If you want a career where you can develop as a leader, impact an organization and help people succeed, consider becoming a field service manager at RDO.
RDO has more than 50 field service managers across our organization.
People in these roles get to lean into their passions and grow professionally.
However, you have a lot to consider as you evaluate your next move.
The amount of money you need to make, the flexibility you desire and the type of work you’re interested in are major considerations.
To help you decide whether one of these roles is right for you, this article walks through a day in the life of this career, including what field service managers are responsible for, who they work with, what they do and the challenges they face.
Visit our Management Careers page for more information on what it’s like to work as a manager at RDO.
What Does a Field Service Manager Do at RDO?
Field service managers at RDO are the counterpart to the service managers in their store/region.
Where service managers oversee a team of technicians who repair customer equipment from the shop, field service teams are dispatched to perform repairs/jobs in surrounding areas — sometimes multiple times per day.
Here’s a list of some field service manager responsibilities:
- Oversee the day-to-day management of six to eight field service technicians.
- Assign jobs to field service technicians according to their skills, location and knowledge.
- Own the management responsibility relating to hiring and performance management of my team.
- Manage the work order process.
- Follow and understand our manufacturer partner’s guidelines, processes and expectations.
- Review and approve daily team member timecards.
- Manage customer relationships by seeking feedback, anticipating problems and responding.
- Respond to team member issues and concerns.
- Review and process all repair work orders for accuracy and completeness — focusing on parts, materials and labor.
- Facilitate employee meetings, including annual reviews, one-on-one meetings and quarterly Career Path Level (CPL) meetings.
- Effectively utilize company provided tools, i.e. Work Order Scheduler, Ewalk, Precise, DTAC, Service Advisor, Service Advisor Remote, etc
- Handle warranty claims, including calculating charges and partnering with the Central Warranty Department on claims.
- Ensure appropriate communications throughout the store by facilitating/participating in monthly open-book meetings, conducting regular team meetings, encouraging an open-door policy and proactively seeking feedback from team members.
- Lead and manage all activities related to ensuring the customer experience is positive.
A Typical Day as a Field Service Manager
There’s not really a “typical” day in this role.
Every day brings different challenges, projects and tasks to complete.
This makes it exciting but also overwhelming at times (it’s difficult to get into a rhythm during busy periods).
On any given day, field service managers do many of the same things.
Often, the start by checking in with each of their technicians. This is either in person or over the phone.
In these discussions, they go through questions about the technician’s work, what issues (if any) the manager can help with and their workload. In the morning, field managers will also collaborate to get their technicians’ assignment(s) for the day.
Picking a job for them to work on can be kind of complex.
Field service managers must weigh each technician’s proximity to the customer (do they live nearby, or will they have to commute?), skillset, whether they’re capstoned (for warrantied machines) and their work history to make this decision.
Once each technician knows their assignment, the next part of the day begins.
This includes reviewing our active and completed work orders. It’s a the field service manager’s responsibility to approve each one before invoices go to the customer.
In doing so, field managers evaluate whether the hours, cores, deductibles and parts equal the final bill amount.
They also verify everything makes sense and flows well in the write-up the technician has done for the job. If there’s information missing from the “story” of the job, they spend time filling it in.
Once work orders are good to go, field service managers will work closely with our customer service advisors to present them to customers and get the job closed out.
Phone calls, emails and in-person conversations with managers, technicians (including one-on-one meetings) and other team members are common.
From parts to sales, to service leaders at their store, field service managers collaborate to serve customers.
The Best Things About Being a Field Service Manager at RDO
This is a great job in a lot of ways. Many field service managers enjoy the relationships they develop. The culture here is positive across our organization, allowing you to build relationships with all kinds of people.
Beyond this, here are three of the best things about this role, you should be aware of:
1) Working With The Technicians
RDO’s service technicians are truly the best in the business. It’s fun to work with them. Each field service team is full of talented, dedicated technicians who take their work seriously and work hard for customers.
Coming to work each day with a high-performing team is a highlight of the role.
2) Solving the Puzzle of Each Day
These team members oversee a lot of moving pieces every day.
While staying organized and getting each technician to their best-fit job each day can be challenging, it can also be rewarding.
If you’re a natural problem solver, you’ll enjoy this part of the job, too.
3) Helping People Succeed
There’s always an opportunity to help someone in this job. Whether it’s a member of another department, one of the technicians or a customer, you’ll play a key role in the growth and success of other people.
Many field service managers love seeing the outcomes this produces. Receiving positive customer feedback and watching a technician advance their career are two upsides.
Common Challenges Field Service Managers Face at RDO
Like any job, working as a field service manager isn’t without rough spots.
Although they’re outweighed by the benefits, here are a couple of common challenges you may experience.
1) Workload and Pacing
Most industries have fast and slow periods. The heavy equipment service industry is not different — though these periods vary based on your location.
As a result, field service managers have a full plate at most times. On average, a field service team processes 10-20 workorders per day. At any given time, you’ll have 50-60 in your team’s name. This may even increase at certain times of year.
This workload creates a fast-paced environment where there’s always a lot to do, which can be challenging.
2) Managing Customer Expectations
Machine downtime is always uncomfortable for customers. As the field service manager, it’s your job (alongside the customer service advisor and technician) to communicate with customers. Sometimes this means delivering bad news when a repair will take longer than we initially thought, for example.
For our customers, time is money, so this can create uncomfortable conversations.
Who is the Field Service Manager Role a Good Fit For?
The final topic we want to discuss in this article is who tends to be a good fit for this job.
For starters, here are the skills field service managers use most, each of which is essential for success in this career:
- Multi-tasking
- Task switching
- Communication
- Leadership
- Note-taking
- Customer service
- Computer skills
- Some degree of technical knowledge
- Problem-solving
- Time management
If you have these skills, you’ll do well in this role. Someone who struggles to juggle multiple projects and organize their time might not be a great fit.
Learn More About RDO Management Careers
At the end of the day, you deserve to work for a company that will put you first and give you opportunities to grow.
As a field service manager at RDO Equipment Co., you’ll work alongside a team to help our customers build the world.
If you enjoy leadership, meeting new people, working hard and solving complex problems, find an open position here. For more information on what it’s like to be a manager at RDO, visit our Management Careers page.
To stay connected to our company, including our latest job openings, join the RDO Careers Talent Network for a monthly email update.
Greg Maurer
Greg has a rich history in the heavy equipment industry. Before transitioning into management in 2014, Greg was a field service technician for 19 years. Nine of these years were with RDO Equipment Co. where he impacted the progress of our company in Arizona through high-quality service and leadership. Today, as the general manager for our Tucson dealership, Greg leads a growing team of heavy equipment professionals and enjoys helping RDO customers succeed every day.
