How to Ensure Customer Satisfaction in Field Services
Customer experience is a critical component of any successful field service management software business. An excellent customer service policy helps to ensure satisfied clients, who will then return to the company and recommend it to others. It can also help prevent negative reviews, which can quickly catapult your business into a downward spiral.
However, many companies only focus on the bare requirements their service offers i.e. fixing on-site equipment or replacing parts. While this will help retain most of your clients, you must distinguish yourself from your competition and provide “extra value” for your customers to build stronger relationships.
The following describes five ways to maximise field service customer engagement and enhance customer satisfaction:
Be Friendly and Professional
When your field engineers troubleshoot and repair equipment, a friendly and professional demeanour helps to build rapport and trust. Customers are more receptive when staff members appear empathetic towards their concerns and are more likely to provide information and feedback. This can also help to expedite finding and fixing the problem, as both parties are more open to suggestions and less defensive.
Maintaining a standard of professionalism is also important because customers want their service technicians to be knowledgeable, experienced, and helpful. When field service staff are too lax, it can give the impression of incompetence, turning customers away and detracting from their field service experience. While professionalism isn’t necessarily an indication of one’s level of technical expertise, it does give assurance that the service technician is there to help them.
Because good customer experience extends to all company areas, it’s essential to train all staff members in customer service. This includes in-house staff, who interact with clients on the phone or via email, as well as field technicians.
Be Transparent and Provide Information
Being open and transparent is an important aspect of good customer service. While this might seem obvious, many companies are often opaque about the reasons behind company decisions or cost increases. Customers appreciate an explanation of why prices have increased, as well as a breakdown of how costs were calculated.
In addition to justifying costs, your business should also let your consumers view an engineer’s location when en route, the duration of repairs, and the expected completion time. Joblogic’s live engineering tracking feature and customer portal software send customer alerts and notifications when an engineer has left for a job or is running behind schedule, allowing customers to make informed decisions about their time.
Implementing this open communication policy builds trust and credibility, completing the service to the satisfaction of the client.
Provide Quality Services
Quality control is the key to maintaining the trust of your customers. Always be sure that services are complete and done right, even if it means spending a little extra time on-site. If customers have unresolved issues which you’ve failed to address, they will be less likely to use your services in the future.
Providing quality services means more than just completing the job – it means doing it in a way that fulfils the client’s needs. For example, if your client is concerned about price, you can present an alternative solution to meet their budget. This shows the client that you’re willing to go above and beyond, which can help generate trust and enhance customer satisfaction.
Joblogic specialises in providing quality field service management, ensuring your services are completed right the first time while facilitating field service customer engagement. This will help differentiate you from your competitors, creating a loyal base of return customers who are more inclined to recommend you to others.
Anticipate Service Requests
In the field service industry, the ability to anticipate service requests ensures that clientele equipment is adequately maintained, with minimal downtime.
This is often done through predictive analysis of your company’s and client’s past data, including all tasks performed to date, when they were performed, and any costs associated with them. By identifying patterns of use throughout the year, you’ll be able to foresee potential issues and schedule repairs accordingly. Not only will you be able to prevent breakdowns, but you’ll be able to increase field service customer satisfaction by reducing downtime.
Gather Customer Feedback
Your customers are your most important asset, so it’s only natural to want to know their thoughts and opinions after completing the service to the satisfaction of the client. Gathering feedback from your customers is a great way to understand your company’s strengths and areas of improvement to enhance field service management software experience. It also gives them a voice, letting them know that their feedback is valued and taken seriously.
Surveys are ideal for your company to gather feedback on various issues and increase field service customer satisfaction. Some of the most common questions you should ask include:
- What was the reason for contacting our service?
- How satisfied are you with our technician’s services?
- What can we do to improve future services?
- How happy are you with the communication provided by our company?
You can use this information to help your business enhance its local presence, ensuring that you utilise resources in the most effective way possible.
At Joblogic, we understand the importance of gauging and evaluating performance to provide the best field service experience. Our customer portal and CRM tools let you create your own survey and provide a clear communication line between you and your customers.
Personalisation for Your Customers
Everything boils down to the individual customer when it comes to delivering field services. Your customers have their own needs, goals, and concerns, which means that you should tailor your approach to fit these specifications.
For example, if one of your customers has strict maintenance standards, you may want to offer additional maintenance options or ‘premium’ services. These could be other services to enhance their equipment’s lifespan further or have scheduled visits based on their preferred time frame. When life is made easier for your customer, they’re more likely to continue doing business with you.
Increasing Field Service Customer Satisfaction with Joblogic
Joblogic’s all in one management software provides real-time customer data, letting you see what’s happening in the field with your technicians. Our customised dashboard gives you a complete overview of your business, from contact details to customer service history. Utilising our software to streamline workflow will improve field service customer engagement and experience.
Book a free demo of Joblogic field service CRM software today and see how we can help you provide a higher level of service to your customer base.