CX in Field Service: Continuous Engagement

Managing a team of service technicians is one of the most operationally complex tasks for many organizations. Between transportation, attendance, mobile connectivity, and other variables, it’s easy for the process to break down.

When this process breaks, it results in poor staffing coordination, long response times and delayed problem resolution – all of which negatively impact the customer’s experience and increase the risk that the customer will move to a competitor.

Research has found that “best-in-class” field service organizations resolve the customer’s issue on the first visit 88 percent of the time, “average” companies achieve an 80 percent rate and the “laggards” struggle at 63 percent.

5 Ways to Deliver Best-in-Class CX in the Field

So, what does it take to achieve a top-notch customer experience in field service?

You must deliver the right people to the right job, equipped with the right parts and knowledge to get the job done swiftly. Below are five tips for field service providers to follow:

• Offer a proactive service model: Proactive field service stays one step ahead of the customer and shortens the time between insight and repair. For example, technicians should know what service level agreements are needed ahead of time. To take it a step further – businesses should consider using remote sensors that tip off technicians when a repair or maintenance action is required. This will relieve the customer of work and increase their satisfaction.
• Remain transparent with customers: Providers must develop systems that create transparency between customers, technicians, managers and other key parties. Nothing creates customer dissatisfaction faster than repair delays.
• Collaborate onsite and offsite: Providing links between offsite field service technicians and in-office data is critical. At a customer site, the field technician should have access to service history, repair knowledge and predictive maintenance data. Organizations should create systems to streamline and automate collaboration between mobile technicians, managers, and in-office experts.
• Be flexible: The onsite technician is the first point of in-person contact with the customer. Their ability to access service data, check stock levels, generate billing, get relevant signatures and communicate directly with the right people requires access to the right tools. Having the flexibility to respond across channels to real-time issues is key.
• Make performance enhancements: Customer service should be constantly improving and responding to changing circumstances in the industry. Identifying KPIs and measuring them consistently is one thing. Turning them into actionable performance improvements is the more difficult task. When organizations measure service delivery against targets, it highlights problematic areas, people and products, helping organizations to identify solutions with more agility.

No Such Thing as Post-Sale

For some organizations, field service is viewed as a post-sale cost center. I see this as a lost opportunity. Field service should be viewed as what it really is – a chance to engage customers 1:1, deepen relationships and increase revenue.

Field service must go beyond the sale and even the post-sale. To deliver interactions that are more satisfying for the customer, field services requires sharp focus and continuous engagement. How well- informed field technicians keep the customer over time is crucial to long-term success.