A Cause for Concern?
In this age of technology, field service companies are in need of instant solutions more than ever. Even a few years ago, inputting all your company’s data into a database after getting back to your HQ was an acceptable thing. However, imagine running a field service company that has to attend to 100 clients in a day. What do you do to keep track of all your pieces of machinery? What about the field service agents? Are they providing the right support to your clients at the right time? Do you know which staff is attending your top priority client?
These are questions that are bound to dwell in your mind as someone managing a Malaysian field service company of such nature. It is only normal for you to get worried about these issues because they are not factors you can overlook. In fact, businesses must have efficiency; tweaking how you deal with these issues can actually take your service quality to the next level.
What Went Wrong?
A Malaysian Machine Manufacturer and service partner supporting several MNCs with over 21 locations to cover nationwide has been a key player in the market for a while. However, they actually had to face the repercussion of not opting for a more efficient method to monitor their overall service. Here is what one key personnel had to say:
“Initially we did not have a problem with using spreadsheets to fill in schedules related to machinery, staff, and so on and communicating it to the relevant agent through Whatsapp. But as time went by, our company’s operations expanded and the number of clients started to increase. While we were pleased with the influx of business, we realized that we had massive communication gaps which led to sales leakage. We could not keep track of all our field service agents nor could we keep an eye on all the machinery parts that were not being used. What we needed was something that would give us real-time information about our field service operations.”
To summarize the problems that this machine manufacturer was facing:
The inefficiency caused due to the manual data entry process
Lack of control on hundreds of field-service agents
Ineffective process of work delegation to the staffs
Difficulty keeping track of the pieces of equipment used by staffs
Problem understanding what consumers are facing
What's The Game Plan?
To spearhead these issues, the organization was recommended a one-stop solution; a smart software specifically built for field service companies that would be able to track staffs’ location, communicate with them effectively and keep track of the pieces of machinery moving in and out of their inventory. Having tested the application in the initial phases of procurement, the team quickly started noticing real changes:
“The field service optimization software made our job easier. What seemed like a tiresome task for my employees turned into an easy job that could be carried out at the touch of a screen. They were able to update information through the application in real-time giving our planners more control over the business because they could see what the field service agents were completing and what was left to do. This actually enabled us to appease our clients as we delivered consistency with our service quality and expertise. Furthermore, we had fewer cases of missing and underutilized parts because of the fact that the smart software actually lets our agents input all relevant data on the spot along with pictures, instead of having to return back to the office to report faults. And the best part about managing our staff with the field service optimization software is that we don’t have to use any other messaging apps to assign them tasks, meaning agents no longer miss messages or get disturbed by group chats. Instead what we do is input it directly to the field service app and the notification is sent to the specific field service agents. All in all, it’s a great solution for us.”
Organization’s Field Service Team
What Does It Mean for You?
The organization, which chose not to reveal its identity to the public at this stage, has been facing the issue of inefficiency like a lot of companies during its growth phase. Its journey is a testament to the idea that simply settling for inputting data on the spreadsheet and communicating via common messaging applications can hardly give businesses the edge they need in the competitive market. Instead, such field service companies need to adapt to field service optimization software like Custella which acts as a complete solution for a wide range of field service companies.
In a nutshell, field service systems will enable field service companies to do the following that cannot be done so efficiently otherwise:
Help you track staff members in real-time to make the best decisions
Let field service agents take before and after picture of their services to give managers a better understanding of the clients are facing
Keep an account of the number of pieces of machinery used by the agents to be specific on how many were used and how many were not
Keep the information flow integrated with the principle system of the company to ensure transparency within organizations for better decision making
Enable you to assign tasks via the system and notify the service agents
Notify you about the availability of the field service agents
It is never too late to choose the right tools to take your business to the next level and a field service system may just be the missing piece of the puzzle for you.
Need a field service management application like Custella? If you’re in Malaysia, Indonesia, or the ASEAN region, drop us an email to schedule your demo: ask@custella.com.
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