Managing your field services business is a challenge. You are often navigating a disconnect in information and communication between the field and the office. It’s a struggle to get work done at the office when you’re in the field running the business operations. Furthermore, if you’re using pen and paper, whiteboards, or spreadsheets, you can’t access important job or service ticket data anywhere, anytime. This leaves you jumping from email to text to phone calls and a trip to the office to get the information you need, and it creates an opportunity for things to fall through the cracks. There are several field service management software (or FSM software) offerings to choose from, but that can be overwhelming too. You want something that will help you work smarter, not harder. So, a digital solution has to be easy to implement, maintain, and run from the field.
Redlist’s Field Services solution will do all of that for you and more. Our implementation team makes it easy to get set up. And, our mobile app with offline capability means you can manage your entire quote-to-cash process from anywhere, even the cab of a crane or truck out in the field and brings countless benefits to your business.
Here are the top benefits that our customers experience with Field Service Management Software.
1. Digitizes Slow Paper Processes
The flow, or lack of flow, of information can make or break a business. Your customers communicate with your sales team. Then, your sales team needs to communicate with your scheduling team. The schedulers have to pass information to your field managers, technicians, drivers, or operators. Next, your field employees have to work with your customers and finally report back to your accounting team to close the loop. Paper processes are inherently slow and can cause bottlenecks at any number of points in this workflow. A single miscommunication at any step could lead to a bad customer experience that costs you business and your reputation.
2. Eliminates Data Silos
Data silos are problems for businesses of all sizes. They occur when different departments in a company have difficulty accessing data that other departments have. This can happen for a number of reasons, but it often comes down to incompatible software or hardware systems. When data silos exist, it’s difficult to make informed decisions because you don’t have all the information you need. This software puts an end to data silos by consolidating all of your systems and softwares to one centralized platform. This gives everyone in your company access to the same information in real time. You may find that this is the best part of field service management solutions.
3. Streamlines Systems into a Single Platform
FSM software is a platform that consolidates every paper file, spreadsheet, whiteboard, or calendar into an easy-to-use digital format. This means you can access important job or service ticket data from anywhere, anytime. All of your field workers’ information is stored in one place and can be easily accessed by anyone in your organization. This also helps businesses save money by not using several different software solutions. One platform is all you need to manage your entire field services business.
4. Run Your Business from Anywhere
Having a field services business means you’re often working in the field. A top priority for any software you use has to be mobility. A cloud-based mobile app gives you the flexibility to manage your business from anywhere. Redlist’s Field Services solution is available on iOS and Android mobile devices. Our offline capability ensures your data is always at your fingertips, whether you’re in the office or in the field.
5. Provides Customer Relationship Management
A software provides a platform to better manage customer relationships from sales estimates to the finished project. You can win more work with online job requests, sales, estimates, and opportunity tracking. This integration with your entire quote-to-cash process empowers your sales team to win more bids and your field team to deliver. And, you can provide your customers with a better experience by managing their expectations and keeping them updated on the status of their job. Managing your pipeline and conversion rate is typically done in separate software from your service ticket and job scheduling system. With Redlist, you avoid the duplicate data entry by having this all in a single software.
6. Takes the Headache Out of Scheduling and Dispatch
One of the most important, and difficult, tasks for any field service business is scheduling and dispatch. You need to make sure your technicians are where they need to be when they need to be there. This can be a challenge when you’re dealing with paper processes or multiple software solutions. If you miss a simple detail like a technician being on vacation or an asset being scheduled for maintenance or on another project, then your project gets off track. A software that makes it easy to see who is available for a job and when, while also making sure your tools, equipment, and other resources are available as well. This ensures your jobs are completed on time and your customers are happy. Redlist provides an easy-to-use digital calendar to help you forecast your people, parts, assets, and use project management for scheduling.
7. Improves Inventory Management
Depending on your business, you may have to manage spare parts inventory alongside planning the schedule and dispatching field technicians. This is a never ending challenge, as some spare parts are kept in the storeroom and the rest are spread across company vehicles in the field. There is a much higher risk of errors with a paper process for tracking inventory. Redlist’s field service management software works with QR codes and even tool check-in and check-out to manage inventory and other important resources. Your field technicians can simply update the inventory level in the app when they use a part in the field. You can even set up automated alerts at certain inventory thresholds to remind your parts manager to restock, further streamlining your inventory management.
