How Unplanned Downtimes Hamper Your Field Service Business

Every field service management company strives to provide a seamless and frictionless customer experience. Customer satisfaction can also distinguish one field service company from another. However, field service companies must keep service costs low while increasing productivity to remain appealing to customers. Both of these objectives are critical to the success of field service management, but achieving them is a difficult task with frequent unplanned downtimes.

Unplanned downtime for critical equipment disrupts the customer experience and wastes valuable service time. Furthermore, it can increase company expenses by causing unnecessary service appointments. Modern field service companies can avoid unplanned downtime with advanced field service management solutions that ensure seamless customer service and maximize productivity.

Learn how field service mobile software can help you reduce downtime and increase the efficiency of your business.

What is unscheduled or unplanned downtime, and why does it occur?

The term “downtime” refers to when a system is not in use or is inaccessible. This lapse in operations is referred to as unscheduled or unplanned downtime caused by an unplanned error or glitch.

Downtimes, both scheduled and unscheduled, can occur for various reasons. To avoid the issues or to resolve the issues you can take CNC & industrial machine repair services from Machine Techs. This company is rapidly growing and getting more attention nowadays.

In general, it is normal for machines to require maintenance from time to time. As a result, some downtime for upgrades and repairs is unavoidable, and customers will be less bothered because this is a type of scheduled downtime. In addition, for scheduled downtime, customers and users can be notified well in advance, reducing the impact.

When a disruption occurs at an unplanned and inconvenient time, it is called unscheduled downtime. Unplanned downtime can occur at any time and without warning, and it is possible to encounter it during peak periods. Hardware failures can cause unplanned events, failed software upgrades, or other machinery flaws, and they are significant setbacks in the world of field service management and require immediate attention.

Here are some of the ways that unplanned downtime can harm your business.

They worsen company-customer relationships.

Your customers need to be able to rely on your services. Although 100% uptime may not always be possible, it is something you should strive for. Clients will end their association with your company if they cannot access your services when they need them the most.

You sully your brand’s reputation.

If your customers have a lot of downtime, it will definitely affect your relationship with them. Furthermore, negative reviews and bad word of mouth will harm your reputation, making it difficult to attract new clients and grow your business.

Revenue loss

When there are frequent outages, the chances of losing customers and, as a result, revenues increase significantly. Revenue loss can be both short-term and long-term. With lost clients and revenues, your company may be unable to re-establish its market position.

Downtime wreaks havoc on the supply chain.

Unplanned downtime in an era of increasing interconnectedness means a harmed supply chain. Any setback suffered by your company can put all supply chain members, including people, other resources, and organizations, in an equally difficult position.

Dissatisfied employees

Nothing irritates your customers more than unplanned outages. When your customers’ critical systems and devices fail, you have no idea what is at stake. Customers who are dissatisfied with the service they receive frequently vent their frustration to the staff. Employee morale suffers as a result, as does disengagement from the company with which they are affiliated. Employee dissatisfaction is unavoidable if this becomes a regular occurrence in your company.

How Field Service Software can Assist in Reducing the Impact?

Learn what you need to know about preventative maintenance.

Field service software allows you to access critical data. These data insights enable you to forecast the future performance of customer appliances and equipment and keep track of their maintenance schedules, allowing you to take a proactive rather than a reactive maintenance approach.

IoT compatibility is built into the software.

This software connects your customer hardware to your field service software with an embedded Internet of Things capability. You can obtain data directly from the source and monitor performance in real time. This will assist you in identifying and resolving potential issues before they cause downtime.

Although a little maintenance planning can save many people from unplanned downtimes, it is frequently overlooked. Why? Because it’s difficult to be concerned about problems that aren’t yet visible. We frequently forget to schedule a dentist appointment or an oil change for the same reason, even though we know that such behavior will result in problems.

Appliances and equipment cause downtimes because the owners are responsible for ensuring their timely maintenance. Owners may find it difficult to keep track of the maintenance schedule and look for red flags.