Whatever your industry, customer experience will make or break your business. On the plus side, the internet has opened up opportunities for businesses to grow their customer base. The negative side, is that customer expectations have never been higher. Plus customers can now spread the word about their experience quickly and to a much wider audience.
This means massive pressure on field service companies to get customer service right. And not just right, but right first time. You don't want to just meet your customers' expectations, you want to smash them. The question is, how do you make that happen consistently across all your customer interactions?
The great news is that there is an answer and it comes in the shape of a single tech solution: job management software.
Here are six ways you can use job management software to delight your customers:
#1 🏃♂️Fast response to enquiries
Whether you work with individual customers or other businesses, delays in responding to enquiries can mean lost business. Job management software provides two elements that make this a cinch.
- Templates
Templates allow you to create fantastic, branded documents and then save them to use when needed. Since this type of software unites all parts of your system, it can add customer details in preset fields straight from your CRM
- Automation
This is the really clever bit. You can create quick actions, or triggers, that allows your system to respond automatically or with a single click. Not only will your response be fast but it will also be accurate and make you stand out as efficient and professional.
#2 👌 Instant and accurate scheduling
So, having won the business, the next step in ensuring customer retention is efficient job scheduling. You want this process to be quick, easy and accurate.
With manual scheduling in a calendar or spreadsheet, double bookings can occur. It takes time for office staff to find openings and get back to the customer and by then things can have changed again. There's also the issue of poor first time fix rates when engineers don't have the right equipment or paperwork.
With job management software, these problems disappear. Customers can request appointments by phone or email but also through an online portal that integrates with your schedule. The system automatically checks for conflicts and skill sets and organises the best, most cost-effective routes.
What's more, once you schedule a job the system will automatically send confirmation to the customer. That means less admin for you at the same time as exceeding customer expectations.
#3📲 Real-time communication and updates
Nowadays, customers expect regular updates about their jobs, products or services. Trying to keep on top of this manually can become a job in itself. It can also leave your field team feeling the pressure and lower their morale.
With cloud based job management software, real time vehicle tracking means that you don't need to check in with engineers to see their progress. Schedulers can see where everyone is and access their job cards as soon as they finish a job using the mobile app.
Not only does this mean that you can send out invoices faster but this keeps customers looped in via the portal. Best of all, this is all done without any extra effort from your support team.
#4 📋 Accurate job documentation
We all know that a hold up or an error in paperwork can mean delayed payment. Worse still, if some of the missing information is evidence of work carried out, it can even mean no payment at all. When margins are already tight, this is a disaster.
Even when things go to plan, there is a lag between a job and the delivery of its paperwork. There will still be a delay whilst your admin team add it to the system. They will send it to finance, who will then add it to their system to create an invoice... you get the picture. Lots of scope for delays and errors.
This process can be difficult for customers as well. They want to see job progress, and see whether or not it is going well. This is especially important if a machine is down or it's a compliance issue.
Job management software let's you capture information accurately in the field on mobile forms. As soon as ajob is complete, the digital job sheets are instantly available to the office and the customer. It also means that you can add photos, customer signatures and certificates for proof of work.
The result: customers receive complete, error-free documents that confirm your excellent service.
#5 ✅ First-time fixes
The wrong paperwork, equipment or access information - they can all mean fewer first time fixes and costs you money. Repeat visits due to unresolved issues are also a surefire way to upset customers.
With job management software, you minimise this risk. Technicians have instant access to customer history, asset details, previous work done and photos from the job site. They also receive the correct job sheets and details of any parts or equipment needed, plus where to find them.
This knowledge ensures they have everything needed to fix the issue right the first time. That means improved morale, higher profits and delighted customers.
#6 📊 Monitoring customer satisfaction
Even after a job is complete, it's important that your field service business checks on customer satisfaction. But gathering feedback manually takes effort. Automated surveys through your job management software make it easy. They also make it fast, making it more likely that customers will respond to them.
Customers receive a satisfaction survey via email or text after each job. This gives them an easy outlet to praise great service or raise concerns. You gain valuable insight about how well you're doing and where you need to improve.
Importantly, it's a great indication to customers that their satisfaction matters to your business.
#6 🔧 The Right Tools
However dedicated they are, your field technicians and office team can't do their jobs without the right tools. A job management system that includes a mobile app is like the swiss army knife of tech. It provides your field team with all of the job information that they need, plus access to timesheets, expenses and more. Meanwhile, it helps your office team with job tracking, job status and job costing.
Put simply, it streamlines your business by making information easy to access, including:
- Full customer history and details
- Appointment time, location and contacts
- Directions and traffic updates
- Asset maintenance records
- Warranty and service plan status
- Parts/materials required
- Checklists and procedures
- Safety precautions
It makes a massive impact. In one example a BigChange customer recorded a 25% increase in their customer service rating.
Deliver 5-Star Service with Job Management Software ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In today's experience-driven economy, customer satisfaction must be a top priority. Delivering "good enough" service just won't cut it anymore. You need to wow customers every time.
With manual processes, this level of exceptional service is difficult to achieve consistently. But job management software gives you the capabilities for delighting customers time and again.
- Simplify booking with online scheduling automation 🗓️
- Keep customers updated effortlessly with real-time communication 💬
- Build trust through accurate job documentation 📄
- Increase first-time fixes with complete job history 👍
- Gather candid feedback using automated surveys 📝
- Equip field teams with comprehensive job details 🛠️
By using these and other features, you can transform your business and reduce customer churn.
To learn more about delighting customers with BigChange's job management platform, request a free demo today.
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