Page 37 - IEC Insights Sept-Oct21

What are the telltale This saying has much to do with business loyalty. Loyal customers can help ease

signs that you’ve reporting. The way you gather, track and growing pains associated with taking on
analyze your business data has a massive
larger projects and new customers as they
outgrown your impact on how well you can pinpoint offer a reliable source of steady income.
where you’re losing money. This is vital
current software? for managing cash flow and the overall How do you know which solution is right
financial health of your company. for you?
1. You’re using multiple As you grow, it’s vital to have good As part of your business growth strategy,
platforms that don’t integrate business reporting practices in place so you need a software solution that takes all
to manage your business you can not only see where you’re losing of your previous software and condenses
money but why. it into one complete end-to-end job
Electrical businesses often start out using management solution.
multiple platforms to manage aspects, Good business reporting should show
including scheduling and dispatch, you the relationships between all of your End-to-end job management software
invoicing and payments or inventory. data so that you can quickly pivot where can help you manage jobs and projects
needed, even if it means shifting practices from initial lead all the way through to
However, it’s almost impossible to link in multiple areas of your business. final payment, all from one platform. This
multiple systems together unless you’re helps you and your field staff move away
willing to do it manually. This creates a from manual processes of back and forth
tedious, time-consuming process of double 3. You get negative feedback communication that wastes valuable time
data entry with a high risk for manual from your team that stems better spent completing work and winning
errors. As your business grows, wasting new business.
precious time on double data entry slows from lacking software
you down when you’re already trying to Another easy way to tell if you’ve outgrown There are a variety of field service
keep up with increased work volume. your current software? Tap into your management solutions built for trade
staff for feedback on how your existing contractors in every industry,
Manual errors also have a more significant technology impacts their daily work. including simPRO.
negative impact on your business as you
grow. They skew your numbers, which Any technology, including software, If you’d like to learn more about how
makes managing your cash flow difficult should help your whole team work electrical business owners are increasing
and can cost you to lose more money. smarter, not harder. If your current productivity, efficiency and profitability
Losing money while you grow can be software makes it harder for your staff to in their company with job management
highly detrimental to your financial health, complete their specific tasks in their role, software, stop by the simPRO booth at IEC
especially when you are taking on larger you need to find out why. Convention & Expo.
projects with higher costs.
Beyond double data entry, inefficient
communication between the office and simPRO is a cloud-based field service
2. You can’t pinpoint where the field frequently causes frustrations management software that helps trade
you’re losing money; therefore, when completing work day-to-day. businesses manage their service, project
and maintenance work from one complete
you don’t have a complete view Frustration from this often bleeds into all end-to-end solution.
the other parts of a job from start to finish.
of your numbers This can even impact the level of customer Quote multi-stage projects, manage
Another cost-related issue that comes service your whole team delivers. job costing, track inventory, automate
with multiple platforms? An incomplete scheduling and dispatching, manage
and inaccurate view of your numbers. While you’ll undoubtedly focus on billing and payment processing, generate
winning new business as you grow, it’s reports, communicate with technicians,
You’ve likely heard the saying, “know your also essential to retain existing business and handle other areas of your workflow
numbers”. But what does it really mean? and customers as well. Strong customer from one streamlined platform accessible
service from your team supports customer through your desktop or the mobile app.

www.ieci.org | September/October 2021 | Insights Magazine 35