Month: April 2019

BigChange has become a Sage Developer Platinum Partner. The Leeds-based provider of mobile and office IT for paperless working becomes one of a very few UK companies to achieve this endorsement and accreditation from Sage.

Sage is the market leader for cloud based accounting software that is generally regarded as the de-facto standard worldwide. In awarding Platinum Partner status, Sage recognises that BigChange offers outstanding levels of training, knowledge and experience.

BigChange has been working closely with Sage for a number of years and this has culminated in the development of the JobWatch Sage 50 integration tool which allows exchanges of financial transactional data between the two systems.

Martin Port CEO and Founder of BigChange, says:

“Achieving Sage Platinum Partner Status represents an important milestone for BigChange and reinforces our position as a provider of business IT, but with a unique offering for businesses that rely on mobile workforces,”

“The integration between Sage and JobWatch is important as it enables organisations to introduce completely seamless, paperless business processes that will significantly reduce administration boosting productivity.”

The integration tool eliminates dual keying to improve invoicing speed and accuracy, reducing debtors and improving cash flow. The Sage-certified tool connects JobWatch and Sage 50 providing complete synchronisation of everything from invoices and credit notes, to nominal code lists, departments to customers and suppliers, account balances and account statuses, quotations and purchase orders.

BigChange is for companies that have a mobile workforce and enables managers and mobile workers to be connected in real-time to the office using their smartphones and tablets. BigChange offers a complete range of back-office software including CRM, job scheduling and invoicing with seamless interfaces to corporate accounting and ERP systems.

JobWatch allows important financial tasks such as raising and authorising purchase orders, quotations and invoices to be managed around the clock from anywhere. The system is already in wide use with businesses running mobile operations such a field services, plant hire and goods transport.

Port says:

“The BigChange Sage integration allows financial control and management to be extended beyond the office, seamlessly connecting those involved at the front end of the business to the back office as part of a fully digital, paper-free and real-time IT solution,”

“That ultimately means improved cash flow and profitability, backed by a complete digital audit trail.”

New opportunities to gain work experience and college credit. The traditional path of vocational apprentices has involved a combination of on the job, and academic training with the eventual end goal of creating honed and qualified tradesmen.

Recent shifts in UK policy on vocational apprenticeships have created new hybrid programs which offer traditional vocational training with the additional opportunity to achieve a full Bachelors or Master’s degree upon the completion of the apprenticeship.

The new programs have been deemed ‘Degree apprenticeships’ and formed through partnerships between employers and universities or colleges. The Degree Apprenticeship programme was launched by HRM government in 2015, and lasts between 1-6 years.

Unlike traditional courses in college or university, participants in Degree Apprenticeships allows for greater flexible study method suits to accommodate their employer’s needs – whether that’s distance learning, blended learning or block mode learning.

The qualification for degree apprentices are similar to the higher apprenticeship, where apprentices are expected to hold full-time employment status rather than student status.

“However, while higher apprentices have the option to gain a Bachelors-level qualification, university study is mandatory in degree apprenticeships. As well as holding employment status and receiving a wage throughout the course, an apprentice’s tuition fees and training costs are settled between their education institution and employer.”

England has made major strides in its commitment to develop and expand the quality of apprenticeship nationwide. Leading elements which are changing the face of British apprenticeships include; “a new funding arrangement in the form of an employer levy, and major reforms of the apprenticeship system including the development of new apprenticeship standards created in close consultation with employers, and an overall aim of increasing both the quality and quantity of apprenticeships.”

Earning potential of Apprentices in the UK

“In England an apprentice earns between 50% and 60% of the skilled worker wage but this average hides large variations. In 2011 apprentices under 19 earned approximately 32% of the fully qualified rate, while those aged 19-24 earned 49%. In England, according to the law, the minimum wage of apprentices aged under 19, and those aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeships amounts to 47% of the national minimum wage.”

