If your field teams are still conducting inspections and surveys with paper and clipboards, it’s time for an upgrade.
Switching to mobile forms (or “going paperless”) may seem like a major undertaking, especially if your employees are perfectly comfortable with the paper-based processes they’ve been following for years or even decades.
But change is crucial for business growth, especially in a crowded marketplace. If you’re not embracing new technology, you’re losing ground to competitors that are.
Besides, once you’ve made the transition to mobile forms, everyone’s job is made easier: Field workers simply collect data using a mobile device (often the phone they’re already carrying) and sync it to the cloud, where folks in the office can access it instantly.
No more paper to wrangle (and lose). No more chicken scratch to decipher. No more waiting hours or days for updated information from the field.
And that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
The list of benefits of using a mobile forms app is long, but in the interest of efficiency (it’s kind of a thing around here), here are the top three:
1. Save time in your operations workflow
Every minute your field teams spend filling out paperwork and ushering it back to the office is time wasted. Your field technicians are experts in their trade. Why are you paying them to do paperwork?
When that paperwork finally makes its way back to headquarters, your office staff then has to re-enter the (potentially incomplete or illegible) information into your database, increasing the opportunity for errors.
And how many times has a field technician reported an issue that was unclear or required multiple site visits to correct? With a mobile forms app, techs can take a photo or video of the problem that gets automatically attached to the corresponding record, so it can be handled quickly and efficiently.
2. Improve customer service and retention
Paper forms create errors and delays, which create unhappy customers. Using a mobile forms app that is pre-populated with the right information and can make automatic calculations helps you serve your customers faster.
Today’s consumers want things done quickly. According to Forrester research, 66% of adults say that the most important thing a company can do to provide them with a good customer experience is value their time. And happy customers are returning customers: An American Express report revealed that 33% of U.S. consumers have switched companies after just one bad customer-service experience.
Happy customers also bring in referral business! According to Nielsen research, 77% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when they learn about it from someone they know.
Recurring revenue + referrals = a healthy, growing business!
3. Make faster, data-driven decisions
Re-entering data that was gathered on paper in the field into your company’s database does more than increase the likelihood of mistakes — it takes time. In rapidly changing environments, the information might even be outdated by the time it makes its way from the field back to the office.
Mobile forms give you real-time visibility into your data, enabling you to see bottlenecks and other roadblocks to project completion and act on them right away.
Paper doesn’t do that.
Ready to experience the benefits of using mobile forms? Try Fulcrum FREE for 14 days!
Fulcrum is a data collection platform that enables organizations to reduce costs, access critical data in real time, and improve decision making at every level. With Fulcrum, you can create custom apps using our simple drag-and-drop builder to turn your paper documents into digital forms that your field teams can quickly complete on mobile devices.