Don’t Limit your Techs to Just One Tool – or Just One Mobile Application
If you’ve been reading our blog for a while (thank you, by the way), you’ve heard ServiceTrade advocate a connected IT ecosystem of business operations applications for your customer service, accounting, inventory, CRM, payroll, email marketing and online reviews. There are modern, mobile solutions for all of these needs that work within an integrated system.
A multi-software platform isn’t just for your office users, it applies to your field technicians, too.
Technicians and service managers perform several tasks throughout the day. It’s perfectly reasonable to use different applications to perform smartphone tasks the same way that they use different tools to perform the mechanical tasks of their service jobs.
If all you Have is a Hammer, the Whole World Looks Like a Nail
Each tool – whether a cloud-based application or a hand tool from the truck – is specifically built to do certain jobs. It’s no more realistic to expect a tech to open an access panel with a hammer than for them to update parts inventory in a customer service application. Neither scenario will be particularly successful.
The same is true of using an accounting platform or an ERP system for customer service. Your accounting system hammer will make customer service look like a financial transaction, not a planned customer experience.
Make it Easy for Users
Smartphone users are already used to using different mobile applications to perform different tasks. As Billy said back in August, his smartphone has several pages of applications installed. It’s no more realistic to expect a technician to login to a single application for everything they do in a day than it is to expect you to call your spouse through the calculator app.
A mobile application that serves a specific business function will do those functions well. Dedicated applications are more efficient and give a better user experience for field and office users.
You don’t have one big application button on your phone. You may think that having techs use just one app saves them time, but efficiency gained by clicking just one button to start a large, cumbersome app is lost by the amount of time it takes to navigate and use it. You’re better off to have more agile tasks across multiple apps.
Smartphones Deserve Smart Apps
Whether you’re in the office or in the field, all-in-one solutions aren’t so much solutions as they are a weight on your shoulders that becomes more difficult to manage with the passage of time. Take advantage of the smartphones in your techs’ hands by loading them with a network of smart apps, too.
Don’t bring an operations knife to a customer service gunfight: Customer engagement must be the first priority in a connected world
“Why yes, I regularly purchase products from mail order catalogs” said no one in the last 20 years. Yet 20 years ago, most catalog retailers were thinking to themselves “If only we could improve our operations and reduce our cost of delivery, print, and call centers, we will outprice the competition and really rake it in!”
This line of thinking is obviously absurd in the face of Amazon’s success and the Internet commerce imperative every surviving retailer has now embraced. However, this “internal operations is all that matters” mindset is still rampant in commercial service contracting companies today. Like the retailers of the 90s, commercial service contractors are focusing their systems upgrades on internal operating efficiency and accounting when instead they should be girding themselves for the internet shootout that is going to occur in the war over customer engagement.
Efficiency ≠ Growth
So why did catalog companies believe that operational efficiency and outpricing the competition would provide them with the edge? Much like commercial service contractors today, they focused on tactical, cost saving goals that were easy to understand. For example, it’s not difficult to calculate that reduced windshield time for technicians will result in fuel and vehicle maintenance savings, increased availability for billable calls, and decreased price for the end customer. The math seems pretty simple right? Reduced costs = Increased profits and growth
This equation is WRONG.
What the equation is missing, and what catalog retailers failed to recognize, is the eroding demand that occurs when customers inevitably switch to a competitor that provides a better customer service experience. Amazon, eBay, and the hundreds of other online retailers provided shoppers with a simple, online experience that resulted in the downfall of the old-guard catalog retailers. Commercial service contractors are at risk of the same demise if they don’t provide their customers with an engaging and enduring online customer service experience.
Step One: Demand, Step Two: Efficiency
This is not all to say that commercial service contractors should neglect operational efficiency. For example, Amazon has one of the largest, most efficient distribution models in the world. However, the distribution model was developed well after their ecommerce platform released to the public. Amazon understood that an efficient distribution model didn’t matter if they could not engage and retain customers. By first building the ecommerce platform that shoppers enjoyed, Amazon drove demand that later supported the construction of their distribution model.
How to Avoid the Catalog Trap
How can modern commercial service contracting companies avoid the catalog retail trap? Stop obsessing on operational efficiency and cost reductions. These are important, but hardly matter to your customer when another company provides much better customer service. When you lose all your customers to an internet savvy competitor, no amount of operational efficiency will lead to profits on zero revenue.
