In the beginning…
Analysts would say that Job Management Software is still a novelty, not the norm, a new market. Stats tell us that there aren’t many of you that have made the move to cloud based job management. So, if you have already made the move or you’re thinking about it, you’re way ahead of the curve and arguably ahead of your competitors.
By new market I mean, 60 million trade and service businesses, in selected western countries, remain doing what they’ve always done. Assigning jobs with a diary, excel spreadsheet or whiteboard.
But what if you could receive your jobs on the devices you’ve already got and take a brave step into the world of real-time accuracy between you and your team. Enjoying less admin and data entry; you’ll be connected to other clever products that take the data that you’ve carefully created into the Job Management Software and use it to create invoices in theirs.
It’s Not So Special
It’s a new market, but that doesn’t mean it requires super complex software to streamline and improve what you’ve been doing for years. In fact, it requires insight into the businesses like yours, turned into simple and straightforward software like you might already be experiencing in other parts of your life. You know, those easy website experiences that are a complete pleasure, booking a plane ticket in minutes, ordering a part and booking a Doctor’s appointment; or paying in a shop, registering using facebook and setting the clock on your cooker. Now with the exception of the cooker, nearly all these things have become easier over the last few years and why shouldn’t your business be the same.
Job Management Software directly tackles some niggly things that perhaps you’ve adjusted to over the years. But take the pain away and you might never go back. We asked our customers what drove them to job management software. What features might be alluring?
The Time Tedium
Lost jobs, checking detail and double data entry, with all these perhaps leading to extra headcount, are right up there as the main bugbears. These are the main source of doubt for businesses who then adopted Job Management Software. Tedious time-wasting tasks eating away at your valuable minutes. “What could I be doing instead?”, you’re thinking. If not more important things, then perhaps nicer things with friends and family. Yep, 50% of businesses before they moved to Job Management Software said ‘needless extra admin’ was the main reason for ditching the Ford for a Ferrari.
>Is it Shedule or Skedule? It doesn’t matter.
Now, not so tedious or futile, but equally hair pulling inducing is scheduling your field force or mobile team. Some days it’s like herding cats and even when you’re on top of things you may be doubting, “Was that the best way to assign and flow the jobs?”. “Did I make the most of my resource according to geography and skillset?” ‘Scheduling the workforce was painful’ comes in at number two, with ⅖ s of you making it your second pain point catalyst to abandon your old ways. I’m outta here!
Power Hungry
Knowledge is power and having real-time accurate information at your fingertips is crazy power inducing, so that, once tasted, you may never go back and risk turning into a bond villain. OK, perhaps not that bad, but it’s addictive and very good for business. The third bad boy, at 38%, was ‘We had poor visibility of job progress’. Visibility of job progress can be a great management tool but not if you’re flying blind. Are they on site? Have they finished? Do they need invoicing, quoting? These queries would either remain unanswered or difficult to coerce out of the business. A right royal pain for over a third of businesses before they adopted Job Management Software.
Finish It!
My dad is a great man, very practical and can turn his hand to most DIY ventures. However he does have one shortfall. “The last 10%”, as Mum says. Clearing away, tidying up, vacuuming; and this is not unique to my Dad. Who does like doing the boring stuff once the main job is complete? Around 60% according to our research, leaving more than a third of businesses conceding that ‘Closing a job was poor’ (35%) or admit they were ‘Slow to bill or would forget entirely’ (31%). And in so, driving them to the dark side….software…Mwha ha ha ha ha….[coughing to clear throat]. In fact, one business regaled this great tale:
“As the wife of a busy plumber, I realised we were losing a lot of money when every time I went into town, someone would tell me that my husband had never sent them a bill”
Do Your Homework
Sometimes you just haven’t met the right guy or girl and this can just the same with Job Management Software. You’ve done the brave thing, taken the plunge, but the water’s cold, a little murky and perhaps there’s no steps to get out.
It’s worth doing your research, there’s a lot of options out there and no two are the same. Some are designed for big business and others may be designed for a certain type of business. It’s worth talking to someone who does what you do or perhaps going to a technical business advisor. Over a third (33%) of businesses who’d already adopted Job Management Software were frustrated; ‘We were using software that just wasn’t flexible enough’.
Interestingly, these pain catalysts alter according to industry. No one industry had the same set of symptoms. They all move to the salvation of software with a diverse set of requirements behind them… in search of relief.
Electrical are ‘struggling with visibility of job progress’; Plumbing, Drainage and Gasfitting & Security and Safety are ‘slow to bill or forget entirely’; IT and Communications admit to ‘being poor at closing a job’; Maintenance and Repair ‘struggle to schedule their workforce effectively’, Building Construction are in a ‘needless extra admin’ hell and Cleaning, with Air Conditioning and Heating have ‘growing pains’.
Conclusion
In this new world of cheaper data, smart devices and an app for everything, expectations are up. People are uneasy with their status quo. They’re questioning their processes and valuing their time more than ever. Asking themselves, ‘Could there be a better way?’ and ‘Will it hurt less to transition than the current pain points I’m experiencing?’. This will only accelerate when the likes of Generation Y (‘81-’95) and X (born after ‘95) become business owners, and their tech second nature will arrive with them. Perhaps it’s time to bite the bullet and get ahead of the game.
