Field Services refer to work usually performed outside of the office. In the “field”, and concerns management of the property belonging to a client rather than the company’s property. The key to the successful growth of the field services business is to use time as productive as possible. Digital tools such as the field service management software, and digital accounts receivable management will not only help you to reduce manual and repetitive tasks but also will eliminate costly errors and save time.
The field services management businesses are construction, telecommunication, maintenance, plumbing, rental, safety, customer support and many other duties completed at the customer’s site. A common characteristic of field services businesses involves dispatching workers to perform their job. Therefore it involves a great deal of planning the route, the availability and the equipment that is necessary to take with them to the job site.
Manual Work and Field Services Management
The success of the field services companies lay in the quality of the services they provide. However, there is an invisible arm that plays a big part in the success stories too- these are the digital tools. Kolleno is proud to announce that we have partnered with BigChange, a field services management software that helps businesses to get more orders, manage the workflow and provide excellent customer service to their clients.
Because the nature of fieldwork involves logistics, use of the machinery, different employees, and the lengths of the job, it requires a lot of planning and project management. Sometimes the staff does not receive enough orders and they have free slots in their schedules. Or it is hard to estimate when the machinery or rental will be available for the next order. It results in lower revenues than your company could potentially achieve. Also, the staff might feel demotivated when they are spending their time without orders, and the errors that result in loss of clients and revenue.
Benefits of Field Services Management Software
The technology does not stand still. There are great solutions to help the field services business to organise their work more efficiently. Below are the most immediate benefits of using the field services management software.
Improvements in Productivity
The Field Services software offers efficient scheduling, which means that your employees’ timetables will be filled up. Therefore they will not waste their productive hours sitting and waiting for orders. Moreover, the timetable preparations are complex administrative tasks and sometimes may have errors. The special software for field services can prepare the schedule to improve productivity.
Increased transparency
With the field services management software, it is easy to monitor the progress of the work, the transportation of staff, and the used materials or equipment. This not only makes planning ahead easy but also helps to manage the expectations of the clients. Besides, all the important data and information will be at the fingertips of the user.
Optimal experience of the employees
Filed services employees are experts in their own occupations and have to keep their focus on getting to the customer and completing the job to the highest standards. Spending time on administrative tasks is time-consuming and demotivating for them. The great news is that the technology can automatically perform all these duties. Their schedules will be automatically prepared. So they can view them in a centralised place, which means no order will be lost or forgotten about.
Decrease in the overhead costs
When the time is used as efficiently as possible, all dispatching and inventory management is flawless. Moreover, the overhead costs will go down. As a result, your field services company may become more price-competitive in the long run. Eventually, the employees can expect better wages and the profits will increase.
Get more orders
Field Services Management software not only helps to plan the work more efficiently. It also promotes a better customer experience and facilitates getting more orders. When the potential customers browse through various service providers they will probably book with the one, that has a one-click-online booking possibility. Not only the customer can send a “request” to book. The software, also, updates the available slots in real-time, making it effortless to get more orders.
Improving the Cash Flow for Field Services Companies
Getting orders and being efficient in operations is half of the success for the field services businesses. If your company gets plenty of orders and the organisation of your staff is efficient, it will not translate into a better cash flow if your clients do not pay you on time. In fact, late payments are the number one cause of the cash flow struggle of field services firms.
Sending the invoice right away after the successful completion of the job, and sending follow-ups and reminders is a process of the Accounts receivable Management. When the invoices are not paid in time the cash that could have been collected ages. The longer the non-payment period the higher chance of the invoice becoming a bad debt.
However, even if the invoice is not a bad debt, the cash that your company expects could spend on investment into more inventory, payments own suppliers and even wages. So, whenever the invoice is late it is a “free credit” to your clients.
Field Services and Accounts Receivable Management
The key to getting paid faster is proactive communication with your customers. Sometimes they forget to pay the invoice, or the client lost it somewhere in their inbox or a desk. However, it can take up a lot of time for your employees to manage the AR. They have to go over their excel spreadsheets and track the communications, the payment status, the number of reminders, interactions and so on.
The Kolleno AR Platform is capable to take that workload off your shoulders. Our clients already after three months of subscribing to Kolleno improve their cash flow by reducing their overall overdue balance by 40%, 46% reduction in the overdue balance of invoices that are older than three months and 83 days decrease in median days late. Kolleno is compatible with major accounting software such as QuickBooks or Xero. The 2-minute integration process with your existing business tools will save you money and time. Also, it will reduce errors and improve the customer relationship by communicating with your clients with tailored messages, appropriate tone of voice and timing, all suggested by our machine-learning technology.
The digital tools allow field services companies to avoid errors and get more insights and analytics of their operations and daily activities. The convenient software-as-a-service is suitable for companies of all sizes. The investment will translate into long-term growth and productivity. So do not wait longer and get for your company the digital tools that will help your business strive.
Are you looking to centralize your payments, collections and reconciliation in one place? Book a demo to learn how Kolleno helps businesses to free up resources and focus on core priorities.
July 01, 2022 
