Failure to prioritize jobs is a key obstacle that prevents a field service business from providing excellent customer service. As the business grows, the number of work orders received from customers, as well as internal orders from inventories, administration, and other departments, increases. Manually attempting to prioritize tasks has its limitations. FSM software offers innovative algorithms that eliminate the burden of prioritizing work orders; read on to learn how.
How Does Prioritizing Work Orders Improve FSM?
When it comes to obtaining service, every customer wants to be your priority. This highlights the importance of priority in facilitating your service delivery efforts.
Customer Satisfaction Improves
Some customers and jobs are undoubtedly more important than others. If your business understands how to identify recurring customers, influencers, and emergency orders, you can build a stronger brand image. Prioritizing jobs also helps to lessen the cognitive strain on your office teams and managers. They are better equipped to deliver prompt solutions to your customers, guaranteeing that your field service professionals are not operating independently.
Reduced Inventory Downtime
Prioritizing jobs allows you to better deploy your resources in terms of equipment, tools, materials, and labor. This reduces bench time for workers, ensuring that every person recruited has a job to accomplish. Such practices help limit downtime for equipment, ensuring its utilization. Financing or renting your equipment is beneficial, as you typically make payments based on usage or hourly rates.
Improved Worker Dispatching
Knowing which jobs require attention first allows you to assign the appropriate field service professional with the appropriate skill sets for the job. FSM software also labels job priorities as determined by your management, and workers may select jobs based on the priority tags.
Improved Adaptability
This indicates that your business is more resilient to unexpected jobs or emergency demands. For example, your customer may reschedule the given job, or perhaps your designated field service professional is no longer accessible owing to health issues. In such unforeseen instances, FSM software may reschedule and assign the next available field service specialist without the need for manual involvement from your office staff.
How Do I Prioritize Work Orders?
Here are a few basic practices to help you prioritize work orders.
Create An Urgency Assessment Matrix
How does your field service business define the terms “urgent” and “critical” jobs? Divide your jobs into groups based on how important they are to your business. Also, create a priority hierarchy for customers so you know who to serve first. You may build an assessment matrix that your managers or supervisors can use to identify important jobs and plan work orders.
Take Your Location Into Account
To send the appropriate job service professionals, it is important to know where your field service technicians are in relation to the job site. Understanding their real-time whereabouts is crucial as it allows you to make informed decisions and provide the most efficient routes. To apply this strategy, you’ll need GPS-powered FSM software like Zuper.
Analyze Historical Work Order Data
Use data analysis tools, or select FSM software that includes such features. This helps you understand whether work orders create delays, receive negative feedback from customers, or have low first-time fix rates. Trends will help you identify opportunities for scaling, improving operational procedures, and providing greater value to customers.
Ensure Continuous Evaluation Of On-ground Execution
Gather feedback from the customer and the assigned field service workers to gain a better understanding of the job’s performance. Make sure to consider the feedback when prioritizing activities in the future. Communicate the same with them, promising greater service delivery.
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With FSM Software, Work Order Prioritization Is Easy
FSM software is a specialized solution for managing and automating field service activities, including work order administration. You can reduce the cognitive strain on your workers and managers by using FSM technologies to prioritize jobs and boost customer satisfaction. Zuper is an FSM software that incorporates specialized AI-enabled capabilities to help you prioritize your work orders—book a sample to see how it works.
