3 Things You Can Do Today to Run a More Profitable Service Business

Being more profitable means increasing revenue or decreasing costs. Managing employees and work orders isn’t easy and if you’re still doing everything manually or with disconnected systems, you’re missing out. Today, we focus on three causes for lost revenue opportunities and how they are addressed by a mobile work order management solution.

Missed Appointments

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so if you are missing appointments because of bad communication or just being disorganized, you’re throwing away revenue. Simply showing up on-time and prepared to do the requested work has a lasting impact on a customer’s opinion of you. More importantly, it represents a key factor in a customer’s decision to buy from you again and refer your company to friends and family. In fact, it turns out that for the majority of customers, showing up more than an hour late means they won’t call you again.

Field service software that offers a centralized location for taking calls, setting appointments, and dispatching technicians can quickly eliminate issues with scheduling and missed appointments. It’s also critical to see where you have gaps in your scheduling so you have the opportunity to book extra jobs or perform your maintenance agreements (with workers who aren’t yet working overtime.)

Showing Up Unprepared

No customer wants a contractor to show up at their house and say “So what are we doing today?” Unfortunately, this happens more often that you’d think. All the time you’ve spent building a brand that demonstrates your quality of work gets crushed the second a worker shows up unprepared. Having well organized work orders and a clear understanding of the job shows you and your team are professionals.

A mobile work order software ensures that techs are always ready to do the right job and have the information to do it. A quick review before knocking on the customer’s door means your company will always appear prepared and professional. Additionally, with techs working north of 70 hours a week during the busy season, it can be easy to lose track of both paperwork and opportunities. Having the ability to track all the details of proposed work in a centralized location so you can follow-up later means means winning opportunities that you’re missing today.

Treating The Customer Like The Job

Finally, making a customer feel special is the key to repeat business and referrals. On a return visit, it’s critical that a technician know the customer’s name, service history, and equipment, and any “leave behind” quotes the customer may have received on a prior visit. As your business grows, your workers simply won’t be able to keep track of everyone without a little helping hand.

People’s email addresses and phone numbers can change and if you don’t have the right information you won’t be able to follow-up on opportunities. Mobile field service software provides a quick and effective way to make sure you’re always up-to-date. But having a mobile solution that puts all of your customer’s information into the hands of technicians can also help build long lasting relationships with the customer. To make the most of your work order software, have your tech take personal notes about the customer such as a pet’s name, a child’s favorite sport or an upcoming celebration. A carefully timed follow-up “Thank You” letter from the tech with a reference to one of these things adds a personal touch that lets the customer know the tech was paying attention.

It’s really key that this information be available to you and your team in an easy to digest format. Some software gives you a “Notes” field that jumbles all your information together and doesn’t prompt a tech to capture specific information.

These are just a few of the ways that a mobile work order solution can help you increase the bottom line and become a more profitable business. If you want to learn more, check out the full version of this post, including how Field Nimble helps you execute on each of these key strategies is available at Field Nimble Blog and read our other articles that go more in-depth about running a more profitable business.