IT companies that provide services to customers in the field or who use a ticketing system to take care of client projects and tasks need to consider upgrading to a field service software solution for IT companies. This kind of software can manage nearly every aspect of business processes for this kind of company and make it easier for everyone in the company to communicate. Clients will also feel in the loop and included in the process of guiding their own services and technician visits which is ideal for customer satisfaction.
The world of IT servicing of all kinds has become increasingly complex over time. There are so many kinds of processes and tasks that must be done every day for an IT services company to remain relevant in their field. Being able to automate portions of the work that needs to be done each day and providing a means for everyone in the company to communicate more effectively can make a huge impact on business success.
How IT Services Companies Can Make the Most of a Field Service Software Tool
1. Use of the Customer Portal For Your IT Customers
A customer portal can be really critical to effectively servicing the needs of all of your IT clients and business partners. The customer portal can be customized to allow as much or as little customer interaction as you want to have with clients every day. Allowing customers to make their own tickets, respond to technicians via chat, or ask questions that can be answered easily through messaging can make a big impact on customer satisfaction.
No one wants to have to take the time to call in to ask questions these days, and it can be costly for your company to maintain a large enough customer service team to handle this kind of call volume every day. Allowing people to reach out to you via message can have a big impact on the satisfaction that clients have with the services that you offer.
2. Effective Ticket Management Within The IT Field Service Management Software
Tickets are the lifeblood of an IT service company’s daily workload. Having the ticketing system separate from the rest of your management tools can make it hard for techs and clients alike to know what is going on with the work that needs to be done. When you use the ticketing system within the field service management tool that you have selected, you will be making the whole workload visible to everyone on your teams and within your organization.
Allowing customers to see the customer portal side of tickets can allow them to add information, make notes, and see when a technician is expected to arrive on-site to help them. You can also make sure that tickets are set up with automated reminders that can ensure that no client’s tasks ever slip through the cracks. Your ticketing system can also be linked with the bill pay module, allowing for reminders to be sent for payment and for updates of the amount due to be made instantly by techs or customer service agents working with clients.
Ticketing touches on every part of the rest of your business processes. This is why having an effective and easy-to-access ticketing system can make a big difference in your overall business success. Keeping the ticketing aspect of your business up-to-date and making sure that everyone can see the information in open tickets is critical for business communication and customer satisfaction.
3. Provide Remote Access to the Tool
If you have teams in the field who are doing work for clients, it can be easy to lose touch with them. Your teams might currently have to return to the business’s main office just to find out what their next jobs will be for the day and to clock in and out. However, you can add a remote time clock function to your management software and also make sure that your techs can see every part of the software solution you have in place by using their tablet or their smartphone
Being able to make access to the software management tool really simple and easy to do when team members are outside the office can streamline every part of your daily business operations. Saving teams time in the field will mean that they can easily get to additional jobs if they have the time, and they can stay on top of their daily ticket load without needing to waste time going back and forth to the office all day long.
4. Use of Improved Automation With Field Service Management Software For IT Companies
There are many small tasks that your business requires that might be handled by people every day. However, automating processes like billing reminders, account reminders, and scheduling reminders can save lots of time and money for your business. You can also make sure that nothing is ever forgotten, even if the tasks that need to be done are well out into the future. Being able to automate many of the daily busy work processes that your company needs to have handled can also make it easier to run your company with fewer people on staff.
Freeing up your skilled staff to handle escalated phone calls, contact management, and other more important work can be really good for your business as well. When everyone who works for you has to take time out of their day to make reminder phone calls and to look at accounts over and over to update small details, you will be making it harder for them to tackle the really big and important tasks that your business needs to have managed in order to run well.
5. Improved Inventory Management
Inventory management can be one of the biggest drains on your employee’s time. This is one of those tasks that must be done, but that takes up a lot of time every week when done by hand. You can use your field service management tool to handle all of your inventory management needs so that reminders are sent out when items need to be ordered and so that everyone in the company can see at a moment’s glance what the status of company inventory looks like
Inventory management can also include technicians having the items in their trucks and service vehicles that they need for the jobs that they have to tackle each day. These kinds of inventory processes can be tracked within the tool as well, making it much easier for your field technicians to be prepared for all the work that they have to do each day. This will help to save time related to teams coming back to the office over and over again to pick up the things that they need to complete their tickets for the day.
6. Improved Accuracy
When you use a field service management tool, your client accounts will be easier to keep up to date, and you will have no trouble making sure that ticket information is kept current on the very day that the work is done. Being able to communicate effectively with other staff members and with clients can also make sure that jobs are always done correctly the first time and that customers are completely happy with the service that they receive.
Many thousands of dollars are lost every year to mistakes in client accounts, contracting errors, and problems related to poor customer service. Improving the accuracy within your client management processes can make sure that all of your processes are more efficient, your clients are more satisfied with the work that you have done, and you are not making billing mistakes and other errors that will cost the company money.
7. Utilize Room for Expansion
IT service companies frequently need to expand their offered services and hire more people to take on an increased workload over time. Expansion can be one of the most difficult parts of the process of managing this kind of company when you are not using a modern software tool to help make this growth easy. Having a field service management product on your side can help you to expand quickly and effectively when you need to make changes to your business model.
A quality field service management tool will allow new customers to do some of the heavy lifting through the customer portal. They can update their own information, request tickets, and take care of paying bills through the tool. The customer portal can make it simple to add new clients without having to take up the time of staff who should be managing existing clients just for the sake of onboarding new clients.
You will also be able to add new staff to your software solution with ease, and they will be able to see all of the information that they need to be able to hit the ground running. There are so many fewer roadblocks to company expansion when you are using a cohesive and effective field service management software solution for your company. This kind of tool makes your company nimble, flexible, and effective, no matter what kinds of changes are going on for the business at any given time.
8. Use of the Customer Service Management Tools
Customer service is critical for any business that wishes to thrive, but it can be a lot of work to provide effective customer service on a daily basis. Thankfully, the field service management tool that you select will be able to provide a higher-level overview of your customer service needs for each day. This means that each person who is working for your company can jump in and look at the tasks that need to be handled for customer service. Spreading out the work that needs to be done to keep customers happy can make sure that nothing ever slips through the cracks.
This part of the tool can also provide automated actions that keep clients in the loop, help to collect on accounts that have not been paid, and flag accounts for more attention when something needs to be updated or taken care of. You could not possibly expect your staff to remember all of the things that the software management tool can do. This is a powerful part of these kinds of software solutions because customers will be able to get the support that they are looking for without delay, and everyone on your team will be in the know about what is going on during any business day.
Customer service management doesn’t have to be done by an entire department when you have the right field service management tool on your side. Being able to handle all of your client’s needs effectively and promptly can make your business the go-to IT services company in your area or even nationally. This is one of the most effective parts of the field service management tool that you select, and you would be wise to make the most of this aspect of your software solution on a daily basis.
IT Service Companies Can Benefit Greatly From Field Service Management Software
This kind of software solution can make a huge impact on your company’s success. Making sure that your staff has access to all of the information that they need to keep your business running smoothly is key. You will also benefit from ensuring that clients have access to an effective client portal so that their needs are met, and they never feel neglected.
So many parts of your daily business operations can be managed within a field service management tool, and you will be able to save money and time every day just by using this kind of software solution. From contract management to billing processes to ticketing systems that really work, this is one of the best software solutions that you can add to your company’s daily business operations. Making the change to field service management software for your business needs can allow your business to thrive and can help you to meet all of your annual goals with ease.
