See how field service businesses can boost job performance and customer experiences with these top tips.
It’s fair to say that in field service businesses, monitoring technicians’ job performance and client interactions can be a little tricky.
So how can you ensure each job is being completed to the best standard for clients?
The simple answer is: With the right job management tech 🌟
However, to this day, many field service businesses have yet to adopt tech.
🔍In fact, 52% of field service businesses still rely on spreadsheets, legacy systems and other inefficient manual methods.
The result? Guaranteeing satisfactory services across the board becomes an impossible task.
Interestingly, this changed somewhat during the pandemic as businesses were forced to rapidly adopt digital processes. Put simply, new technologies allowed field service businesses to keep going despite restrictions, for example, by easily sharing job information in one place.
What’s more, as competition increases and roles become more technical, the field service industry requires these more flexible digital solutions for their dynamic environment.
So in this article, we’re going to explore key ways you can track technician job performance using tech-based solutions to deliver consistent service and increased productivity.
A MUST-HAVE FACTOR FOR TOP-PERFORMING FIELD SERVICE TEAMS
There's one thing we need to be super clear on before we dive into our top tips... While job tracking is proven to improve performance, growth and customer satisfaction, trust is a must-have for top-performing field teams.
🔎In fact, PwC data from 2018 shows that trust between workforces and senior leadership is vital as businesses progress.
Now, when businesses are looking to change performance expectations, teams need to feel trusted and trust in the new processes to prevent feeling micromanaged and unhappy.
Here’s what we mean by this 👇
Typically, field technicians have enjoyed a certain level of autonomy over their work. But, outdated in-house systems prevent firms from removing inefficiencies and reducing ‘cost to serve’ overheads.
So if you’re looking to boost job performance with better job tracking, you need to keep teams on side and show how it will make their jobs easier.
Ultimately, without effective communication as to why and how roles are changing, field service firms will likely lose highly trained staff members because they won't feel trusted, responsible or satisfied.
Now we've covered that off, let's get started with creating new processes.
QUICK CHECKLIST: TRACKING JOB PERFORMANCE
If you’re looking to improve job tracking and job performance, you’ll need to delve into these three crucial questions first:
⬜ What does good job performance look like?
⬜ How transparent are existing processes for measuring performance? (In other words, what don’t you know about field tasks as they happen?)
⬜ How can current processes be improved?
The insight from this will help you start to shape a new strategy. Of course, sharing this and getting feedback from field service technicians will hugely boost the likelihood of seeing performance improvements, whilst maintaining team morale.
Need more guidance? Here are six additional tips to help you define success and track technician job performance effectively. 👇
HOW TO BEST TRACK TECHNICIAN JOB PERFORMANCE
Put simply, tech-based field engineer scheduling software solutions are the future.
🔍 Actually, research from McKinsey confirms that it can reduce overheads by 40%, increase productivity by 30% and scale more flexibly with future demand.
The end result? It provides field service businesses an essential competitive edge.
However, you can only make these with the right digital tools. And what we mean by the right tools is: secure, cloud-based job scheduling software that helps you track and control every job, from quotation to payment, on a single platform.
The benefits? With everything you need to know at your fingertips, you can plan, manage, schedule, and track your field-based workforce more easily.
Let's jump straight into the ways you can use field service management tech to gain better visibility over your workforce and accurately measure technician performance.
1. MEETING JOB REQUIREMENTS ✅
Field technicians need to be prepared for a variety of scenarios at each new job site, which is why communicating task requirements is vital.
This is the first example of where tech plays a key role.
With the right job management solution, you can even track jobs and workflows, ensuring staff have an overview of the key steps of any job and can deliver speedy service.
Did you know? BigChange comes with a photo capture feature that allows staff to see previous work associated with a client and access time-saving context. Better still, the photo capture feature provides proof of work after work has finished, so you’ll always have a comprehensive record to refer back to in the future.
2. STAYING SAFE ⛑
🔍Between 2019 and 2020, nearly 700,000 people were injured at work — up from around 580,000 the previous year.
Safe practices in the workplace are essential, but field technicians are at heightened risk of accidents and injury. Without a single workplace to control, staff are exposed to a range of potential risks with each new job site.
Tech to the rescue: Field service management software allows you to track technician safety and job performance. For example, you can add mandatory risk assessments and vehicle walkarounds before job details or timesheets appear, so field technicians are always operating safely.
3. DRIVING WELL 🚗
Safety doesn’t stop once staff leave the job site.
🔍Last year, there were over 100,000 road accidents in the UK.
That’s why the best field service management platforms on the market provide insight into technicians’ driving behaviour in real-time.
You can track technician locations, speed, engine idling and more and receive scores on how safe and eco-friendly your fleet is.
Did you know? Already, the BigChange platform has helped avoid 5 million kilograms of CO2 emissions.
4. SATISFYING CUSTOMERS 👍
🔍Recent research from McKinsey found that low customer satisfaction is a consistent problem for the field services industry.
Why?
Well, as we’ve covered, the sector has been slow to adopt technology that can assist with all areas of business management — including resource management and invoicing, leading to a dated and clunky experience.
It’s crucial that any field management software works for your customers also. In particular, modern customers expect an easy booking system, ETA updates, and seamless invoicing and payment options.
5. MEETING SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS ✍
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) offer firms a reliable revenue stream but need careful resource management once the contracts begin. In cases like this, legacy booking systems that aren’t built with this in mind can jeopardise SLAs unexpectedly by leaving you blind spots in workloads.
💡Top tip: Don’t leave your contracts vulnerable to bottlenecks. Allocate resources more efficiently and ensure your most critical service agreements are delivered on time and to standard with a resource management platform.
The end result? Doing so can benefit ongoing client relationships and help your company build a reliable reputation with customers.
6. TAKING BREAKS ☕
Stress levels within the field services industry are amongst the worst in Britain and are leading to losses in revenue from staff sickness and productivity decreases.
One simple solution: Field technicians need to take sufficient breaks during their working day or risk service standards decreasing.
Did you know? Using a platform like BigChange lets you generate timesheets and staff schedules that automatically factor in breaks, so you can track technician work and rest periods. Not only can this feature help safeguard staff well-being, but it also ensures your business delivers a consistent and sustainable job standard for continued growth.
TRACK TECHNICIAN PERFORMANCE AS IF YOU’RE ON-SITE
Hopefully, you found these tips useful. Remember, above all else, bring your field service teams along with you on the journey to maintaining trust and morale and staff retention.
Ultimately, these teams are the representatives of your business so it's important for them to be satisfied in their roles so they give the best impression on site.
As we’ve also covered, the right job management software is a game changer for improving job performance. It enables field service businesses to:
- Identify key performance areas and use integrated software solutions to gain an overview of your organisation like never before.
- Track technician performance to ensure field-based staff go from doing a good job to a great one, operating safely and efficiently.
Ready to win more contracts? Find out how BigChange can help your business. Book a free consultation today.
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