A Marriage Isn't All About The Honeymoon! – A Case Study For Homeserve Five Years After Deployment Of Fast Lean Smart Scheduling

FLS - FAST LEAN SMART is living up to its name in more ways than one. It enacted a faster-than-usual deployment of its scheduling and route optimisation software for the boiler installations division of HomeServe in 2018 so it could be ready for autumn and winter, the company’s busiest time of year. This involved system integration, call centre and self-service appointment booking, planners, and hundreds of engineers and surveyors. Both operational efficiency and service levels were improved by use of FLS VISITOUR, and HomeServe was soon getting to its customers 25% faster than before.

However, the true test for any relationship is how it fairs over the long term. Reaching their milestone in 2023, Richard Shepherd, Managing Director at HomeServe Installations and HomeServe Repairs, comments, "FLS VISITOUR achieves our scheduling efficiency objectives and FLS has proven an exceptional partner for HomeServe over the past five years. Their consultants are always on hand to offer expert advice and keen to ensure we are gaining the most efficiency for our operations. The technology has proven flexible to changing needs and they have listened and delivered on our suggestions for product development. We have regularly scored FLS 10/10 in their annual survey and I expect that to continue long into the future."

HomeServe boiler installation operations have two distinct components. First, a sales surveyor will conduct a video, telephone or in-home survey to assess what kind of boiler a customer needs, recommend one, and produce a quote. Secondly, field engineers will attend a customer’s property to install a boiler once a quote is accepted.

This presents a complex mix of sales surveyors who attend many jobs in one day and engineers with one job that could require one day or several days for installations and coordination of more than one trade/resource. So, when searching for new scheduling and route optimisation software, HomeServe needed a tool that could do both.