Don’t want to send your technicians back to jobs they’ve already done?
Service businesses crave high first-time fix rates. Getting the job done on the first visit means:
- Customers leave happy
- Operational costs stay low
The problem?
Field service technicians are often dispatched using old-school methods that send the wrong technician to the wrong job at the wrong time. Nationally, average first-time fix rates are hovering around 80%.
Which means 1 in every 5 jobs comes back.
Multiply that by hundreds of jobs a week, and it’s a huge wasted time, lost money, and upset customers.
Technician dispatch software can help your team boost first-time fix rates dramatically. With the right field service software and powerful technician dispatch tools, you can drastically improve your first-time fix rate by ensuring the best technician arrives with parts and materials on-hand.
Ready to learn how?
In this guide:
- Why First-Time Fix Rates are Important
- The Top Reasons Technicians Miss on the First Visit
- Solve the Problem With Technician Dispatch Software
- 5 Software Features That Lead to First-Time Fixes
- How High Performing Service Businesses Get It Right
Why First-Time Fix Rates are Important
Your first-time fix rate (FTFR) tells you how often your service business completes a job without needing to schedule a follow-up visit. You want this number to be as high as possible.
Why?
Higher first-time fix rates equal lower costs and happy customers.
Customers shouldn’t ever have to worry about booking another service appointment. When a tech visits a job site and cannot complete the work, it costs the business money. Not only do they lose that slot for a new customer, but they also have to pay for the tech to return.
Best-in-class service businesses fix the problem on the first visit 88% of the time, according to PTC. While 80% vs 88% doesn’t sound like a lot, that 8% can equal big money for a service business completing hundreds of jobs per week.
Reducing repeat visits means more efficient scheduling and happier customers.
Dispatch software helps eliminate repeat visits before they happen by enabling your team to get it right the first time.
The Top Reasons Technicians Miss on the First Visit
Okay, let’s talk about what’s causing these repeat visits in the first place.
Not having the right parts. Sometimes technicians show up to a job site ready to do the work but discover they don’t have the parts required to complete the job.
Not having the right skills. Incorrect technicians are dispatched. They’re available, but they don’t have proper job training or experience to complete the work. That means rescheduling for a technician who does.
Communication breakdown. The customer wasn’t available when the technician showed up, or they moved the asset needing repair. When job notes don’t make it to the technician, it causes delays.
Again, all three of these issues start with dispatching the wrong technician. Modern technician dispatch software prevents those problems from happening.
How Technician Dispatch Software Fixes the Problem
Technician dispatch software puts your team on autopilot when it comes to scheduling and dispatching jobs to technicians. Good software takes the stress off your dispatch team by taking care of the complicated math that comes with scheduling.
Technician dispatch programs work by looking at a variety of important factors before they assign a job to a technician. From skill set and current location to availability and parts inventory levels.
With everything synced up in one place, dispatch programs can quickly identify who the best technician is for the job. Then, send that tech out with the right parts and materials to complete the job.
Field service businesses that use AI in their dispatch software report a first-time fix rate increase of 75%. That’s a significant number that illustrates just how impactful the right software can be.
If your dispatch software has an intelligent scheduler that uses data to make scheduling decisions your team will fix more jobs on the first visit.
5 Software Features That Lead to First-Time Fixes
Good technician dispatch programs come packed with powerful features. Not all software is built the same. Here are the features you need to look for if first-time fix rate is a goal.
AI Scheduling Software
A computer algorithm that carefully considers the skills and real-time availability of your technicians before automatically assigning jobs. Leaving the math up to a machine eliminates errors and improperly matched jobs.
Real-Time Inventory Management
Technicians can’t complete the job if they don’t have the proper parts on-hand. Access to real-time inventory levels allow technicians to know what they have on their truck and what needs to be ordered from the warehouse.
Skills Based Technician Routing
Not every technician is the same. Skills-based routing software makes sure to send your complex jobs to your most qualified technicians and save your junior technicians for easy jobs.
Mobile Information about the Job
Sending your technicians into the field without giving them access to important job notes is a huge mistake. Modern technician dispatch software allows your technicians to have important job history and customer notes at their fingertips.
Live GPS Tracking and Dynamic Dispatching
When your dispatchers can see where every technician is at all times, they can make smart routing decisions when a priority call comes in. Dynamic dispatching keeps your schedule running smoothly and can improve first-time fix rates.
How High Performing Service Businesses Get It Right
Technology can give you a massive advantage, but your service business has to buy-in too. Live by these ideals, and you’ll see sustainable improvement in your first-time fix rates.
Invest in training your technicians. Sending your best technician with the proper parts available still isn’t enough if they aren’t trained on how to do the job. Make sure all of your technicians are up-to-date on their training.
Pay attention to your metrics. Tracking your first-time fix rate by technician, by job type, by region allows you to quickly identify weaknesses in your operation.
Always be improving. You should always be striving to take your first-time fix rate to the next level. Use data from your technician dispatch software to improve your scheduling rules and fine-tune your inventory management.
It’s that simple.
Businesses that take the things mentioned above seriously gain more than just a high first-time fix rate. They gain happy customers and lower operational costs.
Conclusion
A low first-time fix rate drains your bottom line. Every service call that requires a repeat visit is money your business doesn’t need to spend.
Technician dispatch software ends the guessing game of manual scheduling and routing. Equipping your dispatch team with AI scheduling software, skills-based routing, and mobile job intel means your technicians will fix more problems on the first visit.
You’ve got the info on how great tech increases FTFR. Now go out there and find your solution.
