Improving your service success rates

The concept of using mobile devices and apps to help service contractors track and improve service operations isn’t new. Many service organizations already recognize the service potential they have by equipping their field workforce with mobile tools to speed up the billing cycle, improve technician utilization and build customer loyalty.

But, be honest with yourself: even if you’ve invested in a mobile service solution, is it working for you as well as you could be?

“Simply investing in mobile technology does not ensure improvement in key performance,” said Trimble Field Service Management in its 2015 Field Service Trends Report. “To be successful with any deployment, organizations must choose the best field service solution and adopt the implementation best suited for their operation.”

Here we highlight a few practical ways you can start incorporating mobile technology to measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and start seeing higher service success rates.

Mobile helps contractors meet KPIs

Top service contractors are discovering two things: the service department holds huge potential for additional sales and revenue for the business after market, and mobile tools in the field are key to capitalizing on this opportunity in service.

Aly Pinder highlights this point in the 2015 Field Technologies Special Report: “Top performers understand that mobility can have an impact on customer satisfaction, contract renewals, employee satisfaction, first-time fix, and even cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. Tracking these metrics in conjunction with a mobile deployment will help shed light on both opportunities for improvement and the true impact of this initiative.”

At this point, you may be thinking, “That sounds great, but how do I start using mobile effectively in my business today?”

Here are five KPIs you should be striving to meet and how a mobile service app will help you get where you need to be. Start by following the pro tips for quick, practical strategies to get your mobile solution working for you.

1. Increase first-time fix rates with access to the right parts: Increasing first-time fix rates is all about having the right parts and skills to finish the job before the end of the day. Start by supporting a sophisticated inventory management system to make sure techs have the right parts for each job. Equipped with mobile they can see which parts are where and track what they use in the field. Here’s a pro tip: give techs access through their mobile device to see parts in other workers’ vans, so they know who has what and can ask for assistance if they run into a snag.

2. Increase service contract sales in the field: With the inspection app, techs can collect evidence, see service history, and take pictures to demonstrate why a piece of equipment needs serviced or repaired. Then, they can finish off the job with automated quoting, which takes customers through billing and sales cycles, including signature capture, right on the mobile device. Pro tip: Give field techs the additional responsibility of renewing and upselling service contracts while they’re on-site.

3. Increase percentage of billable hours: Cutting down on technician idle time is a big challenge for service companies since techs need to travel from jobsite to jobsite. A visual scheduler that connects with mobile is key for making smart, real-time scheduling decisions so techs spend more time working and less time on the road. Pro tip: keep technicians in the loop by setting up automated alerts to send to their mobile device whenever their schedule changes.

4. Decrease number of overtime hours: The key to getting the most productivity out of a 40 hour work week is to equip your field force with mobile devices and applications that allow them to work more efficiently and tackle more work orders without putting in extra time. Emphasize smarter work over longer work to get the most out of your technicians’ skills without extending their hours. Pro tip: Track technician location and work status with GPS connected through their mobile service app so you can confirm they are where they say they are.

5. Improve customer satisfaction ratings: Use a mobile inspection app with customizable forms to collect feedback through customer satisfaction surveys. Once the data starts rolling in, you’ll be able to make business decisions to help your technicians improve customer satisfaction. No paper necessary. Pro tip: Reward the techs with the highest customer ratings; they’re doing something right.

Field data drives decisions

It’s more important than ever for field service organizations to have strategies in place to measure performance and make clear and actionable decisions to drive improvements.

According to a recent Trimble study, only one in five service organizations believes they get the field service data they need to do their job fully. Put yourself in the top 20% by using data-driven intelligence and a mobile service solution to guide your business this year

Joanna Rotter is the content marketing manager at MSI Data, a field service management software provider and creator of enterprise field service app, Service Pro.