6 Ways Installing and Maintaining Software Could Improve Productivity
April 6, 2021 | Read: 9 minutes
When it comes to using software, you want a tool that helps you now and which grows with your business into the future!
So, how can installing and maintaining software improve productivity?
If you’re in the market for a job management software tool, it means you’re eager to improve productivity. You probably also want oversight on how everything in your business slots together.
After all, according to Deloitte, 47% of businesses say they’re using software with the aim of augmenting daily tasks and improving productivity.
It’s no wonder you want a slice of that, too!
Installing and maintaining software can be a challenge in itself. However, if you select the right software, you’ll be able to grow your business with a tool that adapts with you, long into the future.
If that’s an approach you’re interested in, then here are six ways that installing and maintaining software could improve productivity for your field service business.
Think of installing and maintaining software like buying a new computer.
While you could invest in an expensive machine that’s capable of doing everything, money may be tight. The smart alternative is to buy a less expensive piece of hardware that will still help you get the job done. However, you know that the hardware can be upgraded with new parts further down the line.
Just like how you‘d install more RAM to speed up a computer, you can do the same with job management software. That means starting with a basic package and upgrading later!
That’s why installing and maintaining great software is so important.
Let’s explore what this means in more detail, below:
1. Go paperless and streamline communication
While we’re all getting more tech-savvy, many still haven’t applied paperless principles to their business. The idea of going completely paperless can be overwhelming, particularly if you’ve been running your business the same way for years.
While it’s manageable to run a small business without software, it’s not the most efficient. That’s especially if you intend to grow as old-school methods will have a hard time keeping up.
Going paperless is the key to unlocking a wide variety of opportunities to improve your business. It’s also vital to improving the customer experience.
Even when you are paperless though, it’s important that all staff are up to speed with best practices and can use the technology properly.
Whether it’s job planning and scheduling, workforce management, customer communication, dealing with stock & suppliers, or finance tracking, installing and maintaining software can improve productivity and transform your business into something far greater. It will ensure communication across the entire company is faster, more secure, and more impactful as a result.
2. Minimise mistakes and prevent errors by installing and maintaining software to improve productivity!
Who among us doesn’t make mistakes?
Even as someone who writes very frequently, I’m still prone to the odd error here and there. My first drafts are never perfect and I can make mistakes. However, the auto-correct tool is a handy ally and saves me time by eliminating errors. This way, I can work faster and more efficiently.
A very similar concept applies when it comes to using job management software.
Whether it’s communicating with your customers or with your colleagues, you can benefit from a variety of tools that help make sure you’re contacting the right people, filling in the correct information, and keeping track of all the correct details, all the time!
So, whether you’re sending invoices, filling in forms, or responding to booking requests, your software can pull data that’s appropriate. Its job is to make sure everything is filled out quickly and error-free. In some cases, it can even do this automatically and save you a whole heap more time!
3. Target each engineer’s productivity
This section also applies to anyone using your job management software. That’s because within your software there exist tools that help them monitor and improve their productivity. Software will assist with tasks like managing diaries, job sheets, certificates, customer signatures, and more.
That means every individual can hit their targets, whether it’s the number of jobs being completed in a day, invoices being sent out on time, or the number of customers they’ve impressed increasing because they’ve delivered a more personalised service.
Installing and maintaining software can improve productivity because it keeps employees updated. Information syncs in real-time, meaning they stand to gain hours of admin and data entry back each day, which means they can focus on the tasks that make customers happier. Ultimately, the more time that’s saved on admin, the more hours can be put toward focusing on every job, each day.
With all that time saved, evidence suggests engineers can even end up taking on an extra job every day as a result, and all without having to hire new people to support these efforts: it’s a great way to boost profits at little additional cost!
Learn more: Is your HVAC business tracking the right KPIs?
4. Keep on top of stock control and other resources when installing and maintaining software to improve productivity
If it turns out you’re haemorrhaging cash because you forgot that batch of expensive piping was sitting in a van, or those pricey filters are all broken because they’ve been sliding around in trucks, then something’s gone wrong!
It’s worth saying that stock control (or stock/inventory management) may not be for every field service business straight out of the gate. As we mentioned though, knowing this option is available in the future when you’re looking for ways to reduce spend on stock means you need to pay attention to your current software’s more advanced packages, even if you’re not in the market for it right now.
Briefly, when we say stock control, we’re referring to stock management & inventory management. Stock control does precisely what it says on the box: it gives you more control over your parts, stock, storage rooms, and all the other places you store the bits and pieces your engineers use, every day. That’s especially compared to working with messy handwritten sheets or even clunky spreadsheets.
If you’re eager to put in the initial effort, stock control is a great way to ensure you’re not overspending as it helps you to keep track of every item that’s coming in and going out, assisting your team in anticipating costs, cutting expenses, reducing waste and even achieving higher first-time fix rates.
With impressive workflows available (see below), you can make use of features that also let you automatically reorder parts to ensure the essential items you use frequently are always available! This is just one of the many ways installing and maintaining software could improve productivity!
Learn more: Take Responsibility for Profit Loss With Stock Management Software
5. Use automation and benefit from custom workflows
Do interruptions have to be an inevitable part of an engineer’s day-to-day?
What if there was a way to limit them?
Even if you’re using software, you can’t guarantee an engineer’s day will go uninterrupted. However, by helping them manage their time more effectively with software, they can handle disruptions more handily.
A workflow engine is a more advanced solution to help you achieve this goal. It works by allowing your software to take over specific successive tasks that would otherwise require manual input.
For example: using your current system, your admin staff will be able to easily check to see if a customer has yet to pay their invoice. In this case, they then know to send an email reminder. After a time they can check again to see if the invoice is still pending and decide whether to send another reminder or take a different action.
With a workflow, your software can make these checks for you. When you’re checking in on the status of 100’s of customers and invoices, even a simple workflow is powerful. It’s possible to save you an incredible amount of time, all without losing any oversight. Importantly, you’re also not giving up complete control of the software, either.
Since this series of successive tasks is quite straightforward and can make use of email templates with personalised tags for specific information, a properly set-up automated workflow can get it done with zero admin intervention.
6. Create world-class customer journeys
More than ever, people expect convenience. As such, the way you interact with customers—whether it’s a phone call, SMS, email, or on your website—should help you meet these expectations.
Creating world-class customer journeys is about removing friction from your day-to-day interactions. In this way, customers will have the best possible experience of your services, no matter what they’re doing.
Using job management software is the single best way to make this happen. By optimising all we’ve mentioned above, you stand to deliver improved booking, invoicing, scheduling, and more!
Next steps to installing and maintaining software to improve productivity:
As with buying any product, whether it’s personal or professional, quality should always be at the front of your mind. These days, it’s easy to buy into a quick deal. However, the truth is it pays to take a closer look and think about the future, too.
That’s particularly important when it comes to software and technology that supports your business. It’s smart to plan ahead so you can drive your business forward and protect it at the same time. It’s about being adaptable.
With the right software, it can help your business to be more flexible, without losing what you need to keep everything ticking over.
So, whether it’s making sure that your communications always go out on time, appointments never get missed, or that office tasks are completed quicker, there’s a lot to explore.
Why not check out our infographic on how implementing field service software takes your business to the next level?
