Prioritizing Safety in Field Service Can Boost Your Bottom Line, Too

Field service safety can drive revenue, while preventing injuries during on-site visits. 

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), companies that prioritize safety build trust with customers. This can lead to new business. 

As a field service leader, safety is No. 1 on your list of priorities. Your team knows what to do because you’ve set them up for success with the right enablement.

“Safety in field service is paramount and transcends industries,” said Shilpa Ramaswamy, senior director, product management, Salesforce Field Service. “Over the last few years, technology has had to evolve rapidly to meet the growing demands of our changing society. The tools that businesses now have access to are helping them develop smarter strategies to keep their customers and workers safe.”

Remote assistance, service agreements, work plans, and self-service in field service management put safety first and set you up to generate revenue.

Complete more jobs safely and easily with remote assistance 

Businesses that focus on safety are more productive and profitable. Resolving issues with visual remote assistance lets your customers get service safely quickly without an on-site visit. This can boost customer satisfaction scores. According to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report, 96% of people say customer experience factors into their buying decisions. 

Remote assistance also keeps more mobile workers safely off the road and out of customers’ homes and businesses, driving productivity to boost revenue. For example, a leading security service provider has been able to migrate even complex jobs like installation activiations to remote channels, allowing their technicians to complete more jobs in a given day without rolling a truck. When an in-person visit is required, visual remote assistance sets the technician up to work more safely and productively, freeing them up to take on new jobs when done. 

“Over the last years, businesses have moved to remotely resolving more job types than could have been previously imagined,” Ramaswamy said. “The sophistication and ease-of-use of remote assistance tools provides a white glove experience for customers who want to resolve issues themselves, with some guidance from an expert. When the issue cannot be resolved remotely, mobile workers use remote assistance tools to inspect the jobsite and come prepared to resolve the issue on the first visit.”  

Create steady revenue streams with service agreements

Service maintenance agreements keep safety top of mind for customers. Asset uptime increases customer satisfaction and is also a source of steady revenue in field service.

For example, I have an annual service agreement for my home’s energy generator with the company that installed it. A technician changes the generator’s oil and runs diagnostics to make sure it is operating efficiently and safely. The agreement gives me peace of mind the generator will keep my home’s heat and electricity on during unexpected outages in the winter. It also provides the company with on-going business from me. 

Provide safe service and drive business with work plans

Work plans provide clear step-by-step directions to make sure employees and contractors deliver service correctly, consistently, and safely. They improve first-time rates, reducing exposure to possible hazards on repeat visits. 

Work plans provide an opportunity to generate revenue with upselling or cross-selling. As part of your work plans, include questions about safety for your mobile workers to ask. This is especially important if you provide field service for industries like utilities, manufacturing, and healthcare, where equipment needs to keep running. Consider this set of questions: 

• How many people are impacted if the asset goes down?
• How much does it cost for your asset to be down for one hour, one day, or one week?
• Would you like to invest in an annual service agreement to make sure the asset is always properly maintained for optimal performance?

Mobile workers quickly capture this type of essential information from the customer and identify potential opportunities to hand off to sales.

Build customer loyalty with digital self-service 

Make field service visits safe and easy for customers by enabling them to manage their own appointments with digital self-service. Customers see who is coming to help them and when they’re on their way in real time. This helps them prepare for safe visits by making sure their dog is on leash or gives them the opportunity to clean the work area before the mobile worker arrives.   

“Visibility into what to expect during service builds trust with customers,” Ramaswamy said. “They know you’re focused on their safety first.” 

Safe, convenient, and complete service leads to customer retention and repeat business. The average success rate of selling to a customer you already have is 65%, compared to a 12.5% average success rate of selling to a new customer. This can have a significant impact on revenue.

Prioritize safety for people and new field service business

Safety does more than protect your employees, contractors, and customers from harm on the day of service. With remote assistance, service agreements, work plans, and self-service in field service management, you can grow revenue through customer experience, loyalty, and more — all while keeping everyone safe.