If you’re a business owner, choosing the right field service management (FSM) software for your business is an extremely important decision. You likely spend a significant amount of time thinking through innovative ways to keep costs low, reduce downtime, and curate a more enjoyable experience for your internal team and your customers.
To ensure you choose business software to best assist your business, there are many factors to consider, such as cost, customization, implementation, etc. Consider the following tips to help you make this decision.
5 Things to Do Before Buying Field Service Management Software
Rushing the process of how to choose your business software will only cause more speed bumps in the big picture.
1. Assess Your Needs
Higher-ups at companies may be tempted to rush into buying business software without first taking the time to assess their needs. It’s important to consider all of your company’s specific needs and pain points to help you find the software that best caters to you.
Rather than opting for the same software your competitor uses, develop a firm understanding of what your services are and how the software you choose can elevate your business. While your business may already be extremely successful, be mindful that you’ll need solutions as you continue to grow.
The software you choose should be scalable to keep up with the evolving needs of your organization.
2. Explore the Software Features
Each software comes with specific requirements and capabilities. For example, you may be in need of work order functionality or assistance with detailed asset management. Make sure to write out the specific needs that this software needs to assist with to help you choose the best field service management software.
Common examples of areas that businesses need assistance include scheduling, tracking work orders, job history details, listing inventory, and more. Compare these needs to the software’s main features to ensure your needs will be met.
Depending on the software, it may even come with dynamic forecasting features to help you manage future business operations.
3. Make Sure the Software is Compatible with Your Team
This software won’t be utilized by one or two team members; it’s designed to be implemented and used across your entire business. You’ll want to ensure that the functionality and benefits of this field service management software are widespread, allowing each of your business’ teams to directly benefit.
When you’re putting together your list of software features to look for in your next software, make sure to check in with your team members as well. Look into specific requirements and harness any feedback to help guide you toward the ideal platform for your business.
4. Check Online Reviews
When’s the last time you purchased anything online without looking at customer reviews first? It’s important to take the same approach when choosing the right software for your business. Look into other businesses that have used each software to get an understanding of frustrations and highlights.
The most beneficial reviews will be recent, detailed, and explanatory to help you curate a pro and con list for each software you’re considering. You’ll be able to see common advantages and disadvantages of using each software.
5. Ask for the Price
Cost is undoubtedly one of the largest factors you’re considering when choosing the best field service management software. It’s important to consider the features you’ll need for the software to be beneficial as well as the size of your organization.
Opting for software on the cheaper side is only ideal if you have a robust in-house technical team that can provide assistance in real-time. Many FSMs on the market today provide flexibility through varying features and subscription models.
Not only should you factor in the initial cost, but the extra time and money associated with maintenance, technical support, training, set up, storage, and more.
What to Look for in a Field Service Management Software?
1. User Experience
Your software may meet all of your business’ needs and it still may not be the right option. The quality of the platform will have a huge impact on what the user experience is like for your team. A great user experience is one of the most underrated yet important aspects in choosing software that will have the most impact. Poor user experiences may include factors such as slow software that is difficult to navigate or complicated to understand.
Your employees need to be able to seamlessly navigate the platform without getting lost or confused. The more confident your team is using the software, the better service they’ll be able to provide to your customers.
2. Mobility and Security
Thanks to today’s technology, any field service management software you’re using should provide updated data in real-time. For example, if you are in a field service business, consider choosing software that takes photos of signed and completed work orders and incorporates them into the customer’s file.
Having the ability to complete tasks like this on the go can increase how many of your processes are completed faster and reduce management hassle. All of the data stored within the platform should be secure as it contains sensitive customer information. One small data leak or hack can have a huge impact on your business.
3. Customer Care Service
The last thing you want is to wait on hold to talk to someone about your platform in the case that an issue arises. After all, you’re paying a good amount of money to access the software, so the support aspect should be fast and easy.
The right field service software provider will provide support long after the software has been implemented. If your provider is only interested in making the sale, their support won’t last long after you begin using the platform.
Ideally, customer service is at the forefront of the business’ platform and the support team will be happy to solve your issues and prevent them from happening in the future.
4. Developers’ Knowledge Base
Tech-savvy users won’t have any difficulties navigating software, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be high levels of training involved in your field service software. It’s only natural to expect this type of training considering the price of professional software.
Tapping into the knowledge base of the developers can help ensure you are tapping into all relevant features of the software. The last thing you want is to only use 10 percent of the software for which you’re paying full price.
5. Customer Portal
Your customers may benefit from access to a self-service interface that brings a level of transparency and empowerment to your business. Not only can this customer portal reduce the costs, but it can increase visibility, speed up the cash flow, improve your communication with the customer, and provide them with an overall better experience.
Many times, a customer portal is linked to increased company revenue.
6. Dispatching Capabilities
For many businesses, the dispatching capabilities are amongst the most important features of the right field service management software. This software can ping your field service employees with new jobs, provide them with route optimization, and allow for overall organization and flexibility for your business.
The more jobs your business can accept, the more money you’ll make. Dispatching plays a huge role in maintaining a steady workflow.
7. Maintenance Capabilities
Knowing that your customers may experience an issue before it happens is the root of great customer service. The right FSM can provide you with accurate insights on maintenance schedules to stay one step ahead of your customers’ needs.
Data surrounding pre-failure conditions and other predictive maintenance can impress your customers and deliver them insight about their future appointment needs.
8. Update Frequency
This feature of the right field service management software is often overlooked. Update frequency refers to how often the provider releases updates to the software. This exemplifies the commitment to excellence and constantly evolving the product to keep up with your business needs.
Conclusion
Choosing the right software for your business is a large decision. Don’t rush into it! Instead, consider all of the above factors in guiding you toward a high-quality product that will provide the most important benefits to your team.
As many companies have already gone through this process and tested the waters, look into their feedback and guidance in helping you with your decision.
If you’re looking for a strong field service management software, consider serviceminder.io for your needs. Our platform is built for franchisors and business owners who want to take their operations to the next level in the most strategic way.
Book a demo with us to see how we can assist your needs!