The global pandemic forced everyone to rethink nearly every aspect of our lives on the fly. When it comes to business, those huge, sudden changes to operations were especially apparent in field services.
Now that the world is slowly reopening, companies are realizing that they don’t need to go back to the old way of doing things. Some of the innovations that were brought on by the circumstances of 2020 have changed the way we look at field services for the better.
Now is the perfect time to take a look at the field service industry and the trends that have emerged so far in 2021 so that your company can be on the cutting edge when 2022 comes around.
Spotting the Trends
Taking stock of what worked and what didn’t is key to understanding field service trends. 2020 was a strange year, but it gave us plenty of lessons that we can use to predict where field service management is headed in the near future.
Perhaps the biggest blessing in disguise from the global pandemic was that field service providers were forced to quickly try new strategies and protocols. That meant that anything that wasn’t working was changed right away.
When we talk about field service trends 2021, we are talking about those policies and practices that were shown to work in 2020 that can be built upon in a more open, less complicated way.
Contactless Operations
The global pandemic made some changes to how field service worked in 2020. While everyone still wants their technical and service issues resolved quickly, many companies have responded positively to solutions that can be reached remotely.
And reducing the amount of in-person field service saves money on mileage, wear and tear on company vehicles, etc. Using field service management software like TEAM IM M-Connect Field Services allows your technicians to pull up detailed information on the equipment you have out in the world to diagnose issues and find solutions remotely or in-person—however, the client prefers.
Predictive Maintenance
Along similar lines, the future of field service is interwoven with advances in the Internet of Things (IoT). Leveraging smart equipment, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the IoT is an increasingly important tool in the field service toolbox.
Instead of waiting for a customer to call about, for example, a piece of manufacturing equipment breaking down, IoT-connected machinery can relay performance data directly to a customized app that can use that data to predict maintenance needs.
Taking this kind of proactive stance towards field service not only saves money by addressing potential maintenance problems before they become disasters, it also gives you a stronger reputation as a reliable, customer-focused business.
Focus on Customer Service
Treating customers well is nothing new, but coming out of 2020, the power of field service team members who excel at making the customer feel heard and understood as they work to resolve the customer’s need has never been more apparent.
Having field service management software that puts all the relevant data about any piece of machinery you have in the field, as well as information about the people using that machinery and their most relevant needs at the tips of your field agents’ fingertips is invaluable.
When you know your customers and understand their needs, you can upsell them without making them feel like you’re upselling them. Additionally, keeping strong data resources helps you maintain continuity if there is turnover on your team—letting your customer know that just because the person they are accustomed to is gone, you still have their priorities in mind is important.
On top of all that, customized apps through M-Connect Field Service can incorporate visual data and text. When combined with field service innovations like Augmented Reality functionality, it becomes possible to walk someone through minor service issues remotely. That gives the customer immediate resolution and saves you the money you would spend on sending out an agent.
Changing Faces of Field Service
Time never stops marching on, and some recent field service industry statistics bear that expression out by showing that millennials are becoming a larger and larger part of field service teams across industries.
There are some that recoil whenever someone says “millennial,” but remember: the oldest millennials are turning 40 in 2021. This is a generation in its prime as members of the workforce.
And having a generation that has grown up alongside the biggest technological advances in the history of the world, becoming a large part of field services at the same time that customized field service apps and programs are becoming primary tools is not a bad thing.
Millennials generally take less time to grasp new technologies and adapt to their usage, reducing your training and transition time when automating and streamlining your field service operations.
Many millennials prioritize working for companies that treat people well over many other factors (including pay in some cases), which means they will use their skills with new technologies and the training they get from experienced field team members to give customers an unforgettably positive experience.
It All Springs Forth from Your Platform
All of these trends that began emerging in 2020 and have continued into 2021 can be capitalized on with the right field service software.
M-Connect Field Services leverages the power of JourneyApps to create customized apps and programs that allow you to take the above trends and make them work for you.
Share information peer-to-peer, collect data remotely (even offline), sync your data on the backend with your document management software to create a seamless pipeline from collection to analysis.
The software to optimize predictive maintenance and remote service and to provide quick customer satisfaction is here at TEAM IM. Why wouldn’t you want to make it easy for your team to use by putting it all together in your own custom field service platform?
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