6 ways telematics technology improves customer service within Field Services Fleet Management

Not only is retention cheaper than acquisition but loyal customers can become great ambassadors for your company which leads to a positive reputation, repeat business (which leads to an increase in revenue), and more customers through simple word-of-mouth. Providing excellent customer service is at the heart of a high customer retention rate and should be the focus of your Field Services fleet management.

Of course, the actual work that your employees deliver is important, but the difference comes in when you go the extra mile. Good customer service comes from providing your customers with regular feedback and clear communication, being on time, listening to and acting on critiques, reducing the friction that might come along with getting service delivery, having employees that act professionally, and so forth.

Let’s look at some of the ways that implementing telematics technology can help you improve your Field Services fleet’s ability to make customers happy:

1. Accurate billing

If you bill your customers hourly, telematics software can make it easy to verify exactly how much time a worker spent on site by looking at arrival and departure times. This helps improve billing accuracy as everything is logged electronically instead of estimated manually by workers. The more accurate your billing is, the less issues you will have with customers. Should a dispute arise, you have accurate data to reference and show the customer.

2. More precise arrival estimates

Keeping your customers up to date on what time your workers will arrive on-site or how far away they are from a location is crucial to maintaining precise schedules and building trust. Telematics fleet tracking provides a real-time look at your workers’ locations on a map for scheduling purposes. This allows you to be able to contact a customer and give them an accurate ETA without having to get a hold of your worker while they’re driving. You can also communicate with customers about any unexpected delay that may occur (for example, a worker getting into an accident or construction causing traffic). Oftentimes, customers are more likely to accept a late arrival or other inconvenience if there is clear communication from the company.

3. Incentives for workers

Telematics technology is a great tool for creating an incentive program. This type of program is helpful when wanting to motivate employees to work harder or to reach goals. With the driving behavior data collected, you can track whether workers are driving safely (for example, not speeding or braking too harshly) and determine which drivers are arriving on-time at customer sites on a regular basis through GPS tracking. Using this information, you can offer relevant rewards to the workers who did their best during a given period. Aside from the tangible incentives and sense of pride that this all provides for workers, the company also wins by improving the overall performance of their fleet, reducing accidents and vehicle wear-and-tear due to better driving behavior, and presenting a positive image of your company on the road.

MiX Telematics offers a driver engagement app called MyMiX, that allows workers to check their driving performance and compare their progress to that of their peers through a leaderboard. This serves as extra motivation by creating a competitive culture and helps them determine in which areas they need to improve.

4. Reduced operational costs

Increasing your profit margin by saving money is not only a positive for your company but your customers can, in the end, benefit from price reductions.

With telematics data in hand, you can track and reduce fuel consumption, lower maintenance costs, and expand the lifespan of your vehicles by reducing wear-and-tear, lessen the costs related to accidents and fines through improved driver behavior and improve route planning so your workers can take on more jobs for increased overall income.

5. Better task management

Telematics technology allows you to optimize and utilize the visibility of the jobs your workers are undertaking and where they find themselves at any given moment. This allows you to send workers to the nearest location to improve on-time service delivery and reduce the miles driven. Should a critical job arise, in-cab communication and apps help you talk directly to workers to send them to where they are needed most without delay.

6. Keep up with seasonal demands

Some months of the year are busier than others, depending on the type of services you provide. An increase in demand will lead to an increased need for workers to deliver services. If you don’t have enough workers, you will fall behind and this can lead to customer dissatisfaction.