4 Things You’ll Need To Take Your Field Service Business To The Next Level

Field service businesses such as plumbing, electricians, pest control, and building contractors can be incredibly profitable. However, to see the big bucks, you’ll need to grow your business and take it to the next level. The good news is you can find out precisely what you need to do to successfully expand your field service business below. Read on to find out more. 

Learn to Listen 

If you are going to successfully expand your field service business, then listening to the feedback you are getting from staff and customers is crucial. Indeed, there is no one better qualified to tell you what you need to know about your business, both positive and negative than your employees and the people you serve. 

With that in mind, making sure you allow both employees and customers a direct route to communication is smart. For customers, this may be leaving a review, and where possible it’s a good idea to encourage them to do this on an independent review site. This is because they are perceived by other potential customers as more trustworthy. 

It’s also crucial to remember that when it comes to reviews the bad ones can be just as valuable as the good. OK, so they won’t necessarily win you business, but they will provide a vital insight into where your business is going wrong, which will allow you to work out what you can do to solve this problem and stop the loss of other customers in the future. 

For employees, the review system doesn’t work quite as well, unless the aim is to provide information about whether you are a good employer to potential workers. Instead, an anonymous survey or suggestion box might work better. Indeed, offering anonymous feedback options is often best as it allows people to speak their minds without being worried about the impact it may have on their job or team.  

Use Technology  To Your Advantage 

Another great way to take your business to the next level is to make use of at least some of the impressive tech designed especially for the field service industry. One such piece of tech is 

BuildOps field service management software provides a wealth of benefits for field service businesses including scheduling and dispatching and customer asset management incredibly fast and easy. You can even use their tech to check on progress and look for trends across your entire company, something that allows you to make much better-informed decisions about how to run your business for success. 

Of course, there will be plenty of specialist tech hardware that you can utilize in your field services business as well. Although, remember to always do a cost-benefits analysis that includes training for your staff so they can use the equipment before you invest, as you will want to make sure that whatever you buy offers a good ROI. There are a range of SEO strategies you can try to help improve the rankings for your electrical business.

Strengthen Your Team 

When it comes to expanding your field service business, you just won’t be able to attend every job and deal with every customer. That is why you have to build a robust team on which you can rely to work hard and make the right decisions even when you’re not there. 

Forging a strong team doesn’t just happen though. It takes a great deal of work and can be one of the biggest challenges for a field service business owner. One of the most vital tasks will be to provide the necessary training so all your workers will be confident enough to complete the work that needs doing without supervision when they are out on a call. You’ll also need to provide your employees with the tools, and supplies they will need to complete the work, as this will help build trust between both parties. 

Having a clear leadership structure is a very good idea as well, as it can help people know who to go to if they have an issue, as well as prevent the people at the top of the hierarchy from getting overwhelmed with stuff that could realistically be dealt with by someone else. 

Clear and reasonable work policies as well as consistent consequences for anyone that breaks these will show your staff that you are fair and can be trusted to deal with problematic people no matter what level of the pyramid they are at. 

Evaluate Your Transport Options 

Last of all, if you want to expand your field service business, then you will need to think carefully about your transport options. Indeed, the vehicles that take your employees and equipment from job to job are crucial to the success of your business. However, it’s quite likely that these vehicles and their fuel will also be one of your top outgoing costs. 

Then there is the issue of environmental preservation which you probably notice customers are already much more concerned about. Unfortunately, running even a small fleet of vehicles without considering their impact on the environment can set your field service business in a very bad light. 

To that end, if you want to both impress your customers and save money, consider switching to a more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly form of transport. Don’t panic though, as this doesn’t mean convincing your employees that they need to start riding the bus to each job. Instead, why not consider swapping out your current fleet for one that is either fully electric or hybrid? In this way, you can save money on fuel and better align yourself with your customers’ values of preserving the environment by using less fossil fuels. 

Boost Morale

In the field service trade, your team is an extension of you. They provide the service to your customers, and so hold great power concerning whether a customer will use your business again or go to a competitor. 

With that in mind, it’s always a good idea to make sure that your employees know they are valued. Indeed, showing gratitude to your workers will help boost morale, ensuring they are engaged, motivated, and productive as they work. 
Of course, you will need such engaged and productive workers if you plan to take on more business, so be sure to show your appreciation with things like a good pay rate, paid holidays, paid sick days and other key benefits.