As your business grows, you'll have to implement advanced solutions to keep your schedule manageable and your operations as efficient as possible. Most companies choose software to help them achieve a high level of efficiency. Together with your team, you can select and set up a comprehensive program that works for you. The key is teamwork, since the software will only be effective if everyone is using it correctly.
During the training phase, encourage your employees to communicate openly. If they are confused or unsure about an aspect of the program, they should let you know. To further increase your company's efficiency, you can also think about how and when you hold your meetings. For example, you could schedule them first thing in the morning so your employees' days aren't interrupted.
How Can Software for Service Companies Help?
Automation is one of the best ways of increasing efficiency and managing a small or medium-sized business's schedule effectively. In the past, you had to set up various solutions for each aspect of your business, but now, there is software that can perform a variety of tasks. A program like ServiceBox, which can help you with scheduling, managing jobs, tracking customers, time billing, and advertising, can be accessed for as little as $20 per user per month.
Studies have shown that using good software improves every aspect of your business, including its profitability and the employees' satisfaction levels. Once they have learned to use ServiceBox, your workers can easily figure out what they are doing each day, edit their daily tasks, keep track of the time they spent on the job, and read about the customers they are visiting.
Scheduling Your Work Orders
With ServiceBox, managing your company's schedule is easy because you can see what everyone is doing throughout the day. When a new work order comes in, you can check which employee still has capacity, and you can drag and drop the task to the appropriate person's schedule. Because there is a mobile app, each worker can download ServiceBox on their device and see their schedule in real-time.
If there are any changes throughout the day, employees can post updates, and you'll know right away. For example, they can let you know that they are running late or that they have completed a task more quickly than expected. There is also a GPS tracking function, which is especially useful if you offer emergency services because it allows you to check which of your employees is closest to the customer who has requested immediate assistance.
Managing Jobs from Start to Finish
When a potential customer reaches out to you, you can automatically create a quote with your software. This can be personalized with attachments, images, signatures, and more, and it can be duplicated if you have several customers with the same request. ServiceBox will remind you to follow up with leads periodically. Once they have accepted your quote, you can turn the job into a work order and assign it to one of your employees.
The team member will then see the task, and they can make notes and record their billable hours while on the job. After completing the work, they will let you know, and you can convert the work order into an invoice, which can be sent to your customer via email. Good software allows you to accept a range of payment methods, and customers can easily pay via an email link.
Keeping Track of Customer Information
The more employees you have, the more likely it is that one of your customers will be served by multiple people. If you'd still like to offer the personalized, efficient service you did when your company was very small, you should keep a record of all the interactions you've had with your customers. With home service software, you can store and manage customer data directly on the platform.
Each employee has access to the database, so they can look up the customer they are visiting and check the company's previous interactions with them. This allows the worker to offer a personalized experience and to follow up on previous work completed. Your customers will appreciate the high level of customer service.
Easy Time Billing 
When your employees visit a customer at their home, they can take ServiceBox with them on their mobile devices. As soon as they start the job, they can check in, and when they are done, they can check out. This allows you to record the exact time they spent working for the customer so that you can create accurate invoices. Your workers' timesheets will populate automatically, which eliminates the time-consuming process of recording the hours worked.
Advertising Automatically 
If you want to keep growing your customer base, you have to advertise. More and more people are looking for home services online, so it's best to build up an online presence consisting of a well-designed website and one to three social media accounts. Home service software can help you by auditing your website to optimize its ranking on search engines and automating your social media posts.
What's more, the program can distribute your positive customer reviews to various sites where people are looking for your services. These measures don't cost you any extra because they are included in the software subscription, but they can be highly effective. In fact, studies have shown that the lead-to-sale conversion rate is over 77x more effective with online marketing than with offline marketing.
Most small service companies would benefit from using software to help them manage their schedule and administrative tasks. A good program can help you keep track of your schedule and jobs, manage customer information, help you with time billing, and automate your online marketing efforts. Call us at ServiceBox to learn more about our software for service companies and to start your free demo.
