Welcome to the “Appointments Economy”
During the Pandemic and now moving to the Post-Pandemic world, many organizations are reconsidering and redesigning how they form relationships and interact with consumers. New social distancing and safety requirements created the need for many companies to adopt an appointment-only model. If we look at how the world has adapted to change over the last year, it appears that this may become a norm. Because so many industries are affected by this new norm, we’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the shift to an “Appointments Economy.”
Change is here for good, and as this quote from over 100 years ago reminds us, the cadence of change can often be unpredictable: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” During the last year, we have witnessed a massive change in consumer behaviour, and it fundamentally changed the relationship between consumer and business. The insecurity and precautionary measures for social distancing created the need for tailored service accuracy at the time of arrival. Companies need to cultivate the right mindset to satisfy consumers’ expectations, and with the right mindset comes the right software.
Field Service Management solutions have been rapidly growing in the last couple of years. Initially positioned between the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Finance, Field Service Management software has gained its spot in the world of critical corporate software. FSM software is essential for running field service operations when delivering safety is more important than ever. Field Service Management is helpful for industries that employ mobile workforce and contractors. Those could be public utilities, transportation, telecommunications, professional services, financial services, construction, child-care, or vending machine services. All those industries servicing consumers and businesses have a shared priority – to guarantee comfort and relevant attitude to clients. Now they can do their job even better!
Field Service Lightning by Salesforce, built on top of Service Cloud, scores highest in “Completeness of Vision” in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management solutions. It gives users various functionalities required for service – Smart Appointments Scheduling, Inventory and Asset Management, Project Lifecycle Management, Mobile Field Execution, Workforce Management, and more.
Source: Gartner (June 2020)
Here are a couple of features/modules that will lead you towards a successful service strategy while providing safe, reliable, scheduled, and transparent service to your clients.
Service Appointments Scheduling
That’s the essential feature for supporting the “appointments economy.” The consumer has changed their expectations about what service is over the last year, and this expectation will remain so even after we stop wearing masks and keeping 2m distance. The appointment economy is here to stay, and even after the crisis, the consumer will not be eager to give up on the service upgrade they get nowadays. Scheduling appointments has never been more accessible now using the Field Service Lightning. The scheduling mechanisms could be manual, semi-automated, or fully automated depending on the level of flexibility and automation you desire. The intelligent scheduling working in parallel with optimizing the job with the right mobile resources, contractors, and parts/materials(assets) sends the service teams ten steps forward closer to the happy client.
Dispatcher Console
The custom dispatcher console that Field Service Lightning provides is a visual workspace for service schedulers and dispatchers. Within it, schedulers and dispatchers can view and manage appointments and team members in various ways, such as customized Gantt charts and dynamic maps. Using the Dispatcher Console, dispatchers can monitor and conduct the entire appointments lifecycle and make sure appointments are assigned to the right mobile workers based on different parameters like capacity, availability, skills, time travel, truck inventory, and others. 021
The Gantt Schedule is a powerful tool for dispatchers to monitor their team’s schedules. It also shows KPIs like Total schedule time, Average travel time, No.of completed Appointments, No of Appointments with Rule Violations, No.of Appointments are in Jeopardy.
Source: Salesforce Trailhead
Changing to the map view reveals a dynamic bird’s-eye view of the mobile workforce. The map is highly interactive, giving the dispatcher the ability to draw service territories themselves, check traffic in real-time.
Source: Salesforce Trailhead
The dispatcher Console is also highly customizable, giving extra flexibility and choice.
Field Service Mobile app
Field Service Mobile app is the mobile app that comes with the Field Service Lightning packages. But don’t mistake this for the regular Salesforce mobile app! Field Service Mobile is an enterprise-class Salesforce experience built for mobile to be lightweight and optimized for a modern mobile workforce. Salesforce took care to think end-to-end on this solution, including asynchronous data uploads for users without internet connectivity. Knowing that Salesforce will automatically save and sync that data gives peace of mind. It’s highly customizable, too, allowing companies to tailor it to their unique needs. Custom branding, push notifications, access for subcontractors, service reports for clients, inventory tracking, and Appointment Assistant are all features Field Service Mobile provides, making it an all-in-one tool for workers on the go. Teams using Field Service Mobile have benefitted from increased service KPIs like CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score), Customer Retention Rate, Employee Engagement and decreasing repeat visits.
In conclusion, we will outline the benefits that the Field Service Lightning brings to all stakeholders in the service process.
Most important, Field Service Lightning customers can realize almost 50% faster case resolution rates because it enables field technicians and mobile workers to arrive prepared with enough details about the job, the right materials and parts on the truck, an accurate timeslot, and the most skilled resource to handle the job.
Second, dispatchers no longer need to compare different calendars and schedules and have multiple systems open on desktop and browser. They now have their workspace hub – the Dispatcher Console, which makes dispatching smart, straightforward, and optimized.
Field Technicians and mobile workers come on the spot, prepared with enough details about the scope of the work and the required materials on the truck. With their mobile phone or tablet at hand with the Field Service Lightning app installed, they can track the work progress and work closely with the office hub. Workers’ productivity doesn’t have to stop when there is no connectivity. The Field Service Mobile app can work effectively when offline. In addition, workers’ schedules are well organized and optimized, reflecting their lunch breaks and even travel time from their homes.
And finally, business owners and leaders receive powerful reporting and analytics tools so they can monitor important KPIs and forecast their future workload.
Smart leaders choose smart solutions.
If you are looking for a field service solution for your business, Field Service Lightning by Salesforce is the leader on the market by no means, and we at Resolute Software will be happy to make it work for your business needs. We are Field Service Lightning certified and eager to help our clients thrive - from construction companies occupied in roof replacement to electric companies dispatching technicians on the spot for emergencies.
by Evelin Georgieva 