The Google Lesson for Service Contractors
About two weeks ago, Google (or Alphabet, if you want to be strictly correct) briefly eclipsed Apple as the most valuable company in the world. Apple is back on top today, but Google is much more valuable as a multiple of their sales to the stock value of the company. Google’s stock value is trading […]
Daydreaming of Big Jackpots and 1975 Fuel Prices
I had to chuckle every time that I walked by the Powerball signs last week that couldn’t display full $1,500,000,000 jackpot because the signs have just 3 digits to show the number in millions. This past weekend, there was the opposite situation in Houghton Lake, Michigan where they didn’t need the dollar digit when the […]
Why Google’s Relationship with Home Advisor Matters to Service Contracting Businesses
There is a new chapter to the story of Google’s expansion into home services. In a ServiceTrade blog post that generated a lot of conversation among our readers, we told you how Google has been experimenting with changing search results for home services in San Francisco. (Re-read Google Home Services and its Impact on Small and […]
Don’t Let the Back-Office Tail Wag the Company Dog
All too often, as field service companies are considering new software, they base decisions on their historical software usage patterns and let the tail wag the dog. Since accounting software is the primary, and often only, business application in use, companies search for ways to extend back-office capabilities to the front office and beyond. This line of thinking is understandable, but […]
Perspective on Software Recruiting from a Recent College Grad
Have you seen “The Hunger Games” movies or read the books? To give you a very watered down version, the premise surrounds a collection of children that are elected as Tributes to have an annual battle amongst each other until there is a single winner. Entering into the job fair felt similar to what I […]
Google Home Services and its Impact on Small and Medium Businesses
As we’ve been talking about for a while, Google is making a move into home services. This week we have a first look at how Google may be inserting itself into service delivery for customers who are using the search engine to find a vendor. Google is testing Home Service Ads for users in San […]
Google Wants Your Service Business, Too
If you are a service contractor, get ready for a tough fight to hold your customers and your service margins. Google is crashing the party. The same technology formula that wrecked your parts business is coming after your service business. Google bought Homejoy, an Internet technology company dedicated to the cleaning services market, this week […]
Software Advice from Wall Street
There is a saying on Wall Street regarding investment decisions – cut your losses, dump your losers, double down on a winner. The basic philosophy comes from the concept of discounted cash flow analysis. It does not matter how much money you invested (spent) historically, all that matters is what you will invest (spend) in […]
What is Great Customer Service Worth? About 20% and $41 Billion.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently, you know that Uber is a taxi service start-up that connects drivers with folks who need a ride. As a business, Uber connects riders and drivers (just as a taxi service does) and they collect a 20% fee on top of what is paid to the driver. […]
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 perspective). Amazon and Google are both taking on initiatives that will […]