I have been following and participating in an interesting conversation on LinkedIn where customer service pros are discussing how the “delivery of service” defines the reputation of your organization.

Everyone agrees that this is true. Of course, it is a biased audience of people who work in customer service, but no one can deny that customer service delivery contributes heavily to the reputation of your firm.

But I want to go a step further and say that field service reps and technicians define your company’s reputation to an even stronger degree than, say, a call center rep. Field service workers have the unique job of seeing clients face-to-face and often spending quite a bit of time with them and their products in their homes or places of work.

No matter how much marketing and outreach you have done to build a brand and image for your company, one bad field service experience can completely damage that in the eyes of a customer. On the flip side, if your company employs great field service workers, they could be the factor that takes your company’s brand and reputation to the next level.

This just confirms the necessity of strong hiring practices when it comes to field service. While you may not be paying your field service workers as much as some other roles in the firm, they certainly have one of the strongest effects on the company brand, image and customer service reputation, and the hiring process should reflect that.

So, interview like you would a VP of sales, test candidates like you would an engineer. Make sure your field service workers have not only the technical skills, but also the ability to embody your company’s commitment to service on every work order.