I still wear shoes that I’ve owned for more than a decade. Most days, I eat a tuna sandwich with yogurt for lunch. My musical tastes are stuck in the grunge era. Ask my co-workers at HindSite and they’ll tell you that they rarely spot me away from my desk.
Why am I telling you this?
Because it shows that I’m pretty resistant to change. From clothing to food to music to my work habits, I’m not exactly a chameleon. And if your field techs are anything like me, they don’t want to change their work habits, either. They don’t want to use that tablet, that netbook or that phone to send and retrieve data. They want to keep doing it the way they’ve always done it – the paper way.
I feel their pain. But that doesn’t mean I agree with them. Here are three reasons why your field techs should embrace technology for field data collection:
They’ll Be More Employable –Using technology in the field to capture data does make them more employable. Let’s face it, whether they’ll admit it or not, most field service businesses are evolving to use technology for field data collection. The explosion of inexpensive, easy-to-use devices and killer field service software like HindSite (yeah, I’m biased) makes it easy for field service businesses to see a big return on investment by creating paperless processes.
So those field technicians that have experience using devices to capture and receive data are going to have a leg up on those who don’t.
They’ll Spend More Time Doing What They Enjoy– If your field techs are like me, they hate wasting time on non-productive tasks. They like doing their work – whether they’re an electrician, plumber, irrigation system installer, pool maintenance worker, etc. They hate doing paperwork. With a good field service software solution and a capable field service device, they can spend less time filling out paperwork and more time on the job getting things done.
They Can Grow With the Business – By enabling field techs – and office staff – to spend more time focusing on productive work, businesses can perform more jobs per day (in addition to routing more efficiently, answering customer questions faster, getting paid faster and a whole lot more). Those more jobs per day mean more profit. And odds are, that means the business grows faster, which translates to bigger raises for those hard-working, productive field service workers!
Obviously, this isn’t an exhaustive list of why field techs should embrace change and technology. But if your techs are revolting against your newly implemented technology, sit them down and explain why it’s beneficial to them. Executing change isn’t always easy – especially for field techs who have been doing things the same way for decades – but by clearly explaining the benefits to your techs up front, you’ll be able to quell the complaints before they start.
While you’re at it, walk them through the Service Call Checklist you download by clicking here!