Failure to plan is planning to fail. While you can’t predict the future, you can certainly prepare for it. Tariffs, trade wars, technician shortages, interest rate hikes…… how can your field service company stay profitable in an unstable economy? You have to be prepared. A comprehensive field service management software can help your company mitigate risk to stay profitable in challenging times.
Here are 3 ways FIELDBOSS field service management software can help contracting business owners stay profitable in an unstable and uncertain economy:
- Real-time visibility and reporting: A comprehensive field service management software offers an in-depth understanding of your business. If you know how many service calls you need per day for your service department to stay profitable, then you know in real-time if you are short on calls. If you are short on calls, you can advise your team to follow up on open repair quotes and see if the customer is ready to schedule. Real-time reporting also offers:
- A detailed, real-time view of the whole business
- Intelligence to recognise emerging trends
- Potential to seek and respond to new opportunities or threats
- Power to understand key areas delivering profit and loss
- Make fast, informed decisions based on accurate and live information
- Maintenance Agreements: Maintenance agreements are the key to off-season profitability and economic downturn stability. They ensure companies stay busy and profitable. As well, many field service industries such as HVAC and Elevator Service are somewhat recession proof: people still need their equipment to work, so they opt for repairs over replacement. This creates more work, and, eventually, that client will still need a replacement. FIELDBOSS can help automate and efficiently manage your maintenance contracts and also alert you to which clients are not signed up yet.
- Manage unbillable time: During times of economic instability, some contractors become more aggressive in their pricing in order to attract more clients. However, rather than lower your rates, look at what you can do to lower your overhead and expenses. Think about managing unbillable time — time between calls, organizing and inputting paperwork, or any labor you pay that does not have revenue associated with it. An end to end field service software can help decrease unbillable time by:
- pinpointing which technicians aren’t pulling in any revenue
- creating the need for fewer dispatchers, schedulers and back-office personnel
- invoicing more quickly
- eliminating duplicate data entry
- reducing technician paper-work
- increasing first-time fix rates
- decreasing technician drive-time
An unstable economy doesn’t have to mean the end of your business. With a little lateral thinking and the help of a comprehensive field service management software, your company can sail through the hard times and come out stronger than before.
Contact our client services team to set up an online demo or to learn more about FIELDBOSS.
#stayprofitable #unstableeconomy