8. Creates Visibility into Your Job and Project Progress
Field service management software is an important tool for managing service requests and work orders. By tracking all of your service tickets and jobs, you can ensure you never miss a line item or overlook a job. This also helps you keep your projects on track by providing visibility into the status of each job. Then, you can make strategic business decisions based on real-time project data.
9. Reduces or Eliminates Billing Errors
Billing errors can cost you time and money. They can also damage your relationships with your customers. Field service management software reduces billing errors by improving the service ticket process. The issue is that several departments have input on the final invoice from the signed agreement to the completed service ticket. If you don’t have smooth communication and flow of information through this process, you will be leaving money on the table with inaccurate invoices. One Redlist user found that 2% of their paper service tickets would get lost and never be invoiced. This cost the company $377,000 per year! Streamlining the process and implementing approvals means you can bill your customers more accurately and avoid losing invoicing opportunities.
10. Shortens the Billing Cycle and Improves Cash Flow
By automating and streamlining your billing and payment processing with FSM software, you can shorten your billing cycle and improve your cash flow. For example, digitizing your service tickets means they are turned in immediately upon completion. This is instead of field employees acquiring days or weeks’ worth of paper service tickets in between office visits to turn them in. With an improved process, you reduce billing errors and get invoices out the door faster. This means that you’ll have more money coming in sooner, which can help improve your overall cash flow. In addition, this software can help you manage customer payments. By keeping track of all invoices and payments, you can avoid missed or late payments and set automatic alerts to follow up. This will help you maintain a healthy cash flow for your business and improve your bottom line.
11. Increases Productivity by Saving Time
A type of software that increases productivity by saving you and your employees time. Automation within the software helps you send schedule changes automatically, which saves time on manually notifying employees. You can also track time per service ticket or project, simplifying both payroll and reporting. Furthermore, Redlist offers the ability to configure the software to your workflows and set automated alerts according to your needs. Additionally, our software integrates with other systems you may already use, including sensors or software like Quickbooks. Using software to manage your field services shouldn’t mean that you have to completely change how you do things. That’s why Redlist is flexible to your current workflow, while still providing the opportunity to improve.
12. Makes Reporting Easier
Reporting is an essential part of your business because it empowers you to recognize trends and make strategic decisions. Monitoring your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) can drive business growth and improvement. A software that makes reporting easier by automating the process. It removes the manual data entry and time spent compiling reports. Also, it improves the accuracy of data collection and recording because field employees can complete service tickets in the field on their mobile devices, instead of waiting until the end of the day to fill out a paper service ticket. The easier it is for your field employees to complete and submit information, the more likely they are to do it immediately after completing a job. This means the data is fresh in their minds and will be more accurate. Redlist’s reporting dashboard auto-populates your reports with this real-time information, eliminating hours of manual labor.
13. Improves Customer Service and Experience
With everyone on your team on the same page, your customers will receive a consistent customer experience and level of service. Improving customer experience is key to growing your business. Happy customers will become repeat customers, generate positive reviews, and provide more referrals than unhappy customers.
14. Accelerate the Growth of Your Business
At the end of the day, all of the above benefits lead to business growth. If you want to accelerate the growth of your business, then we recommend improving your client management, resource management, and revenue management with Redlist’s software. Increased efficiency reduces operating costs, while increased productivity and customer experience help you win more job bids. This helps your business remain competitive and be a leader in your market.
The Bottom Line
If you’re like most field service contractors, you are always looking for ways to improve your bottom line and customer satisfaction. You know that better organization and streamlined processes can help, but you may not have the time or resources to implement them. That’s where our software comes in. This software can help you improve almost every aspect of your business and field service operations, from scheduling and dispatch to billing and customer relationships. There are many other benefits but too many to list here. But suffice it to say that if you’re not using this type of software in your business, you’re missing out on a powerful tool that can help you streamline processes and take your business to the next level.
