Your entire field service business will benefit from work order software. Your office staff will be able to cut hours off of their day with quick and efficient scheduling, routing and billing. Your sales person can track a customer from the time they become a lead until they become your customer through special reports and statuses. And you will be able to spend more time on your business instead of in your business.
But the area that will need and benefit from work order software the most will definitely be your field technicians. Field service software allows your techs to perfect certain aspects of their work that your entire company needs to function efficiently. Such areas include:
Time records – Instead of remembering to write down times or allowing techs to enter their own times, work order software pushes consistency and accuracy. The software can track the exact minute the tech signs in, so they cannot cheat the system and cost you money. Knowing that they are on the clock to the minute can help to motivate your field crew to work harder and for their entire day to meet time constraints. It also is something that can be done when they open up the work order. It is just another step in their day instead of an afterthought with a guess as to which time they started.
One time data entry – With the data entered once from the mobile field service software, the percentage of incorrect or incomplete data is greatly reduced. Techs can answer a series of questions or fill the data in manually, eliminating the need for double entry from the office staff.
With your techs in the field seeing things first hand, they have the best information about a customer, job site, and services performed. You want that data entered into the system once and correctly. Techs need work order software most so that they can get the data into the system right the first time and not experience calls later because their handwriting is illegible or they forgot a piece of information.
Knowledge on site – Your techs will also need work order software most because of the knowledge they will need to have on site. Work order software can provide every piece of information a tech would need to complete a job, all while providing excellent customer service. Information such as:
- Notes about special factors on site (gate codes or a dog on site)
- Location of service area
- History of customer – to know what was done last time, and what should be suggested this time either for a warranty check or for an upsell
One push sends back to office– To rely on your techs to bring you back a paper work order for billing can be a hit or miss thing. It may come back crumpled, dirty, incorrect, missing data, or not at all. Your technicians do their job and they are great at what they do. When it comes to the “business” processes, however, they don’t always follow the same mindset that paperwork must be taken care of, filled out completely, and be legible.
With work order software, the techs simply type in the information about the job, and sync it back to the office. The office can receive the work order within minutes instead of hours or days, and get a bill out quickly. It eliminates the extra stress and time it takes a tech to complete their work, allowing them to focus on what they are skilled at.
Work order software is a great tool for the entire field service business. Your techs, however, are the ones who need it most. It keeps them on track, motivated, efficient, and stress free.
Once your crew has work order software mastered, they can move on to bigger and better ways to be efficient. Check out the 6 Rules for an Awesome Service Department to discover new ways to make your team the best in the industry!