The snow removal industry can be a very sue happy place to be. Granted it is no Fortune 500 company or hospital facing legal battles every other week, but they still receive their fair share of complaints and threats of legal actions.
While there is no way to plan for every single incident that could possibly happen, and you certainly cannot prepare for those who are willing to sue their own grandmother to make some extra cash, you can take precautions to be as prepared as possible if a lawsuit comes your way.
Besides a great team and reliable equipment, the one precaution your business should have is snow removal software and here is why:
Contracts – Not only do you need to ensure your contracts are approved by your lawyer, you also want to ensure both the customer and your guys in the field understand the contract. Snow removal software is a great way to be sure everyone is on the same page. Your contracts can be set up within your software to then be sent to the customer for approval.
With all of the information set in your software, your field techs simply use their mobile field service software to access details of the contract. This way they can be sure they are plowing the correct properties based on the requirements agreed upon in the contract. No more missed properties or clients angry their sidewalk was not plowed. You can now show when your guys were on site and why they did not plow, whether that is because there was not enough snow to meet the contract requirements or because there was something stopping them from completing the job.
Time Records – I have heard from a few different contractors that their clients have threatened to sue over a missed shoveling or that they didn’t believe the guys even came to plow. With time records, your guys time in once on location. The location can be picked up within the software, proving your guys were in fact on their site and did plow.
Work Category Records – While time records are always a good thing to have to prove the time worked, work records are a step up in recording exactly what was done on a customer’s site and for how long.
With work categories, your guys are able to time in to each individual job category that they are performing, when they are performing it. So when your guy goes from shoveling to salting, the records will show when he switched from shoveling to salting and for how long he did both. It is a great tool to use to say that either yes your guy cut the time short and didn’t do the full job, or that in fact he spent extra time on salting as an extra precaution.
Winter conditions are tough. There is the cold, the wind, the snow, sleet, and ice, and usually a handful of grumpiness. Lawsuits just add another level to making it a tough industry to be in. Ease the stress this season with snow removal software to allow your guys to get the job done, while still following the contract and having the records to back them up.
Still not sure about snow removal software for your business? Check out our Snow Removal Software Buyer’s Guide to learn everything you need to know about buying snow removal software.