Take a page from Amazon’s book. Focus on generating demand by engaging customers online and providing them with an amazing customer service experience that keeps them coming back for more. Strong customer engagement and a reputation for amazing customer service will yield robust revenue that offers the possibility of perpetual profit. You will have the privilege of focusing on improving operational efficiency for many years to come if you survive the internet gunfight that you will inevitably face in the next few years.
Stop Texting. Start Messaging!
On several occasions, I’ve walked into a meeting with dispatchers, schedulers, and service managers who were glued to their phone texting with their technicians in the field. Why should the office staff use a tiny keyboard on a phone to update and respond to the techs when they have a full size keyboard and monitor at their disposal? Text messaging has been a huge advancement for connectivity between these folks and their field technicians since the turn of the millennium, and now applications are available to speed up and enhance this communication. Here are a couple free solutions that will enable the office to use their computers as a hub for messaging the techs in the field and anyone else on the team.
Windows
Multiple applications are available that enable messaging between Windows PCs to smartphones in the field. All of these applications will have to be installed on the technicians’ smartphones in addition to the PCs in the office.
Skype – Typically thought of for video chat, this application is great for general messaging use.
mysms – A newer application that includes integration with the standard sms text functionality on Android devices so techs can continue to use their favorite texting app as long as mysms is running in the background.
WhatsApp – A widely used messaging application (over 800 million) with rich mobile functionality, including location sharing, and a web-based chat client for office users.
MacBook
Any of the applications listed above will work for Apple users, however Apple computers have a messaging solution built in that does not require technicians to install a new mobile app on their devices. An application named Messages enables office staff to send and receive text and other messages right from their Apple computer.
Paired with their personal devices, office staff can use the above applications to send messages from any device and receive messages on all devices. Much like call forwarding, this is handy when stepping away from your desk for meetings or lunch.
Don’t let anyone in your office waste more time pecking away on a tiny smartphone keyboard. Not only will these applications save your office time, but also increase the amount and improve the quality of communication with the field.
Password Headaches? Some Simple Advice to Ease the Pain
Cloud applications are like banks: Your money is much safer under lock and key at the bank than it is under your mattress because anyone can “hack your house.” Bank security is as good as it gets, but like a bank, your data is only as secure as the keys to the vault; your password(s). You will have security problems if you use one password for everything or you keep your passwords on sticky notes, notepads, or spreadsheets.
For maximum security, you should have a unique password for every application and you should update them on a regular bases.
Keeping up with numerous usernames and passwords can be a very frustrating task considering the number of online tools you use. Like me, you may have a list of 20-30 username/password combinations that you use regularly. Fortunately, there are products that solve this problem for your PC, Mac, and mobile devices:
Both of these products operate in much the same way. They create a secure, encrypted “vault” that secures all your credentials behind a single password. Whenever you are prompted to login at a website, simply enter your “master” password and these applications will enter your credentials automatically. Whenever you create credentials or change passwords for a website, these products automatically store the data in your “vault.”
You only need to remember one password, that’s it. Your data is secure in the cloud, and your credentials are safe in your vault.
In today’s connected world, new online services are popping up each day to improve the connections between you and your customers. One connection that is critical is the payment connection, and we found a cool app called InvoiceSherpa to help you.
This fantastic product helps service contractors better manage their invoices and boosts cash flow by helping speed collections. Cash is the lifeblood of all small companies, and InvoiceSherpa can truly deliver more cash. Instead of monitoring your invoices and sending reminders, InvoiceSherpa does the heavy lifting of reminding clients about due dates, forgotten invoices, and upcoming payment schedules.
InvoiceSherpa reminder interface
From the InvoiceSherpa website —
Automated Invoice Reminders
The key to staying on top of your invoices and accounts receivable is letting customers know the current status of their invoices. Using InvoiceSherpa you can easily automate the entire process including reminders when:
An Invoice is created.
A due date is coming up.
The invoice is past due.
A thank you when payment has been received.
All of these items can be scheduled at different intervals with a unique template that you customize to fit your custom branding. Our goal is to be a seamless extension of your business.
InvoiceSherpa is one more example of the rapid fire innovation that is available with online services these days. If you still believe you should be running your service contracting business with a single “all in one” application running on a PC server in your closet, you are missing out on a world of great capability.
