Solid Tips for Upgrading your Service Management Systems Part 2

Competition between service organizations is high, and we all want to be the brand that customers trust. But what happens when your current management system is outdated? Old systems can lead to higher costs and low customer retention. Give your operations a boost by upgrading your service management system, here’s how:

Ask The Right Questions and Identify Your Data Needs

As I mentioned in Part 1, talking to your techs is important in identifying pitfalls and recognizing opportunity. What are they getting out of their current service management software, if any? In what areas do they see room for improvement? A major cause of dissatisfaction among customers is when a technician shows up with the wrong parts. If this happens to your techs often, they may need to change the way they track inventory. Ask your field techs, dispatch team, and even customers about your current process to find ways of improving your service model.

Often, we become so involved with the operations of our team that we forget to take a step back and look at the whole picture. Identify what KPIs you need to improve and ensure that they are measurable, achievable, and relevant to your organization. Such KPIs may include a higher first time fix rate, customer satisfaction and retention, and job costing. Once these KPIs are in place, you’ll want a way to track your progress. Use a service management system that gives you visibility into field operations and a way to easily export data to an accounting or reports tool so you can accurately measure your performance.

Measure the Impact on Your Customers

Once you have asked the right questions and identified your needs, the most important part of choosing a service management system is determining its direct impact on customers. Is there a way to communicate to your customer in real time? Is there a way for your customers to check on the status of their job? Can your back office view job progress and report on KPIs? Data collected from these questions can often go unreported if the right system isn’t implemented, therefore measuring success becomes challenging. Customers and technicians need live information in order to build relationships and trust, so visibility into operations must extend past the organization itself and encompass the job site as well.

Implementing a service management system is just one step towards achieving your operational goals. Repeatedly utilizing customer service tools, tracking, and reporting is important for measuring your success and retaining customers. The good news is that ServicePower has your business needs in mind and can help you improve your current service model. Check out ServicePower to learn more, and upgrade today!

Source: Nexus Blog