Manufacturing Field Service: How to Increase Technician Profitability by 25%

Last week, I met with a potential new client. This company is an equipment manufacturer for other manufacturers. They are looking at Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service as a field service solution. Our discussions centered around how they specifically could increase profitability through field service – and how Dynamics 365 for Field Service could help.

Below are some of the topics we discussed:

1. Decrease technician travel time. Travel time wastes time. Fuel and increased maintenance costs add to the expense of the job. And excess travel decreases technician morale. Contractors especially don’t like these jobs because they don’t get paid for travel. Dynamics 365 for Field Service scheduling features enables dispatch to dynamically assign the closest qualified technician. Daily and weekly routes are optimized to minimize travel time between jobs. You may find that just this one improvement enables technicians to squeeze in more service calls per week.

2. Improve first-time fix rates. Make sure technicians have everything they need to get the job done during their first trip.

a. The right skills and credentials to work on this equipment
b. The right inventory and commonly needed spare parts
c. Information about this service request, the customer, the equipment and the history of past service visits

3. Offload client communication responsibilities. Rather than relying on technicians to keep clients informed, use automation to send emails and text messages based on the job status and technician’s location. Create a customer portal so the client has access to equipment maintenance history and can have a transparent view to information.

4. Create upgrade paths. Get your technicians to sell – easily and naturally. When a technician is working on old, obsolete or problematic equipment, it’s an ideal time to present the client with an upgrade offer. Your technician is the client’s trusted advisor. Use field service workflows to create a recommendation engine for legacy products. Make sure your field service technicians are kept informed about new products as they are introduced.

5. Be more proactive. Rather than reacting to client calls, offer routine preventative maintenance programs to keep equipment running smoothly. Rather than simply scheduling maintenance by time interval, leverage Connected Field Service with connected IoT devices monitoring asset conditions, detecting anomalies and proactively initiating the repair cycle.

6. Focus on outcomes! Manufacturers with mature connected field service operations are changing their business models to offer guaranteed equipment uptime. And they can do so at a premium, because this is a differentiator their competitors can’t match. This win-win scenario gives manufacturers a new stream of recurring revenue, while increasing customer satisfaction.

Dynamics 365 for Field Service

This Manufacturing Connected Field Service demo shows how Dynamics 365 Field Service makes it easy to increase technician profitability.

This Manufacturing Connected Field Service demo shows how Dynamics 365 Field Service makes it easy to increase technician profitability.

Our MCA Connect field service consultants can help you understand how field service software can specifically impact your field service operations and transform your technician profitability. Contact one of them today to get started!

Author: Travis Pullen, Field Service Specialist

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