Field services businesses using Microsoft Dynamics CRM can take advantage of a new core product aligning sales, marketing, customer service, and field services teams. This powerful app is called—you guessed it—Microsoft Dynamics CRM Field Service, and it was borne out of Microsoft’s acquisition of FieldOne in 2015. The app continues to build momentum as field services companies embrace new technology in support of increasingly customer-driven and mobile workforce strategies. Let’s take a look at why Field Service is such a game-changer in today’s marketplace.
Today’s Tech-Savvy Field Services Business
It doesn’t matter what kind of work your technicians do; they’re taking care of customers. Whether they install solar panels in commercial construction, service HVAC units in the thick of the changing seasons, or deliver nursing care to the elderly in the community, they’re out in the field, face-to-face with customers.
As such, your business is inherently customer-centric. Today, customers have more of the bargaining power than ever before, and it’s raising the bar. Their expectations are rising, thanks to the evolution of ecommerce and mobile technology, and they want all of their consumer experiences—yes, even those related to the services you provide—to mirror those they’re enjoying with the likes of Google, Starbucks, and even their banking partners.
If you’re a Microsoft Dynamics CRM customer, you’re already far along on the technology learning curve: you know that you need to invest in digital customer service supporting solutions. You depend on your CRM software to help you manage, analyze, and improve your customer relationships. Field services technology, on the other hand, is rapidly becoming a must-have for companies who want to better manage field resources and take operations, including customer service, to the next level. In fact, Capterra reports that the global field service market is predicted to account for $4.45 billion by 2022, up from $1.78 billion in 2016.
Where CRM and Field Services Functionality Unite
Microsoft Dynamics Field Service can be easily customized to connect with Dynamics 365 to provide a complete field service management solution that addresses your exact business needs. Importantly, it enables you to deliver an end-to-end customer-centric experience using data and tools shared between your CRM and Field Service apps:
- Optimize scheduling. Accommodate customer service reps, dispatchers, technicians, and customers by taking multiple factors into account, including geography, truck inventory, regulatory requirements, customer preference, and service level agreements. View booked jobs, unscheduled requirements, and resources simultaneously and in real-time on a color-coded map.
- Manage resources. Thanks to a drag and drop schedule board—in list or map view—managers can match the best field resource for each work order based on availability, proximity to service location, and required skills. This results in smarter workload and resource balance, with optimal flexibility.
- Streamline billing through sales. Integrated system links work orders to customer and case history, product configuration installations, parts information, and pricing. With visibility into contract details, billing is quicker and more accurate while helping field service technicians proactively identify new sales opportunities.
- Enable a Mobile workforce. By 2020, finds Gartner, more than 75% of field service organizations with over 50 users will deploy mobile apps that go beyond simplified data collection and add capabilities that help technicians succeed. With the CRM and Field Service coupling, you’ll provide your mobile technicians with a multiday calendar of work order details, full 360-degree view of customers and case history, and turn by turn directions, no matter which device they use.
- Keep customers informed. Customers can receive automated text messages and phone calls as well as access information about service appointments through a customer portal, including real-time location of technicians along with arrival times, photo, and vehicle information.
The field service app provides numerous features that will significantly improve your field management efforts. Get more details here.
To learn more about Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Field Service, contact us.
Additional Microsoft Dynamics CRM Resources
Managing Seasonality With Goals in Microsoft CRM
Getting Smarter With Dates in Microsoft CRM 2015
Enabling a Mobile Sales Force With Microsoft CRM, Scribe Online, and Resco
