Lynelle Hills, Managing Director of simPRO, provides six reasons why you should consider job management software to help satisfy your client, win more work and help your business grow.
In today’s market, where clients demand speed, convenience, and the highest quality products and services, your business needs not only a highly skilled workforce but also the appropriate tools to ensure growth and longevity.
More and more trade service businesses are realising the necessity of job management software, and many are using it to get ahead of their competitors. So how can it help an electrical contractor take back control of their business?
Job management software should be at the core of any trade services business: Driving efficient processes, increasing staff productivity in the office and in the field, and maximising overall profitability. Here are six ways job management software can benefit your business:
1. Field mobility
Today’s mobile technology gives businesses the ability to share live data across an entire workforce – from office to field staff – keeping everyone in the business connected, informed and more productive.
Those in the field can use intuitive apps on their mobile devices to view their entire work schedule, share data with the office in real time, and invoice and collect payment on site.
Gone is the need for the field engineer to text, call, or drop by the office to collect paperwork. This not only maximises billable hours but also provides a high standard of customer service.
2. Estimating and quoting to win more business
Job management software also gives business owners the power to provide accurate quotes fast.
The ability to import supplier catalogues with up-to-date pricing into the system, and to have a complete overview of all your labour types and rates in the one place, means you can quote with your true material costs – and quickly.
If you’re working on a complex project or maintenance job, the right software will enable you to monitor and manage every stage of the job.
3. Schedule with ease
Many trade business owners want greater visibility of their field staff and jobs. Job management software gives you just that.
With an instant snapshot of who’s doing what, where, and when, you can keep track of your business and ensure your staff are the right place, with the right materials, at the right time, every time.
With the right software you can also schedule the engineer closest to a job, preventing unnecessary travel time.
4. Take stock of your situation
Software can not only give you greater visibility of staff and jobs, but a better understanding of and ability to manage your stock too.
Import supplier catalogues, including part numbers, trade and cost prices, markups, storage locations and more. You can then view stock levels, restock vans, and perform stock adjustments and stock takes.
This helps to improve your cash flow, as you won’t be holding too much stock, and won’t be forced to buy stock at uncompetitive prices because you didn’t realise you would need it.
You can ensure your field employees have the parts and tools they need to get their jobs done on first visit, increasing their productivity and reducing unnecessary travel.
5. Paperless management
If you find yourself drowning in paperwork or trying to decipher handwriting on job sheets, look to job management software to transform your business.
6. Better service = more customers
It’s well-known that customers who have a positive experience with your business will recommend your services to others in the future. The more organised you, your staff and your business are, the more professional you come across to customers.
With such a speedy and convenient service, your customers are bound to stick with your business and recommend it to other potential customers.
