Strategy to Implement Field Service Management Software: Boost Efficiency & Profits

Quixy Editorial Team

June 3, 2024

Any business faces logistics challenges, but field service companies face even greater ones. Even the best-planned operations can fail due to changing circumstances and problems in the field. The process is further complicated by the need for consistent management.

In today’s market, paper-based business operations are no longer viable. If you want to meet the challenges head-on, you must look beyond traditional systems and adopt a new approach. All of these obstacles can be overcome with powerful, cloud-based field service management software. Unfortunately, only 48% of businesses are using field service management software.

What is Field Service Management Software?

Field service management software is a powerful tool for companies. It can help them track and manage their executives that are out in the field. The software is intelligent and helps companies streamline daily tasks. Additionally, it can monitor the productivity of its on-field executives from a centralized system.

Companies today are under a lot of pressure to move fast and stay ahead of the competition. As a result, many companies choose the best field service management software such as cloud-based software so they can pay monthly (Software as a Service) instead of paying for a perpetual license upfront. Cloud-based software is also a popular choice because it’s easy to scale up or down as needed.

Also Read: Key benefits of Field Service Management (FSM) Software for your business

How to Implement Field Service Management Software

Identify your end users first

What kind of tool do they need? Where do they have the most trouble in field operations management? Observe field technicians as well as interview them. Visit them in the field to see how their day unfolds, how much time is wasted on repeatable tasks, what processes can be improved, and where efficiencies can be improved.

Ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page when it comes to the business objectives your product will address immediately and in the future. To expand your product’s functionality or add more users in the future, you must develop it in a way that allows it to scale over time.

Set a budget

You will probably need a development partner unless you have internal development teams that can undertake upcoming projects. Plan a budget that will adequately address the project’s needs.

Consult before making a decision

Don’t automate just for the sake of automating! There are a lot of vendors that offer field service management platforms, so you should consult your workforce before making a decision. Ask your managers and field technicians what features would be useful to them, and book a demo before purchasing the software.

Having the potential new tool in the hands of key operational personnel is the best way to get an accurate assessment of the situation. This will help you to make the right decision for choosing field service management software for small business.

Prepare a list of requirements

After you’ve decided on your budget and what users want from your app, it’s time to pick which features are most important for success. If you’re working with a tight deadline, you might prioritize forms that come with customer info pre-loaded, so field service employees can spend less time on busy work. Alternatively, you could choose a software solution that streamlines scheduling or provides e-attendance records.

Also Read: 11 benefits of optimizing your Field Services using No-Code!

Get input from your field service technician

Before you go ahead with a mobile workforce management deployment, you must talk it over with your frontline team. Why? Because they can give you a sense of the real-world problems that your new software could address. 

For example, is your team having trouble with route optimization? Or do they need more information on customer case history? By getting feedback from the people who will be using the software on a day-to-day basis, you can make sure that your deployment will be successful.

A great field service management solution is sort of like an assistant. It can help with a lot of the challenges that your customer-facing team might have. Also, it’s good for their confidence because they know the benefits and how to change to the new system easily.

Plan for data flow and integration of systems

FSM platforms make it easy for you to connect your internal CRM system through an API so you can automatically share customer information. This is by far the easiest way to get your information into the system, but some field service software also allows you to import (and export) customer information in bulk. This is usually done through CSV files. Apart from automatic integration, most FSM platforms also allow you to manually upload information into the system. Business leaders should carefully understand the integration capability of the field service solution. For example, some no-code field service solutions will enable you to simply integrate any solutions to create a unified workflow.

Upon determining how the integration will look, you should prepare all the files on your end and anticipate an easy system integration within 24 hours.

Also Read: Offline Mobile Apps for Field Operations

Train in Advance

Keeping up with technology can be challenging. When new software or tools are adopted by a company, it’s important to set aside time for training. This way, employees can learn how to use the new technology and be comfortable with it before they have to use it for work. Tutorials and explainer videos are a great way to learn new software.

As people become more familiar with the software, you can train them on more advanced features. You should let your operations managers know when it’s time to switch to automated field service management once enough people have completed their training.

Develop a module for customization

Having an FSM solution that is scalable and can be changed on the fly is important for any business. Creating a customization module in your FSM solution will allow you to make changes as your business needs. With no-code field service management software, businesses are able to design FSM solutions according to their business flow. By thinking proactive about your FSM solution, you can make room for any new features or functionalities that may be added.

Develop a User-friendly mobile interface

A good field service management app will have a mobility interface to equip your field force with all the necessary information on the field. This is a best practice and almost non-negotiable to provide a mobility platform to your field technicians in the current times. 

Integrating your FSM software with a mobile app has many advantages. You can track your vehicle live, optimize your route, capture documents, and so on. Many mobile apps provide offline connectivity, which greatly assists the field force in any situation. For any FSM solution to be successful, seamless connectivity is essential.

Inform Customers

After your new system is installed and integrated, it’s important to train your field force and inform your customers about the changes. As a best practice, you should share any information about changes to the system that will affect your customers. This way, they can transition easily to using the new system without any confusion.

Product Testing

The last step in introducing the new FSM solution is to trial it in the field and see if it can smoothly complete the field service lifecycle of a scheduled task. Data captured from this trial run should be used to improve the process. If it works well for a week straight, then it’s likely good to go for a while until the next set of changes or updates is introduced. If your field force, customers, and company all find the new FSM solution easy to use, then you’ve succeeded!

Also Read: Inspection Management Solution: Achieving Operational Excellence

Conclusion

Field service management is crucial for effective on-site performance. As field service companies manage a wide range of tasks, responsibilities, individuals, and data forms, FSM software provides a unified solution.

When it comes to implementing new software, a little extra planning and organization can go a long way in simplifying the process. By taking a systematic approach to software implementation, you can streamline the process and make it less daunting.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)