As artificial intelligence (AI) tools have become more accessible and intuitive for the average user, their applications have expanded exponentially. This explosion in AI functionality has permeated virtually every industry — and field service organizations are no exception.
Utilizing AI for your field service operation isn’t without its limitations, but when applied in the right areas of your business — and with the right amount of human touch along the way — it can be employed to build a stronger team, accelerate burdensome tasks, and even strengthen customer relationships and customer satisfaction.
1. Finding Strong Candidates
It’s no secret that finding, hiring and keeping good field technicians has been increasingly challenging for field service businesses. This is especially evident when it comes to technicians. Avoiding high turnover rates can be difficult, but AI can help ensure potential candidates — especially as the trades are experiencing a workforce shift — are a good fit, lowering the chances of them leaving sooner.
With the possible exception of your brand’s presence, a job listing is typically the first information a potential technician gets on your company. As such, this is your opportunity to make a strong first impression and establish what defines the right candidate — and AI can help.
Accessible AI writing tools, like ChatGPT or Jasper, allow users to input conversational prompts to generate copy for everything from website content and emails to — you guessed it — job postings. With a bit of back and forth, you can quickly develop a job description that’s tailored to your business, what sets your operation apart and exactly what you’re looking for in your next employee. This allows you to set the stage for a stronger fit when interviewing potential field service technicians while simultaneously putting your best foot forward with a clean and professional job posting that attracts better talent.
As is always the case when using AI, though, it’s crucial to ensure someone from your business reviews the copy for accuracy and consistency. We also recommend keeping any private or identifying data out of your prompts; you can add specifics like your company name or financial data after the fact to keep it private.
2. Interviewing & Hiring
AI’s role in the process of building your team doesn’t have to end when applications start rolling in. An AI-powered writing tool can be invaluable when crafting emails to communicate with candidates while scheduling interviews or requesting additional information. It can also be helpful during the interview process itself.
No, you shouldn’t have AI conduct your interviews — no matter how tempting that may be. Instead, engaging with an AI writing tool can help you develop tailored, thought-provoking interview questions that provide you with a deeper insight into a candidate, how they approach work and how you can expect them to fit into your company culture. When it comes to keeping employees on board, a good culture fit is often more important than on-the-job experience; it’s easier to train a good worker on the specifics of the job than to train an experienced tech on how to be a team player.
3. Customer Interactions
Customer loyalty relies on communication and convenience for your customers. By creating an environment where customers are able to communicate with you however they prefer and count on getting the service they need, you’re able to meet customer expectations as they evolve, even lessening response times and feedback loops. If you’re already using a customer portal to enable your customers to schedule service and make payments, then you’ve seen firsthand the difference self-service options can make in your client satisfaction and customer experience.
With an AI-powered chatbot, you can achieve the same satisfaction for new prospects. Visitors to your site can have a natural, human-feeling conversation with an AI chatbot. An intelligent tool like ServiceBot by WorkWave will ask leading questions to gather information on a visitor’s needs and their property, using AI to provide accurate proposals and working with your scheduling and routing software to slot in new service visits, allowing your business to close sales 24/7/365. You may even be able to employ chatbot technologies to quickly analyze service history, offer proactive maintenance or scheduled maintenance suggestions for service appointments, and process real-time service requests.
4. Streamlining Operations
Speaking of scheduling and routing, such everyday tasks are a perfect example of how AI can streamline existing processes to reduce busywork and free up more time for your staff to dedicate to skilled work and customer service. These used to be time-consuming, human-driven tasks centered around maps and notecards. Now, intelligent software makes it possible to schedule and map efficient routes for service visits – without human intervention.
By taking advantage of software that accounts for your particular parameters, your field service operation stands to provide better service to more customers: a win-win. This is made possible using software that assigns service visits intelligently, factoring in specifics such as technician skill sets, material and inventory levels, and equipment requirements, as well as customer constraints, such as time of day or day of the week. By ensuring jobs are always assigned to appropriately equipped techs and vehicles, smart scheduling significantly reduces customer callbacks (and eliminates costly downtime that can happen if the wrong techs end up scheduled to the wrong jobs).
Similarly, true route optimization considers both user-defined and outside factors to find the best possible routes for your technicians. For your customers, this means prompt service visits and accurate on-the-way communications, boosting overall satisfaction. For your field service business, it means less windshield time for your technicians between appointments and, as a result, more customers serviced per tech per day.
Embracing the Future of AI
Field service operations have long adapted to new tools and technologies. Staying agile and employing AI to streamline facets of your operation is the latest iteration of that progress. To learn more about AI’s implications in the field service sector, including tools you can start taking advantage of right away to stay ahead of the curve, be sure to visit the latest industry resources.
