your reporting. Here are five ways that a field service reporting software will improve your business:
Inventory Control
Field service software is all about information. Using a software with your field service business enables you to track your inventory for parts or materials used. Keeping electronic records of what you’re using in the field gives you an accurate idea of what you currently have on hand and what you need more of.
You can run reports on your inventory weekly and know exactly what you’ll need to order. For instance, I was on a sales call with our salesperson last week and the lawn maintenance business owner we were speaking with was concerned about having an accurate daily inventory for his trucks. His employees weren’t coming back to the office every day after work, so he wanted a way to make sure that they had sufficient materials in their trucks for the following day of work.
Customer Feedback
When you have the ability to collect customer feedback, you’re able to act on that information. If you’re able to identify when a customer didn’t have a good (nay, great!) experience with your service, you have the ability to try and fix what happened before it has greater implications for your business.
Having a reporting software in place should allow you to see how your customers are responding to your services. Our software has an email add-on that allows you to send post service emails for feedback. You can then act on issues and see where your employees are falling short, and also excelling.
Monthly, Quarterly, Annual Financials
The more information, the better! Field service software allows you to keep a close eye on your financials. Keeping a pulse on your business is extremely important. Getting all your financial information into one place is tough to do though, unless you have a field service software in place.
Using a software to run monthly, quarterly and annual reports helps with key business decisions and planning. You’ll have a better forecast of new business you’re working on, what you’ve spent over the course of the year and the money that you have flowing in. If you have a software that integrates with your accounting software, you’re able to tie your financials to your business actions.
Process Improvement
Again, information is your friend! When you’re collecting data on your daily business activities, you have visibility of what is happening across your business. You might have inefficiencies when your crews are leaving the office for the day, or you might be routing your trucks poorly, there are many different insights that you gain through field service reporting software.
To touch on the “inefficiencies when your crews are leaving” for the day - we had a customer who started using our GPS solution for his larger irrigation business. He installed the GPS units in each of his trucks without his employees knowing. He was excited to start using the solution. The first day that he started using the system he checked where his trucks were. He noticed that right when his crews left the office, they all met at the same McDonald’s and remained there for about an hour… Improvements were made!
Benchmarks
Another way field service software reports helps improve business is that it gives you a tangible way to benchmark your activities. You have the ability to accurately(and quickly) pull reports on all your business’s key functions.
For example, if you want to increase the amount of winterizations you perform next year by 10%, you can pull an accurate report of how many you’ve performed this year. Additionally, you can see what is in your sales pipeline so you can get a better idea of if your benchmarks are attainable.
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