Category: Front Office Efficiency
Looking for Software Innovations? Look for Loosely Coupled Integration
ServiceTrade integrates with any other application you might find necessary to run your business through what we call “loosely coupled integration.” What this basically means is that the two (or 3 or 4 or more) applications DO NOT SHARE the same database. Instead, data is synchronized across the applications in a manner that is based upon which application controls that bit of data and which application simply needs the information for reference purposes. As often as the information changes for the “control” application, that is how often the reference value changes for the “reference” application.
The benefit of this approach to integration is that each application, whether 2 or 4 or 10 or more, can evolve with features that make them more valuable to you without a strong dependency on the other applications to evolve their respective data models. As I pointed out in my blog post on Software Communism, central planning by a single government committee does not deliver the innovation and value creation of the free market. The same is true for software applications – the free market chaos of competition and innovation will yield great opportunities for you to improve your operations by using multiple applications that happily work together via “loose coupling” and in most cases application programming interfaces (APIs).
In the “bad old days” of “tight integration” you would spend a fortune for a “certified” integration based upon some logo you saw on your accounting software provider’s website. You would have to shut down operations for a few days or setup an expensive dual environment while some expensive consultant installed software and “re-configured” the database to accept insertions, changes, and deletions from both applications so that both applications operated on the same dataset at all times. Then, after the expense and pain, you never changed it again until you were forced to upgrade one of the applications. Then more expense and pain ensued. Then no more innovation and no more operational improvements for another 5 or 6 years, and then pain again – a miserable existence that takes years off your life each time you want to receive new features or functions.
It is not acceptable anymore to deal with this pain and this lack of innovation. Modern Software as a Service (SaaS) application providers deliver new features on a weekly basis with ZERO PAIN. Technology moves fast. Your competition moves fast. Your customers expect fast. Being caught in the slow lane because of a requirement for all applications to share the same database is RIDICULOUS. Loosely coupled integration is how the modern applications work in order to provide the innovation demanded by a modern world.
Here are some examples from integrations we have delivered to our customers here at ServiceTrade:
Customer Account Information – The accounting system should be the master record holder for “who pays my invoices and how do I get them to pay me.” ServiceTrade needs this information for reference, so each time the accounting system updates a record, a file is fired to ServiceTrade via the APIs to update that record – typically within 2 seconds.
Location Service Information – The customer service application, ServiceTrade, should be the master record holder for “how do we deliver great customer service at this location.” The accounting system does not need to know that the alarm code is 987876 and “never send Shawn because they do not like him.” The accounting system does not even need to know this type information for reference purposes. However, when a service is delivered, the accounting system needs to know what “items” were consumed/delivered in order to process the invoice and calculate Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and Revenue, and also to update inventory. In this case, ServiceTrade sends a file to the accounting system indicating “Job Complete/Invoice Ready” with all the details necessary to invoice the customer and calculate Revenue, COGS, Gross Margin, etc. Typically this synchronization happens every couple of minutes to once an hour, depending on the needs of the customer.
In both of these examples, there is absolutely no reason for both applications to operate on a single dataset simultaneously. I could give hundreds more similar examples, and the lesson is the same. It is also practical if you think about it. Who hires accountants to deliver technical services in the field? Who hires technicians to be their accountant? Why would you expect your accounting system to be good at customer service management? Why would you expect your customer service management system to be a good accounting system? Let each deliver its own value and insist that they cooperate – exactly as you insist the various members of your management team cooperate. They do not each need to know everything the other knows or does – only what is necessary for effective operations across both functions. Assuming that they all share the same “brain” (i.e. the database) is crazy. Their brains are different so that they can be good at what they do.
At ServiceTrade, we happily use Salesforce.com, Marketo, Google Apps, Intercom, and a handful of other applications. They all work together flawlessly using this concept of loosely coupled integration via APIs. We never once looked for a logo on a site to determine what application might have “tight integration” because we knew with great SaaS software the integration would certainly be there and it would certainly meet our needs. You should buy the application that suites your needs and is the best application for the functions it serves. Integration should be cheap and easy. If it is not, then you bought the bad stuff. Spin the purchasing wheel again until it lands on the good stuff.
The Rich Get Richer: Why Smart Service Contractors Make Smart Software Decisions
I have noticed an interesting trend with ServiceTrade customers: the large majority are already in the top 10% of the industry regarding both systems capability and typical service contractor metrics – growth, gross margin, net margin – when they first engage with us, yet they readily buy ServiceTrade (typically with only about 2 weeks of free trial). Simultaneously, I see prospects who would receive extraordinary benefit from an upgrade to better service contractor software (terrible systems, very poor execution metrics) and they are absolutely unable to make a decision and move forward.
My best guess is that the guys with better systems and better metrics have the confidence to move ahead again and again. They have seen success with upgrades and technology, so seeking greater success is second nature to them. The folks with horrible systems and poor metrics have never had a good experience with systems (and it shows), and therefore they are jaded and so overwhelmed dealing with the messiness of the business that considering an application like ServiceTrade (or other best-of-breed vendors like NetSuite and Salesforce) is not an option.
