Efficient, convenient customer service scheduling is critical to any organization’s success. In the age of the customer, meeting and exceeding expectations for service is table stakes. Often times, metrics for customer experience are met or lost even before the service takes place – at the point of scheduling. Avoid these 6 common customer service scheduling mistakes with our advice below.
1. Ignoring Street-Level Routing (SLR)
If service technicians and other workforce members are not making use of Street-Level Routing (SLR), you are losing money. When planning travel times, it is important to make use of SLR, especially if it is integrated into your fleet routing software, to ensure technicians arrive on time and to optimize each employee’s scheduled hours. Not only will customers be happier when technicians arrive on time, but you’ll be happier to save time and money by getting technicians to their destinations on time and by the most efficient route.
– Don’t approach optimizing your workforce one route at a time
– Use SLR to make better informed decisions about which mobile to dispatch to point B, rather than about which specific technician should drive from point A to point B
– Utilize SLR to avoid traffic delays, missed service calls, customer dissatisfaction, and decreased productivity
2. Lack of Centralized Scheduling
Having more than one customer service center or location helps meet customers’ needs, but it can be a costly mistake if those centers (or even multiple service representatives) give customers conflicting appointments, which leave customers waiting for technicians or having more than one technician arrive to solve their problem. These are common occurrences when customer service contact centers make use of multiple Excel spreadsheets or don’t use the CRM system or customer service scheduling software appropriately.
– Assess your needs and challenges to find a CRM or customer service scheduling software solution to centralize your scheduling
– Utilize a mobile workforce management solution in the cloud so customer service scheduling issues are addressed and updated in real time
3. Designing Schedules for the Company’s Convenience, Not for Customers’ Convenience
If you are not scheduling customer service when it is convenient for your customers, you are making a costly mistake.
– Make the convenience of your customers your sole focus
– Offer options for customer service call times so the customer can choose the time that is best for her schedule
– Lengthen your customer service schedule times so that you can accommodate a wide range of times for customers
4. Allowing Customer Service Technicians to Schedule Their Own Call Times
If you have a small business, or if a customer prefers one service technician vs. another, you may find that technicians attempt to schedule their own service calls or manipulate the system to schedule themselves. This relates to mistake #2, a lack of centralized scheduling. In this instance, the company stands to lose valuable customer data if your technicians are scheduling their own service calls. You may not be getting a complete record of their service calls, and you could lose control over the customer experience or level of service.
– Funnel all customer service schedules through a structured system
– Do not give customer service technicians administrative access to the customer service scheduling software; reserve permissions for employees whose sole responsibility is to handle customer service scheduling
5. Using Outdated Scheduling Processes and Compromising Mobility with Strained Scheduling Capabilities
While it may be appealing to save money by continuing to use legacy scheduling processes or maintain a small mobile workforce, these types of business decisions can cost you more money in the long run because your organization is not handling customer service scheduling as efficiently as possible. This also decreases technicians’ productivity, which compounds the potential for loss.
– Invest in field service software application systems
– Hire enough technicians so that the mobile workforce is not spread too thinly, to avoid hurried service calls
– Be sure any new workforce system features workflow management, business intelligence capabilities, and maps to established scheduling logistics
– If your technicians require specialized tools, make sure that any new software features a tool inventory system or tracking system
6. Not Listening to Your Customers’ Feedback about Customer Service Scheduling
Regardless of the size of your organization, customer feedback about the scheduling process is the most important metric of all. If there’s no system in place to record positive and negative feedback, you cannot improve customer service scheduling or come close to exceeding their expectations.
– Establish a system for recording customer service scheduling feedback, or invest in a mobile workforce platform that includes a system for gathering customer feedback, including feedback left on social media
– Review your customer input consistently and regularly
– Make note of customer feedback trends and address them as needed
– Get input from “on the ground” technicians at regularly scheduled meetings or reviews; if you have a large organization, begin by meeting with customer service managers, but don’t forget to bring in the technical staff at some point
Customer service scheduling can be a daunting task. Begin by listening to your customers and putting them first. Then, invest in a technical solution that can centralize and streamline the scheduling process and save your organization money.
Which of these mistakes apply to you?
I do agree that when it comes to scheduling it would be always more beneficial to have the schedule more attuned to your customer’s convenience rather than the company’s as it would be a costly mistake. That will be very helpful for those companies who are trying to give the best service they can to their clients. Being able to have this for my home improvement project will be very beneficial and convenient. Thanks for the helpful article on how to fix some common scheduling mistakes!