Best Field Force Automation Software for Businesses in 2023

Table of Contents

What is Field Force Automation Software?

Field force automation software captures field sales and service information in real-time using communication technology such as handheld PDA’s, wireless devices, tablet PCs and mobile phones. The captured data is then transferred instantly to back-end systems. This instant capture of information reduces time delays, avoids the errors that are caused by double manual data entry and enhances field force productivity.

Availability of filed information in real time helps businesses plan accurate delivery schedules, reduce inventory, and control the work field workers are doing. Field management software is an important tool when it comes to maintaining customer relations, improving the skills of the field workforce and limiting the size of the workforce.

Field Force solution streamlines the flow of work orders throughout the organization which includes the creation of service request, scheduling and dispatching field staff, tracking of service level agreements, spare inventory, advanced mobile capabilities and forecasting of how future workloads will be distributed.

Some other activities carried out by field scheduling software are

• Inspection
• Repair
• Maintenance
• Outage restoration
• Meter Reading
• Service Installation and Testing
• Trouble call response

As fieldwork progresses, status is entered into the field force solution. This ensures that all members of the organization are updated with the latest information and based on this timely and accurate information serve the customers and co-workers.

Field management software allows users to be more productive thus creating a holistic environment. Field force automation software contains dashboards that are equipped with workload forecasting, resource planning, dispatching, administration, etc.

Mobile Field Force Management Software

With each passing day, we are becoming more and more mobile. From our personal to professional lives everything can be now done on mobile phones. And that's true for field management software as well.

Mobile field force management software should be able to handle work order management and customer communication. Instead of telling the field representative where to go next, they can check their mobile app to find their next assignment. This saves time and also eliminates the need for dispatchers to call field workers manually.

Mobile Field Force Management software also enables easier communication with customers. If there is any delay, they can send a message to alert the customers that they will be a little late.

Advantages of Mobile Field Force Management software

• Constant Communication with Customers
• Changes can be made to Customers orders in real time. This streamlines the ordering process and keeps the customers happy
• Allows field workers to find the shortest route possible using Route Optimization and GPS navigation
• Records meeting and customer notes using the speech to text conversion
• Improves Sales Force efficiency using Performance Tracking

Features of Field Force Automation Software

1. Booking orders and dispatching Tasks

Field force automation software will create a platform where managers and executives will be aware of all the new orders and bookings. While selecting a mobile field force management software go with the one that provides a portal from where sales executive can take orders directly from the app and can dispatch the tasks.

2. Instant Updates

When an order is booked, or a task is assigned you can update that to all the customers, Stakeholders, other field executives, distributor, etc. These updates can be sent via SMS, email or both.

3. Reports

Managers should be able to keep an eye on all the activities carried out by their team, in the form of order bookings, GPS location, etc. The field management software should also generate MIS reports. The customized reports generated through surveys and customer behavior will help management plan future strategies.

4. Integration

A field force automation software is incomplete without integration with other software such as CRM, ERP, etc. Integration brings all departments on one page and increases the performance of the entire firm.

5. Job Scheduling and Dispatching

The most important aspect of a mobile field force management software is workflow management. This feature takes care of job scheduling and dispatching of your field supervisors for onsite services. Based on the field worker schedule Field management software will automatically schedule them for new jobs as they come in. Once they are scheduled the field technician will be automatically notified about what and where will be their next job.

The important thing to consider here is to look for software that can distribute jobs based on their severity of the issue and dispatches technician based on the previously scheduled job. This ensures that they are not driving to the same part of the town multiple times.

6. Case, Contact and Order Management

Tracking and monitoring your customer service is the most difficult thing to do. This is where a Field force automation software can help you track and monitor incoming calls from your customer. When the customers make multiple calls to get a solution to the same issue, they are recorded in a contact database so that you can go back and assess why it took multiple calls to handle the same issue. It was whether your technician who could put some more efforts or was the issue actually that big. This Information can help you improve both customer service as well as customer satisfaction.

7. Route Planning (GPS and GIS integration)

Another important feature available in a majority of field force automation software is GPS enabled route planning. Route planning reveals the best route that should be taken to complete a following set of tasks.

