We've been selling field service software for nearly 15 years. With more than 80% of our customers coming from small green industry businesses, we see everyday the impact our software makes on small businesses. In fact, our Green Industry Benchmark Report always finds that our customers are nearly twice as likely to experience rapid growth as non-customers.
Even though our customers rarely attribute that growth to us, we know we're likely the core reason for their rapid growth. Our software delivers a central place to find and store information, but also has a number of ancillary benefits, like formalizing and standardizing business processes, making it easier to replace employees.
Field service software is great for improving the operational side of your business, but how can you do the same for the sales department? Easy - use a field service sales CRM. What's a CRM? It stands for customer relationship management and typically it helps you store data related to sales opportunities, helping you sell faster and smarter.
With that in mind, here are four reasons to use a field service sales CRM in your business:
Centralize Sales Information
If you use field service software, you know the importance centralizing your customer information. It makes it easy to schedule, route, handle customer complaints and calls, and even makes billing a breeze.
A field service CRM can do the same for your sales process. Typically, you can store information like the status of the sales opportunity - is it still a prospect? Have you created an estimate? Did you win it? - as well as other information, like the value of the estimate, the likelihood of closing and more. By centralizing that information, you help create processes for collecting information, which in the end helps you sell better.
Easily Transfer Information to Production Post-Sale
One of the biggest issues we hear in small businesses with a dedicated sales rep is conflict between sales and operations. Sales will make assumptions about the equipment that will be used - say a 61" motor for a commercial lawn care bid - that operations can't actually use on that property. That leads to a lower bid and less profitable job.
But many businesses also struggle passing sales information to operations. For example, a customer may have a specific request that they tell the sales rep in the sales process. If the sales rep doesn't have a system in place to capture that information, operations won't do the requested work and the customer will be irate.
A field service sales CRM simplifies data capture for the sales rep, so it's more likely that he or she will actually make a note of the customer request. Even if the sales rep forgets to talk to the operations team about it, they can review the sales notes before starting the job and they'll know what the sales rep promised.
Helps you Visualize and Improve Your Sales Process
I remember when I was in fifth grade, my teacher loved fitness. We measured everything at the beginning of the year - our mile, time, how far we could stretch, situps, pushups - and then at the end of the year as well to see how much we'd improved.
A field service CRM can do the same thing for your sales process. By measuring things like your average close time, the average sale, your close rates by service and sales rep, you'll have tons of data that can help you analyze your sales process. Then, you can try different tactics to see which help you improve your results.
It Will Help You Grow Faster
I've enlisted the aid of a number of field service businesses in the 12 years I've owned my home. Everything from pest removal businesses to landscapers to roofers. The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is how little follow-up traditionally occurs. My guess is that out of all the estimates I've received, maybe 5% of them place a follow-up call to see if I've made a decision. It's baffling to me why a business would go through the effort of dispatching a sales rep and creating a bid, only to fail to follow-up.
My guess is that many aren't actually tracking the estimates they've sent. Which can easily be corrected with a field service CRM. You can quickly filter to find your open estimates and within a couple seconds start dialing your open estimates. You want to continue to follow up until you either hear a yes or no (Pro tip: When you hear no, conduct a win/loss call to learn why and how you can improve your sales process.)
The simple act of placing a follow-up call may earn you some new business. That's just one way a field service CRM can help you win more business. Like I said earlier, a field service CRM will force you to start reviewing your sales process, which in turn will help you improve it, leading to faster growth.
Interested in rapid growth? Then you need to download our free eBook, 15 Sales and Marketing Tips Guaranteed to Grow Your Green Industry Business.
