5 Examples of Modern Customer Service tools in Fieldwork services

A recent Zendesk study found that 73% of business leaders reported that their customer service had a direct impact on their overall business performance. A further 64% went on to state that a strong customer service setup has a positive impact on their growth. For field-work services organisations it means offering remote customer service options can be crucially important for their overall performance and growth. The same Zendesk study found that 63% of companies are spending more resources in prioritising customer service experiences.

Remote customer service is a unique challenge, however not a difficult one. Here are 5 modern customer service tools for field-work service organisations.

WhatsApp (and other social channels) & Automation

Social channels like WhatsApp, Viber or Messenger are common communication channels for personal use, yet are relatively new when it comes to B2C communication. The value of using channels like WhatsApp for B2C communication has a direct impact on your customer service, customer expectations and your growth goals. 

• Automated messages to be sent throughout the customer service journey 
• Personalize communication with dedicated messages, whilst sending those messages at times that suit your customer. 
• Automate a host of processes like claim or service registrations or policy renewals 
• Enable sharing of high-quality video, pictures, or audio recordings to streamline your field-work service requests. 

Automating with social channels like WhatsApp is not as difficult as you may imagine. Dedicated communication APIs exist to enable efficient use within your process systems. Learn more on how to use WhatsApp as an automated communication tool.

Customers schedule visits

A unique tool for fieldwork services is allowing customers to schedule on-site visits (or remote visits) when it suits their agenda. A feature within Video In Person, the Scheduling feature allows for just this. A salesforce study, amongst 15,600 consumers found that 64% expected service providers to understand their needs and offer them options of convenience. Digital Site Survey is another solution of convenience for customers, you can read more about this one-of-a-kind solution here, or view the video.

Remote video chat

A more common tool is remote video chat for use cases like remote inspections, claims handling or service and support. Video In Person is a clear example of such a tool, used by both Enterprise and Small-Medium businesses to help with customer service in field-work settings. The value of such a tool is clearcut when considering the 70% growth in video chat for remote customer service use cases. With European end-customers rating the experience of remote video service as 94% positive it is clear it is an easy winner for companies.

Smart Self-service applications

Although a more customised approach to customer service in fieldwork, smart self-service applications have proven to be a success. A few months ago we detailed how repair companies in Germany benefit from a web-app designed to allow customers to fill in all the data, including picture material to enable quick and easy handling of their requests. The case study ‘Offline & Detailed Claims Registration’ can be found here. 

The value of these smart forms is limitless, as they can be adjusted and applied to multiple service requests in fieldwork and in various aspects of the customer service process. An effective way to offer remote customer service. To consolidate on this form of customer service, a 2020 Zendesk study found 69% of customers will first try to help themselves via available tools before asking for help.

Chatbots

Chatbots and other messaging tools are great for customer service because they often provide answers faster than waiting on the phone or for an email reply. 71% of customers already expect brands to offer customer support over messaging channels. 59% of respondents to a Drift survey expect a response from a chatbot in 5 seconds or less, a metric that would be challenging for a human rep to meet. As a result, customers like chatbots because it allows them to get faster answers from support, leading to less friction during their customer experience, which results in more sales, revenue, and loyalty to the business. Businesses that already use chatbots chose to adopt them because they save valuable time.  

If you are skeptical about adopting them, consider that 48% of customers already feel comfortable with interactions managed by bots, and 71% say that they would be happy to use one if it meant it would provide an improved customer experience.

Optimising your fieldwork operations is a key step

However, if you decide to use technology to offer a strong customer service experience, the actual fieldwork operations cannot lag. That is why there are 3 ways to optimize your fieldwork employees using remote inspections. We offer real-world insights into how our customers have used remote inspections to support their customer service experience with 3 methods. The full article can be found here.

How to optimise your claim or fieldwork activities?

3 real world examples how our customers use remote inspections

Saas solutions can vastly optimise your fieldwork employees via remote inspections. We will show you three ways how our customer’s have optimised fieldwork employee’s time for on-site visits. Click to read..

Need help or have your own ideas?

Schedule a free consultation with one of our experts to learn which type of customer service tool best fits you.

Nick van Xanten