A survey by the leading field service management platform reveals nearly 44% of respondents prefer to schedule an appointment online and 35% prefer to pay for that service digitally.

A recent survey by leading field service management and communication platform Workiz, revealed that in order to attract and retain customers, field service businesses need to have an easy-to-use online scheduling system as well as digital payment options. With the global field service management industry expected to reach $5.9 billion by 2024¹, the takeaways from this survey are crucial for field service businesses to continue to remain relevant amongst their competition.

The trend towards online scheduling and bookings in the field service sector can be linked to the on-demand and seamless tech preferences of Millennials and Generation Z. With 63% of Millennials beginning their customer service interactions online² and 50% of Gen-Z using digital wallets monthly³, the importance of smooth online customer service and digital payments is more important than ever.

The Workiz survey revealed that these tech preferences not only relate to common-place on-demand services like food delivery and ride-hailing, but also to the hiring of a field service technician, for example, locksmiths or appliance repair. Nearly 40% of consumers cite ease of scheduling as a main factor for choosing a field service business which technology is vital for achieving. Moreover, 44% of respondents prefer to schedule an appointment online and almost 35% prefer to pay for that field service digitally, while 38% of respondents would leave a positive online review of the home service provider if the scheduling system was easy-to-use.

The survey also shows the importance of field service businesses facilitating smooth communication with clients, with 63% citing great real-time communication as the number one factor for leaving a positive review. The significance of positive reviews cannot be underestimated as Workiz found that nearly 40% of respondents would trust a small business if they read positive online reviews for them. In addition, 30% of consumers would even pay more for a home service provider if they see they have a positive online presence.

Other key findings from the survey include:

• 51% of respondents cited timeliness of the technician as a main factor to becoming a repeat customer of that provider
• 47% of respondents would pay more for a home service provider if they had immediate availability
• 43% of respondents are more likely to support an small business because they like to support their local community
• 35% of respondents cited it would be easier for them to support small businesses if they had an easy-to-use website or mobile app
• 30% of consumers find home service providers through reading online reviews
• 25% of respondents would leave a positive review for a home service if their website was user friendly

“Whether it’s ease-of-scheduling or digital payment options, we’re seeing that consumers today prefer a seamless interaction with field service businesses,” said Adi “Didi” Azaria, CEO of Workiz. “The appliance being repaired correctly isn’t enough anymore — customers want the experience to be frictionless every step of the way. Field service management software, like Workiz, provides field services businesses with a digital toolbox that allows them to not only be service pros, but also become business pros, by streamlining their business and offering consumers the quality of service they demand.

The survey, conducted in March 2020, was jointly carried out with Google Consumer Surveys based on a representative sample of more than 1,050 respondents from the United States, aged 18-65+.

About Workiz

Founded in 2015, Workiz is a business software for small to medium-sized on-demand field service businesses, such as locksmith, carpet cleaning and appliance repair. With Workiz, field service pros can grow their business by ditching antiquated business management methods such as pen and paper, Excel spreadsheets and Google Calendar. Workiz provides an easy-to-use platform which allows them to manage their scheduling, invoicing, payment processing, and more. Workiz is headquartered in San Diego, U.S. and serves the U.S. and Canadian field service markets. Workiz is led by CEO Adi Azaria, a co-founder of Sisense, an over billion-dollar Business Intelligence solution. The company is a Google Startup Growth Lab and Facebook Playground partner.

¹ Bloomberg, 2019, Field Service Management Market Worth $5.9 Billion by 2024 – Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets™
² Microsoft, 2017, State of Global Customer Service Report
³ Business Insider, 2019, Banking & Payments for Gen Z Report: The winning strategies for attracting the next big opportunity — Generation Z