contracting Archives - Striven

Does Your Business Need HVAC Management Software?

Technological advancements have led to incredible developments in society over the years that we’ve come to take for granted each and every day, one of the most significant being the heating and cooling units in nearly every building we enter. With Willis Carrier’s first HVAC unit drawings in 1902, we have come to depend heavily on the machinery regulating airflow in our homes and businesses. Installations and repairs and the process of ensuring that technicians can easily locate the tasks necessary to get the job done are significant challenges that HVAC management businesses face daily in their journey to improve their bottom line and provide overall satisfaction to customers.

One of the best ways to handle these challenges? Using an HVAC management software to store data, manage tasks, and crunch the numbers. Despite this, some companies are hesitant when considering adopting HVAC service software to manage their affairs due to the many types of software solutions out there. Read more for four reasons your business can benefit from HVAC management software

How Can HVAC Software Can Grow Your HVAC Business?

1. Stay Ahead Of The Competition

Owning and operating an HVAC business means you must have all your “ducts” in a row. It is estimated that the HVAC industry will grow at a rate of 6.3% from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View Research. A shortcoming of many companies is the inability to track the progression of both individual jobs and year-over-year trends as these numbers continually change.

By integrating HVAC service software into your business, you can streamline your services so that you can stay ahead of your competitors. With HVAC service software, you can supercharge your marketing strategies to attract new customers all while providing your technicians with an automated platform that grants them the ability to easily share information with current customers and ensure no questions are left unanswered or incorrectly handled. By logging all information in one easy-to-access location, you can address any issues that arise.

2. Improve Employee Retention

It is no secret that skilled HVAC technicians are scarce. Although it has been this way for years, statistics show that even with the steady rise of the HVAC industry, these numbers are not projected to spike any time soon. A significant part of this dilemma can be attributed to an aging workforce, but another conflict might be the lack of ease in completing tasks due to outdated methods and antiquated technology. Employees who find their job challenging to manage will feel compelled to move on to something better suited to their personal needs.

As HVAC technicians review warranty services, work their tasks throughout the day, and take payments from customers, HVAC service software can help eliminate the difficulties they face. Integrating HVAC service software within your business will increase employee retention by making HVAC technicians’ jobs easier, therefore leading to higher satisfaction from customers, too. 

3. Keep Your HVAC Business Compliant

In the event that your HVAC company fails to comply with constantly revised regulations from the Department of Energy (DOE), your company may be subjected to heavy fines, legal conflicts, and the loss of permits, which can have a detrimental effect on its reputation. An HVAC service software will prove to be a much more reliable source for keeping up to date with constant changes, thus protecting your company from accidentally falling out of compliance.

For example, while some may be tech savvy, others may need more guidance to navigate a new system. Being patient and providing training through the transition can help employees who are hesitant or worried about a new system to perform more smoothly, and eventually, increase productivity. Some software solutions offer professional training as part of their onboarding process with the company.

4. Schedule Appointments With Ease

It can be frustrating to disappoint a client with a missed appointment or late arrival because of the negligence of a receptionist or technician or if there was an error or shortcoming in the scheduling technology itself. It is just as unfortunate to have customers cancel last minute and have a technician waste time and money traveling to their location to complete a job no longer needed.

HVAC service software prevents the opportunity for missed assignments due to all the data being stored safely and accurately. With HVAC management software, your customers can update their appointments easily and innovatively cancel them, which will notify your technicians in real-time so they can concentrate on the following work order.  

HVAC Management Software – The Takeaway

Stay ahead of the game by allowing HVAC service software to aid in the operation of your HVAC business. Having an all-in-one HVAC management software ensures organization, reliable communication, and, most importantly, a permanent and tangible advantage over your competitors. Companies with streamlined operations and a proven track record of meeting client needs are highly regarded.

Electrical Contracting Software: 5 Ways It Can Optimize Your Business in 2022

Many businesses make the mistake of underestimating human error and its impact on growth. The fact is, human error, lack of time management, disorganization, and mathematical and tactical miscalculations all play a big role in stagnation within a business. While the old ways of using pencil-and-paper to keep track of tasks, information, and employees can sound appealing due to the comfort this routine has provided you over the years, it is something that will hinder your businesses’ growth going forward. With electrical contracting software, this threat can be eliminated.

