Latest updates and insights from Kerridge Commercial Systems

Technology has already transformed how businesses operate across industries — and that includes field service. The growth of technology now means field service engineers can access customer data on the move, easily working collaboratively with other engineers and arriving on-time, every time through GPS-powered map functionality. 

Competition and business go hand in-hand. You can’t expect other entrepreneurs to sit back and let you capitalise on a market while they sit on the side-lines. Rather, the more successful you are, the more others will want to follow suit.

While it's influenced by a number of factors, this success primarily hinges on one thing; customer satisfaction. With increased competition comes increased customer fluidity.

Across every single sector, customer service is key. In business, happy customers equal increased sales, return custom and positive referrals, all of which are crucial drivers to the success of any business.

In field service, an industry that is heavily focused on customer satisfaction, your first time fix rate is crucial. Put yourself in the customer’s position: when something goes wrong, they want it fixed straight away. They don’t want to put processes on hold, losing both time and money in the process, while an engineer attempts on multiple occasions to rectify the issue.

The success of any business — be it in field service or not — rests upon staff performance. You can have the finest vehicles, machinery and equipment, but if staff performance is low, business growth and performance will naturally be stunted.

In a world where we are surrounded by modern technology and advanced devices, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is not a new phenomenon. Employees have adopted a more relaxed attitude to IT for years now, using their own personal laptops and mobile devices to carry out a range of workplace tasks.

As our digital dependence grows stronger, businesses are becoming increasingly reliant on technology. However, from time to time, this technology can fail us — that’s where field service management comes into play.

When the only tool that you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. While there’s a lot of truth in this observation, it’s one that many of us may inwardly laugh at. We couldn’t be so stupid as to make that mistake ourselves... could we? But when it comes to spreadsheets, think again.

As consumers, we have all seen how advances in technology have enormously changed our expectations of customer service. The bar is high—and we are collectively pushing it higher, demanding best-in-class Amazon-style excellence from all the organisations with which we interact.

For any field service business, its engineers are clearly a vital resource.

And most field service businesses, it’s fair to say, have KPIs in place for monitoring and measuring performance. But are they the right field service engineer performance KPIs?

Everyone knows that these days it’s crucial for field service businesses to have field service software. The days of spreadsheets and paper-based systems have gone—at least for businesses with ambitions to grow, and remain competitive.

Every field service business wants to maximise its productivity—the productivity of its people, and the productivity of its assets, such as vans and equipment. The good news: it’s easier than many field service businesses think.

In field service management, price can be a secondary consideration for customers. Generally, customers’ chief concern is a field service engineer who arrives on time, carries out the repair or maintenance quickly and cleanly, and leaves behind a perfectly-operating piece of equipment. Throw in an error-free invoice, and a good experience with the contact centre, and you’ve pretty much got the ‘perfect order’.

Here at Kerridge Commercial Systems, we often encounter businesses looking for a new ERP system. Nothing unusual about that, you might think. But what is startling is the number of those businesses whose current ERP software is unsupported.

Virtually unheard of until two or three years ago, the Internet of Things looks set to be a major disruptive force. Field service—and field service businesses—are squarely in its sights. Because when coupled to Big Data and predictive analytics, the Internet of Things is likely to totally transform how field service businesses operate.

Limping along with out-of-date field service software? And field service software that (despite its cost) seems ill-matched to your business requirements? If so, it doesn’t have to be that way. It's a new year, so why not invest in a new field service software system?

To field service management organisations, the productivity of field service engineers is vital. But are field service organisations themselves putting up barriers to improving that productivity, by forcing field service engineers to work with difficult-to-use mobile computer equipment?

Investing in a field service software solution ought to be an occasion for celebration. Never the easiest of activities to manage, a field service operation quickly benefits from the administrative and coordination capabilities of a modern software solution. But not, alas, in every instance.

These days, most manufacturing and service management businesses have some kind of ERP system in place. But much less commonplace are manufacturing and service management businesses with ERP systems that are a perfect ‘fit’ for them, adding value along the entire order-to-cash process. To the rescue: a periodic ERP healthcheck—in order to make sure that your ERP is still delivering on its original promise.

What constitutes excellence in field service? Not what you might imagine, in short. Field service profitability? No. High levels of serviced asset uptime? No. Low cost of field service delivery? Again, no. In fact, as a recent report from analyst firm Aberdeen Group makes clear, it’s field service customer service.

Service management software can make a major contribution to the profitability and efficiency of a service management operation - not to mention the level of customer satisfaction that it achieves. But only, of course, if that service management software has been successfully implemented, and actually delivers on its promise.

What do your customers say about you? Really say, when you aren’t in the room? And perhaps, just as importantly, what do they say about your direct competitors? Social listening can provide the answers.

Field service customer satisfaction matters. If your field service customer satisfaction is poor, customers will vote with their wallets, and go elsewhere. And if your field service customer satisfaction is excellent - well, you’ll attract new customers, instead. So in terms of a metric to watch, it’s fairly fundamental.

How’s your first-time fix rate performance? If it’s less than 88%, then analyst firm Aberdeen Group has news for you: you’re not best in class. And perhaps rubbing salt in the wound, they suggest that if it’s less than 80%, you’re not even average.

Although the expression ‘the Internet of Things’ (IoT) may not yet be universally familiar or understood, its effect - how it will change the way we live and work is becoming increasingly apparent. As a technology company, the IoT and how it will affect our customers, is definitely on our solutions radar.