Benefits of Field Force Automation Software

1. Automation

Field management software automates all the activities that occur beyond the four walls of your office. It's robust planning, and scheduling capabilities provide the ability to adapt to changes throughout the day. This helps us to save the cost and time that would have been otherwise wasted on inefficient activities

2. Data-Driven efficiency

The numerous data captured with the help of analytics can give you an insight into the location with the highest priority and opportunity locations.

Consumer goods companies can use the sell in and sell out data to direct field representatives to the stores which represent the highest incremental turnover.

Field force scheduling software have a very interesting functionality called Route Optimisation. This helps field workers to travel to their destination in the most effective way, thereby reducing the time and costs of traveling. This also enables a field representative to do more store calls in less time and improve product presence.

3. Informed Decision making

Field force automation software streamlines communication and collaboration between the head office and the frontline by facilitating the capturing and sharing of data. Operation managers can use the data captured by the field representatives to review the effectiveness and efficiency of frontline operations continuously.

4. Knowledge preservation and easier onboarding

Providing the field representatives with mobile field force management software will enable the sharing of operational frontline operations and will allow organizations to create a knowledge base of field workers expertise. This will reduce onboarding time and provide relevant information about a given topic at any given point of time.

Say for example a plumber working for an XYZ company can create a video on how to fix some common issue. When some other plumber comes across the same problem, he doesn't have to waste his time analyzing the problem instead he can open the mobile field force management software go through the video and resolve the issue by implementing the best practice.

This way even if an employee leaves the workforce you can have his expertise preserved for the newcomers in the organization.

5. Employee Engagement

A study by The Economist shows that employees who use mobile and social technologies are 16% more productive and 18% more creative than those who don't. Mobile field force Management software can help frontline workers execute common tasks, communicate and collaborate with greater effectiveness, save time and provide them with more frictionless and satisfying employee satisfaction.

Field Force automation software can also improve onboarding and employee engagement in the field. Introducing interactive leaderboard and workers points to take corrective actions in the field can help to implement best practices and can create a friendly competition among workers.

Few Other benefits of Field Force Automation software are:

• Real-time update and analysis of field sales tasks and status
• Increased rate at which complaints are being resolved
• Less paperwork so that managers get enough time to focus on business development strategies
• Shorter bill cycles
• Performance of your sales team increases
• Payment tracking is easier
• Simple access to the product catalog

How will Field Force Automation Software Become a Game Changer?

For Managers:

Lead routing will enable managers to distribute their team across various territories. It allocates the leads quickly maximizing the chances of success. The sales process speeds up, and the agents are able to make maximum use of the opportunity. This reduces the chances of lost deals and sales begins to close without any hassles or delay.

For Sales Representative

All the important information can be conveyed to the team in real-time. Using the Field force automation software they can run the credit checks and can also tap the order of their customer while they are still serving them. They also confirm that the payment has been made with email and SMS. This enhances the customer experience with the field representative.

Long story short, Field force automation software is like a boon for managers who have a difficult time monitoring their team while they are on leave. It also has options that enable automated invoice generation. Above everything, your employees will return to the office much happier than before.

Future Trends in Field Force Automation

Technology is evolving almost every day so are the dynamics in the field force automation software industry.

AI and IOT

Cotemptory Technologies such as mobile applications, Artificial Intelligence, and Iot are transforming the space of field force solutions.

Using these technologies, businesses can improve their productivity and on-site efficiency with the effective use of customer data. This can be beneficial in taking decisions and forecasting the future needs and demands of customers. It is predicted that 20 million gadgets will be linked to this technology and 74% of providers will be dependent on its hassle-free working. This means everything in the Mobile Field Force management software industry will be connected and predictable. It will be able to predict which customer will need which service and how it will be solved to take the customer satisfaction to the next level.

Blockchain

Blockchain is not just limited to cryptocurrencies. It can be used in various industries and field force automation software is no different. Integration of blockchain with smart devices and IOT is surely going to help in verifying payments, and in generating alerts and notifications. This could also transform the traditional process of collecting payments.

Context-Based Assigning

It is the most important advancement in mobile field force management software. This process automatically dispatches your workforce to each new assignment. It is not a random process; it assigns jobs based on where your workers are, their skillset, the status of their current assignment, and a few other factors.