Don’t miss the podcast series for more details and conversation.
A collaboration series between Cilio Technologies and Berdan Consulting.
Running a successful field service management company isn’t easy. There’s a lot to handle, from finding and scheduling experienced installers to ensuring customers stay happy and informed throughout the process. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and fall behind, especially if you’re not investing in the right technologies and products to keep your business operating smoothly.
It’s a competitive industry, and, unfortunately, some companies not only struggle, they don’t survive. Don’t let that happen to your business. Now is the time to take a look at your company and determine what improvements need to be made, whether that means communicating better with staff, changing how you think about your business or automating tasks to free up more time in your day so you can focus more on the big picture.
In this four-part series, we take a look at the top 10 reasons field service management companies fail and offer advice on how you can avoid these common pitfalls.
What’s the first? Working IN the business instead of ON the business. Here’s why it’s so critical to make that shift:
As smaller companies grow, it can be difficult for owners to transition their role. They’re used to being hands-on with every project and don’t want to give up that level of involvement. Many think they have to do everything themselves to ensure their high standards are met. Does this describe you? Remember, you’re only one person. If you insist on overseeing every project, you’ll stretch yourself too thin—and both you and the business will suffer for it.
While bringing on more customers and projects is the goal, this growth can be too much if you’re handling everything on your own. As difficult as it is to let go, it’s critical to delegate project oversight and various tasks to trusted employees. You’ll burn out and fail to meet your own expectations if you try to do it all yourself.
Instead, train employees to maintain your standards so you can pass on these responsibilities with confidence. Set clear expectations for your team and use technology to review project status and photos vs physically walking the jobsites each day. You’ll free up more time in your day to focus on other business-generating tasks, leading to further growth while also significantly reducing your stress level. Refusing to take a step back will have the opposite effect, stifling your growth potential.
Letting go will become easier if you take a more analytical view of your business, rather than just considering the boots on the ground view you’ve become accustomed to. Shift your focus from tactical thinking to strategical thinking. That means not just looking at how to get the job done, but how to efficiently run the business. This approach will give you more visibility of your business and a better understanding of what it takes to be successful.
The right field service management software can help with this shift in focus. Having processes built into your project management software will give you visibility into financial and customer experience value points. There’s nothing to sift through manually; it’s all right there in the software for the taking. Having quick, easy access to critical business information gives you more time to focus on areas that will lead to growth and, just as important, more time to spend with your crews.
When you have a better grasp on where your business stands, you’re able to make the changes needed to grow. Field service management software makes that possible, contributing to your success.
Ready to Experience More Growth?
Running a successful field service management company isn’t easy. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and fall behind, especially if you’re not investing in the right technologies and products to keep your business operating smoothly.
Read the Top Ten Failures In Field Services Businesses and learn how you can optimize your installation operations!
More tips to come
In the next three blog posts, we’ll look at nine other reasons field service management companies fail and provide advice to keep your business from falling victim to them. Part 2 will focus on three areas: understanding the cost of doing business, the trouble with not communicating true value when quoting a price to potential customers, and how the lack of follow up and communication with clients can be one of your downfalls.
Part 3 will cover the financial implications of exceeding the original job scope, the repercussions of refusing to embrace technology and all the time being wasted if you’re not automating certain tasks. Part 4 will wrap the series up with why you have to be willing to change to be successful, the importance of building a talented team of employees you can trust, and why it’s critical to communicate how great your experienced crew members are to clients before they show up for a job.
The teams at Bill Berdan Consulting and Cilio Technologies want to give you the tools you need to avoid common pitfalls and build a thriving business. For more than 20 years, Berdan Consulting has coached small customer service and provisions businesses on how to develop and implement a vision of growth, guiding them through a customized plan designed to help them meet their clients’ needs.
Cilio has developed a field service software that addresses order management challenges, helping installation service companies automate and streamline a variety of tasks to increase efficiencies and cut costs. Don’t hesitate to reach out to both companies if you have questions or need more guidance.
