A tribute to dying technologies

James mentioned to me the other day that the VCR (for the kids, that stands for video cassette recorder) is no longer being produced. This brought on a wave of nostalgia. I remember my sister and I being so excited those times that our parents rented this new thing called a VCR and a stack […]

To do: Start using an online task and project management app

In some ways I miss the old way I kept track of my to do list.  It was a piece of paper with an item on every line.  I would draw a small box to the left of the item, then a description to the right.  When the item was completed, I colored in the […]

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 […]

Modern tools for service contractors, part 1: Operational efficiency

Over the last couple years, we’ve compiled a list of free to low cost, easy-to-use applications and products that we often recommend to service contractors. These products range in benefits from operational efficiency to lead generation and fit into a modern ecosystem of tools necessary for service contractors to adapt to the business challenges (and opportunities) […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]