6 Ways to Improve Your First-time-fix-rate

One of the key success metrics of efficient field service management is the ‘first-time fix rate.’ If the service technician cannot achieve the first-time-fix-rate, it results in repeated visits, which adds to time and cost. With a little more planning and effort, the service technician can ensure his task is completed during the first attempt itself.

Let’s take a look at some of the top ways to better your first-time fix rate in field service management.

1) Check if Your Inventory is Equipped

Inventory management is often a significant gap in field service. If your technician does not have the necessary parts to resolve the service task, it will remain incomplete. To ensure the task is completed on the first attempt, companies need to regularly maintain an inventory check and ensure the technician has all the necessary parts with him when he is on the field.

2) Schedule Smartly

According to recent research from Abardeen Group, companies in the top 20% have a first-time fix rate of 88%, while the bottom 30% had a first-time fix rate of 63%.

It is often a challenge to manage multiple service requests on the same day. Smart scheduling plays a crucial role in the case to deliver an efficient field service experience.

With the help of an intelligent scheduling tool, companies can match the right technician for the right job, ensuring your SLA does not breach.

3) Map the Technician to Skill

One of the essential aspects of getting your first-time-fix-rate right is to ensure you send the right person for the task at hand. As per experts, 8 out of 10 customers are willing to pay for better customer experience.

If the technician is not equipped with enough skills to resolve the issue, the company will have to send another resource, which will again add to the time, cost, and customer dissatisfaction.

4) Triage the Dispatch

A good field service experience rests equally on how well you triage your dispatch. Firms that implement triage experience 86% of first-time-fix rate. This also impacts your first-time-fix-rate.

If you can schedule your technicians based on the priority of tasks, it maximizes service efficiency. This will require providing adequate training to your technicians to identify and triage well at the dispatch level.

5) Create a Mobile Interface

It is beneficial to onboard your field service team on a mobility platform as it gives them the much-needed visibility into all the critical information related to the service task. A well-equipped service team will ensure tasks are resolved better, which will also influence your first-time fix rate.

6) Think Predictive

Create a system where your service team is prepared to deal with potential changes. They know in advance what strikes ahead. This helps them plan for predictive maintenance and achieve better fix rates. Using IoT based technology, this is now a real-world scenario that should be leveraged.

Periodically analyzing your first-time-fix rates helps you optimize the efficiency and productivity of your field workforce. This also has an impact on customer satisfaction. Customers like a proactive approach, especially in the modern era, where time is a limited commodity.

Create a delightful customer experience and get your first-time-fix-rate right with Dista. Our field service management solution powered by Google Maps creates a complete service ecosystem that is optimized to deliver better service to your customers. For more details, contact us.