Tag: field service management

Roll out 24/7 customer service faster with Simply C2

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Providing 24/7 customer service across a large geography is challenging from even an operational point of view. It gets tougher when your customers speak many different languages.

The first contact our customers normally have with our customer support is with the call centre.

However, a call centre has significant disadvantages. Especially in a country like ours or a geography like Europe which speaks many languages. So running a call centre is expensive, across time zones and languages.

We understand; we are in India with more than 25 recognized languages. This is probably more varied than Europe! So, if your customers require 24/7 customer service, then you need to also plan for manpower that can handle all those languages your customers speak. 

We introduced Simply C2 to ensure that you can roll out 24/7 customer service without worrying about accessibility. It is an app that helps your customers log complaints any time of the day or night in their language of choice.

Simply C2 is available in 18 languages and in 55 countries around the world.

24/7 Customer Service

Using a mobile app like Simply 2 to provide access to 24/7 customer service can significantly streamline the process and improve efficiency. Here are some key advantages and considerations when implementing Simply C2 app for logging repair service requests:

Advantages of app-based 24/7 customer service:

  1. Accessibility: Simply C2 provides users with the flexibility to log service requests from anywhere, anytime. This is especially valuable for customers who may need urgent repairs or encounter issues outside of regular business hours.
  2. Real-time Communication: Simply C2 enables real-time communication between customers and service providers. Users can receive updates on the status of their repair requests and communicate with service personnel directly through the app.
  3. Photo and Video Uploads: Simply C2 can allow users to attach photos or videos of the issues they’re experiencing. This visual information can help service providers better understand the problem, potentially leading to faster and more accurate resolutions.
  4. GPS Location Tracking: Integration with GPS features can automatically provide the service provider with the customer’s location. This is particularly useful for field service technicians who need to reach the site for repairs.
  5. Push Notifications: Users can receive instant notifications about the status of their service request, appointment confirmations, or any updates from the service provider. This enhances communication and keeps customers informed.
  6. Integration with Calendar and Scheduling: Mobile apps can integrate with users’ calendars, allowing them to schedule repair appointments at convenient times. Service providers can also use scheduling features to optimize their workflow.
  7. Digital approvals: Customers can digitally sign off on repairs quotations or services through the Simply C2 app, providing a paperless and efficient way to close out service requests.

Our design considerations:

  1. User-Friendly Interface: Ensure that the app has an intuitive and user-friendly interface. Customers and service technicians should be able to navigate the app easily to log or manage service requests.
  2. Security and Privacy: Given the sensitive nature of repair requests, prioritize security features to protect customer data. Implement secure login procedures and encryption to safeguard user information. We ensured that we strictly adhere to the letter and spirit of the DPDP Act and GDPR.
  3. Integration with Saleswah CRM in the backend: The app should seamlessly integrate with the Saleswah CRM at the backend- ensuring that any customer service request is seamlessly logged into the Saleswah CRM account of your- the service provider.

Watch the video to see how Simply C2 mobile app for logging repair service requests can enhance customer satisfaction, streamline operations, and improve overall efficiency in the repair service process.

Set up 24/7 customer service channel for your business – in 18 languages. 

Need a good reason to implement service CRM? Take 4

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I interviewed a recent customer about why he wanted to implement service CRM in his company.

What does he use Saleswah CRM for? They run a large number of service centers around the country which repair water treatment equipment of their own manufacture – dosing pumps etc. Their customers are spread all over India. They sell through a large network of distributors and retailers.

Here are his 4 top reasons to implement service CRM. In the order he narrated to me.

  1. Create a system for logging and prioritizing service calls- crying baby gets the most milk. Should NOT.
  2. Post facto analysis- Monitor targets/ efficiency. Compare across equipment, service centres, technicians
  3. Restore confidence in fairness of the spares usage/ requirement- not change them arbitrarily and ensure the genuinely required parts are used. Also ensure only genuine spares are used.
  4. Cut down on the time spent in communicating with customers regarding the stages of the service

Let’s dive in, im some detail.

