Solving Job Planning Problems with Service Scheduling Software
July 3, 2024 | Read: 8 minutes
As your plumbing company expands, you’ll have to constantly adapt to the new market standards, products, and regulations.
But the more your business grows, the harder it becomes to manage job planning without service scheduling software.
If you’ve been around long enough, you’re fully aware of the job scheduling problems that can arise at any given moment.
Whether it’s your top plumber or gas engineer calling out sick, or a client requesting an emergency job, you need to be able to adjust on the fly.
If your current software is unable to help you make those decisions, it’s time to consider making a change…
Five Common Issues When Planning Plumbing & Heating Jobs
As a business owner, sending multiple plumbers out into the field, to different locations, almost every single day – you can run into literal and metaphorical blocks along the way.
Since there’s an unlimited amount of unpredictable issues that can arise, let’s break down the most common ones and talk about the best way to solve them with service scheduling software.
1. Sending the Wrong Plumber
Sending the wrong engineer can put a strain on the limited resources your business has in a day. One mistake can derail an entire day’s schedule and create a stressful environment for your admin and service teams.
Not to mention, customers will become frustrated the longer they have to wait for service, which could start to damage your branding if you’re not careful. With the right software, you’ll never have to worry about sending the wrong engineer to an important location.
2. Unreliable Mobile Applications
Most of the time, your plumbing team will want to focus on the task they have in front of them. But suppose they’re stuck dealing with technology or mobile applications that slow down their working processes.
For example, If they’re unable to record data digitally or take and save photos of assets and work sites, they’ll become frustrated, take longer for each job, and have a greater chance of making an avoidable mistake.
3. Reacting to Schedule Changes or Emergencies
It’s impossible to predict the future and you’ll never know when a customer is going to cancel or make a request for an emergency job.
But when there’s a cancellation, you may miss out on a different job if you’re not properly equipped to reroute your employees efficiently.
And if you’re unprepared to handle client emergencies, like a burst pipe or broken heat pump, you’ll miss out on the chance to improve your accountability and revenue.
4. Creating User-Friendly Experiences
When a customer interacts with your business for the first time, what sort of experience are they having?
Are they able to easily find and access the information or documents they need related to your businesses or the work they’ve done? Or are they aimlessly clicking around your website trying to find the solutions they’re looking for?
There are many ways to approach creating a user-friendly experience but you’ll miss out on new clients if they can’t navigate your website with ease.
5. Handling Unhappy Customers
When all of the issues previously mentioned are combined, there’s no doubt that you’ll be dealing with unhappy customers.
If you’re unable to communicate clearly with them and resolve the issue (even if it was a mistake) there’s a good chance you’ll never get their business again.
Not only that but when they’re dissatisfied with your service, they’ll most likely take their opinions online and leave a negative review on your Google page, damaging your reputation further.
How Service Scheduling Software Can Solve Your Job Scheduling Problems
If you’re having any of the problems listed above, it may be time to make a change in how you run your scheduling processes from day to day.
Fortunately, by swapping software providers and gaining access to features that come with fantastic service scheduling software, like Commusoft, you’ll have a more effective way to solve all your job planning problems.
1. Job Planning and Schedule Oversight
If you’re dealing with a high volume of inquiries, you’ll need to book, schedule, and plan a large amount of work in a small amount of time (and this will only become more challenging as your business expands).
For example, imagine your plumbing business is trying to break into a new location and service a new area… You’ve started running social media ads to target potential customers but quickly get overwhelmed with the number of inquiries.
The increased workload causes your administrative team to fall behind and they accidentally send the wrong engineer to a job he isn’t prepared to handle, wasting both company resources and the customer’s time.
This can be avoided when your administration team has access to job management software and a 360° view of your schedule. With these features, they’re able to simplify the work order creation and assign engineers with the right skills and availability, so that the best engineer is always assigned to a job.
2. Mobile Workforce Management
Overseeing a mobile workforce that is always in different locations is no easy task.
When your employees in the field need to record information or submit orders for new parts, they need to be able to access a mobile app that gives them a full view of the customer database with offline functionality.
One of our current clients, C.P. Jefferies Ltd, has been able to master mobile workforce management and empower their plumbing, heating, and renewables teams using Commusoft.
Now, with each engineer having their own device, they can see which technicians previously attended the customer and works that have been carried out. With each of our engineers having their own individual calendars, our office staff are now able to manage their time much more efficiently.
Rob Williams (Owner / Director)
With service scheduling software like Commusoft in place – managing your engineers, their timesheets, and documents is simple, meaning they can work efficiently and maximise the number of jobs they can complete daily.
Mastering mobile workforce management enables you to get the job done right, every time, regardless of where your teams are physically located.
3. Vehicle Tracking and Optimal Routing
According to MarketBox, “If you run an appointment-based business, you’ve dealt with the frustrating reality that a shockingly high number of clients aren’t always the most reliable. The average no-show rate across industries ranges from 10-15%.”
Cancellations can hurt your profit at the end of the day if you’re unable to react to schedule changes and efficiently reroute your technicians, engineers, or plumbers.
But when you use field service management software like Commusoft, you’ll gain access to features like real-time vehicle tracking and optimal route planning. These tools give you the ability to quickly pull information on where your teams are and insights on the best way to adapt to changes on the fly.
4. Customer Self-Service Portals
When customers need to book jobs, accept quotes, and pay invoices, they want the process to be as smooth as possible (especially when dealing with larger project payments).
If you can provide your residential and commercial clients with a customer self-service portal, you’ll automate the scheduling processes and give them an opportunity to access a majority of your administration services 24/7.
This software feature frees up valuable time for your administration team and your clientele will appreciate the ease of interacting with your company.
5. Improved Customer Journeys
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and walk through your company’s customer journey from start to finish.
Was it a smooth process when you tried to book a job, reach out to ask a question to admin and get updated information on your upcoming boiler service? Or did you struggle to find availability and contact information?
When you take advantage of job management software, you can guarantee the customer has a seamless experience during every stage of the customer journey. It’ll also give them an avenue to review your services and stay in touch after the final invoice is paid.
Using Commusoft to Streamline Service Scheduling and Job Planning
If the features listed above sound like they would streamline your operations and improve your teams, Commusoft is the field service management software solution for your business.
We offer job management and contract solutions that can take your business to the next level by improving overall efficiency across all of your departments.
If you’re ready to learn more about us, click the banner below or schedule a call today.
