There was a time when the term 'Reporting' used to be a one-to-one affair between the worker and his reporting manager. All it was expected that the worker will keep his manager updated about work status, and in return will receive his new to-do list. But do you know that 'Reporting' coupled with 'Analytics' can do much more to increase the efficiency of your field workforce by venturing into space above and beyond their regular jobs?
It Makes Your Workforce More Knowledgeable
Field service management apps have proved to be instrumental in defining new dimensions to the concept of reporting. These apps are capable of integrating real-time capturing and uploading of information and convert it to data that gets stored in the centralized database of the app and thus remain available for reference from anywhere and anytime. So how this feature can be utilized by your field workforce for the overall good of the enterprise:
- Reporting the Manager: Of course, primarily the feature can be used for basic reporting wherein the field worker can report to his supervisor on a real-time basis from anywhere and anytime by feeling the timesheets.
- Building a Knowledge Management System: Each of your field workers come across different experiences on day to day basis. Suppose a senior technician succeeds in resolving a difficult-to-fix problem, so instead of keeping that knowledge to himself or spreading it through word of mouth, he can simply create a report on 'how to diagnosis and fix the matter' and upload it in the field service management mobile app so that it becomes available for another technician to refer. Thus, by reporting their troubleshooting experiences, eventually, the field agents can build a complete knowledge management system. In this way, even a naive technician will have real-time access to the troubleshooting processes of different issues and thus he will be able to perform over efficiently.
- It Helps in Inventory Management: This is also a tedious job to be done manually. So many field agents are out there in the field, how the inventory manager will keep a track of who is in sort of which material, and who may have that same material in access. But the field management app enables each agent to report their inventory requirement and also about the unused stock. Then, through automation, a consolidated data can be created with clear details of what stocks need to be refiled and what's lying unused. This helps in avoiding any budget overruns.
- It Lets the Field Agents Contribute to Upsells/Cross-Sells: Analytics and reporting features of a field service management app can help your field agents go beyond their regular repair-fix jobs. Having access to the field service management mobile app, the field agents can convert into a sales agent. They don't require to function within the limitation of their knowledge, rather they can do some upselling or cross-selling by suggesting new but relevant services to their clients as they have real-time access to the inventory records to see the availability of the material required to render the service proposed by them; if they have not done that service earlier, then they can check the knowledge management system for how to do it. Also, these apps can be integrated with automatic quote-generating features, and thus right on the client's site, the field agent can do the quotation also.
The on-site payment concern is also taken care of by the field service management app as it can be integrated with third-party payment gateways, generate invoices and capture on-site client signature.
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