Quicken growth with integrated work order, estimating and design tools

If your business has moved beyond the “pure paper” stage to adopt at least a few software tools, you may be facing the next hurdle in the paperless process: integrating those software tools. Data analysts refer to the information in those disconnected tools is “siloed data.” IDC Market Research estimates that data inefficiencies cost businesses 20-30% in annual revenue.

As companies grow, they often adopt department-specific software to lessen pain points. Siloed data can limit your ability to get an accurate big picture of your company’s expenses and revenue. Research firm Gartner found that small and mid-sized companies lose more than $15 million per year due to bad business decisions based on incorrect or old data.

For the sales department, the software market offers many solutions for automating estimating, creating quotes, and scheduling appointments. Some of these solutions contain their own customer relationship management (CRM) module. They may also offer workflows for management to approve quotes.

In evaluating estimating software, whether on premise or cloud-based, consider your entire workflow, from customer information intake to billing and payment. Even if you don’t plan to take other aspects of your business paperless at this time, understanding your ultimate automation platform will aid you in selecting your estimating software. Does it have the ability to integrate with other business software? What are the features and costs of those software products, and will they meet the needs of your other departments or processes?

Ask potential software vendors for a list of planned updates and enhancements to see how those align with your business needs. Knowing what will be available in the future can help you plan ahead with automating other processes in your company and eliminate the need to source yet another system.

Ease of use in estimating software can affect the speed at which your sales team adopts and fully utilizes it. If your team is used to using spreadsheets, they may resist giving up what they know to start their way up the learning curve while trying to close business. To lessen the resistance, consider these tips:

·        Involve your team in testing software options. Create a specific list of criteria and have team members score each option. Asking for general feedback or comments makes it difficult to truly measure what's important to your team.

·        Ask your vendor for live training, either virtual or in person. Not everyone can learn new technology from instructions on a webpage or video, and these resources often lag behind the most recent updates to the software. Live training lets your team ask questions in their own words and get clarification if needed.

·        Allow for the learning curve. Expecting your team to maintain sales quotas while learning a new software will set both sides up for frustration. Give your team a specific time period that production goals will be suspended so late adopters know they need to gain proficiency. Also provide a cut-off date for using old tools like spreadsheets.

·        Make sure processes on both sides of the sales process are updated for the new system. Your customer intake process, for example, may now need to include specific information needed by the estimating system. The process for scheduling work and crews may need to be adjusted based on faster completion of estimates. Don’t forget to share those process updates with affected departments and get their feedback.

Automating estimating and other steps in the sales process can give your team greater capacity to close business, resulting in higher revenues. When integrated with other processes like customer set-up and service and employee scheduling and routing, you create a dynamic business focused on growth and not on moving paperwork from one team to the next.

EServ’s sales module includes estimating and bids, project management, scheduling, a routing assistant and on-the-way text messaging. This module integrates seamlessly with our customer request, reporting, team management, equipment/inventory management modules and QuickBooks integration. We plan to add in-field design capabilities soon.

With only partial implementation of EServ's small business operations software for the service industry in 2021, our sister company Millard Sprinkler increased business 20% net over 2020. With Millard Sprinkler’s full implementation of EServ, we’re looking for partners to help us improve and advance its development. If you’re interested in being part of the EServ Evolution, please complete our contact form and a member of our team will be in touch.

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