Richard Kirby states that the three biggest challenges for a small service business are employees, money, and time. A To serve your needs, a proper business management software solution manages the performance of each employees while helping to address any errors or shortcomings. Second, accurate financial reports, invoicing, estimating, payment processing and payroll features must be integrated into the software for effective management. Third, the software should save you time on routine management tasks, so you can focus on sales, marketing, and good customer service.
Plumbers don’t miss their appointments and customer service is first class when an all-in-one plumbing business software runs on your desktop or cloud service. With the Thoughtful Systems Plumbing Business Software desktop or cloud service, managers can set automatic reminders for employees to purchase parts for certain customers or remind them of appointments. Task are done on time and clients are billed properly to keep clients happy – the main focus of your business is at the core of your business’s workflow with good plumbing business software.
Five Key Features of Thoughtful Systems Plumbing Business Software:
- Job Estimation
- Scheduling Management (Online For Customers)
- Dispatch & Mapping
- Equipment Inventory
- Accounting and Billing
Operations, management and customer service are central to how the plumbing business works. Cloud solutions and online customer portals provide the ability for managers and employees to interact while customers appreciate the ability to schedule appointments and communicate via the Internet. An informed and empowered customer is a happy customer, after all.
Go Paperless or Not with Plumbing Business Software
Plumbing business software can help you reduce costs by helping your business transition to a paperless environment – while keeping traditional clients unchanged with printed paper statements and invoicing. The bigger advantage with paperless solutions is that your employees can take notes on clients, report on projects complete and adjust inventory using the Thoughtful Systems Cloud Solution – all while on the road or at the job site.
Yes, that mountain of paperwork might be a thing of the past someday down the road. But some clients prefer mailed statements and paper printouts. Thoughtful Systems provides for both.
How NOT to manage a client’s phone call:
- The person answering the phone asks for the name of the caller.
- The employee asks the client to hold while he looks for the client’s file. After two minutes, he asks the client to call back because he can’t locate the file.
- As soon as the employee finds the file, he calls back and verifies personal information to make sure that the details are up to date. If not, then a few more minutes updating the information is required.
- The employee will spend a ten minutes trying to read and understand the notes from the plumber who last did the job – if these notes are available at all. This is especially true if the client asks questions, like who the last plumber who went to his house was and what jobs were done. In most cases, the file won’t have these details.
- After 1/2 hour and countless callbacks, the appointment is finally set. Unfortunately, this doesn’t guarantee that the plumber will show up on time because the file can easily be misplaced.
Plumbing business software can help with time management because information is integrated and accessiblefrom anywhere, on the road or in the office. An appointment can be booked in a matter of seconds and your plumbers will never miss appointments again.
Best of all, using this software will lead to satisfied clients. Customers will appreciate how easy it is to book an appointment, how easy it is to receive and pay invoices, and your employees will be more efficient and happy because transparency and communication is easy.