What Is Electrical Contracting Software?

So, what is electrical contracting software and what makes it such a powerful tool for taking your business to new heights? Put simply, an all-in-one electrical contracting software is a type of business management software that helps simplify business needs and tasks such as scheduling, dispatching, quotes and estimates, billing and invoicing, and work order management. Additional features may be included for enterprise or premium products depending on which electrical contracting software is chosen. For example: custom temples, advanced reporting, or API assistance or access. Regardless of what electric contracting software is chosen, the goal is aiding in efficiency and profitability.

5 Ways An Electrical Contracting Software Can Optimize Your Business

1. One Fully Integrated System

Instead of dividing your business needs between several different, disconnected platforms—which creates more opportunities to lose track of important information—the best electrical contracting software integrates all of your business needs in one place.

As Wellingtone—a Microsoft-partnered software consulting service—points out, “1 in 4 organizations use some kind of management software. The rest are working with Excel, paper, or a patchwork of tools instead of having everything on one screen. As a result, 54% of organizations lack the ability to track KPIs in real-time.”

Knowing and meeting customer needs are the driving force behind conducting business, so losing track of crucial KPIs has a big impact on that drive. The integrated systems within electrical contracting software is a much-needed investment that allows all of your employees to access updated knowledge on all aspects of your business.

2. Decluttering

A great feature that all of the best electrical contracting software systems have at their disposal is their ability to declutter data by organizing information properly. While a traditional business might claim that clutter is organized in a way they can find anything, all the paperwork, spreadsheets, and outside tools can take much more time to navigate. Going from one tab to the next, asking the next employee where they filed this important document, sorting through stacks of paperwork, etc. Saving time is saving profit and the best way to ensure a smooth transition of data, money, and information is to be aware of your employee’s needs.

For example, while some may be tech savvy, others may need more guidance to navigate a new system. Being patient and providing training through the transition can help employees who are hesitant or worried about a new system to perform more smoothly, and eventually, increase productivity. Some software solutions offer professional training as part of their onboarding process with the company.

3. Reducing Human Error

A common misjudgment that people make is trusting their own abilities too often when there are better, more fact-based ways to make decisions. While it most likely is true that your employees are fully capable and able to navigate through your current system properly, that does mean that they don’t make mistakes. Over time, the cost of those mistakes can hurt business and cause an unreliable and endless cycle of small errors that don’t always elicit a negative reaction (or any reaction at all) on their own, but can add up over time to hurt efficiency and in effect, hurting a company’s bottom line.

Recognizing that humans make mistakes and doing something about it is a successful next step. By choosing the best electrical contracting software for your needs, you are removing an antiquated and unnecessary cycle of relying too much on human capabilities when a new system can ensure better results while also allowing employees to focus on other responsibilities.

4. Saving Money While Increasing Profit

While many businesses may overlook the high costs and low efficiency that using too many external tools can cause, using an electrical contracting software can save money while also increasing profit because of the set payment for all your business needs. By having everything in one place, efficiency is increased, thereby also increasing profit and saving money on unnecessary tools that can be provided through a single electrical contracting software system.

5. Cloud-Based

Many businesses that would benefit the most from having an electrical contracting software are those that need cloud based software. The best electrical contracting software is fully cloud-based and allows your employees to work and access data from anywhere, without having to worry about missing files or a lack of information when dealing with customers and clients on site.

This ensures timely response rates and better accessibility to information outside of the office. An additional benefit is employee mobility. With more accessible information and the ease of sharing it, there is also the benefit of viewing that information through any device you need: phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Flexibility and more options always benefit efficiency, and therefore profitability.

Electrical Contracting Software – The Takeaway

An organized chaos mindset may allow for brand new and upcoming businesses that only have one or two employees to get by, however, other businesses that have grown beyond this stage recognize how using multiple disconnected tools that don’t optimize efficiency and communication can hinder business. All in all, electrical contracting software can provide your business with better results while saving time and money.