Customer Service is NOT an Accounting Function!!
The history of software applications for service contractors is dominated by accounting applications. Controlling the business was the first priority for computer deployment. I believe the next wave will be about collaborating with the customer via the Internet to deliver amazing customer service. The accounting application – the control point for your business – is the wrong starting point for customer collaboration. Someone on the Internet wants your customers. Your ability to do better inventory management, job costing, or payroll calculations will not matter one bit when that Internet enabled competitor steals your customer away with a better customer service experience.
Is your customer service department up-to-date??
Customer collaboration is about a free flowing exchange of stories and ideas between your business and your customer. The Internet is going to be the conduit, and the content will be pictures, videos, audio and free form notes inside an attractive user interface that conveys the value of the services you provide.
Examples of KEY communications between your clients and your business –
1. When it was broken, it looked like this. Now it is fixed! Here’s a picture!
2. Can I show you an improvement that will lower your power bill?
3. Our technician will be arriving at your location in 25 minutes!!
4. Please review your quote online and click -Approve- if it looks good to you.
5. Your “after service” report is online – contact us again if you need anything.
This is not accounting data. It does not fit nicely into a ledger. It is not revenue, nor COGS, nor inventory, nor AP, nor AR. Why would you expect your accounting application to be the core application by which you collaborate with customers via the Internet?
Let me ask these questions in a different way. Do you host your website on the server that runs your accounting application? Is your accounting firm the professional group that dictates the design and content of your website? If you expect your accounting application to lead the charge in customer service, shouldn’t this same function be driving your website presence? Of course not. Use this same logic when you are figuring out how you are going to expand your customer service capability from the customer’s driveway or parking lot, to the boundaries of the Internet. In your search for a software service partner to maximize your customer service experience, look for partners that think about what your customers want, NOT how to control the financial operation of your company.
Accounting is about control: limit the interfaces and the access so the data can be pristine, structured, and managed without any possibility of error or fraud. It is a VITAL aspect of your business. Customer service is an equally vital part of your business but customer service is about collaboration, not control. It is a free flowing exchange of unstructured data between a group of loosely coupled participants. Think about these differences when you begin to build your software foundation for delivering amazing customer service via the Internet.
And be sure that you pick a software partner that understands EXACTLY how to help you deliver this experience.
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.
Talk is Cheap, and a Picture is Worth 1600 Words
I get lots of comments from prospective customers about “going paperless” using tablets and smartphones. In many cases, however, they are talking about simply making the technicians in the field type character information into digital forms that otherwise would have been paper. Maybe if you are going to go “paperless” you should reconsider how you form your data as well.
Much of the data that technicians “report” from the field is unstructured – it is not a serial number, or a weight, or a model, or a date, or a length, or a dollar amount. A computer system is not going to operate on it in the future – a human is going to review and react to it. It is often a detailed description of a situation that affects the customer – or will affect them if left unattended. Or it is a description of a difficulty they encountered that threw a wrench into the schedule for that day.
Rather than have them enter that information on a “form,” consider how much cheaper (and richer, ironically) it would be to have them shoot photos and record audio describing the situation. Anyone who needs to act on that information can now respond to the photo and audio (and maybe video), instead of reading off a report.
Why is this important? Because talk is cheap. Literally. How fast can you type on a tablet or a smartphone? If you are really good, that number is probably 25 words per minute (wpm). On a good keyboard, I can type at 80 wpm, but I slow to about 25 on a smartphone and about 35 on a tablet. But we can all comfortably speak at 120 – 150 wpm. And the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words should be considered in this context as well. So, why would you want your technicians to be typing stuff when they could be speaking and snapping to give you more and better information faster?
I did some calculations as well on photos, and an 8 megapixel photo is worth about 1600 words just from a comparative data perspective. And while processing audio is equal to exactly the speed of the speaker (i.e. how quickly or slowly they speak), processing photos is fast and enriching. People enjoy the color that photos add to the customer service experience. Photos do not lie, and the customer appreciates the veracity that a photo of their equipment and your good work conveys.
If you are “going paperless,” consider what that means for productivity, and also consider how you might change your expectations for the data you use to run your business. Asking people to “type” things that they could say or show is going to add administrative expense that could be used for new revenue opportunities when your technicians are struggling to enter information instead of hustling to the next customer call.
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.
