Salesforce Field Service Implementation and How to Optimize it
Running and maintaining a business demands multiple activities and updates to perform properly. And every organization, at some point or another, will require the services of a technician. And the common problem observed here is that you frequently find that the technician is late or that the schedule or meeting is uncoordinated. The efficient administration of service professionals is therefore one of the most challenging activities for several businesses. With delays, time logs, miscommunications, and a lack of real-time visibility, there is an increased demand for technologies that could streamline and help with field service operations management.
Salesforce Field Service, formerly known as Field Service Lightning (FSL), is a field solution provided by Salesforce. This application was designed as a field solution to manage jobs on-site and allow real-time collaboration. The FSL platform from Salesforce focuses on putting the right mobile employee in the right place at the right time to meet or exceed customer expectations.
Why should businesses implement Salesforce Field Service Lightning?
Salesforce Field Service Lightning is a tool that can be utilized to execute the necessary tasks required to run successful and efficient business operations. Field Service Lightning (FSL) is a mobile extension of Salesforce Service Cloud that enables teams to collaborate on work/service in real-time, on-site, or remotely, regardless of an internet connection, to provide an integrated view of workforce management. Businesses can make the best use of field engineers using FSL because it provides routing capabilities, resource deployment, and task status online or as an offline mobile app for work execution. From a smart device, the business can also establish and track work orders, appointments, resources, inventory, maintenance, actions, and more. It is a comprehensive all-in-one platform that includes the following features and benefits for managing a business’s field services:
1) Efficient Management of the Work Orders
The use of work orders allows for simple and effective fieldwork tracking. Work orders, contracts, accounts, cases, assets, entitlements, and service contracts are all seamlessly integrated with FSL. Proper creation and execution of work orders help in accomplishing a systematic mechanism of service operations. It further makes things easier by providing access to knowledge articles while allowing for SLA compliance tracking.
2) Enhanced Inventory Management
To provide optimal business asset management, this application streamlines the real-time inventory mentioning process. It assists in proactively identifying asset parts in need of repair. The advanced assets feature can also help track a result, one of the most difficult activities for several businesses of customer products. This can be used in conjunction with the asset hierarchy to track products consisting of multiple parts in a single view. As a result, it improves the speed and quality of customer service.
3) Smarter Work Scheduling and Dispatch
This application feature helps workers in scheduling appointments according to priority level and improving process performance by routing a specific service request to the appropriate agent based on time, location, and abilities. For example, suppose there was an emergency at one of the solar-powered plants; with FSL in place, the problem can be quickly addressed, and a field engineer can be dispatched to the site in no time.
4) Operate and monitor through the mobile
Field service technicians who serve the customers while keeping them updated will love the Android and iOS versions of the Field Service Lightning mobile app. Users can use their smartphones to update daily work orders, track part supply, collect customer signatures, and communicate with dispatchers. SFL’s Dispatcher Console allows you to manage mobile operations in real-time, check alerts for issues that need to be addressed, schedule jobs with a single click, and track and monitor mobile resources.
Primary Features of Salesforce Field Service
The following are some of the most beneficial features of Salesforce’s Field Service solution:
- Field specialist monitoring and management
- Creating and managing work orders from cases
- Vehicle tracking
- Route optimization
- Job-status real-time updates
- Time tracking and logging
- Knowledge and asset management
- Invoicing and payment processing
- Inventory management
- Customer portal
- Regulation compliance management
Challenges that Salesforce Field Service eliminates
1) Field service operations such as repairs and installations are handled manually via spreadsheets/phone calls, which makes them cumbersome and difficult to scale.
2) Monitoring field technicians, it was always difficult to keep track of field technicians in real-time, having limited control over their usage and productivity.
3) Disconnected data causes significant productivity loss, particularly for service managers who must keep track of work orders, inventory – components ordering/shipment, technicians – schedules/unavailability, escalations, and more.
4) Unorganized data and laborious paperwork result in a lack of actionable insights.
5) Documents and forms that technicians fill out after each field visit to create service reports are prone to errors and are often incomplete.
How to Optimize Salesforce Service Cloud Implementation
1) Begin with a strong and effective discovery process
Today, many businesses rush through the discovery process because they believe they already know what they require. Then, halfway through development, they are caught off guard by something that would have been simple to deal with at the beginning. The mission’s success depends on the capability to plan ahead of time:
- Inspection of the present and prospective field service processes.
- What is the problem that Salesforce Field Service (FSL) should solve?
- Who should be included in the discovery process as users and stakeholders?
- What is the scope of the project and what is the budget for each phase?
- When does the project have to be completed? Timelines are crucial!
- What technological features best handle the issue?
2) Mapping out the customer and field service agent journey
To use Salesforce Field Service Lightning to its full potential, you will need a thorough understanding of the client journey and corporate workflow. Most organizations have out-of-date workflows, and it is always an innovative idea to reinvent them and rethink them in terms of problems and solutions to understand how your business will interact with customers.
The purpose of the service agent, like that of the customer, is to ensure that everyone on the team is on the same page. Without aligning your field service personnel to the buyer’s journey, you will have trouble ensuring a successful outcome.
3) Leverage real-time visibility and analytics
Real-time data is one of the most helpful and unquestionably strong capabilities that Salesforce Field Service will provide for your business. You will not only be able to see your operation in action, but you will also have access to useful statistics and data. With Salesforce’s different analytics capabilities, you can quickly identify your business’s weak and strong aspects, as well as establish accurate inventory estimates.
4) Devise a mobile-first strategy
Field professionals are in charge of your services, and it is crucial to ensure that they constantly have access to all critical information. This access is also available through the mobile application. Agents can manage their workflows and be more responsive than ever before with the Salesforce field service mobile application. Agents can focus on what matters most with prioritized notifications, such as detailed insights into previous occurrences, similar and repeat alerts, knowledge articles, and key metrics.
5) Predictive Intelligence and Performance Metrics
Predictive intelligence can help automate the categorization and routing of issues to the right resolution teams. It can also help empower technicians with AI-assisted knowledge to solve problems faster. The ability to understand key failure points and timelines will enhance customer satisfaction, reduce service costs, and generate new revenue opportunities.
You should also determine which Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) correspond to your goals and which FSL product features help you achieve those goals. Because you get what you measure, it is critical to start with these essential metrics at the start of the project to guarantee that architectural decisions are aligned from the start.
6) Continual Salesforce FSL improvements
The Salesforce Field Service platform will develop and improve, as will your business process, employee turnover, and product changes, all of which will have an impact on how you provide service. To properly evaluate and manage your strategic organizational goals, you will need to keep your data, people, and business goals all aligned. You must ensure that all stakeholders are aware that the Salesforce FSL app needs updates and modifications.
Conclusion
Today customers are becoming increasingly habituated to receiving real-time event updates. They want to know what they can expect from their appointment with a field agent, as well as reassurance that the work will be completed during their first visit. Customers need to know where the technician is, when he will arrive, and how long it will take for the service to be completed. This is what Field Service Lightning is all about; it manages work orders, scheduling, and your mobile workforce.
Field Service Lightning was created to eliminate the need for third-party software, allowing managers to handle everything in one spot. With Field Service Lightning, you can manage communication, record-keeping, scheduling, inventory tracking, and more. It is a comprehensive solution that addresses the specific requirements of a field service operation. Get the results that you want for your business by implementing this amazing solution today. All the best!
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