Qualified contractors selected quickly, every time.

There are numerous benefits of contractor management software. Increased service coverage is a significant benefit– worker shortages negatively impact your field service organization’s ability to dispatch technicians when needed. Using contractors is a crucial way to expand your coverage without the complexity or expense of a fully employed workforce. 

Customer service is another area where you will see the benefit of contractor management software. With a user-friendly interface and customer portal, customers can schedule their own service appointments and feel secure in the expectation that the right technician with the right tools and experience can solve their problems quickly. Customer service is a significant retainer for field service organizations; 80% of customers say that the customer experience is as important as its products and services, and 57% report having stopped service with a company because a competitor provided a better experience. 

Enhancing customer service excellence requires guaranteeing that contractors meet necessary qualifications, are adequately equipped, and adhere to compliance throughout their involvement with a field service company. Contractor management software achieves this through rigorous contractor credentialing and comprehensive background checks, ensuring that only the most reliable technicians are engaged as contractors from the outset. Additionally, an intelligent onboarding process ensures that each contractor receives a thorough servicer profile, tailored training, and the necessary readiness to perform their work safely and effectively.

Contractor onboarding must be proactive and complete before your contractors are given their first assignment. Communicate with them proactively to ensure that any questions are answered. While it is helpful to have personal conversations to ensure clarity about expectations, much of the onboarding process can be automated. This is done by adopting robust workforce management software that allows you to automate the collection of contractor data while providing timely and comprehensive onboarding resources.

Good workforce management software will have online portals for self-service options, which are crucial for a streamlined onboarding process These portals allow for insurance and tax information to be collected efficiently and accurately, certification to be checked, and errors to be eliminated.  Automated onboarding technology uses step-by-step wizards to ensure your new contractors fill out all necessary forms before their first assignments without dealing with the inefficiencies of an error-prone paperwork process. 

You should also ensure that your workforce management software allows you to configure contractor profiles. This will speed up the process and allow for tedious tasks to be completed faster and easier. This software can also help familiarize your new contractors with the daily operations of field service and remind them of company expectations.

Finding the right contractors is often crucial to field service success but can be quite tricky. The contractors are out there, and attracting them to your company essentially entails making your company easier to work for. This means making work less frustrating and more efficient so that the contractors don’t feel like they’re wasting their time. A speedy, streamlined, automated onboarding process shows your contractors from the get-go that your company wants to make it as simple as possible to get work done. Contractor support, like the ability to communicate efficiently through a responsive mobile app, contributes to their satisfaction. 

Embracing good communication is a vital part of finding and retaining qualified contractors. The best field service technicians are highly communicative with both the organization and customers. Communicating well can set a good contractor apart from a passable contractor. Being able to easily communicate job needs, explain issues to customers, and update dispatch are all aspects of communication that drastically improve field service processes and overall efficiency standards. Look for and choose contractors who can relay information in an easy-to-understand way. But communication is a two-way street, and you need to communicate with them as well. If your contractors can’t get hold of dispatch or people who can solve their problems on the job, they’ll quickly become frustrated, possibly even to the point of leaving your company.

Dispatch software is a tool used by organizations to manage and automate their field service
operations. The software helps to efficiently schedule and dispatch technicians, track job
progress in real-time, and optimize routes and resources to maximize efficiency and
productivity. Key features typically include job scheduling and dispatching, route optimization, real-time tracking and communication, and performance analytics and reporting.

Field service management software is a digital platform that automates and optimizes field
service workflows. By transforming traditional, manual processes into seamless digital
workflows, field service organizations are enabled with increased visibility, productivity, and efficiency. Moreover, embracing field service management software is a critical part of the digital transformation, empowering companies with the field service tools they need to succeed in the changing industry.

Workforce management software is an online platform that manages staff scheduling and
operational processes to optimize employee productivity. It generally includes features including attendance management and timekeeping, scheduling and shift management and labor planning and forecasting. In field service organizations, mobile technician enablement and work order management are also key to look for when choosing a solution.