Factors which can trigger a wage increase:

These conditions can trigger a substantial increase in an apprentice’s wage potential, especially if the apprentice is paid the legal minimum. For example, the legal minimum wage of an apprentice who started on a programme at the age of 18 increases in the second year by 60%. As a direct result of the added year on year costs of apprenticeships, many employers limit the length of vocational apprenticeship to between 12-18 months.

Industries most active in supporting apprenticeships in England

Impact of Vocational Apprenticeships on the BigChange Network

Within the BigChange collaborative network there are countless stories of innovative and dynamic individuals who have built upon their vocational apprenticeships to form companies leading the service sectors. Two of our most accomplished customers and members of the collaboration network are Jordan Woods & Michael Cairns.

You’ll have difficulty finding two more dedicated and hard-working young professionals than Jordan & Michael. They truly represent the core values of BigChange, i.e. tirelessly working to help every customer with top notch customer service, quality technical staff and seamless mobile workforce management systems to make a major impact in their collective sectors.

What brought these two young industry leaders to their current positions?

According to Jordan Woods, Founder of Woods Building Maintenance, “I left school at the age of 13 and joined a work-based Learning programme in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC). After persuading Daniel Robinson, a Director at Industrial & Commercial Heating in Leeds, to let me work for free for a number of years I was finally they given an apprenticeship at 16. Without Daniel giving me that opportunity, I would never have got into the HVAC industry. It just wouldn’t have been a possibility.”

Michael Cairns, Director of Celsius Plumbing reflected frankly on his experiences as a vocational apprentice. “I began my apprenticeship as a plumbing and heating engineer in 2003. At the time, plumbing apprenticeships were dominated by 16-18 year olds but this doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. Do in no small part to the current significant shortage of domestic skilled labour many people are beginning apprenticeships later in life and becoming independent trades people, way more than ever before. This impacts the balance of skilled labour because people are not taking on apprentices’ which could really change the face of the future skilled labour force.”

As a direct result of Michael Cairns experience as a vocational apprentice Celsius Plumbing has championed apprenticeships. “We have been training apprentices here at Celsius since 2007. We have proudly trained 7 apprentices so far, all of whom have gained their full industry qualifications. we currently have an apprentice in his 3rd year and are about to start a new 1st year apprentice, which is really exciting for us. The reason we feel so strongly about taking on apprentices, is because we recognise the value and importance of passing on the knowledge to the next generation. I suppose, I recognise personally how much an apprenticeship shaped my life, I wouldn’t be where I am today without one.”

As a fundamental path to the service sectors, vocational apprenticeships provide hundreds of thousands of people in the UK each year with the technical, on the job and academic training essential for instilling skilled labour in the next generation of service technicians and operators. BigChange strongly believes in the importance of vocational apprenticeships and the skills they transmit to the next generation of service technicians.

As new legislation and government sponsored vocational programmes continue to grow, the opportunities of vocational apprentices to make a meaningful impact in the labour market appear significant.

With the rise of apprenticeships in the UK, BigChange looks forward to ushering in a new generation of service professionals and conveying the value mobile workforce platforms, such as BigChange’s JobWatch, can add in simplifying and centralising operations.

To read more about how the BigChange Mobile Workforce Management system can help your business go paperless click Here.

Customer Experience is infinitely personal and continuously evolves from each service encounter to colour how customers view both the service event and the provider as a whole.

In part II of ‘What Drives Customer Experience in the Service Sectors’ we will take a look at how Customer Expectations, Technology & Personalisation influence Customer Experience as well as how mobile workforce management software, such as JobWatch from BigChange can revolutionise the Customer Experience.

Customer’s Expectations:

“The key reason why the customer experience is and will never be ‘in control’ is because customers are individuals and the core element in the customer experience equation is highly emotional, personal, contextual and diverse.”

