When I owned my irrigation business, I was always looking for ways to schedule more jobs. More jobs meant more money and more money was always a good thing. The problem was, I didn’t have a great system for my schedule,so to attempt to schedule more jobs felt a little overwhelming.
It may seem a little obvious that service scheduling software would help you to schedule jobs, but it may not be as obvious that it can actually help you to schedule more jobs than your current system. With most service scheduling software these days, you get a lot more features than just scheduling that can help you to schedule more jobs. Some of those features are:
Limited Missed Calls – Think of all of the calls your office misses every day. When customers get sent to voicemail, they usually start looking or at least considering another company. I am guilty of this myself. When something breaks in my house, if the first person I call does not answer, I open my phone book and look for the next name on the list. I don’t wait around for a call back.
Service scheduling software makes phone calls shorter without limiting the effectiveness of the call. Your office staff are able to find answers to customer’s questions much faster with an entire scheduling system in front of them instead of doing the paper shuffle. This means they are off the phone quicker, opening it up for the next customer to call and make an appointment. You’d be surprised how many more jobs you will be able to schedule just by being able to answer the phone and customer’s quicker.
Reminders – Reminders are a great way to schedule more jobs. Reminders make it so you do not let a customer and an appointment slip through the cracks. With a note popping up in your system telling you to call John Brown and schedule his service, your office staff is able to contact the customer before a competitor can swoop in and offer their services. Reminders are a nice way to help your staff remember when it’s time to get in touch with customers and get them on your schedule.
Accuracy – With service scheduling software, your office team is filled to the brim with tools that make them more accurate. They are able to see a tech’s schedule with a few clicks. This limits the number of phone calls back and the risk of a potential customer going with a different company. They are also able to regularly refresh their schedule. That way if a tech cancels a job due to needing a part, the office can fill that slot with the next available customer. An accurate system allows the office to schedule efficiently and fit in extra jobs where the time allows.
Your field is also on top of its accuracy game. They have all of the information they need readily available. This limits the trips back to the office for a forgotten part or needing a gate code, meaning they can fit more jobs into a day.
If you have mobile field service software with your scheduling software, you can also get yours guys out earlier in the morning, fitting one more job in that day. The guys simply use their smartphone or tablet and sync with the office to get their schedule. This eliminates the drive in to the office and waiting for the schedule to be made and printed off. Instead the guys get up and go straight to the job site from their house.
Contract Management – With more advanced field service software, you are able to manage contracts quickly and easily. Instead of manually entering the information for a contract, the software can set up future appointments and billing. Contract management works to get the appointment on the schedule as soon as the contract is agreed upon so no appointments are forgotten.
More jobs scheduled, means more money for your company. With service scheduling software, every aspect of your company becomes more efficient. Efficiency is one key ingredient into having more time and more time allows you to put more jobs on a techs schedule.
Want more ways to make your service department efficient? Check out the 6 Rules for an Awesome Service Department