5 reasons customers love real-time service delivery tracking

Over the last few years, customer expectations for service delivery have significantly shifted. More than ever, consumers desire digital-first experiences, real-time ETAs, speedy delivery, and transparency throughout their entire purchase journey.

Companies like Amazon, Uber, and Deliveroo have been hitting that real-time customer engagement mark for years, which has pushed other similar businesses to keep up or face obscurity. 

Now, regardless of industry, every type of organisation must rise to meet these demands. The real-time experience is the norm — and field service is no exception. 

But all these new expectations beg an important question: Why do field service customers prefer real-time communication apps, ETAs, and notifications? Here, we’ll look at the five top reasons, and how you can give customers what they crave.

Why is real-time customer engagement so popular?

Here are some of the key reasons why customers love real-time service delivery tracking:

1. It builds trust. 

When you can increase transparency and reduce friction, it not only elevates the customer experience; it also builds trust. 

Providing real-time communication apps with ETA updates and notifications shows customers you’re listening to what they want, and when you meet their arrival time expectations, you demonstrate that you’re credible and dependable. 

Building that trust and positive association with your brand leads to sustained customer loyalty: 85% of consumers say they’ll buy from a retailer again if they can track their purchases throughout the delivery process.

2. It reduces stress. 

Not knowing whether a package or service technician is going to show up in two minutes or two hours is stressful — some 71% of people say they feel physical and emotional disturbance around scheduled appointments. Accurate ETAs with short time windows sets a promise for you to keep, and helps customers feel confident about their order or appointment, so they can go about their day.

3. It aligns with expectations and daily experiences. 

As we’ve mentioned, most people have received excellent real-time customer engagement firsthand from food delivery businesses and rideshare services, and those experiences have impacted their preferences. 

Research has found that nearly 70% of consumers say one of their top three considerations when making an online purchase is the ability to track an order (and 56% say it’s a top consideration when making a luxury purchase).

So if you’re not meeting (or exceeding) the bar for what they know is possible — fast, transparent digital experiences with accurate ETAs — you’re going to be seen as old-fashioned and frustrating. Aligning your service delivery with modern expectations is the only way to satisfy customers and earn repeat business.

4. It prevents scheduling conflicts. 

Real-time ETAs are important for customers and operatives alike. For customers, it means they can easily plan their day around the delivery or service, and ensure they’ll be home to answer the door. For technicians, it means they won’t have to wait around or risk a no-access appointment. It’s a win-win, saving everyone time and frustration.

5. It eliminates the need to call customer service. 

A large volume of calls to customer service centres are chase calls. Questions and concerns like, “Where’s my driver?” and “My technician still hasn’t shown up,” can easily be avoided by providing real-time ETAs and notifications. 

Keeping customers in the know significantly reduces these calls, which reduces stress and effort for them. As an added bonus for your business, it can also free up call centre staff to handle more pressing issues.

Offer real-time tracking on your own terms

Now that you know why customers love real-time customer engagement and service delivery tracking, don’t you think it’s time to level up?

With Localz, you can meet — and exceed — customer expectations by offering real-time ETAs in numerous ways, and on your own terms. Through geofencing and GPS tracking technology, as well as an easy-to-use platform that allows you to digitise your field service delivery process, Localz provides customisable ways to delight customers while also offering the desired level of privacy for your operatives.

Provide the ETA customers want, how you want. Localz’ options include:

• Place in queue only: Customers can view information about their appointment and see their place in the queue. They receive automated 15- or 30-minute ETA windows based on real-time operative tracking.
  
  
• Place in queue plus ETA: Customers can see the details of their appointment and their place in the queue, and they receive a real-time ETA and countdown of when an operative or delivery will be arriving.
  
  
• Place in queue plus ETA and location: Like the previous two options, customers see their appointment details and their place in the queue, as well as receive a real-time ETA and countdown, but they are also provided with a real-time location pin of where the driver is (configurable based on your business’ privacy needs).
  
  
• Place in queue plus, ETA, location, and route planning. This is the most transparent real-time tracking option. Customers have access to all the previous features, plus, they’ll be able to view route planning that shows the intended path of the operative.