The customer often sets the tone for the entire service relationship however, with mobile access to detailed transaction history and an integrated CRM system, such as JobWatch from BigChange, expectations can be reasonably met while providing a comprehensive service picture to your entire staff.

Part and parcel to understanding and exceeding customer expectations is forming a strong personal rapport with the customer. In addition to facilitating a better service experience, effective communication with clients can act as a second marketing department creating brand ambassadors while providing vital feedback on ways to improve the service interaction from the people who matter most.

To build a holistic, customer-centric approach each personalised interaction must be valued, recorded and used to improve future practices.

Technology & Skill Set of Technician:

In a time of dramatic technological advancements “Human interaction [still] matters now — and 82% of U.S. and 74% of non-U.S. consumers want more of it in the future. Regardless, the technology supporting human interaction must be seamless and unobtrusive across platforms.”

Customers expect real-time messaging and self-service tools to advance their service experience. The digitally savvy customer today demands a constant flow of up to date information narrating their broader service experience, from initial consultation to post service follow up and billing.

Concurrently, customers want these technological breakthroughs to still have a human touch, and (if needed) easy access to a person to help navigate supposedly intuitive systems.

Relying upon a range of digital touchpoints include websites, app interaction and use of online CRM systems; such as JobWatch by BigChange, technicians can better deliver specialised services on the click of a button.

As PwC astutely points out “The challenge [is]: how to use new technology with purpose to make the experience feel more human—without creating frustrations for customers and while empowering employees.” If technicians and service staff cannot apply the new methods to resolve the broader issues- regardless of the technology- customers will not be happy.

In a time where the service experience is strongly dictated by technical capability, the results are often projected for the world to see. Good experiences are shared on social media — and as are less than ideal ones, while surely horrible service experiences go viral — and can easily damage or destroy a company’s reputation globally.

Personalisation:

The service experience is not limited to the physical service call or maintenance event. Increasingly customers are demanding optimized post-purchase experiences which include personalised service and support. As a result, “79% of customers are willing to share relevant information about themselves in exchange for contextualized interactions in which they’re immediately known and understood.”

Customers want to feel heard and catered to. They are willing to expand engagement and the information they share if it can significantly improve their broader customer experience.

“59% of customers say tailored engagement based on past interactions is very important to winning their business.”

In the past customers wanted a prompt response to their questions or complaints. Now customers expect every element of their service experience to be personalized. “61% of the people surveyed [by Forbes] felt they were treated like case numbers rather than people. That must stop. The survey found that 59% of customers said being treated as an individual was more important than how fast the issue was resolved (53%). The numbers are close, but the point is that customers want to be treated like people, not account numbers. And, if you can deliver both speed and personalisation, you have a winning combination.”

Customer Experience, Company Loyalty and Retention:

“80% of companies believe they provide a superior proposition with only 8% of customers agreeing.” Bridging the gap between perception and reality, as the stats clearly show, can be difficult. The only way to make real improvements is to ask customers: What went right? What went wrong? Why did you choose our service? Did our services meet your expectations?

At the end of the day, no one is a mind reader and thus we all must lean on the recipient of the service experience to facilitate best practices and improve retention.

The resolution to this may be simpler then you may think. Auto messaging, standardised templates and surveys to gauge customer experience and satisfaction in real time. With fully integrated mobile workforce management software, like JobWatch from BigChange, your business can streamline operations and engage customers holistically.

The customer experience is more often than not a complicated formula which requires the balancing of technical skills and emotional awareness. If blended correctly the customer experience can provide the basis for a symbiotic relationship between the service provider and customer. Bringing these two parties together is the CRM element which can centralise and organise the entire service dynamic.

BigChange Mobile Workforce Management Revolutionising the Customer Experience:

BigChange’s 5-in-1 platform enables businesses of all sizes to better manage many of the most significant factors influencing the customer experience. With BigChange, your back office can easily monitor, schedule & dispatch service requests to optimise your field based teams’ strongest skills and prevent unnecessary travel.

