When technicians are dispatched to visit a customer's site, the goal is to resolve issues effectively and efficiently. However, they need to do more than just fix the problem at hand: successful on-site visits also involve minimizing the need for future visits and creating an excellent customer experience. Read on to explore best practices for on-site technicians to make the most of every visit.
Technicians need to do their homework before heading to a customer site. This means understanding the reported problem, knowing the customer's history, and bringing the right tools and parts. Extensive training on your features, network technology, and troubleshooting can ensure your technicians are overqualified – and ready to explain new services to your customers.
Being prepared saves time and shows the customer you're taking their issue seriously.
Clear and proactive communication with the customer is critical. This involves:
Being a great technician isn't just about technical expertise – you need to be good with people, too. Customers appreciate knowledgeable technicians but expect you to be friendly, communicate well, and respect their time and property. The on-site technician is the face of your company, and their charisma (or lack thereof!) goes a long way to define how customers will think about your business.
A major challenge in field service is minimizing the number of site visits, commonly called "truck rolls." Every time a technician visits a site, it costs money and can disrupt the customer's day. However, you can address this by making every visit as thorough as possible.
Time Warner Communications is a great example of this shift in strategy. Initially, Time Warner encouraged technicians to minimize time on-site and move quickly to the next appointment by dispatching them to fix only the specific issue customers reported. While this approach allowed for more appointments in a day, it often led to repeat visits when other issues arose.
After the company sold to Charter, they shifted their strategy to a more comprehensive approach. Technicians now perform a "refurbishment" while on-site by replacing anything that might fail soon. This proactive approach minimizes future visits, reducing overall costs and increasing customer satisfaction by fully resolving the problem the first time.
Modern technology offers many tools to make on-site service better. For example, technicians can use mobile devices to check customer history and send real-time updates to the office, enabling them to handle unexpected issues more efficiently and keep everyone in the loop.
Following up after a visit is vital. Give the customer a call or send an email a day or two after the visit to ask if the problem is completely fixed and if they have any questions. This is also a good time to get feedback on your service.
Following up shows you care about the customer's satisfaction beyond fixing the immediate problem. Doing so can help catch any lingering issues early and make customers more likely to stick with your company.
At ECG, we know providing effective on-site service involves more than basic technical knowledge. That's why we invest in training programs for our technicians, covering deep hands-on skills such as IP networking, Ethernet, Voice over IP, cybersecurity, VLANs, and switching. We aim to ensure all our techs can handle even the most complex issues on-site, which means fewer repeat visits and happier customers.
Need expert support for your voice and data networks? Reach out to ECG today to learn how our technicians can solve your network infrastructure problems.