Prepare your field service business for growth

August 2, 2019

As a business owner or executive, growth is one of your top priorities. While there are several steps you can take to achieve growth in your field service business, one of the most important is getting organized.

From asset management, workflow automation or scheduling and dispatch, the more you organise within your business, the better foundation you have to grow and scale. It’s important to make sure that you are personally organized, first and foremost, so that you can thenorganize your company as a whole. Once you’ve got yourself and your business in order, you’ll notice more opportunities to grow with ease.

Additionally, when you’re more organized you can complete projects for clients faster, which in turn gives you more billable hours and helps you increase profits!

Here are a few tips that can help you stay on top of your organization game:

Personal organization

  • Keep your physical space organized. In general, clutter can lead to a feeling of stress. A clutter-free space will help you think clearly, and it will set an example for your staff. You want to create an environment where your staff or team can feel comfortable and productive.

  • Store files on the cloud. Consider storing files on the cloud rather than only on paper to decrease your chance of losing important information. Having all of your information on the cloud will also allow you to search for details faster and even on-the-go.

  • Manage your time well. If you’re constantly pressed for time to complete tasks, chances are you need to better plan your day or week. Set yourself up for success by organizing your schedule in advance. Something as simple as taking a little time each day to plan out your to-do list can make a huge difference in time management.

  • organize your email inbox. Just like a cluttered physical space can lead to stress and losing items, a cluttered inbox can make you feel overwhelmed and cause you to overlook important information. Delete old emails, unsubscribe to promotional emails you don’t read, and create folders and labels so information is easier to find.

Business organization

  • Set goals for everything. Most businesses are consistent when it comes to setting revenue goals. In the same way you set up your business for financial success, you want to set goals for every area of your company. Evaluate where staff and operations can improve using and determine the measurable objectives you can set to make those improvements. Collecting data and running reports is a simple way of evaluating these processes. Say you’re struggling to send technicians to jobs in a timely manner. Review every step of the process of how a job is scheduled and sent to a field service staff member. Then, evaluate what could be changed to make the process smoother. From there, set a new goal for field and office staff to ensure field staff are arriving to the site on time.

  • Make the transition from spreadsheets and paper and streamline with cloud-based field service management software. Whether it’s project management, job management or recurring maintenance work, cloud-based software can help you achieve your goals by optimizing processes and, in turn, billable hours.

  • optimize communication. Cloud-based software can also help you be proactive in communication with all stakeholders. Connect the field to the office with a mobile app, increase collaboration and make sure your whole team is on the same page with access to centralized data from anywhere at any time.

  • Plan new ideas in advance. Want to launch a marketing campaign, customer service campaign, or just a new way of organizing an area of your business? Don’t jump into any new ideas without thoroughly planning beforehand. Before launching anything, evaluate what you want to accomplish and make a plan to communicate those ideas clearly. Remember — an organized leader has a greater chance of bringing a team together to achieve goals.

For more tools and tips for field service business success, visit the Simpro blog!