We’ve talked about how Salesforce can boost your customer service department in general with Service Cloud, as well as the advantages of Omni-Channel Support in particular, but now let’s turn our focus to the realm of field service. According to Salesforce, 68% of service executives say that field service is an important part of their customer experience strategy, and almost three-quarters of them (72%) use field service management software to resolve cases more quickly, which makes Salesforce Field Service Lightning right up their alley.
So what can Salesforce Field Service Lightning do to improve your field service operation? Read on to find out.
What is Salesforce Field Service Lightning?
First off, what is Salesforce Field Service Lightning? Field Service Lightning is a…wait for it…field service management software that helps automate the communication and integration of tasks between dispatchers, mobile technicians, and everyone else involved in that process. Field Service Lightning helps your entire field service process run more smoothly and efficiently, allowing agents to keep track of communication and tasks all on one interface. Pretty neat, right?
Common Challenges Faced by Field Service Operations
While the products they handle may be different, almost every field service operation faces similar challenges in the course of doing business, including insufficient in-field support, poor communication with customers, manual data entry issues, backed-up dispatchers, difficulty managing employee performance, and more.
If field service techs don’t get the support they need to do their jobs well, how can we expect them to succeed (and how can their performance be effectively evaluated)? If dispatchers and service techs aren’t able to communicate clearly with their customers (and vice versa), you wind up with canceled jobs, frustrated techs, unhappy customers, and a negative reputation.
Salesforce Field Service Lightning solves these problems and more with automation, real-time access to helpful information, and a whole load of other tools designed to help out everyone from mobile employees to dispatchers to supervisors. Here’s how:
How Does Salesforce Field Service Lightning Benefit…
Mobile Employees?
With Field Service Lightning, field service techs can see their whole schedule for the day on any iOS or Android device. When it’s time for their next appointment, they can get directions from any navigational app in just one click, right from the app, and when they’re on-site, they can use the app to contact the customer (by phone, SMS text message, or email), easily update parts and inventory, access system-suggested knowledge articles, and attach photos if needed, all without needing to leave the work order.
Thanks to AI-powered Einstein Vision, field agents can use image recognition to quickly and accurately identify assets and parts, helping to improve first-time fix rates and prevent wasted time—no more situations where the field service tech realizes too late that they needed Part Q instead of Part L. (In addition, supervisors can set up the system so that an item’s visual classification automatically delivers the proper set-up steps to technicians, making them even more efficient.)
Dispatchers?
Dispatchers can use Field Service Lightning to fill in schedules, respond to emergencies, and coordinate any type of mobile resource (and better yet, do so all from the same view). Field Service Lightning gives dispatchers a map that not only displays all field operations and traffic (in real time, to boot), but it also allows them to create service territories that make sense for their business. No cookie-cutter templates here.
Another way Field Service Lightning helps out dispatchers is by automatically routing jobs to the best field agent based on said agent’s skills and current location, as well as whatever custom business rules would best serve your organization. If your dispatchers are like your company’s pilots, Field Service Lightning acts like an auto-pilot—the machine taking on the routine operations while your people handle what they do best. Connected products are a great example of this division of labor. If hooked up to the correct network, connected products can automatically generate work orders to initiate repairs without the need for a dispatcher, allowing them to focus on the human interactions they do best.
Supervisors?
And don’t think managers get left out of the fun—among its many other benefits, Field Service Lightning can generate informative graphics that easily convey operation status and employee productivity, helping supervisors identify opportunities for training and putting out fires as soon as they see them (and before they grow into raging infernos).
Interested in learning more about what Salesforce Field Service Lightning can do for your field service operation in particular? Already use Field Service Lightning but unsure if you’re making the most out of the technology? Wherever you’re at, our senior-level Salesforce consultants can help you kick things up a notch on the metaphorical “Awesome Company” meter.
