Our recent New & Next Buyer webinar focused on product updates, new features, and key insights designed to enhance the user experience on the Field Nation platform and drive great outcomes for all. The webinar covered two main areas: the product vision and the introduction of new and upcoming features. 

Summary

As the #1 labor marketplace for IT field services, Field Nation is dedicated to empowering independent technicians and companies to do great work. Through conversations with hundreds of buyers and providers, we’ve pinpointed key challenges that get in the way of great outcomes. Our product leaders are excited to introduce several enhancements to the platform, including our biggest update yet: the all-new Provider Match experience, which enables buyers to find and assign the best, most reliable technicians twice as fast. Let’s take a look at the new and improved features now available on the platform.

Buyer challenges (7:16)

Currently, there are three specific challenges that companies on Field Nation are facing:

1. Reliability: Technician cancellations, backouts, and late arrivals are significantly disruptive and costly for companies. 
2. Star ratings: Also known as a public feedback system, star ratings can result in rating inflation. Right now, 81% of providers have perfect five-star ratings despite five-star outcomes not truly happening that frequently.
3. Vetting new providers: The current vetting process is too time-consuming and often requires companies to vet an average of 17 technicians before making a decision.

Provider challenges (10:24)

1. Clear scoreboard: Providers need clear, actionable metrics to understand what it takes to succeed and attract more work on the platform.
2. Ease of getting work done: Enhancing the app’s usability and removing friction from key workflows like scheduling will help providers deliver five-star service consistently and efficiently.
3. Standing out: With many providers having similar ratings, it’s crucial to help the best providers stand out to buyers.

Addressing these challenges

To address these challenges, we are introducing several updates to the Field Nation platform, including our biggest product update ever: an all-new Provider Match experience.

New Provider Match experience (16:55)

The provider assigned to the work order is a key factor that contributes to a project outcome. In order to ensure buyers have the tools necessary to find the providers that are best suited for their specific work, we’ve released an updated Provider Match experience. Key features of this update include:

1. Expanded work categories: We’ve added more granular type-of-work categories to enable buyers to find providers with the exact expertise needed for more complex work orders.
2. Enhanced provider ranking: Our improved ranking algorithm prioritizes relevant and high-quality providers, ensuring the most suitable providers appear at the top of the search results to save buyers time and effort.
3. Better filters and search functions: Improved filters allow buyers to quickly hone in on the providers that meet their specific requirements, streamlining the vetting process and making it easier to find the right providers quickly.
4. Interactive design built for efficiency: The new interface reduces the need to click through multiple profiles, presenting key information right on the page.

Provider quality improvements (35:34)

In addition to improving the technician vetting process, there are several new features we’re introducing that are designed to improve provider quality. Those features include:

1. My Business Dashboard: This tool gives providers access to key performance metrics, including their Timeliness and Cancellation Rates, relationship insights, and business health indicators, to help them understand where they’re excelling and where they can improve.
2. Private Feedback: Private Feedback enables buyers to leave honest, detailed feedback on providers that only people at their company can see, allowing for more accurate assessments of provider performance.

Schedule management enhancements (48:21)

Previously, there were three main workflow challenges users experienced on the platform: schedule conflict visibility, off-platform schedule agreements, and misaligned schedule expectations. To address these challenges, we’ve added several new features designed to improve the schedule management experience, such as:

1. Double-booking prevention for providers: There are now updated tools to prevent double bookings and resolve schedule conflicts more efficiently to ensure that schedules reflect agreed-upon times and improve overall timeliness data.
2. Schedule accuracy workflow: We updated the buyer and provider schedule change request workflow to make it easier to ensure work orders reflect agreed-upon schedules. These updates prevent misunderstandings and enhance trust in the platform’s reliability metrics.
3. Fixed schedules to Hard Starts: To reduce confusion around when a provider is expected to arrive at a specific time, we eliminated the Fixed schedule type and are now only offering the Hard Start schedule type when a specific arrival time is required. 

Key takeaways

This new and improved product vision was developed in response to the challenges faced by both providers and buyers. We’re excited to share these enhancements to help both groups do great work faster and more efficiently. Do you have questions or feedback about the new tools and features on Field Nation? Send a message and share your thoughts with our product team!