Last Updated: 26 October 2023 by Ann Dewar
Looking to scale and grow your field service business? Here’s why you need tech and here are the top features to look for in the best field service software UK.
Are you tired of managing field services manually? Are you looking for a software solution that can streamline your day-to-day operations and increase efficiency? Look no further than field service management software.
Field service businesses require a lot of coordination between the office and the mobile engineers. Job scheduling, vehicle routing, and invoicing can be a headache without the right tools. The good news is, there are software solutions available that can make your life easier.
That’d be awesome, right?
But choosing the right field service software can be a daunting task. With so many options available, it's hard to know which one is the best fit for your business. In this article, we will explore the top features of field service software in the UK.
Why you need the best field service software for growth in 2024
If you rely on a mobile workforce, you know the common job management challenges – like staffing and supply chain issues. These cause delays and inevitably stunt revenue, profits, and growth.
And while they are a huge pain, they seem unavoidable. But there is a way around this. There are now software tools available that are so advanced that they can make managing field service businesses a cinch.
Moreover, by optimising the entire field service operations, challenges like these have much less of an impact – and you can even avoid them altogether.
Let’s look at a couple of examples.
- Automate time-consuming processes: Leveraging digital processes to automate repetitive tasks so that you can reduce admin time and save on duplicate data entry.
- Apply predictive maintenance: Get engineers to run daily vehicle checks, get alerted of defects and automate MOT and service bookings.
You’ll notice a common thread here: data. With real-time data and analytics, field service businesses can make much better decisions to drive growth.
How? Because they can see field service technicians’ productivity, customer satisfaction rates, and live invoice tracking. And they can use all this for better forecasting too.
Let’s delve into this a little more.
📕 Read more: Check out this blog on 6 field service industry trends to watch in 2024.
Key features: What to look for in the best field service software in the UK
There are a lot of solutions out there and the idea of sifting through them all can be daunting. However, given the boost to your growth that choosing the best field service management software can deliver, you need to pick the right tech and you need to do it soon.
So, here are the top features that leading field service companies leverage:
#1: Real-time business intelligence dashboards
We’ll start with this one because it’s the most important. It's only when you can see exactly how the business is performing, instantly, and with the latest information available, that you can see the best way to streamline business operations, increase job profitability and improve customer satisfaction.
Data is quite complex and you need it pulled together and presented to you in a way you can interpret. And this is where the business intelligence dashboards come in. It means you gain real-time visibility of business performance through easy-to-read graphs. For example, you can see how sales pipelines and profitability look from afar. And you can then click on these reports to delve into the data a little more.
📕 Read more: How to boost field service business intelligence.
#2: Job scheduling and job tracking
In terms of day-to-day job management, both job scheduling and job tracking features are a must-have. They go hand-in-hand to optimise resources, lower costs and respond quicker.
Here’s how:
- Job scheduling: Say goodbye to manual management, with automated appointment scheduling you can quickly assign jobs to field teams in real-time. And it takes into account things like priority, location, resource availability… as well as constraints like hours of restricted site access. This can all be managed through a simple drag and drop of jobs onto a shared calendar.
- Job tracking: And once jobs are scheduled, you can see exactly where field staff are and job progress. With the right tech, field technicians can provide live job updates from their mobile and include key information like photos and reports on issues and delays.
📕 Read more:5 ways real-time job tracking boosts efficiency (with examples)
#3: Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Now this one is key because it helps you to win more jobs and grow customer relationships. With a solid CRM system – one that’s fully integrated with your booking system, accounts and more – managing customer information, communications and service delivery is a doddle.
So, what is a good CRM system? As a minimum, it’s one that covers:
- One single customer database: Quickly and easily access contact details, customer service history, notes… and use this to personalise customer interactions.
- Multiple communication options: Communicate with customers in a way they prefer, whether that’s email or SMS messaging, so they can be kept up-to-date with ETAs and job statuses. With the right system, this is all done via automated alerts.
- Customer satisfaction tracking: And you should be able to issue customer feedback surveys and gather their views on a dashboard. This, doubled up with monitoring service performance KPIs and Service Level Agreements, helps to deliver exceptional customer service.
📕 Read more:Field service CRM: A practical deep dive.
#4: Financial management
So, we briefly touched on this already with real-time reporting. Here’re just a handful of reasons why this one is important…
- Quick invoicing: Generate invoices as soon as a job is complete, and with all the correct information so you get paid correctly (covering all the parts and labour used). You can also track invoice statuses and organise payment collections, with automated payment reminders.
- Expense tracking: You’ll need this for accurate invoicing… And to better assess job profit margins. For example, with the right tech, you can track travel time, fuel costs, vehicle maintenance and equipment costs. And then use this to tweak pricing.
- Profit and loss reporting: Any business wants the luxury of real-time profit and loss reporting. By tracking revenue and expenses in real-time, you can see how the business is performing and make necessary changes.
Ultimately, this is all made possible with integrations with your account systems, such as Xero and Sage, because it means you can seamlessly transfer financial data into your field service management software… This saves double-keying and wasting time, reduces human error and more importantly means you’ve all got a view on financial performance.
There’s a lot of tech out there that will allow you to do all these things separately. But, the beauty of bespoke field service management software is that all this is built into one solution.
Here’s why this is important…
How to simplify comparing the best field service software
The number one thing to look for in the best field service software is one that’s badged as an “all-in-one” solution. Why? Because if it has all the features mentioned above, the entire business has a much clearer view of how the business is operating so that it can identify areas to improve based on customer feedback and forecasting. It also ensures that you don't suffer from the common problem of incompatible softwares across your business that aren't capable of 'speaking' to each other.
And because communication is clearer and stored in one single place, it just makes everything more comprehensive and clear. Exactly what you need in field services.
Beyond this, you’ll then want to look for unique selling points like:
✅ 24/7 support: So that regardless of the time your field service teams work, someone is there to help with any queries you have with the field service management software.
✅ Real-time updates and reporting: This is crucial to making quick decisions like responding to emergencies or pivoting strategies to prevent a drop in revenue.
✅ Customer portal: So that your customers can rebook, view job histories, track field staff and ETAs and promptly pay invoices quickly and easily online.
✅ Mobile workforce ready: You don’t just want tech specifically designed for a mobile app – so you can click buttons and read the information easily – you want a solution that’s available offline for when engineers don’t have a signal.
✅ Tracking: Look out for features like delivery tracking and geolocation so that you get automated updates.
Ready to test tech? Let’s do a quick introduction…
Boost growth with BigChange 🚀
Here at BigChange, our founding goal was to develop the ultimate platform for your job management needs. It combines everything you need to form the complete field service management system for business owners, leaders, and their teams.
You can quickly and easily plan, manage, and schedule from quote to invoice. Play with customisations to make the tool work precisely for your needs. And extract business intelligence, data, and reporting to help grow your business.
Basically, this job management software was made to make your entire team work in sync, with a desire to fulfil more jobs, and delight more customers. And because tech is always advancing and needs are getting more comprehensive, that’s why we’re always developing it.
What’s more, BigChange has a pricing plan to suit any business, starting from just £14.95 per month.
So there you have it. By now, you know the benefits and you know why there’s a bit of pressure to adopt or switch to the best field service software.
Ready to take your next step?
Check out how different industries are making use of the best field service software UK.
Or, book a demo of our field service software today.