With JobWatch, powered by BigChange, the point of contact staff can access complete customer history and ensure all service requests and customer expectations are met the first time, every time. Utilising BigChange’s innovative mobile workforce system, contractors are able to specialise service, workflow requirements and mandatory safety protocols with ease.

Through the use of an integrated platform, technicians can resolve any service request with the click of a button. Additionally, the use of preventative maintenance workflows directed via the Mobile workforce management system dramatically improves the rate in which service technicians resolve all issues fully, while also alerting the operator to any upcoming scheduled maintenance. By improving transparency and collaboration between all aspects of operations through the implementation of mobile workforce management software, such as BigChange, your business can drastically improve customer experience.

What to do from here?

Improving the overall quality of customer experience for service providers often is the determining factor driving customer relations and long term business performance.

Optimising the broader customer experience goes beyond fulfilling customer requirements to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The ultimate objective in catering a comprehensive service experience is to maintain and cultivate a long-term customer relationship which continuously creates opportunities for business to profits via sustained service interactions and activities.

Balancing the complex dynamic of customer experience requires constant calibration and dedication to providing the best services, staff and technology all integrated to give real-time data and live quotes with ease.

A recent study of 15,000 consumers surveyed in 12 countries found that “60% of customers would stop doing business with a company due to unfriendly service, 46% said they would cease the business relationship because of employees lack of knowledge and 50% would end the relationship if they don’t trust the company. 32% of customers would walk away from a brand they have a strong affinity towards after just one bad experience.”

With customers increasingly willing to change service providers after the smallest inconvenience it is essential to be receptive to customer needs and ensure all elements of the customer experience are consciously monitored and improved daily.

To read Part I click Here.

Customer experience, simply put, is the most decisive factor driving a business’s success in the service sectors. Through the establishment of a fluid and adaptive customer experience, brand loyalty is created, customers are cultivated and long term relationships are formed.

Customer experience is infinitely personal and continuously evolves from each service encounter to colour how customers view both the service event and the provider as a whole.

In this blog, we will take a deep dive into what elements shape customer experience, from the initial point of contact to final billing. We will define the customer experience and the broad range of factors which, if properly balanced, can improve customer retention and the overall service dynamic across business operations.

Factors defining Customer Experience:

Customer experience is defined as the perception a client has of a business or service as influenced by:

With this ever-growing basket of factors influencing customer experience it can be exhausting to try and find that perfect balance point to satisfy customer needs. With fierce competition and an increasingly demanding customer base, many businesses are often faced with the question of where to focus their time and energy to improve customer retention and brand loyalty?

A recently conducted study of over 6,700 customers found that 80% of people agree that the experience your brand creates is just as important as the product or service you are selling. Long gone are the days when having quality service and a skilled workforce alone were enough to ensure customers use your product or service in the future.

Today’s marketplace is defined by; ease of accessibility and personalisation of services, as well as highly informed customers who demand transparency throughout the entire service experience. Customers expect technicians to be friendly and knowledgeable, well versed in cutting edge technology and quick on their feet to adapt to a request on a moment’s notice.

According to PwC “43% of all consumers would pay more for greater convenience; 42% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming experience. And, among U.S. customers, 65% find a positive experience with a service provider to be more influential than great advertising.”

In order to improve customer experience, it is critical to understand the role each component part plays in illustrating the broader relationship between service provider and customer. If correctly understood and integrated into a long term business strategy, these factors can vastly improve customer satisfaction and in turn, facilitate customer retention.

Point of Contact:

The customer experience is heavily influenced by the point of contact. As the person who facilitates the broader service experience, the service technician or staff member must “incorporate all of the aspects of the service firm with which customers may interact, including its personnel, physical facilities, and other tangible elements during a given period of time. It has been suggested that from the customer’s viewpoint, staff members provide the service and staff behaviour therefore, influences customer perceptions of the service.”

