How the Benefits of Field Service Management Drive ROI

It’s no secret that the demand for onsite services is rapidly growing—the global field service market is expected to boom to $5.1 billion by 2025. Customers expect to get precisely what they need, when and where they need it. Yet, there are many challenges for technicians: tools are too slow, data access is limited, many tasks require manual entry, and the list goes on. 

So how are field service providers supposed to keep up with a booming industry when faced with these challenges? The answer is field service management software.

Field service management software helps address both of the top concerns of service organizations: ensuring their workforce is as efficient as possible, and meeting increasing customer expectations.

The benefits of field service management software and mobile apps come in many forms: they make field techs’ jobs easier, they increase customer and employee satisfaction, and they streamline internal operations. Read on to learn more about the benefits of field service management and how they translate to ROI. 

Benefits of Field Service Management

By 2025, more than half of field service jobs will use advanced digital tools, including AR, cloud-based knowledge sharing, and  field service management (FSM) solutions. A good FSM tool does more than just reduce paperwork and speed up billing to earn its ROI. It increases deskless worker productivity, improves the customer experience, reduces costs, and creates efficiencies that improve your bottom line.

Reduced Overhead Cost

Automated scheduling alone can greatly reduce overhead compared to manual scheduling. Field service management tools can optimize a deskless worker’s day so they can complete more revenue generating activities. Optimized travel routes, comprehensive customer details, and logic-driven scheduling all lead to better productivity.

Inventory is another area that can be more effectively managed with a field service management tool. View in-stock inventories and reorder parts with the push of a button. This saves the company shipping costs, helps avoid rush orders, and prevents the tech from arriving on the job without necessary parts.

A mobile-first field service management solution allows for route optimization, and it reduces fuel costs and wear and tear on company vehicles. The right platform can take into account traffic or construction to select the fastest route—and even which tech is closest if an emergency job ticket pops up.

Optimized Staffing

Managing a large deskless workforce and scheduling jobs can be time-consuming and complicated. Throw in an emergency job at the last minute, and it can be downright stressful. A solution that bridges the gap in communication between the office and the field offers a multiplier effect to a business. WIthout the need to re-schedule or call in additional staff, overtime costs are reduced and efficiency is magnified.

“Everytime you save a phone call, it not only saves that 30-second call,” says David Benoit, president of ServiceMaster Clean Vancouver. “It saves you the 20 minutes it takes to re-focus on what you have to do next.”

Accurate, real-time scheduling allows you to set up an efficient workday, minimize last-minute changes, estimate job completion time, and replace or add technicians to a job, all without interrupting business. It’s that easy.

Faster, More Accurate Invoicing

Field service management software lets your deskless workers take notes in the CRM, generate invoices, and capture signatures on-site. When the job is complete, there’s no need for the technician to return to the office or submit paperwork.

Many companies see their billing cycle reduced by 30 days or more with a field service management solution. This translates into better, more consistent cash flow for the company. One company, Area Wide Protective, saw 64% faster invoicing and a 41% reduction in invoice corrections when they implemented a field service solution that connected data about services delivered directly to the back office team via CRM.

Increased Employee Satisfaction and Productivity

Employee satisfaction means that your employees are up to 13% more productive, which increases company profitability. Plus, happy employees are more likely to lead to satisfied customers. How do you make field service employees happy? With a user-friendly field service management tool!

A good field service management tool gives deskless workers accurate schedules quickly—even in real-time. It saves time on the phone to the office for customer details and locations, so technicians can complete the job and move on to the next one more quickly.

Another boon for employee productivity with field service management tools is process improvement. Techs can access checklists to ensure they complete every required step, enter job notes directly into the CRM, collect customer signatures and payments, video chat with senior technicians, and perform many other tasks that would otherwise require manual paperwork.

Field service management tools lead to more streamlined and efficient processes for everyone.

Improved Customer Experience

Service failures and equipment problems can be stressful for customers. When the mobile worker arrives at the job within the scheduled time and with the right tools, the customer experience starts off on the right foot.  

A field service management solution makes customer and job history accessible, helping technicians diagnose and fix problems quickly. In turn, your company builds confidence and credibility with the customer. Companies that use FSM tools report better customer outcomes with increased first-time fix rates.

When processes are efficient and employees are satisfied with the work, the end result is a job well done, a satisfied customer, and likely, a company recommendation for the future.

ROI of the Skedulo Platform

The Skedulo mobile workforce management platform features a Mastermind engine that prioritizes jobs according to your company’s priorities. With Skedulo, you can hone in on efficiency, customer and employee satisfaction, or another business priority, then optimize your deskless workforce to meet that need. Skedulo is flexible enough to meet multiple business needs, but robust enough to manage your entire mobile workforce, including contractors and part-time field service workers.

Here are a few examples of Skedulo customers who have experienced much more than ROI from Skedulo’s field service management system:

• 86% increase in scheduling and dispatching efficiency in the commercial security industry.
• 33% increase in accounts per therapist in the healthcare industry.
• 40% decrease in scheduling time in the training and coaching industry.

Skedulo’s field service management system integrates with Salesforce and ServiceNow, and extends to other record systems with the Lens API. The intuitive mobile app works on any device, offering a powerful field service management solution.

Request a demo of the Skedulo field service management system today and see how it can improve your business!