Field service industry growth is accelerating, and we are headed towards a new boom. If you want your organization to be ready, you must understand the field service software market. Without a clear picture of how new technology is changing the market, your company will fall behind.

However, not every solution in the field service software market is equally high-performing. You need to be able to choose the right platform to support your company’s growth. This means understanding what the best field service software can do and what opportunities it can open up for your business. 

Read on to discover how the market will grow and what challenges this technology can help you overcome. 

Field Service Market Growth

According to Technavio, the field service software market is expected to grow by $1.46 billion by 2028. This massive increase is driven by the fact that many of the challenges the industry faces can be addressed by replacing on-site management with cloud-based software. This allows technicians to self-manage their jobs, improves workforce productivity, and guarantees efficient customer service. 

Current Challenges in the Field Service Industry

Field service companies grapple with numerous challenges to providing an efficient and scalable service. To stay competitive, your company needs to overcome these challenges quickly. Let’s review some of the top challenges in the industry and how your company can address them. 

Labor and Skills Shortage

It’s no secret that the widespread labor and skills shortage threatens field service companies. The labor force shortfall is expected to exceed 3 million by 2027 and this lack of available talent can be a major hurdle to overcome.

With 70% of field service companies facing a skills shortage gap, you need a solution that will help you attract, engage, and retain the right employees. Intuitive and mobile field service solutions empower skilled technicians to make the most of their jobs, helping improve technician retention and productivity. 

Customer Satisfaction

Customers often rely on word-of-mouth to choose their field service provider. To retain clients and get new business, your organization needs to provide a stellar customer experience every step of the way. 

The key is knowing what your customers want and delivering it to them. For example, since 88% of customers expect an online self-service portal, you should provide them with an intuitive and user-friendly customer portal.

Fast response times are also vital. A Nielsen-McKinsey survey found that a surprising  33% of consumers would recommend a company that provides a quick but ineffective response, while only 17% would recommend a brand that provides a slow but effective solution. To truly succeed, you need speed as well as competence. 

Meeting SLAs

Meeting service-level agreements (SLAs) is tricky for field service organizations because it can be tough to monitor and trace service requests and work orders from start to finish. 

Work orders can move through three or more functional areas. They start at the contact center, then they may go through account maintenance, order fulfillment, shipping, billing, and more. Delays at any stage of this process can back up your work orders and delay your SLA compliance.

Automating your work order management process can significantly improve your ability to meet SLAs and keep your customers happy. 

Rising Costs and Finance Management

Average field service costs rose 7% in 2022. This increase can be attributed to numerous factors, such as fallout from the pandemic, inflation, and rising fuel prices. 

Field service companies must find ways to improve economic efficiency, reducing extraneous costs wherever possible. Optimizing operational costs with field service software can help companies reduce costs and maximize time to ROI. 

Factors Contributing to Growth in the Field Service Software Market

With all these challenges confronting the industry, it’s little wonder that companies are looking to technology for solutions. 

With the right field service management software, companies can enhance efficiency, improve productivity, and increase satisfaction for both customers and employees. 

Demand for Real-Time Data

Organizations need complete visibility to provide the best customer experience possible and to fully understand how operations function in the field. And, to provide the best service possible, technicians need access to timely and accurate data in the field. 

Your field service software solution should act as a centralized source of truth to make it easier to track your business data. It should also allow you to use field data to track your key service metrics. This information is essential to help you raise customer satisfaction levels and amplify employee engagement. 

Higher Adoption of AI and Automation

Automation boosts efficiency, creates major savings, and ensures your business can fully utilize field service industry growth.

AI improves the ability of companies to automate mindless and time-consuming tasks, provide support to technicians, and make their jobs less stressful overall. 

For example, AI can eliminate scheduling problems and create more efficient routes. It helps with training, too; augmented reality empowers technicians with on-the-job learning and reduces skills gaps. 

Some companies have slashed annual costs by as much as $20 million thanks to field service automation.

Increasing Use of Mobility Solutions

Smartphones make communication with technicians in the field much easier. But communication is only the start of what mobile solutions can do. 

A mobile solution provides immediate access to technical data and customer information in the field. It also provides visibility into your technicians' locations and allows real-time scheduling and routing. This means that you can provide accurate information to your customers about when their service will occur. 

Sixty-two percent of field service managers already leverage mobile strategies to enhance technician performance, and adoption is only projected to grow. 

Desire to Improve Customer Satisfaction & First-Time Fix Rates

Nobody likes rescheduling service after an appointment or dealing with multiple appointments for a single problem. First-time fix rates are vital for customer satisfaction and are the primary driver for choosing or recommending a field service provider. 

One way field service management software boosts first-time fixes is by providing better inventory visibility. This ensures that your technicians always have the right parts and equipment needed for the job. Another is by improving scheduling, making it easier to match technicians and skills to jobs, ensuring that the right person is scheduled for each unique job.

Identifying the Needs of Your Field Service Organization

Your company must have the best technology available to be well-positioned to meet the demands of your customers. 

When it comes to choosing the best field service software, look for the following key features:

• AI-driven schedule and routing optimization
• Contractor credentialing and onboarding
• Customer self-service portal
• Blended workforce management
• Analytics and reporting

Invest in Your Field Service Growth 

Even if you aren’t upgrading to field service management software, your competitors are. 

Refine your competitive edge by adopting ServicePower’s field management software today. 

ServicePower is the top management platform in the field service software market and allows you to effortlessly manage both contracted and employed field workforces.

Join the top field service management companies and request a demo.