Staff competence, helpfulness, and responsiveness are vital factors which guide the evaluation of service. Unfortunately “only 46% of consumers outside the U.S. say the employees they interact with understand their needs.”

An organisation’s employees, or the salespeople representing it in retail channels, are a key channel for delivering superior Customer Experience. It’s no good saying you’re great if your staff don’t act like they believe it. Everyone in an organisation has to be aligned with corporate objectives and on-message. So teaching staff to understand their role within the organisation and how everyone contributes to outsiders’ perception of it is hugely important.”

It is essential that companies hire passionate staff and train them to love the product or service. Ensuring the point of contact is well versed and easy going helps customers have a positive experience and significantly impacts the perception of the brand overall.

In Part II we will discuss the impact of; Customer Expectations, Technology & Personalisation on Customer Experience.

To read more about how BigChange can help improve your Customer Experience click Here.

The service sectors live and die on the success of vocational apprenticeships and the skills they impart on the growing domestic workforce.

Apprenticeships across the UK aim to train the next generation of skilled technicians, service contractors, and back office staff to meet the evolving needs of a massive range of jobs, many of which you might not think traditionally involve an apprenticeship component. In the 2016-17 academic year alone, 900,000 people received compensation to participate in an apprenticeship in the UK.

Historically, vocational apprenticeships have provided the prime avenue for young and novice individuals to gain the skills and industry-specific experience necessary to work in the service sectors, especially within; Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing and Service Maintenance.

In part I, we will examine the state of vocational apprenticeship in the UK. We’ll look at what is involved in a vocational apprenticeship in the UK, as well as some of the current trends influencing the potential growth of vocational apprenticeships in the coming years.

In part II, we will highlight some of the new higher education opportunities being provided through new and innovated vocational apprenticeship programmes.

What is a vocational apprenticeship?

In the UK, vocational apprenticeships are defined as training programs which include both academic study and hands-on or in-the-field element. Apprentices must complete a minimum of 30 hours’ paid work a week and 5 ½ hours of study towards a vocational qualification, which may vary depending on the specific field.

The general image most people have of vocational apprenticeships are young people (16-18) trying to gain their first skilled labour position, however, over 50% of those starting an apprenticeship in the UK are over 25.

While many technical and intricate mechanical fields, such as electrical repair and installation or plumbing have been heavily represented in UK based vocational apprenticeship programs the opportunities go far and beyond these sectors.

“Vocational training is available across a wide range of subjects and industries, from engineering, construction and manufacturing to IT and communications, creative and digital media, health and social care, and more.”

Apprenticeships in the UK

English apprenticeships differ from those of other European countries as they are, on average less than 18 months, compared with 3-4 years typical in other countries.

As a result of the condensed training period, English vocational apprenticeship programs, compared to Austria, Germany and Switzerland, are more likely to be trained at a lower skill level, with 100-200 hours of training, compared to 300-400 of their European counterparts.

To evaluate the range of vocational training, and the skills imparted within the process the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) was established in the UK. The QCF contains vocational or work-related qualifications which are recognised in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The QCF also defines several levels of vocational training, from “entry level to level eight – but the focus is generally on levels two and three, which are pitched at GCSE A*-C level and A-Level respectively.”

Trends impacting apprenticeships in the UK: More opportunities and greater gender equality

Apprenticeship participation in England has significantly increased in the last two decades. Recent statistics state around 500 000 apprenticeships are started every year in England, with men and women roughly equally represented.

“These figures represent dramatic increases from the late 1990’s, when the equivalent figure was less than 100 000 [a five-fold increase]. Most of the growth has been in older apprentices, with stats for those over 25 more than quadrupling from just under 50 000 in 2009/10 to more than 200 000 in 2015/16.”

While traditionally, British based apprenticeships have offered less training compared to their European neighbours, recent years have seen that “starts for higher-level apprenticeships have increased faster than for Level 2 apprenticeships, but Level 2 apprenticeships still represented nearly 60% of the total in 2015/16.”

