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I n a challenging economy, field service operators may be attracted towards the 'quick wins' of cost-cutting and raising prices overnight. Recruitment freezes, fuel levies, and lowering the time given to planned maintenance orders (in favour of reactive/call-out work) are all strategies that achieve a 'better' profit and loss. These ideas, however, are shortsighted, and leave field businesses with a damaged reputation and great loss of future opportunity. It's possible to improve customer satisfaction and raise the productivity of your existing field resources (and fairly quickly) with the appropriate assistance.

Field Service leaders learned lessons in 2008/9 which were carried into the success strategies we see today. In our 30+ years' experience, we've been here before. Control of planning and scheduling, field productivity, and cash flow, all create an atmosphere where it's possible to mitigate the effects of an economic downturn. Here we've gathered resources to improve field service processes and apply the technologies that are ready to assist your operations.

➤ 10 FIELD SERVICE PLANNING MYTHS THAT COST YOUR BUSINESS

Dispatch and scheduling teams are only human, and humans make mistakes. However, myths, out-of-date knowledge, and incomplete thinking throughout field service planning and in Finance and IT departments become expensive errors in the long run. We've compiled a list of 10 of these traps that persist in planning field forces and technical field service.

➤ CUT THESE 3 COSTS WITH ENGINEER DIARY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Any company that relies on field service engineers to drive profitability is acutely aware that Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are vital to winning new business and retaining contracts. Cost pressures are not unique to the reactive maintenance and call-out service sector. Continually cutting spend does however, leave field operators vulnerable to the issue of reputational risk against quality of service.

Optimised deployment with your live field data can stop cost factors continuing to risk service disruption and mitigate damage to satisfaction scores. Here, we look at how to track and manage three costs with a connected engineer diary management software and prevent risk to SLAs and profitability.

➤ REDUCE OUTSOURCING RISKS WITH FINAL MILE SOFTWARE

Technical field service outsourcing, whether modelled on a long contract or on-demand, has long been a tried-and-tested means to controlling cost and gaining fast access to skills. Indeed, it’s this flexibility that often maintains cash flow in especially seasonal businesses.

Outsourcing technical field service work comes with its own risk however. Investigate arguments on both sides of outsourcing practices, and the features that software offers technical field service departments to mirror the benefits that make outsourcing attractive.

➤ INCREASE THE PRODUCTIVITY OF YOUR FIELD SERVICE MANAGEMENT

Are you looking for new ideas to increase your field service management productivity? It's no secret that technology is a fundamental ally when it comes to increasing productivity. With field service management software (FSM software), you can automate processes, communicate efficiently, and industrialise sensitive customer information for a lasting increase in productivity.

➤ IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IN FIELD SERVICE

A top-rated field service customer experience yields results far beyond end user satisfaction scores. Designing and measuring satisfaction means end-to-end visibility. An organisation can decide where and when to deploy automation; leading to loyalty and future returns. In this post, we'll introduce five actions for your field service business to examine and improve the customer experience.