Managing field teams is a logistic mess. From coordinating the customers-employees to streamlining the entire process to optimizing the proficiency for higher customer satisfaction—it’s too much to handle. Depending on your business size and scalability, you might have to employ hundreds of individuals just at the backend. And even then, proofing the operational and time efficiency would be virtually impossible.
For this simple reason, Field Service Management (FSM) solutions have gained massive popularity in recent times. Packing just about the right features and facilities, including seamless automation, they are already empowering thousands and thousands of start-ups around the world. Be it Uber or UrbanClap—their operational end is based on a centralized FSM ecosystem. More and more companies, for additional efficacy, less complex and higher returns, are taking up this tech-powered solution. No wonder, by 2019, the global field service management market is estimated to reach the $3.52 billion mark.
So, if your business model, too, has similar roots wherein the employees get hired on-field, it’s important that you leverage on a good field service management software. But the question comes—how to find a good solution in the first place? While they aren’t completely fool-proof, here are 5 simple tips to help you do that:
1. Identify your distinct requirements
This is a general rule of thumb. You cannot invest in or purchase something unless you know your exact needs and requirements. So, factor your business type, model, size, future plans and so forth to effectively identify the kind of facilities you would want from your solution. That being said though, irrespective of your needs, there are few features that are must-haves. It includes automatic job assignment, geo-location, job analysis, and localization configuration.
2. Talking about the “must-haves”
There are more than a handful of features and functionalities that are basically essential for anyone. And these are also the offerings that identify and separate a good solution provider from the bad ones. Here are some of the key features you definitely want in your field service software: