We’re just starting summer, but heat is already here, as you may have noticed if you’ve recently watched weather reports or simply spent any time outside. And believe it or not, HVAC management software can be a great ally for your field service company in these times!
Whenever there is a heat wave during summer, the temperature rises to uncomfortable (and occasionally hazardous) levels. In an effort to stay cool, everyone who can is staying indoors and turning up their air conditioning. However, as everyone’s units will be working harder and longer than usual, those units will inevitably encounter more problems.
This means an increase in calls for all local field service companies. Most of these calls are concerning problems with cooling, capacitors, and refrigerant leakage. Of course, it’s easy to see how this is positive: business is booming. With all the new calls and problems emerging, some businesses are fully booked for the foreseeable future. More calls result in more work, which increases revenue!
On the other hand, if you’re not accustomed to this kind of call volume or are still doing your billing and scheduling on paper, a situation like this could be too much to handle. You may take advantage of these busy times with the aid of HVAC management software.
The problem
Let’s imagine that a hot, frustrated, and desperate potential client calls your company. They describe their problems and ask to have someone scheduled to come out. The first issue here is that you’re going to have to put this customer on hold while you go get their file. Then, you need to see if anyone can take this task during this extremely busy time by checking all of the schedules and the individual technicians. Meanwhile, you continue to get calls after that. Three individuals are currently waiting while you try to fit the first one in!
And you know, people despise being put on hold. In fact, 62% of us expect the issue for which we’re calling to be solved in less than 5 minutes. Even worse, the heat makes people irritable. A typically patient person might become the Hulk on a scorchingly hot day without air conditioning. Their propensity to hang up and dial another number increases as a result.
Besides that, we constantly have to deal with human mistakes in addition to angry clients. So, let’s assume that you kept all three of those clients on the line and that you were successful in scheduling jobs for them. But… you mistakenly overlapped one of your technicians’ bookings, which you won’t know till later. Both you and your technicians are having a difficult time in the heat out on the field, and it could get worse!
The fix
With the appropriate HVAC management software, all of this might have been avoided. You can easily prevent such issues with an effective HVAC management software app, which will also work with you to find solutions. For instance, in a HVAC management software tool such as Synchroteam, you’ll find a calendar utility. This will be extremely helpful in scheduling appointments more quickly and keeping your field service business organized. Not only will it keep up with your current preventative maintenance appointments, but this will also assist your business in reducing unintentional double bookings.
With the help of Synchroteam as your HVAC management software, you can locate the closest technician who has a free slot to take on new work. This also makes your techs’ jobs simpler! They won’t spend their working time zigzagging around town thanks to streamlined schedules and itineraries. This is why you should be looking for GPS and routing capabilities when trying to select the best HVAC management software for you..
Finding software that eliminates loads of paperwork in your business is another simple method to increase productivity. For all billing and work order management, Synchroteam is also the right choice. Your technicians can now complete all the paperwork on the job site and have it instantly synced with the office computers thanks to the Synchroteam HVAC management mobile app.
Conclusion
Summer brings heat waves and in turn these can increase phone calls and boost sales. But this surge can also occasionally overwhelm schedulers with inadequate resources. There are ways to try to handle this on your own, such as working longer hours, or hiring a temporary assistant. But in the end, the best solution is to count on the assistance of a HVAC management software.
Check it out with Synchroteam’s free demo!
Image by stevepb
