The offseason is good for a few reasons. It is a good time for planning for the next season and the future of the business. It is also a good time to invest in new equipment or tools to help your team better serve its customers. And hopefully you find some time to catch your breath and recharge.
It is also the perfect time to perfect your service scheduling software skills. Why you ask?
Learn – Knowledge is power. I truly believe being in the know and up to date on information is a business owner’s strongest asset. Over the course of a year, a software company can release hundreds of updates and new releases. That means there are many opportunities to learn how to better your software system or your business.
For example, last year, we released some new features that benefit a snow removal business. We made it a point to let our customers who push snow know we have new features they would definitely want implemented before the snow hit. Use the offseason to be trained on new options and find out how to utilize the software to its fullest.
Test – It can be tough to take the time to actually test out a product, especially during your busy season. You don’t have time to see how certain features work for your business or what the best way is to record your data with your software.
The offseason is the perfect time to test out different features and to see if you need to go about using the software in a different way. The nice thing about field service software is that it usually provides a lot of options. Most are flexible enough to allow for businesses to have options on how they track parts, bill, and track hours and you may be using one way, when it would be more beneficial to use another. Ask your provider if there are other ways to use the software and if they would be a good fit for your company.
Support Availability – Personally, I believe one of the best reasons to focus on perfecting your skills in the offseason is so you have the availability of the support staff for that software. While you are learning or testing new options for your business, you want the availability of support to help if you come across any problems or need some extra assistance in getting set up.
With my field service software business, HindSite Software, we are slower during the offseason months. People are not rushing to get set up for their startups or blowouts and they are not using the software every single day. This means our lines are open a lot more often and we have a lot more time to train.
The offseason should be multitasked if possible. You need to regroup and find some time to relax so you do not get burned out. But you also want to continue to work on your business so that it can continue to be successful. Take some time to relearn your software and benefit from all of the features it can offer your company.
Looking for other ways to work on your business in the offseason? Download the 10 Ways to Improve Your Business in the Offseason eBook today. I created this document based on what I learned from owning my own irrigation business and what I wish others would have told me what to do when I had the time.