The Only Certainties in Life – Death, Taxes…& Software as a Service (SaaS)

- Apologies to Ben Franklin -  .   The actual quote is  "In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."   If Mr. Franklin were alive today,  there's little doubt that he would add a third item to this list -…
,

Amazon Plumbing? Google HVAC? Navigating the Digital Service Contracting Landscape.

What does it mean when two of the biggest names in Internet technology jump into the service contracting business?  It means that service contracting is a huge and lucrative market that is due for a shake up (or a shake down, depending on your…

Introducing the Digital Wrap: Deliver More Service Calls to Get More Service Leads!

Want More Service Call Leads?  Deliver More Service Calls! There is an old saying in sales “Activity yields Activity”.  The more outbound calls you make, the more inbound calls you receive.  The more conversations you have, the more…
, ,

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…
, ,

Remember When You had a Parts Business?

Remember the good old days? Before Google and the Internet destroyed your parts business? Remember when advertising was local? When your listing in the yellow pages and the phone number on the side of your trucks would yield calls for replacement…

Perpetual Service – Creating Service Contracting Value in a Connected World

Service Contracting value no longer begins and ends in the driveway or parking lot of the customer. Showing up on time in clean uniforms and doing the job correctly are simply table stakes in a world where everyone is seeking the attention of…
, , , ,

Jesse James’ Advice for Service Contractors

I have been to multiple events in the past several months where service contractors from many trades (food equipment repair, fire safety, specialty cleaning) lament the insertion of one or more parties between themselves and their customers.…
, , ,

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 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 –…