Seven commandments for field service businesses. And what your small business should do about them

Transcription

1 Seven commandments for field service businesses And what your small business should do about them

2 Growing a field services business? It isn t an easy ride. You probably started out on your own, in your own vehicle whether it was delivering merchandise, fixing leaky pipes, installing equipment, or a myriad of other services. Back then, you were involved in everything, and in control of everything. But as you brought on more staff and vehicles, you lost some of that control. Your costs went up, your efficiency went down, and you had to climb a mountain of paperwork to even begin to understand why. If that s where you are today, don t worry. The latest technology can help your business reach a very different destination. Read on, and we ll explore seven incredibly common challenges faced by growing field services companies and offer tech tips to overcome each and every one. 2

3 Challenge 1: Knowing where everyone is It s a cliché, but it s true. You can t manage what you can t see. When you don t know where your people are, making smart, efficient decisions like which vehicle to dispatch when a new job comes in, becomes a whole lot harder. 3

4 Challenge 1: Overcoming the challenge Today, you can view your entire fleet of vehicles, virtually any time, all the time, wherever they may be. A smartphone or tablet, a good data plan, a great wireless network, combined with fleet and asset management solutions and you re always in the know. With a simple glance at your tablet or phone, you ll know where your vehicles are, where they ve been and reporting becomes oh so much easier. 4

5 Challenge 2: Knowing what everyone s doing Knowing where your people are will improve productivity and lower costs. But you aren t at your ideal destination yet. That s because efficiency isn t just about the where, it s about the when. If you don t know when your people have finished their current jobs, it s a struggle to keep everyone on track and on schedule, and make the very most of your fleet vehicles. 5

6 Challenge 2: Overcoming the challenge Remember that fleet management solution we described earlier? It should help you with this too, alerting you when jobs are started and completed, so you can manage everyone more effectively, fit in extra jobs, and avoid adding more staff and vehicles than you really need. All while delivering a better service to customers. Sweet. 6

7 Challenge 3: Keeping costs as low as possible As the number of wheels you ve got on the road goes up, so does your monthly fuel bill. That s a fact of business life. But how much you spend on fuel isn t just about the size of your fleet it s about the way your vehicles are driven. Inefficient driving behaviors can leave your business footing a much larger bill than it should have to. 7

8 Challenge 3: Overcoming the challenge The telematics in your fleet management solution can monitor engine activity and alert you when someone s left their vehicle idling or is addicted to jack-rabbit starts. That way, you can coach them to drive more economically in future, and drive your fuel costs down in the process. 8

9 Challenge 4: Keeping everyone safe Your business. Your business reputation. Peoples lives. So much depends on keeping your drivers, and the people they share the roads with safe from harm. But when they re running behind schedule, or keen to make it home at the end of a long day, it s all too easy to feel the need for speed. 9

10 Challenge 4: Overcoming the challenge The insight that telematics offers doesn t stop at idling. It also fires off alerts and reports to let you know if your people are speeding, accelerating rapidly, breaking hard, and generally driving like they re in the Indy 500. The result? You can target your training and coaching to ensure they re safer drivers, and better ambassadors for your business. 10

11 Challenge 5: Getting information back to HQ Pen and paper processes? They re fine when it s just your pen, and your sheet of paper. But the moment you start to expand your workforce, paperwork can put the brakes on your growing business for hours at a time. There s the delay between your people collecting job or customer details and getting this information back to the office. And then, when the information does finally arrive, someone has to squint through the coffee-stains, decipher the handwriting, and enter it accurately before things can get moving again. 11

12 Challenge 5: Overcoming the challenge Take the paper out of the process. If your people have smartphones or tablets, get a mobile forms solution that lets them put their tech to good use capturing accurate information in the field, and instantly sharing it with the rest of your business. If they don t have smartphones or tablets, equipping them with the latest models could be easier and less expensive than you think. Mobile forms quickly provide a return on investment by reducing admin hours and errors. 12

13 Challenge 6: Keeping customers in the loop Jobs may run behind. Equipment breaks down. Traffic happens. Most customers understand that stuff. What they don t understand is a company can t let them know if and why their service call is running late. 13

14 Challenge 6: Overcoming the challenge You need to make sure your people are connected and that dispatch can provide job status, technician whereabouts, and reasons for delay to your customers. Fleet and asset management solutions allow your dispatch or customer service contact to provide this information quickly and retain customer goodwill even when things may not be going as smoothly as they should. 14

15 Challenge 7: Getting things right first time Whether it s delivering the wrong item or lacking the part to fix a problem on the first visit, not getting something right-the-first-time is a sure route to less than happy customers, and costly return visits. 15

16 Challenge 7: Overcoming the challenge Cloud-based collaboration and productivity tools (think G Suite or Microsoft Office 365) can help keep your people up-to-speed, virtually wherever they are. And by ensuring your people have up-to-date job details, inventories and manuals, you can minimize the chance of mistakes, maximize their preparedness, and ultimately do more business, with happier customers. Win. 16

17 The handy recap Raring to beat these 7 challenges? Here s how 1 Know where vehicles and equipment are, with fleet and asset management solutions 2 Know when they re available, so you can manage everyone more effectively 3 Drive down fuel costs, with engine-monitoring telematics 4 Stay safe, with alerts and reports on aggressive driving 5 Accelerate your processes, with a mobile forms solution 6 Keep customers up to speed, with up-to-date information 7 Get more stuff right the first time, with cloud-based collaboration and productivity tools 17

18 Let s talk We think there s a much better way to deliver carrier services to enterprises. A way that s optimized for agility; that makes it easy to pivot; and that lets big businesses innovate for customers and shareholders as fast as the upstarts. Find out what Fleet Management can do for you. Contact your local Sprint representative today to learn more. Call or see more details on smallbusiness.sprint.com