But where does this dynamic lead? I suppose it leads to the “rich getting richer” and the “poor” continuing to struggle. I suppose it is inevitable, but I am disappointed that those that really need help cannot get it because their history with bad systems and bad actors has painted such a miserable picture of change. I cannot tell you how many times I hear:
“The last time we changed our application, it was a horrible experience that took years off my life. I hate what I have now, but I will not change ever again.”
Here’s the thing about not changing anything: nothing changes. The world moves forward, and companies with this mindset are trapped. Most owners are from the baby boomer generation, and they are just hanging onto the income from their business (to the extent there is any income, otherwise they are just hanging onto a tax shelter) because the 2nd generation has moved outside the business (i.e. doesn’t want to run it) and there are no other potential buyers out there. When they retire, the brand that took so much effort to build will just die. The only way they can escape this dynamic is with a leap of faith to modern capability, where effective systems and processes can help institutionalize customer service and operational management at a fraction of the cost and aggravation they suspect will be necessary. They can then transition the business to another operator and reap the value they deserve…but it will not happen without change. Without change, the rich will simply continue to get richer, while others will work for pennies until they disappear.
Never Miss a Service – Managing Recurring Services
There are two keys to profitable service operations – job service density and job route density. I discussed job route density in a previous post entitled “Field Service Scheduling – Kill the “Where-wolf” that’s eating your profits.” Using a mapping tool simultaneously with a job scheduling calendar helps minimize drive time relative to work time.
Job route density is critical, but equally critical is job service density. Job service density is how much billable work you can pack into a single job. To maximize service density during the job planning step, you have to have visibility to all the work that is due or available at a given location. ServiceTrade has just rolled out a new capability for managing recurring services to ensure that you never miss a service opportunity.
Assembling jobs from services that are due has historically been a painful, manual process involving old file folders or endless re-sorts of some Excel spreadsheet report. ServiceTrade eliminates this nonsense with a simple interface to visualize all services that are due or available at a given location. Even when the process is complicated by various equipment with different service frequencies or customer requests for delays – ServiceTrade still makes it easy. What’s more, every facility manager can appreciate a sales pitch that begins with “While I am onsite, do you want me to go ahead and . . . “ because they understand that they have already paid for the trip charge. Matching the jobs correctly to the equipment maintenance schedules while also maximizing the other onsite repair work is tricky business.
Instead of the crude and inaccurate approach of simply “copying the old job” to create the new job, ServiceTrade enables you to attach “services” to a location and specify a scope of work, an asset, and a service frequency. Then, the application lets you run an interactive report that visualizes all of the services due so that you can align services at a location to maximize service density when creating jobs.
In the next couple of weeks, we will release a feature that gives you a reminder of past deficiencies on the location for review when creating jobs. That way you can add repair services to a regularly scheduled maintenance job and give the customer a call to offer them a special rate because they can avoid the trip charge.
Making it easy to maximize job service density is another way that ServiceTrade helps you do more real work with fewer hassles. Sign up today for a free trial and see how ServiceTrade can help you never miss a service opportunity.
Field Service Scheduling – Kill the “Where-wolf” that’s eating your profit
Field service scheduling is hard because it involves both time AND space. You can’t decide “when” until you know “where.” And knowing “where” is not just one location. The scheduler needs to see ALL jobs on a calendar AND on a map simultaneously to make good decisions for the schedule. In most cases, “where” actually determines “when” and not the other way around. “Where” is the variable that makes or breaks job profit due to travel time and fuel expense.
The wisdom of “where” is obvious to anyone that has spent more than an hour planning a field service schedule, or many hours trying to understand why the business is not profitable when the job rates and margins look OK. The “where-wolf” is eating all the profits due to drive time and fuel. If the “where-wolf” is haunting your business, we have a solution.
ServiceTrade designed a highly interactive map into the heart of our application – it drives the scheduling decisions. It took every ounce of clever software engineering we could muster to show where, when, who, and what along with current assignment and schedule status on a single, interactive web page.
But the “where-wolf” doesn’t just prowl around the office eating up profit. It also rides around in the truck with your techs. That’s why the job map, the “sort by distance” job list, and the GPS job clock on the ServiceTrade mobile app are also critical components in killing the “where-wolf.”
When your techs see their work in relation to where they are, they can adjust their schedule on the fly to mitigate the impact of daily foul-ups (customer “turn aways,” traffic, job delays, or faster completions). They can pick up more work because they see everything – jobs, locations, priorities – in the context of the map. And when your office staff can see tech location and status because of the GPS job clock, they will no longer fear the “where-wolf” when emergency calls hit. The right assignment decision is obvious without calling every tech to ask “Hey, where are you and what are you doing?”
If you are ready to drive the “where-wolf” out of your business, sign up to try out our mobile and cloud app. It’s free to try it, and there are no hassles with installing software or managing computers. Give it a shot and let us know what you think.
