There are many issues that can cause plumbers to waste a significant amount of time, especially if the owner of the plumbing company is heavily involved in both the management and fulfillment of plumbing activities. While many plumbers may find technical solutions intimidating, implementing plumbing software into the daily operations of a plumbing business grants plumbers many advantages that can help them operate more efficiently. The team at ServiceBox has put together this guide to help plumbers win back their time.
How Plumbing Software Saves Plumbers Time
Between scheduling and completing plumbing jobs, managing employees, printing and filing documentation, and traveling to and from the office, there are plenty of things to keep plumbers busy throughout the day. Each of these things creates more and more of a bottleneck that results in poor plumbing company efficiency and productivity. Relying on these methods can also leave plumbing companies susceptible to an array of additional issues.
Plumbing company management software automates or optimizes these tasks, reduces risks, and more thanks to an array of advanced features. Doing so enables companies to cut down on unnecessary time spent handling these activities manually so that they can focus on completing more work in less time. Here are some specific advantages that specialized plumbing company management software can provide to plumbers to help them streamline and grow their business.
Job Management
There is a large amount of information associated with each plumbing job that must be managed by the plumbing team. This information includes client names, addresses, plumbing issues, services required, job status, pricing, and more. With many plumbers relying on manual and traditional methods of keeping track of this data, such as printing and filing forms at the office and filling out digital spreadsheets, it's no wonder that plumbing jobs can easily suffer from missing, duplicate, or otherwise inaccurate information.
Failing to maintain accurate data can often lead to callbacks and other types of back and forth with clients that can cost companies 10 - 20 minutes per day. Plumber software takes the headache and challenges out of job management by automatically taking the company and client data associated with a job and compiling it together in one central location, allowing companies to reduce the time they spend on client calls and increase the time they spend fulfilling jobs.
Schedule Management
Clients need plumbers who are capable of working with their schedules when seeking to resolve their plumbing issues. However, it can be difficult for plumbing companies to manage jobs and employees efficiently enough to maintain an accurate schedule, especially when dealing with a large volume of clients, jobs, and employees. Plumbers often lose track of jobs and waste a significant amount of time and money on gas and other expenses due to taking inefficient routes as they travel between jobs.
Plumber software uses calendar capabilities to organize jobs by date and time, making it easier for plumbing companies to manage their schedules. Plumber software also features GPS capabilities, enabling plumbing companies to track and optimize employee routing as they travel between jobs. As a result, employees can save time and gas as they go about their daily activities. These advantages make it easier for plumbing companies to keep their schedules and save 10 - 30 minutes per day per plumber.
Timesheet Management
Tracking labor costs is an essential aspect of managing a plumbing company. Doing so manually can be challenging for plumbing companies, especially those with many clients, employees, and jobs to complete. In such cases, plumbing businesses may be forced to keep track of plumber activity manually, possibly requiring employees to check-in at the office. With such arrangements, these companies can easily find themselves going over budget due to excessive labor expenses.
Plumbing company software offers can sync with drivers' locations and status, reflecting the data in the software in real time. This remote software sync enables plumbers to take their vehicles home, view their schedule and clock in from home, head directly towards their first job, and check in and out of the job upon arrival and departure. By not having to clock in at the office to retrieve their schedule and vehicle, plumbers can save an average of 10 minutes per day.
Payment Management
Plumbing companies often rely on physical paperwork to provide customers with quotes, document service orders, share quotes and invoices, and more. For these reasons, paperwork can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of a plumber's job. Handling this paperwork slows down the time that it takes for companies to complete transactions and can limit clients' payment options, leading to a worse customer experience.
Plumbing company management software automatically populates each job with relevant client and job data in real-time without any paperwork. This enables plumbers to generate error-free quotes and invoices that can be sent to clients via email. Clients can then pay with any major credit card or hand-point devices that sync with the software and are carried by each employee. Eliminating paperwork from plumbers' daily activities can save plumbers 15 minutes or more per day and enhance the customer experience.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is a critical aspect of managing a plumbing business. Plumbers can not complete their jobs without a consistent supply of pipe fitting, ball valves, and other tools and equipment. It is also easy for plumbers to forget to bring these assets to each job as needed. Failing to keep a steady supply of this equipment can bring a plumbing business to a standstill and jeopardize clients' plumbing systems.
Plumbing software can detect when a company is running low on supplies and automatically reorder those supplies as needed due to inventory tracking capabilities. The software also tracks inventory as it moves travels between the warehouse, the office, and the job. This tracking process prevents plumbers from forgetting to bring the right tools, equipment, and parts to a job, saving them roughly 30 minutes per day in trips back to the office for forgotten items.
As you can see, plumbing software can enable plumbers to dramatically enhance the efficiency of their operations. To learn more about what this incredible software can do for you, contact ServiceBox today!
