When running a service-based business, you often many moving parts that you will need to make sure are being properly tracked. Of course, some of this falls under contractor accountability, as you need to know whether or not contractors have completed a job or not. You also need to know who is assigned what jobs, and if there are recurring jobs that need to be continually staffed, ideally by the same contractor or group of workers. To that end, it is more than likely that the success of your service-based business will hinge on how organized the business is and what systems you put in place to maintain this organization structure. With that in mind, here is what you can do to use technology to make sure that your business is on the proper path to staying organized.
Use Technology to Assign Jobs
One of the most efficient ways to keep your workers updated on what that jobs they need to complete and which jobs have been completed is to have a way to assign them directly to these jobs. While this can be done through a well-organized spreadsheet, it is more efficient to do so through a service dispatch software. However, no matter how you choose to assign jobs, it needs to be in a way that works for everyone, including clients. Without a surefire method of keeping track of scheduling and job assignments, then you may end up with irate customers who are dissatisfied with the lack of care you put into your scheduling and job assignment process.
Use Notifications to Provide Updates
Using a software that gives updates to contractors about what jobs they are supposed to be doing or if there is any new job sites that have opened up in the area from clients is highly useful. Things can change when a contractor is at a job site or in between jobs, so you need to make sure that you have a method of getting ahold of them that is both quick and efficient. This can also be done via email or phone call, but using software that automates this makes things a lot more efficient. However, even if you choose to eschew modern technology, it is very important to keep everyone in the loop about all scheduling changes, as this is a very important part of running a service-based business.
Use Support Options for Your Contractors
The most important thing you can do as a service-based business owner is to make sure that your contractors feel supported. While implementing a software to increase efficency is an excellent choice, it should not be done at the expense of morale. To do so, you need to make sure that contractors are given the right information, and that you also use technology to not only track their whereabouts but to make sure that jobs are completed in a realistic time that is allotted per job. Once you do so, you can have their back if there are any customer complaints. Customer complaints online tend to be ruder, so this is an important step in making your contractors feel safeguarded and not always just taking the side of the customer regardless of whether they are right or not.
In summary
Of course, the purpose of implementing a technology-based solution such as service dispatch software is organization. The more organized your service-based business can be, the better it will be for both clients and contractors alike. Once you are able to implement technology and have your organization systems ready to go, you will be able to increase your client retention rate and also make contractors feel more organized and supported.