Mistakes That Are Killing Your First-Time Fix Rate Goals

Companies operating in the healthcare, IT services, facility management, and construction space understand the importance of prompt field service. Modern-day customers are highly savvy, demanding quick and satisfactory service, preferably the first time around.

According to Globe Newswire, the field service management market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% by 2027. In most cases of field service calls, customers are looking for quick repairs instead of routine maintenance.

Try putting yourself in your customers’ shoes – Suppose a PVC pipe or air-conditioner needs urgent repairs. To your disappointment, the technicians arrive late, assess the issue, and confess they’d need another visit to resolve the situation. The reason could either be a lack of specific expertise or a need for necessary equipment parts.

What would your impression of the brand be? The more adept you are at addressing customer issues the first time, the more you stand out in the market. The first-time fix rate (FTFR) is an important metric that can make or break your brand image.

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But before you can meet your first-time fix rate goals, it’s important to know the mistakes that block your way. Let’s understand the top three mistakes brands make during first-time field service trips.

1.     Unprepared Customer Visits

Are your service technicians sliding with the attitude of “we can always get back another day to finish the job?” Then, it’s also likely that they turn up unprepared or semi-prepared for their field service trips.

With this mindset, your team will lack the right tools and be at the mercy of (hopefully) lenient customers. Let’s look at some of the common reasons why service technicians turn up under-prepared for field service –

• Inadequate job briefing regarding customer requirements
• Last-minute, short-notice scheduling which leaves the technicians with no time to gather the right tools
• Inventory issues

In a high-tech world, customers are aware that it is possible to get the job done (right) the first time. First-time fixes enhance customer experience and save your team time, fuel, and the brunt of disgruntled clients.

So, how do you resolve this error? Seek the help of technology, essentially, robust field service management software. The software offers a unified platform for efficient job scheduling, dispatch, and management.

You get a 360-degree view of each technician’s schedule to ensure everyone has the required resources for their service trip. Usually, such platforms come with different monthly plans that allow you to schedule, dispatch, invoice, and manage inventory based on business needs.

When this process goes smoothly, the customer gets the impression that their needs are well-understood. In Salesforce’s Fourth Edition of the State of the Connected Customer report, at least 66% of customers expected a brand to recognize their needs in advance. The same holds for first-time field service trips, which have the potential of creating customer loyalty.

2.     Communication Gaps with Peers and Customers

A successful and satisfactory customer experience largely depends upon solid communication within your team. If your agents lack in this area, it becomes extremely challenging to improve the first-time fix rate metric.

Let’s take a real-world example – a customer contacts with an urgent request for repair work within two hours. You assign the task to a technician who is nearest to the customer’s location at the time (smart move). However, the said technician’s previous task takes them longer than expected.

This is not something uncommon because field service work is unpredictable. But they fail to communicate this information to the team, simultaneously not making it to the customer’s place on time. Can you imagine the panic that will ensue as you frantically search for another nearby technician to fill the spot?

In most cases, it’s too late to rectify the situation, and the appointment is either significantly delayed or missed altogether. The reason why this creates last-minute hassles is not the agent’s shortcomings but a lack of proper means of communication. They may have a calling device, but manual scheduling makes it challenging to spot an available technician in a hurry.

Let your team have access to the entire service landscape. In its 2020 Achieving Customer Amazement Study, Forbes found that 96% of customers were willing to switch brands due to poor service. One of the major reasons cited was a lack of communication. Nobody wants to wait for technicians to arrive whilst not knowing when or if the job will get done!

Field service management software comes in handy even in this case. According to Workiz, the platform lets you keep tabs on each technician with real-time updates on their movements. You can easily switch agents to fill an urgent service spot. Moreover, optimize their route to ensure they make it to the customer’s location on time.

3.     Poor Inventory Management

This error needs a separate mention since it’s the prime reason why many businesses are unprepared to meet customer requirements. Also, inventory management is a complex process, especially for organizations with stock-keeping units (SKUs) across multiple warehouses.

If a customer makes an urgent call that requires the replacement of a specific equipment part, you need complete inventory visibility. Only then it is possible to secure that part on time and make a successful first-time field service trip.

Suppose you’re like most organizations that rely on manual methods of inventory tracking. There’s no way to know if a spare part is currently available, let alone which warehouse. With such guesswork in the picture, you cannot even make customer commitments (at least without disappointing them).

Now, if your entire team has a bird’s eye view of the inventory (and the SKU), things get easier. Once a field service task is assigned, the technician can review its requirements and collect spare parts from the warehouse.

Not only that but even orders can be placed in case of depleting stocks. As soon as the dispatcher receives the notification of restocking, the technician can resume their job.

The Takeaway

Customers are putting convenience over everything else. To keep up with their demands, the higher your first-time fix rate, the better. There are so many aspects to take care of, but besides customer satisfaction, a high FTFR benefits your team.

When the right technicians promptly reach the service location, fully equipped to handle the repairs, it saves time. Additionally, costs reduce as you need not waste resources on expensive repeat visits.

Your team’s productivity will also improve to complete further tasks. Finally, your brand’s image shines as one that takes high-quality service seriously. You lower the risk of losing clients and secure year-round jobs for your workers. In a nutshell, a high FTFR is a win-win!