Why You Need Smart Scheduling Software
Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 5:00 am
Your Automated Scheduling Tool Could Be Costing You Thousands!
Managing a field service team, large or small, is not easy.
When operatives work remotely and are often spread across a large geographic area, you face a number of challenges when trying to get your team to function as efficiently as possible. For example, how can you ensure that workers are doing their jobs properly? How do you keep them motivated?
3D pen and Gantt chart
You may already be using field service software to address advertising database these issues, but is it helping you improve the service you provide to your customers? If you’re using a manual scheduling tool or automated scheduling that simply selects the closest field engineer, your business efficiency and customer satisfaction could suffer greatly.
What you need is intelligent planning.
So what is intelligent planning?
Simply put, it is a feature of field service management software that allows you to schedule a mobile workforce based on a number of factors such as skill level, resource availability, travel time, location, and even the parts and supplies each worker has on hand.
It offers organizations with a mobile workforce the opportunity to save time and money and significantly improve customer service. Sound interesting? Read on for three reasons why you should consider smart scheduling software.
1. Significantly increase first-time fix rates and improve customer satisfaction.
A study conducted by the Aberdeen Group found that the #1 reason customers were unhappy with service was that the technician didn’t resolve the issue. Achieving 100% resolution on the first visit may be a bit utopian, but there’s no doubt that you can significantly improve your first-time-fix rate with smart planning.
To demonstrate how to do this, let's look at the factors a field worker needs to get it right the first time.
First, they will need the skills and knowledge to solve the problem.
Secondly, they will need the right tools for the job.
Finally, they may require spare parts or materials (although this is not always the case).
If you can get all three elements right, most problems can be solved the first time, and intelligent planning will help you do this.
The positive side effects can be enormous. For starters, the more problems you can solve the first time, the happier your customers will be. However, for many service organizations, the task of doing this has become more difficult in recent years. For example, 31% of respondents in another recent survey by the Aberdeen Group cited increased product complexity as a major problem they face. And of course, it’s usually the case that the more complex a product is, the harder it is to fix any problems with it.
Managing a field service team, large or small, is not easy.
When operatives work remotely and are often spread across a large geographic area, you face a number of challenges when trying to get your team to function as efficiently as possible. For example, how can you ensure that workers are doing their jobs properly? How do you keep them motivated?
3D pen and Gantt chart
You may already be using field service software to address advertising database these issues, but is it helping you improve the service you provide to your customers? If you’re using a manual scheduling tool or automated scheduling that simply selects the closest field engineer, your business efficiency and customer satisfaction could suffer greatly.
What you need is intelligent planning.
So what is intelligent planning?
Simply put, it is a feature of field service management software that allows you to schedule a mobile workforce based on a number of factors such as skill level, resource availability, travel time, location, and even the parts and supplies each worker has on hand.
It offers organizations with a mobile workforce the opportunity to save time and money and significantly improve customer service. Sound interesting? Read on for three reasons why you should consider smart scheduling software.
1. Significantly increase first-time fix rates and improve customer satisfaction.
A study conducted by the Aberdeen Group found that the #1 reason customers were unhappy with service was that the technician didn’t resolve the issue. Achieving 100% resolution on the first visit may be a bit utopian, but there’s no doubt that you can significantly improve your first-time-fix rate with smart planning.
To demonstrate how to do this, let's look at the factors a field worker needs to get it right the first time.
First, they will need the skills and knowledge to solve the problem.
Secondly, they will need the right tools for the job.
Finally, they may require spare parts or materials (although this is not always the case).
If you can get all three elements right, most problems can be solved the first time, and intelligent planning will help you do this.
The positive side effects can be enormous. For starters, the more problems you can solve the first time, the happier your customers will be. However, for many service organizations, the task of doing this has become more difficult in recent years. For example, 31% of respondents in another recent survey by the Aberdeen Group cited increased product complexity as a major problem they face. And of course, it’s usually the case that the more complex a product is, the harder it is to fix any problems with it.