Do you have Salesforce questions to ask? Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about Salesforce field services – answered.
What Is Field Service Management?
Field service management (FSM) refers to the tools and processes used to manage a company’s employees and other resources in the field. FSM involves selecting which workers are assigned to which jobs, scheduling remote visits, arranging for necessary parts and other equipment, and monitoring employee performance.
A FSM system schedules and monitors the status of appointments, dispatches workers and equipment, tracks the location of employees and vehicles, manages mobile inventory, and more.
Who is Involved in Field Service?
There are four primary components of a field service workforce. These include:
- Administrators, who are responsible for setting up a FSM services at the host organization.
- Agents, to handle customer calls and create the necessary work orders.
- Dispatchers, who schedule appointments, assign workers to each job, ensure that vehicles are carrying the right parts, and monitor the progress of each job.
- Field workers, who travel to each job, perform the assigned services and close out the work orders.
How Can Spending Money on Salesforce Increase Profits?
Salesforce Field Service Lightning is an FSM system designed to manage all aspects of a company’s field operations. Salesforce is not a free service; companies pay a set fee per user per month. This expense is easily outweighed by the resultant improvement of a company’s top and bottom lines.
Salesforce Field Service Lightning can help a company generate more revenue by ensuring higher customer satisfaction with the company’s fieldwork. It can also reduce overall costs by more efficiently managing the company’s workforce, equipment, and other resources.
According to a Forrester study, a representative organization deploying Salesforce Lightning realizes a three-year return on investment of 341% and a per-user benefit of $1,405. To estimate the ROI for a specific organization, check out Salesforce’s online ROI calculator.
Should a Company Develop Its Own Field Service Management System?
A company with a large field workforce can choose to hire programmers to develop its own proprietary FSM system or contract for the use of industry-standard systems, such as Salesforce Field Service Lightning.
The advantage of developing a custom system is that it can be designed with the specific needs of the business in mind. Unfortunately, this benefit doesn’t come cheap; hiring or contracting with software developers is an expensive proposition. Software development takes time and money – and the finished system must be continually supported and updated over time.
In contrast, using an industry-standard system is both less expensive and less trouble over the long run. A standard system can be implemented much faster than building a custom one, monthly costs are predictable, and the company isn’t responsible for continued maintenance and troubleshooting. There are few if any surprises and the company benefits from the experience of other users of that system.
Can Excel and Other Office Tools Handle Field Service Management?
In a word, no. While off-the-shelf spreadsheet and database programs can handle some parts of the FSM process, they are not designed to schedule appointments, handle customer requests in real-time, or automatically manage vehicles, equipment, employees, and other resources.
How Can a Company Reduce the Learning Curve for a New FSM System?
Any company adopting an FSM solution needs to allocate appropriate time and money for extensive employee training at all levels. In addition, field service management needs to ensure executive buy-in to drive acceptance of the new system throughout the entire company.
Let SPAR Solutions Answer Your Salesforce Field Service Management Questions
The experts at SPAR Solutions have years of experience with the entire Saleforce.com platform, including Field Service Lightning. We can answer all your questions about FSM and help your company implement a state-of-the-art field service solution.
Contact SPAR Solutions to get answers to any questions you might have about Salesforce Field Service Lightning.
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