First reason to implement service CRM: prioritize service tickets

He wanted some method – to restore order and a sense of calm. Too often, his service technicians would simply attend to those customers who were shouting at them across the counter or the phone line.
Frequently tickets logged weeks ago were pending. No one followed a system.

implement service crm to prioritize tickets
This is how his repairs looked like on his service notice board

“This was my top-most reason to implement service CRM- I did not want my technicians making these decisions under pressure”.

Now, after he has implemented, the CRM gives him alerts when a ticket is delayed beyond justification.

Second reason to implement service CRM: post-facto analysis

“I had no actionable data”- he says of his second reason to implement service CRM.

He wanted to monitor targets- and track if his team is meeting them.

How many repairs per day? Per week/ month?

getting insights is a top reason to implement service crn
Implement service CRM to get all sorts of data about your customer service

Now cut the data by service centre, by product type. You get all that now at your fingertips. Which equipment is failing more often? Is this a problem with certain batches of production?

Which spares are being used most often?

Now, he gets reports on all the above- which helps him identify areas for improvement. He has already identified that he needs a service center in a city he did not have one in.

Third reason why implement service CRM: spares management

“Using non-genuine spares is a sure way to kill my brand and goodwill”- says he.

He wants to be fair- why charge for spares when you don’t need to? But, if spare parts are used, they must be genuine and customers must have confidence in the repair process.

“The only way to ensure fair usage of spares and charge the customers in a transparent way was to implement service CRM. I track spares from my central warehouse to all my service centers – to the ultimate repairs done.”

He has already reduced his spares outgo over last year- even though he is servicing more equipment than last year.

Fourth reason to implement service CRM: streamline customer communication

Before they implemented Saleswah service CRM, his team spent a lot of time on the phone. Communicating or responding to customers.

Have you received it?

Have you started working on it? How much will it cost? What’s wrong with it?

Can you do it faster?

Or, it could be his team chasing the customer.

Please approve the repair estimate so we can start working. It’s repaired – come pick it up. Or, we have sent it- here’s the details.

Phone and whatsapp. It was all ad-hoc.

Now, those days are truly in the past.

Simply C2 app

He wants to specially thank Simply C2– the companion app- which we implemented for his customers.

All transaction communication is now automated. The moment the equipment reaches the service center- there is a ticket acknowledgement which is sent to the customer.

Customer gets the status update through the Simply C2 app, for ALL repair stages. Not just that – he can approve estimates and make payments through the app. And, download invoices.

Do you want to know how Saleswah service CRM and Simply C2 can work together to transform your service operations? Call us or sign up for our inaugural offer here.

 

Revealed: easy way to perform algorithmic scheduling preventive maintenance

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Revealed: easy way to perform algorithmic scheduling preventive maintenance 1
David Revoy, www.davidrevoy.com, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Scheduling preventive maintenance of equipment in regular intervals is required to ensure the trouble-free operation of equipment. This is especially applicable to mechanical equipment- even more so to those with an engine inside.

Moving parts means wear and tear. So, periodically one may need to replace worn-out parts, replace consumables, and so on. We all take our car to the garage for servicing at least once a year- and are familiar with the replacement of lube oil, air filters, fuel filter, and so on.

Of course, there is some equipment which needs maintenance even without there being a moving part in them. A lead-acid battery needs frequent topping up, sometimes once every 3 months.

There are 2 types of scheduling preventive maintenance of equipment- largely governed by the type of equipment.

Fixed interval scheduling preventive maintenance

this happens when the equipment is required to be maintained at a fixed interval of, say, a year or 3 months or some such interval. This typically is for equipment without moving parts or where an assumption regarding wear and tear is made over a timeframe.