Gender Equality?

In 2016-17, 54% of total apprenticeship started in England were by women (262,820), compared with 46% by men (228,520). This data is also reflective of broader trends in the past decade, showing the number of women starting apprenticeships in England has been higher than men every year since 2010-11.

While broader trends of vocational apprenticeships in the UK are shifting towards greater gender parity, the balance is still noticeably limited in some areas.

“In 2015-16, more than 72,000 male apprentices started programmes in engineering in England, compared with 6,260 women, according to the DfE. By contrast, more than 100,000, or 40% of all female apprentices, started programmes in the health and social care sector.”

To read more about the impact of vocational apprenticeships click Here.

In the hyper-competitive field of service management any small mistake can be the difference between building customer retention and going out of business.

From enhancing brand visibility, offering competitive pricing and enlisting top quality technicians all aimed at providing the best service experience, there are clearly numerous formulas for improving broader customer satisfaction.

At BigChange we believe the best way to keep and build a customer base is to implement a system that consistently responds to the specific customer service request completely, the first time by attentive and polite technicians who are fast and communicative to any issues which may arise.

This is no small order. In truth, there are many issues which must be studied to better understand what drives the customer experience. In this blog, we will take a look at ‘How First-Time Fix Rate Impacts Customer Retention’ and review some key ways to improve FTFR exponentially.

What is First-Time Fix Rate (FTFR)?

First-Time Fix Rate is defined as the number of problems or service requests that are resolved during an engineer’s first visit.

First-Time Fix Rate, according to Aberdeen is impacted by:

In turn, First-Time Fix Rate directly influences:

Customer Satisfaction:

As a simple rule, first-time fix rates tend to have the most significant impact on overall customer satisfaction. Customers are satisfied (and continue to use a business) when their problems are resolved quickly and efficiently without complaint. If your technicians are unable to resolve the customer’s issue on the spot your customer satisfaction rates will suffer.

“For those businesses with a first-time fix rate of over 70%, customer retention was at 86%. Those with a first-time fix rate of under 70% saw their customer retention rate drop to 76% — a decrease of 10%.”

Technician Productivity:

Just as important as having happy customers is having a productive and efficient workforce. Enhancing productivity lies in optimising technician’s time management and consistently fulfilling tasks based on established workflow protocols to help as many customers resolve their service issues as possible at the highest level of service.

The process of improving First-Time Fix Rate goes hand in hand with decreasing technicians fuel costs & optimising technician scheduling. By ensuring a task has been completed correctly, the first time, fewer site visits are required and drives are thus capable of completing more jobs in the saved time.

A recent survey found that Best-in-Class companies experience a “First-Time Fix Rate of 98.3% compared to the industry average of 77.8%. With service calls ranging in cost from £150 to £1,000 per event, the expenses for making repeat visits can be astronomical.”

Profitability of Service Provider

A major factor driving the long term viability of any business is, and will always be: how staff manages their time and collective responsibilities. With a conscious push to improve First-Time Fix Rate, technicians are able to better manage their workflow, schedule more tasks and accomplish more on the worksite in less time.

Concurrently, with improved First-Time Fix Rate, back office staff is able to focus on invoicing and optimising dispatch of technicians rather than managing additional customer support requirements. “In terms of service revenue, those at the upper end of the first-time fix rate scale witnessed a 4% increase in revenue, while those with a less than 70% fix rate saw no change in revenue. Likewise, serviceable asset uptime increased by 1% for those with a +70% fix rate, while others experienced a 2% decline.”

If an organisation intends to stay profitable, it is critical that all resources- especially inventory and technician time- are being used efficiently. By improving First-Time Fix Rate, businesses can allocate less resources to complete a job, and invest in the next task without repeated service visits to resolve lingering service demands.

