Improving field service efficiency begins with identifying the inefficiencies that may be costing your RE business time and money. In working with a multitude of customers and prospects within the renewable energy space, I have observed the following pain points most frequently mentioned by RE businesses seeking to improve field service operations:

1. Scheduling and resource planning inefficiencies

RE projects involve many moving pieces. Scheduling project managers, technicians, contractors, and even equipment can be a juggling act. When not executed properly or done using manual processes like whiteboards or spreadsheets, projects can run amuck due to a lack of visibility of data and technicians can easily get double-booked or sent to jobs without the proper supplies, inventory, and asset information. In addition, these inefficiencies can negatively impact important field service metrics, such as first-time fix rate (FTFR) and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR).

Project costs rise when planning and scheduling processes lack efficiency and utilization numbers drop—in the field and the back office. With recent labour shortages and supply chain delays, scheduling and resource planning becomes an even greater challenge requiring the most efficient use of limited resources to maximize utilization and keep projects within budget.

2. Inability to capture (accurate) data in the field

If you have technicians out in the field who are completing paperwork and bringing it back to headquarters at the end of the day, valuable data is at risk of being inaccurate due to human error or even worse, misplaced or lost. Every data point matters as companies seek to scale, improve, and use data to guide future business decisions.

I have heard customers tell me their technicians will often lose paperwork, forget to complete certain forms and fields on work orders, or fail to follow critical workflows required to maintain compliance. Such liabilities present RE businesses with increased exposure to costly mistakes and potentially very unhappy customers.

3. Lack of visibility of comprehensive job costs

Not having full visibility of all costs associated with projects can cost companies a lot of money. Without a single source from which users can view the inventory, time, and payment status associated with each job, businesses run the risk of not accounting for all the resources (inventory, labour hours, supplies) used to complete the job. Having to chase this data down and manually amalgamate it can, in turn, increase the amount of time between job completion and invoicing customers, which ultimately impacts cash flow. And even when the costs are calculated, businesses may struggle to ensure accuracy of the data if it is manually recorded by technicians in the field.

4. Poor customer experience

A poor customer experience costs businesses money in the form of opportunity cost—losing existing customers and/or not attracting new ones due to negative online or word-of-mouth reviews. When the previously mentioned inefficiencies rear their ugly heads in the form of extended project deadlines, inaccurate billing, and inconsistent communication with the customer, customers notice. If customers have easy access to provide feedback, they may do so. However, one market research firm found that 96% of dissatisfied customers will not complain, and 91% will simply not return.

Whether business owners acknowledge it or not, every member of your team and every touchpoint with customers can impact the customer experience positively or negatively. This is especially true for field technicians who are going onsite to service or repair customer assets. When technicians do not have all the information required to complete a job efficiently and accurately, the customer notices. And when technicians do not have the tools to capture new data accurately and easily, this perpetuates a poor customer experience.