Why understanding your Field Service customers' expectations is a 2017 game changer

Jan 12, 2017 • Features • Management • management • Microsoft 365 • eBECS

Stephen Wilson, CMO, eBecs looks at why understanding customer expectations is perhaps the biggest challenge and requirement for field service companies in 2017...

How do you ensure that your field service technicians are completing their jobs effectively and fulfilling customers’ expectations? First, you’re going to have to identify what your customers’ expectations really are. Many businesses assume that because they know the product or service, they know best what customers need. This assumption is incredibly risky. It can lead customers to feel like they’re not valued, that their needs aren’t going to be met, and in the end selecting another company to do business with.

What can you do to better understand and meet your customers’ expectations in order to keep customers satisfied and loyal to your business?

Customer Information

Part of being able to meet your customers’ expectations is ensuring that your technicians are provided with all relevant information before they leave for a service call.

Technicians can easily view past call notes, identifying any challenges that may not have been anticipated, thus saving everyone time.

Working with a Field Service Management Solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365, keeps customer information all in one place. It ensures that all supplies need for the job are ready before the technician leaves your yard. When a technician has to make a second visit due to missing equipment, it’s not only costing your business money, but it’s not valuing your customers’ time.

Keeping customer information all in one place improves future service calls as well. Technicians can easily view past call notes, identifying any challenges that may not have been anticipated, thus saving everyone time.

Touch Points

Where do your customers interact with your company? What is their experience along all touch points? Your customers’ experience, from everything from your website, to the emails from your team, to the technician they interact with, matter. Even more importantly they all need to align with your brand and business image.

One of the biggest disconnects for a customer can be going to your website, expecting a certain level of professionalism, only to receive communications and experiences that don’t align. Regardless of the size of your company, holding your business to a professional standard at all touch points will ensure that customers’ expectations are being met. Adopting technology such as Microsoft Dynamic 365 for Field Service can help your business maintain a professional standard.

Time Management

When a customer has a problem, they want it resolved in a timely fashion. While they understand that they’re not your only customer, what expectations are you setting in regards to their service call? Are you even setting an expectation? One of the biggest disservices to a company is customers having low or no expectations at all. When customers’ expectations are met it builds trust in the relationship with the business.

When it comes to service calls, customers feel more comfortable when provided with a time frame, even before they submit their request.

When it comes to service calls, customers feel more comfortable when provided with a time frame, even before they submit their request. Take a look at your current service calls, are you typically able to make a service call within 72 hours of their request? Can you provide with reasonable accuracy when the field service technician will arrive at their location? If customers are provided with this information, you can start to build trust even before you speak with them.

Using a resource scheduling tool will help you to better calculate, with accuracy, when technicians will be able to complete work orders, and allow you to fit more work orders into each day. Setting those time expectations with your customers can provide huge benefits to your company, because the reality is, the competition likely isn’t making them or holding to them.

Customer Feedback

One of the most important aspects of understanding customer expectations is in getting direct feedback from them. Customer needs are continually evolving and changing, and to stay on top of it you must actively engage with customers.

Using an integrated system that automatically sends out a survey once a service call is completed is a quick and effective way to get immediate feedback. It will help you change and adapt your business to what your customer needs are.

Customer satisfaction is ranked as the highest metric in defining service success. It ranks higher than first-time fix rates and service cost.

Going above and beyond the customer survey can involve a phone call to customer who perhaps had an experience that was lower than their expectations. Knowing that their voices are being heard and their issues addressed increases the overall positive impression customers have of your business.

Customer satisfaction is ranked as the highest metric in defining service success. It ranks higher than first-time fix rates and service cost. When customer expectations are met customers have more trust in the business and are more likely to use your services again in the future. Using an integrated Field Service solution like Microsoft Dynamics 365 to help understanding customer expectations will be a game changer for any business.