Some may mistakenly think that running a service business is easy. However, the opposite is true. You must constantly worry about estimates, quotes, schedules, routes, equipment maintenance, and customer demands every single day. And, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean that running and growing a service business can’t be made less difficult and complicated. Nowadays, automation programs and apps are there to support service business owners by tackling routine and repetitive tasks and automating them. If you’re wondering how those things can help you as well, read on.
Have greater control of your business
Currently, 25% of small businesses and 40% of large enterprises use task automation in one way or another. These companies reported that automation helped them in marketing, customer support, and lead generation. Aside from those business aspects, task automation can also help entrepreneurs have greater control of their businesses. (1)
Suppose you have a HVAC repair company. Getting a business management or field service app, like Jobber, utilizes specific task automation features to allow you to streamline every aspect of your business within one platform. The mere fact that you only need one platform to conduct all your business operations gives you, the business owner, so much more visibility, insight and control over your day to day operations.
With greater control of your business, you have greater power to steer it in the direction you want, which may help you grow it as well.
Task automation makes your business more efficient
Task automation increases cost reduction by 31%, productivity by 28%, availability by 25%, reliability by 14%, and performance by 4%. In a nutshell, it can make your business more efficient. (2)
Task automation primarily does that by eliminating what most people call low-level tasks, which can be inaccurate, in your business. It also takes some of those tasks away from your employees’ workload, freeing them up to do more meaningful work.
Here are some business processes that automation can make efficient:
1. Creating invoices, quotes, and estimates
With an automation or business management program, you don’t need to manually compute or type your invoices, quotes, and estimates anymore. You’ll only need to input the services your client needs to pay for and print the correct document you need. It makes everything simpler–as if you’re a cashier whose only job is to scan items and wait for a receipt.
You can even make all these automated. Say that you have a website where prospects can check your service and ask for a quote. All they need is to interact with a page, and they can generate an estimate on their own. They can even set the schedule for an inspection to get a more accurate quote of the job they want to get done.
2. Following up
Constant communication with clients is part of the job in the service industry. You need to message your customers whenever you arrive on their property. You also need to remind them if they are required to meet you for an inspection or to sign a quote. With automation, all those messages can be scheduled and sent automatically, giving you more time to focus your attention elsewhere.
Moreover, most field services hire dedicated employees to do this kind of work. With task automation, you can save yourself one person’s worth of salary every month. Around 30% of the work done by 60% of jobs today can be automated. (3)
3. Tracking orders and scheduling
A grid-printed whiteboard is a common sight in a service business office. This is where all the scheduling and tracking magic happens. And, you have most probably spent a lot of time standing in front of it, thinking long and hard who’s going to go where and when.
With automation, you can liberate yourself from this and spend more time and energy on increasing the number of clients you have and growing your business. This is why using automation is one of the things most growing companies are doing right.
In addition to generating schedules and tracking job orders, automation software can also let you track your crew in real-time and help with route optimization, allowing you to keep on top of daily operations with ease.
Conclusion
Currently, most business operating models are inefficient regardless of industry. This is because most of them don’t stop to consider the power of automation, which is understandable since it’s something relatively new. Therefore, if you want your business to become more efficient, it’s high time to eliminate all repetitive and routine operations in your company by getting software capable of task automation and allowing this to do it for you.
References:
- “5 Ways Automation Can Help Your Business Grow,” Source: https://www.business.com/articles/automation-for–business-growth/
- “Automation Advantages: 5 Benefits Of Automation,” Source: https://www.helpsystems.com/resources/guides/automated-operations-5-benefits-your-organization
- “Four Fundamentals Of Workplace Automation,” Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/four-fundamentals-of-workplace-automation