“I felt stuck in the slow cycle of desktop based email communications to receive and respond to customer requests,” Walter recalls. “Hiring someone to interpret communications was way out of question because of the costs and time delays,” he added.
Walter decided to do something about the problem before he begins to lose footing compared to his other mates that appeared much more responsive to their customers’ and business needs.
That’s when Walter learned about i4T Global, a cloud based Field Service Management platform that helped him remove the communication gap with his employees and customers and the disadvantage he previously experienced in following up new business leads.
One System for the Deaf and the Hearing
Previously Field Service businesses run by hard of hearing individuals used to rely merely on emails and SMS to take orders or respond back. While it used to be a good way to communicate, it was not only slow but also less preferred by time-strapped tech savvy customers.
i4T Business, an i4T Global solution designed for such business owners, offers seamless two way communication through a single platform of choice for everyone alike.
Property occupants dealing with a deaf service provider do not need a different app than the one they are using to interact with a hearing one. Moreover, the hard of hearing providers can receive and respond to customer requests much in the same way his/her hearing competitors can, thereby leveling the playing field for them.
Leveraging Visual Rather than Auditory Communication
Individuals who are hard of hearing have a heightened sense of visual perception and hence greater attention to detail.
A telephonic job request can only be so descriptive and detailed. On the other hand, i4T Business allows property occupants to send a visual description of the job through photos along with text, thereby removing any ambiguities hard of hearing providers may have with respect to the job.
Minimizing the need for direct Interactions
From responding to customer inquiries to keeping them up to date on job progress, invoicing them and chasing them for payments, a service provider’s job can be much more than the actual job itself!
However, for a hard of hearing individual, the entire process can be quite intimidating with their inability to communicate as effectively and as frequently as required.
With i4T Business’ automated customer and employee interactions, hard of hearing providers can not only share job details and allocate them to their field technicians right from the app but they can also keep the customer in the loop as job progress from one stage to the next without having to communicate directly.
‘Now with the use of i4T Business, we can integrate our hard of hearing staff so they can competently do their plumbing jobs and never shy away from communicating with our clients. In fact, we have observed that it has given our hard of hearing plumbing staff a boost since we adopted this FSM solution as it communicates via SMS and/or the smart apps notifications,” says Saia Latu, Business Manager at Fluid Plumbing.
Conclusion
Hard of hearing Field Service Suppliers can feel disadvantaged when it comes to securing new leads and communicating well with their customers.
However, the advancement in mobile based technology driven solutions such as i4T Business – (a SaaS cloud based FSM platform), helps level the playing field for hard of hearing providers with others. The software helps deaf suppliers feel more confident when communicating with property occupants and their employees and achieve more in less time. If you are a business owner or field technician facing a similar challenge as Walter and others as Fluid Plumbing did, feel free to get in touch with us.
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With our cutting-edge technology and in-depth knowledge of how the Field Service Management sector operates, the i4TGlobal Team loves to share industry insights to help streamline your business processes and generate new leads. We are driven by innovation and are passionate about delivering solutions that are transparent, compliant, efficient and safe for all stakeholders and across all touch points.
