Michiel Toppers
Field service staff have become ambassadors for equipment rental and leasing companies. Whether they’re drivers, engineers, equipment operators, or playing other roles over remote locations. In some cases, they’re the only face-to-face contact your customers have over a rental or leasing lifecycle. That’s why it’s so important that the mobile apps they use give them tools that make them great ambassadors. Regardless their expertise. Mobile field technologies can transform first time fix rates, speed job completion, reduce paper trails. In addition it makes your field techs a key part of your brand and reputation.
What does it really mean to empower your mobile field technicians to increase customer satisfaction?
We’ve been looking at field service mobility from workflow to paperless flow to fix rate and data security—here are a few points to make about how mobile technology helps bring out the best in your people:
Give remote service and maintenance staff apps that “dress them for success”
The best field service app providers know that they need to keep mobile solutions simple. While incorporating innovations that support efficiency and real-time insight. This goes beyond sending out an order to the most appropriate engineer with the goal of fulfilling part of an SLA. Find a solution that works with multiple devices to meet role-specific needs. Ensure the app gives your techs a UI that makes sense to their job, rather than just connecting to ERP screens. Along those lines, you should be able to give them workflows that are built on real-time back office planning. But also quick access to relevant information. This way it lets them respond quickly to service surprises and customer requests.
Equip field service technicians to deliver a truly customer-centric approach
Well-designed and integrated apps let techs quickly look up additional information about customers and assets. They can access spare inventory, handle documents and deliver all communications to customers, and store notes and pictures on the fly. Onsite quoting is a great example. A great app will make it easy for a tech to quote additional costs for a job on the fly. Or get approval within a few steps, and then complete and invoice the job without need for additional follow-up.
Choose an app that integrates with ERP so that field techs and back-office planners work in sync, with customer always top of mind
In some cases, techs can work with “live checklist lookup” so that if a job situation changes—for example, the need to quote extra work—all documentation automatically adjusts, with all information updating instantly in ERP. There’s no time wasted altering forms or job details manually. If on the back end a planner needs to change scheduling or resource allocation (just one of many scenarios), they can quickly assess all resources and customers and drag and drop changes from within ERP to a device screen. The goal here is to serve the customer most efficiently and expertly, and also to make life easier for both technicians and planners with well-orchestrated scheduling that sends the right people to the right jobs.
That’s a recipe for strong customer and employee satisfaction.
Techs can work with focused guidance. At a human level, your employee feels smart, capable, and an asset to your organization—and it’s all built into the app and device. Customers receive informed service and the sense that your business is ready to meet their needs with a capable, efficient workforce.
Interested in mobility trends and solutions for your equipment-driven business? Visit our DynaRent Mobile Field Service page to explore DynaRent Mobile and download our whitepaper.
Michiel Toppers