Variable interval scheduling preventive maintenance 

This happens when the scheduling needs to happen at a variable interval. Here the scheduling accounts for the wear and tear that may happen. Basically, the principle is- if the machine is running daily for a long time, then the maintenance needs to happen sooner than if the machine was hardly being used. Think of the automobile again. Typically, we get our cars serviced once a year. But a rental car – which runs a thousand kilometers per week- will be due for service in a couple of months.

Why do we need to depend on computers?

Let’s say you are managing service operations for equipment spread over a large geography and they are not easily accessible or their readings can not be noted regularly. In that case, there is no option but to rely on past data to make predictions about the future. Let us say, a machine requires preventive maintenance after 1000 hours of running, and let’s say it has run 500 hours to date since the last service, we must look at the data and check how many hours it is running on an average every day and extrapolate it from there to schedule the next service due to date.

How do we decide the variable interval in scheduling preventive maintenance?

Luckily we don’t. Computers do. But we do write the algorithm. In algorithmic scheduling preventive maintenance, the past is the determinant of the future.

Algorithmic scheduling of maintenance is an area of research. Some of the algorithmic scheduling is quite complex. Here’s a research paper that deals with modeling this activity at some length.

We have used a simple algorithm based on moving averages for scheduling preventive maintenance for equipment that are installed in remote locations.

algorithmic scheduling preventive maintenance
Customer service CRM turns the focus on customer retention

How does algorithmic scheduling preventive maintenance really work?

Step 1: we need to note the run hours the machine has logged since the last visit. This we do on every visit. And this gives us the average run hours. And we calculate this over the last three or five visits.

Step 2: Then we extrapolate. Let us say a machine is due for maintenance after running for 800 hours. Now let us say that we have found that a machine is running on an average for 10 hours a day (as calculated). We say that if the machine has been running on an average for 10 hours a day, and it was due for maintenance in 800 hours, then it is going to be due for maintenance in 80 days from the last maintenance. Makes sense, does it not?

Why this works

The beauty of this is, because we are working with moving averages, we are able to achieve very good results with scheduling preventive maintenance. This technique is used especially when we have equipment under maintenance which are in far flung areas and we are not able to access the actual run hours data on a daily basis.

For an example of where we have used this, read the DG set case study.

Prevalent frauds in field service management -1

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I will write a few stories – based on personal and professional experience- where I see how fraudulent practices impact the companies providing services and/ or the consumer.

All cases are real and from my first hand experience. Today is the first, the case of the air-purifier field service management.

A few days back we wanted our room air purifiers serviced. It is one of the most well known white goods companies. We called their call center, a service ticket was logged and the technician was assigned to our case.

He landed up at about the appointed hour, did a thorough job with both ( we have two) and then asked for payment.

I paid in cash- he charged me for 2 services, got me to sign off on the “FSR” – which also doubled up as the receipt, and when he was tearing off the top page I saw what was odd.

Except for my signature and date, there was no other impression on the “self-carbon” copy- meant for submission back at his office.

See the possibilities.

He can fudge my rating; in this case, there was no need to, because I had rated him well; but, it is always a possibility.

He can misreport the time of arrival and departure.

Prevalent frauds in field service management -1 2

He can claim that he serviced only one air purifier rather than 2. And pocket the charges of 1 service.

He can claim that he used some consumables- non-chargeable to the consumer, but obviously costing his company something.

Prevalent but preventable

Now, shameless plug for Saleswah Service CRM- field service management software.

If this company was using Saleswah CRM mobile enabled field service management software, this would not have happened.

  1. I would sign on the mobile screen, after I rate him- also on the phone. So, no chance of a fudged rating. Oh, and if your company policy demands that he takes a picture of the client, or the equipment, he can- and the pictures will be sent along with location tags, address etc to your database.
  2. The mobile app will record the start and end time and location of the service call/ visit. And the location.
  3. The receipt can be generated right from the app; configured by the type and quantity of the service availed. No more revenue loss for the company.
  4. You can specify in your service policy that all spares or consumables being used must be entered in the mobile app and and have that implemented/ enforced.

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