Switching to a robust ERP like NetSuite is a strategic move that promises a strong ROI over time. In fact, 95% of businesses that implemented an ERP system saw positive results, and they generally realized an ROI in around 2.5 years.
That said, it’s not as simple as just implementing a new ERP. The system should actually be the right fit for how your business operates and what your long-term business goals are. For field service businesses, that often means having automation and real-time data insights so you can coordinate your teams with more efficiency.
Through a professional implementation project, NetSuite developers and implementation experts can start your transition by modifying and customizing NetSuite to make that goal a reality. Your NetSuite iteration should have tools specifically built for your business operations, including setting appointments, completing services, managing logistics, and marketing new prospects to grow your business.
Starting your implementation project with an idea of which tools are priorities for your organization will go a long way in ensuring your ERP has a shorter ROI time and brings in more profit.
How Professional NetSuite Implementation Tailors the ERP Software to Fit Your Business
Professional NetSuite implementation projects involve far more than simply unpackaging the software and ensuring your staff has the appropriate licenses and access to information. It’s a multi-phase project that involves integrating NetSuite with your tech stack, ensuring the data architecture allows information to correctly and automatically flow through the system, and building custom functionalities that benefit your staff.
Your implementation partners should prioritize tailoring the ERP to fit your business, and that involves four aspects:
- An in-depth discovery phase to uncover what your business needs
- Modules chosen and customizations built for your specific business
- Custom rollout plan with training and support
- Ongoing support that supplements in-house operations
All four elements are essential. But that second aspect—choosing and building the right tools—will make a significant difference in how much of a benefit your entire team sees.
Your Business Can Benefit From These Field Service Management Tools
NetSuite builds modules and unique solution packages to fit different industries, from national-level landscaping companies to the fertilizer companies that supply them and the warehousing companies that connect everyone together. From tailored financial packages for businesses with complex B2B services to advanced analytics and reporting for companies with dozens of franchises, there are preexisting tools built just for field service organizations.
Related: 4 Features of the Best Field Software for NetSuite
The advantage of turning to these premade packages is that you don’t have to pay or wait for full custom work. Instead, certified implementation experts can integrate them into your ERP, making sure all the fields match up and using custom SuiteScript code to pull all the edges together.
Whether you’re starting to see the benefits of a new ERP platform for your business or you’re researching the details of which functionalities NetSuite can provide, consider the essential tools available through NetSuite’s FSM software options. The following Field Service Management software tools are worth investigating and adding to your ERP.
Work Order Creation Tools
Growing your business requires eliminating as many barriers as possible that stand between your prospective or current customers and your services. The easier you can make it for customers to use your services, the better. That starts by having as many different channels for placing orders as possible and limiting the delays between order and fulfillment.
With NetSuite’s FSM tools, you can automatically create work orders faster and with less processing. Through these tools, you can:
- Quickly have internal phone support teams generate work orders based on incoming calls.
- Translate customer-facing calendars, appointment-setting widgets, and online portal chats into work orders for fast fulfillment.
- Efficiently manage more channels of communication, including phone calls, texts, chatbots, online tools, and in-person conversations with on-site field technicians.
Then the collected information can connect to the customer account, auto-filling all the details along the way before moving to the queue for field tech assignment and completion. You can remove most of the manual work and data entry while simultaneously scheduling work appointments with confidence and minimizing delays.
NetSuite also allows you to use standardized or custom workflows. When a work order is created, that can automatically trigger actions for routing field techs, updating inventory records, and adding the entry to financial records.
Customer and Job History Tracking
Personalized customer service is a big distinguisher in virtually every industry. Seventy-one percent of customers expect personalized interactions, and even more get frustrated when they don’t receive that level of service. Detailed, automatically updating records that are easy for your personnel to access play a critical role in making this personalization happen.
With detailed customer and job history records, field technicians can provide a consistent quality of service and comply with unique adjustments or custom job requirements, even if they’re working with a specific customer for the first time. Detailed records that are available on the cloud can be accessed by field techs on the job, customer service teams answering a call, and financial teams that want to double-check invoices and payment records.
Thorough customer and job history tracking is also essential for behind-the-scenes operations. NetSuite can integrate with tools throughout your tech stack, including marketing tools. Your teams can use the detailed records to build customer personas, form the basis for personalized content, and learn more about your most profitable customers or growing markets. Especially with the rise of AI, having lots of data that instantly and seamlessly updates can make all the difference in growing your business.
Scheduling and Assignment Functions
Routing tickets and field service appointments are major bottlenecks across all field service niches. Not only are there new calls and appointments coming in, but there may be countless adjustments and delays due to service changes, employees taking time off, and even traffic delays. While experienced professionals can work hard to try and keep up with the changes and keep everything on schedule, they can do even more with automation and robust scheduling tools.
Related: A Quick Guide to Optimizing NetSuite for Field Services
In NetSuite, you can get advantages like:
- Instantly track the location of field teams on their routes and get algorithmically powered recommendations on who can take on new assignments efficiently
- Get alerts when teams are starting to fall behind so you can reassign jobs or reach out to the customer
- Get recommendations on which field service technicians are right for specific jobs based on their availability, schedule, location, and certifications—without having to call multiple techs each time
- Ensure the workload is well balanced and that everyone is hitting productivity quotas
Automatic Generation of Reminders and Checklists for Every Job
The right processes and automated systems can go a long way in ensuring you provide consistently high-quality services across every job. Something as simple as a detailed checklist will significantly reduce the risk of errors and missed tasks on various job sites. Through integrated automation, your ERP can generate a checklist for every job. That doesn’t mean the same checklist for every ticket. Instead, you can generate checklists based on the service plan, property type, and custom services.
These checklists don’t just help in the moment. They act as detailed logs of services rendered with time stamps, documented incidents, and metadata. This level of standardized personalization reduces human error and makes field techs more efficient.
Real-Time Field Updates
More than any other type of business, field services rely on having a clear channel of communication between employees at different locations. Field techs need to have constant access to the same information as employees in the office, and your central office staff needs to know where your field techs are and what’s going on in their day-to-day itinerary.
NetSuite’s FSM tools power real-time updates across multiple fields. For example, as field service reps complete tickets and checklists, financial teams instantly see the completed services and invoice opportunities. Operators and coordinators can use real-time location data to revise daily schedules for optimal fulfillment.
The inverse is also true. Field techs benefit from having constant access to customer profiles and knowing when their routes are changing. They also benefit from being able to see product and marketing specifics for different service areas so they can give prospects and repeat customers the right offers and information.
Maximize the Return on Your ERP Investment With Specialized Field Service Management Tools
ERPs are primarily recognized for the increased efficiencies they bring to accounting and IT. But your NetSuite ERP can bring those same benefits to every element of your field service operations. Gain a competitive advantage with the ability to provide fast, personalized, and consistent services across every appointment, and then use that data to build or streamline your organization.
It all starts with a professionally implemented ERP—and that requires a conversation with Limebox. We provide specialized NetSuite implementation services and advanced development project options for field service businesses. Get in touch today to see how we can work together to boost your ROI.