In the race of customer satisfaction, growth of revenue and the efficiency of operational firms, every firm is questing with all their dedication to top the charts. Field service, as the name suggests, is a service performed out on the field. Installation of the Field Service solution promises to help out with the issues of maintenance, repairing, inspection, monitoring, etc. Field service solution involves the process of dispatching workers or contractors for the sole purpose of repairing or maintaining the system or equipment.
In this modern world, every company is striving hard to stay up to date and implement new software and effective tools, and every organization, be it big or small, faces certain challenges. Everyone tries to solve them to the best of their ability, but it would be easier if their problems are kept in mind before making the implementation. The implementation should make sure that the workforce or the profit is not going downhill. Field service solution comes out to be a challenge before organizations as it involves multiple levels of coordination, and it is natural for questions and doubts, and sometimes even misunderstandings to arise at every level. So, before going for a Field service solution, a company must be fully aware of the consequences and should set its pace to face the challenges.
Here are the top six the most common challenges, followed by the ways through which one could sort them out :
Inconsistency in the expectations of the organization and the service provider
While using service providers, a company should make itself clear about their further plans and expectations, and this would ensure that no high and false hopes are made. The aspects of cost, time, and quality must be made clear to both parties.
This challenge often arises with big companies as small companies have managers who are directly in contact with the service providers and closely handle the implementation. Contrary to this, large companies have different tiers involved in the whole process. Thus the direct contact with the team is abolished, which results in issues such as a mismatch in expectations.
The correct tools and features that are to be implemented should be properly talked about. The results of the implementation should be clear to everyone. A proper track of the organization’s current and expected performance should be kept. The necessary results should be foresighted beforehand and should be agreed upon by both the company and the software vendor.
Finding it hard to change the management
All along the time of implementation, the organization should think realistically. They should beforehand keep in mind that certain changes would arise as the process starts.
A new team of service providers would start working, which would result in changes in the process, training methods, employers, etc. Before putting money and time, an organization should take time to imagine all the consequences of the changes made.
A solid example of this issue would be when in an organization a switch is made from on-prem to cloud software, and the organization would be answerable on behalf of the software vendors for concerns such as data redundancy and internet access.
If the employees are well trained beforehand for the feedback, then it would make this challenge easy to tackle. Employers who are experts in using the new software could be chosen to handle the feedback process.
Lack of mapping
Before laying down any software or team of software providers, a company should hold a proper understanding of the provider’s potential and how to utilize this to the top of its capacity. Or in other words, the organization should be accountable at every step of the implementation procedure. Without this basic knowledge, the implementation would be of no use.
Most of the time, big companies omit the mapping process as it is considered of minimum importance. But the fact is that without fulfilling this process, the software would be of less help, and often it results in implementation failure.
It is magnificent to perform a complete analysis of the process to come up with a suitable mapping. If this process is perfected, the unnecessary processes or tools could be tackled and removed with ease at the start itself.
With the mapping process, better automation rules and regulations could be set and implemented.
The backlash from the software users
It is a universal fact that a person can not please everyone. The same goes for the organization, which is thinking about implementing a field service solution.
People at the end of the system, such as field service agents, field managers, dispatchers, etc., might be in doubt about the new software. The organization should be responsible for any type of mishap while the implementation process is carried out.
The whole process should be transparent, meaning employees should have complete knowledge about the process. They should have zero fear about their jobs being snatched away from them. To make them more comfortable with the process and the new environment, their advice should be taken during the mapping process, and necessary alterations should be carried out. If somehow the employees are not well aware of the new software, then they should be trained beforehand in order to not let any inconvenience take place. If the workers are not trained, then they might revert back to the manual processes, and the organization would receive heavy backlash.
Achievements
The fact that achievement is not made overnight should be looked upon. Setting up hopes for fulfilling big goals overnight would not only result in failure but also make everyone involved in the process demotivated. Focusing on small achievements would ensure a sense of comfort among the organization and the employees. It would make sure that everyone is happily managing work with the new tools.
A realistic metric with realistic goals and achievements should be considered before taking into account the new software. This would indicate that the implementation of the new software would truly result in small but noticeable and quick achievements.
The customer’s expectations
A company or an organization is for its customers and because of their customers. Before making a huge investment in-field software, the company should keep in mind that suppose the customers are not well pleased with the software, and then the implantation is a complete failure because it’s the customer’s satisfaction that should matter to an organization.
This challenge could be handled with ease if the customers are entirely aware of the upcoming software, which could be ensured if a strong line of communication is made between the customer and the organization.
In this way, if the end customer is uncomfortable with the new tools. In this way, the customers would be satisfied, and the organization would be aware of the needs and hopes of their customers for making the implementations.
Duplication
When the communication between the field service providers and the office is not maintained or the presence of miscommunication between the two, the issue of duplicate data entries may take place, which in turn results in inefficiency and wastage of time.
Conclusion
After learning about the challenges, an organization should not think about stepping back from implementing new field software. The process could be made easier if proper preventive measures were taken initially. Communication is the key. Good communication would solve 85 percent of the problems. The rest of them can be tackled with skills and proper knowledge.
