Managers who are working with field executives clearly know the struggle and challenges they face while working. And this drives the need to invest in quality field force management software. As a result, the global field force management software market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19.7% from 2021 to 2030.
The stats show how many businesses are realizing the need for employee tracking software and the benefits it can help reap. But most important is going for efficient software that can easily dissolve all your workforce-related problems along with helping the employees work proficiently.
Challenges Managers Face While Supervising Field Employees
Multiple challenges arise when supervising field force. Even field agents struggle with certain hurdles while on the field. All these setbacks ultimately affect the productivity of the sales representatives, field technicians, or after-sales agents.
And since field agents are an essential part of the company’s operation as they are the ones facing and dealing with clients, it becomes even more crucial to manage them in a way that they are as productive as possible.
Attendance Management
It is nearly impossible for managers to remember or manually record the attendance of 20-25 field executives. As a result, there are bound to be errors. Additionally, daily traveling to the office to mark attendance is time-consuming for agents.
Also, the lack of foolproof attendance recording leads to time theft and buddy punching. All this is harmful to the company as attendance affects the task assigning, payroll, and compensation process.
Time Management
Time is essential if you want a productive and efficient field workforce. Unfortunately, many companies still trust their outdated manual methods to supervise their agents. Not realizing that they are time-inefficient methods and today, what you need is time-optimized procedures which the field force management software can provide.
Lack of Location Knowledge
Not being able to connect with the agents to know of their current location update can cause the manager to derail from other important work. Also, the lack of location knowledge can even cause a decrease in visibility and accountability on employees’ part. Knowing the location helps the managers determine the success of their strategies and allocate other tasks.
Task Management
The process of assigning tasks can be tedious for both employees and managers. If done manually, it might be too time-consuming and full of loopholes. In addition, the lack of a digital system can cause managers to be unable to know the progress of the tasks, and employees might even miss out on one or more tasks.
Collecting and Maintaining Documents
Field agents complain about how difficult it is to carry a stack of paper everywhere. Moreover, they must be extra careful of the documents as they contain important information for the company. If not looked after, they can be lost due to theft or destroyed by rain.
Even the administration has a hard managing all the physical paperwork. Soon companies are forced to hire employees and storage space to fill and file the paperwork. This method is highly cost and effort-inefficient.
Fragmented Workflow
Organizations that are hesitant to pay for all-in-one service end up resorting to multip[le platforms for ease of operation. They do not realize how confusing and time-consuming this method is. Field agents must constantly jump from one platform to another to operate on the field.
This constant switching even results in a fragmented workflow as the information they need is scattered on multiple platforms. And let’s not forget that using multi-platform can cause faster drainage of battery which is not good for field agents.
Unproductive Employees
Expecting field agents to work manually can kill their productivity as they have to perform repetitive and mundane tasks that could be time and effort-consuming. This causes a steep drop in their performance quality and productivity.
Disorganized Expenses
For any operation to be successful, it should be cost-optimized. There are a lot of reimbursement claims, pending requests, and expenses that the managers have to approve or look into. It can get disorganized very quickly if not managed properly.
Essential Features TrackoField Offers
What sets apart a good field force management software from an average one is that it helps managers supervise a productive and efficient workforce. TrackoField features and tools that can successfully automate mundane tasks that kill the motivation of employees.
Listed below are features of quality software offers:
Real-time Employee Tracking
TrackoField offers 97% real-time tracking accuracy, which managers can do remotely from their phone screens. They can know the accurate and live location of their employees. Real-time tracking helps to verify the time taken by agents, location, tasks, and attendance.
Task Management
With the help of the software, the manager can assign tasks in bulk. This automates the process of delegating tasks which in turn helps to save time for both employees and managers. In addition, the manager can view tasks progress in real-time as soon as employees complete them.
Attendance Management
A quality field force monitoring software knows the importance of recording authentic attendance. Therefore TrackoField offers geocoded attendance, meaning the employees’ attendance gets automatically marked once they reach their first task location.
Task and attendance can be linked, ensuring that the tasks are only visible once their attendance is marked.
Leave Management
Field executives can mark or request leave remotely through the software. The manager is notified of the request, and they can respond remotely as well through the software. Employees will be notified of the response.
The software also offers a dynamic dashboard that informs the managers of the total leaves taken, upcoming holidays, and the number of leaves left. This will help in allocating tasks.
Expense Management
Employee tracking software can efficiently help managers operate cost-effectively and even provide time to form cost-effective strategies. Another way managers can optimize the budget is by putting a cap on the reimbursement amount. The limit is customizable according to the team and designation.
From an employee standpoint, the software simplifies the reimbursement process. They no longer need to carry around receipts and bills. Instead, they can instantly upload it on the software, and the request will be automatically visible to the managers.
In Built Chat Box
The software offers a built-in chatbox to maintain a workflow and easy communication between managers and field executives. Employees can share pictures, videos, and voice notes along with messages. This eliminates the need for multiple platforms to operate.
Custom Field and Forms
TrackoField offers cloud storage where important documents can be uploaded and accessed remotely. This eliminates the need to carry physical documents. This is a cost, time, and effort-effective method. For confidential documents, password protection is provided.
Another cool tool is custom forms used to receive client feedback. The field can be modified according to the need.
Battery and Network Status
The software ensures that the employees cannot hide their location at any time except when they are off work. Field executives might turn off their device to deceive the manager by claiming that their device is out of battery or has no network.
But the software allows managers to access the network and battery status of all the field employees. Furthermore, the manager is notified whenever an agent enters a no-network zone.
Actionable Reports
The field force management software offers automated reports to keep managers informed of every detail of the operation and employees. These real-time reports are detailed and accurate and inform the managers about the productivity of employees in the sales made. In addition, managers can compare an employee’s performance from the previous month to the current one and even with another team.
Dual Apps
TrackoField is mindful of the struggles of managers and employees, and that is why it offers separate apps. Manager centric app has tools and features that will allow them to supervise the agents effectively. At the same time, the employee-oriented app has features that will help them perform better and automate their tasks. This also helps to remove any unwanted information.
API Integration
API integration is important to operate from one platform. Quality employee management software understands this and is supportable by other software. This software can be for work order management, payroll management, or CRM. This doubles the efficiency of the software.
TrackoField Is A Quality Field Force Management Software
When investing in field Employee management software, it becomes very important to invest in quality software. And the essential features mentioned above can help managers differentiate between good software and an average one.
TrackoField is a quality work force monitoring software that allows managers and employees to enjoy the numerous benefits that come with using it.
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