With the Covid-19 pandemic around the corner, the pandemic has caused disruptions in the area of field services. Due to the pandemic, today’s companies are emerging with a novel kind of Appointment Economy. Why? Because technicians travel a lot for resolving the issues of the customers.

As per the State of the Field service report, 77 % of consumers prefer in-person service over any other alternatives, increasing by 67 % from June 2020. However, 49 % of consumers still chose in-person services, even during the pandemic.

In the times of dual crisis of health and economy, the stakes are higher, since the service teams are facing anxious customers with complex issues and they are highly demanding too. There is a rise of a new type of Appointment Economy as companies, cutting across all industries prefer both in-person as well as virtual scheduling, to deliver safe, personalized experiences.

How are the Companies Surviving During the Pandemic?

It is equally important to provide field service in a reliable, transparent and scheduled way during this pandemic – to function safely. Now, safety is of paramount importance rather than delivering parts within a short frame of time.

The trend now is to provide a tailored solution and the appointment economy is just a part of the entire effort to deliver high-quality services to use resources efficiently and to plan effectively.

Salesforce is helping the various companies succeed in the appointment economy for field services. How? As businesses are trying hard to stay ahead of competitors with personalized services in the field, the key to their success lies in adopting the right technology.

How Helpful is Salesforce for the Appointment Economy?

Salesforce has launched two technology products, in 2021 for the Appointment economy which are:

• Virtual Remote Assistant
• Appointment Assistant

Virtual Remote Assistant

Salesforce Virtual Assistant is a product from Salesforce that caters to the needs of the customers, during this crisis, when it is extremely important to limit physical contact without compromising the customer-facing time. Salesforce Virtual Remote Assistant provides a real-time, visual support solution remotely. It helps to save cost by scheduling visits remotely and hence reducing the risks for both field service technicians and the customers.

An instant response is the need of the hour to quickly resolve your issues and this is achieved with a video chat session to fetch a higher ROI and customer adoption. Moreover, it offers real-time, interactive guidance to solve issues, anywhere. Furthermore, avoid the hassles of a low bandwidth with scalable video and AI-powered, character recognition.

Appointment Assistant

The future of customer experience is shaped by the rise in the Appointment Economy to track the entire customer experience – right from the first contact up to the ringing of the doorbell. The Appointment Economy acts as a model for personalized customer experience and is accelerated due to the social distancing norms of Covid-19. However, one thing that remains constant is the craving for convenience and connection whether it is an onsite service or for home/business.

Appointment Assistant is a part of Salesforce Service Cloud and aims at keeping everyone connected, safe and satisfied. So, now it is possible to send real-time Appointment updates to automatically notify through email, SMS or even WhatsApp, the expected arrival time of the mobile workforce, location of the technician, on the day when the service gets rendered. Safety is a primary concern for all, so updates on existing safety protocols and pre-arrival checklists forms part of a connected customer experience.

Finally, an Appointment Assistant can help your mobile workforce with a mobile app to improve productivity of the mobile workforce for quickly finishing their job, manage timesheets and notifications and provide guidance on job safety.

Conclusion

During this pandemic, customers prefer both in-person and virtual scheduling, to deliver safe, and personalized experiences with the rise of an Appointment Economy. It is important to deliver field service – reliably and scheduled during this pandemic to function safely. And safety is critically important. So, Salesforce has come out with two products – Virtual Remote Assistant and Appointment Assistant to provide a tailored solution. The appointment economy forms a part of the effort to deliver high-quality services.

AnavClouds software  is a top-notch Salesforce certified partner and consulting company which offers services on custom development, implementation on outstanding cloud-based Salesforce products. Hire our certified Salesforce Service Cloud Consultants to get a tailored solution for personalized experience with Appointment Assistant to solve your complex issues, during this pandemic.