For decades, field service experts were assumed to be the face of their company. They did sales and solved problems face to face, making sure to provide the best possible customer experience. Now, things are different: customers still want great service, but 52% of field service organizations agree that virtual-first and remote services have become the primary way they deliver service. And now customers prefer it that way. Instead of relying on truck rolls and lengthy in-person chats, customers want quick, convenient solutions delivered virtually – and companies are listening.

The data behind virtual-first field service

There’s a concern that if everyone delivers work virtually, work quality goes down because you lose valuable face-to-face time. However, you can still build genuine customer relationships with virtual-first service. The opportunity comes from how you offer remote service. Companies can differentiate their service offerings to work for their customer base. For example, 83% of businesses offer phone-based remote services, but only 67% offer a video service option. Far fewer – only 21% – are using augmented reality (AR) technology. By simply offering video services, a service provider can differentiate itself from others that only offer phone-based services. The same goes for using AR technologies to provide an even higher quality user experience.

There are also benefits to sales and employee retention. The vast majority (89%) of businesses found that speed was critical to closing deals faster, and virtual service helped them reach new customers with ease.

Remote-first businesses also had better employee retention because remote and virtual work provided better work-life balance and better training opportunities for technicians.

Create a hybrid, virtual-first service business

In the old model, every step of the customer journey – sales, triage, small issues, and big fixes – required a truck roll. In the new model, you can mix virtual service with on-site service, finding the optimal mix for your customer base.

The result is not only higher customer satisfaction but significant savings. One medium-sized ICwhatUC customer was able to save over $100,000 per day just by implementing virtual service offerings for their customers.

Better customer service and higher profitability

Customers just want their problems solved. For decades, the only way to do that was to go on-site. Now, virtual-first hybrid work powered by purpose-built video software for field work makes it easy to solve customer problems faster while maintaining – and even growing – profitability.

To read more about the state of virtual work, check out our whitepaper.