First-Time Fix Rate in the Service Sectors

Recent research from the Aberdeen Group has found that “companies in the top 20% have a first-time fix rate of 88%. At the other end of the scale, the bottom 30% of companies has a first-time fix rate of 63%. These figures illustrate a clear link between the efficiency and swiftness of repairs to the success of a business.”

Keys to improving First-Time Fix Rate

As we touched upon above, there are broad range of factors which can influence your business’s success in First-Time Fix Rate. With diverse needs and seemingly divergent methods to resolve them, it can often seem overwhelming to attempt to boost FTFR.

With recent technological advances, such as the development and noted market success of the BigChange mobile workforce management system, it is now possible to centralise the core services and customer relations interfaces which can significantly improve FTFR across numerous service sectors.

The use of mobile workforce management systems, such as BigChange, can promote company-wide collaboration and improved data visibility to best direct drivers and resources to job sites with ease. Additionally “remote monitoring of assets [through CRM mobile applications] helps capture service diagnostic information that can be provided to field technicians in advance. Giving call centre staff more guidance through question trees and full access to customer history data can help resolve more calls over the phone (without costly truck rolls), and provide better information to technicians when they do have to go on-site.”

BigChange can facilitate better FTFR:

BigChange’s 5-in-1 platform enables businesses of all sizes to better manage many of the most significant factors driving First-Time Fix Rate. With BigChange, your back office can easily monitor, schedule & dispatch service request to optimise your staffs strongest skills and prevent unneeded travel.

Through the use of an integrated platform, technicians have access to critical service data and can be supplied essential parts to resolve any service request with the click of a button.

Additionally, the use of preventative maintenance workflows directed via the Mobile workforce management system, dramatically improves the rate in which service technicians resolve all issues fully, while also alerting the operator to any upcoming scheduled maintenance. By improving transparency and collaboration between all aspects of operations through the implementation of mobile workforce management software, such as BigChange, your business can drastically improve First-Time Fix Rate.

To read more about how service management software can save you money click Here, Here & Here

Just as important as driver and technician performance, the back office must be able to process all customer & technician data while generating invoices and inventory information without error.

With a comprehensive service management platform, the back office staff has access to live real-time data which fully reflects the service experience. Without having to wait for drivers to return to the office to provide service information, the back office can instantly produce invoices for customers.

Depending on the functionality of the system, you may be able to produce invoices within the platform itself, such as with the 5-in-1 functionality of JobWatch. Together with real-time alerts and visibility of progress against the work plan, mobile workforce management platforms can significantly improve back-office efficiency.

Within the BigChange platform, customers saved an average of 8 hours per mobile worker per month in back office time. On a small scale, these savings make a big impact, on the larger scale, service management software can save your organisation tens of thousands of pounds annually.

First-time fix rate & Improving Customer Satisfaction

The core element driving retention and customer satisfaction is the ability to solve the customer’s problem(s) during the first contractor or technician visit. Known in the industry as first-time fix rate (FTFR), this factor is often the make it or break it in building customer loyalty.

To improve FTFR, service providers and contractors must optimise:

Inventory Procurement & Preventing Overstock

You can’t solve a problem without the right tools for the job. Just as it is critical to have a technician with the right skill to resolve an issue, as well as all the specific items needed to fix the problem on the spot.

From smaller organisations with more limited resources to large companies with hundreds of employees and capital to back them, the ability to prevent overstocking can make a significant difference to your business’s bottom line. By ensuring that contractors don’t overstock parts and inventory, a business can reduce operating costs and ensure cash is not tied up in stock.

Real-time, cloud-based inventory ensures that contractors are always properly supplied with all parts and tools for each job. By minimising the number of required contractor visits, customer satisfaction drastically improves, while technicians can save, on average 10 hours of travel time per month.

Please read part III to learn about can Service Management Software can improve workflow compliance and save you Money!! To read Part I click Here.