How to Get Ahead of the Competition—7 Ways Serfy Can Help Improve Your HVAC Business

2018-08-24

There’s no mercy in the service provision market. Apart from dealing with ruthless competition you need to impress clients that never seem to be satisfied, right?

 

So let technology help you get a step ahead of the rest in the HVAC (Heating, ventilation and air conditioning) market.

 

We listed a few ways Serfy’s field service management software can help you lead the pack every step of the way and even provide the right answers to those questions clients love asking.

 

Make it Easy to Log New Work

Let’s start with the new work you have coming in. This part is crucial because today’s consumer wants a fast and easy way of submitting queries & making bookings. With Serfy it’s easy no matter how your client prefers to contact you:

• Customers that are part of the network can submit job tickets which will automatically get allocated to workers’ schedules.
• Someone calling you for help can provide you with information and you can give the work to the most relevant team to deal with later in the day or week.

 

It’s easy to schedule these because you see your workers’ schedules in one glance. Because you can immediately give your clients an accurate idea of when the work will be done they would much rather employ you than a competitor who makes them wait for a call back.

 

Will Your Team Be on Time?

Now the race is on to make sure your team doesn’t disappoint. And what is the most important thing for clients? Usually it’s being on time.

 

You’ve already made a booking with a realistic time slot. However you never know when there’s going to be a hold up or a crisis which can push back the schedule.

 

What’s the benefit with Serfy? You will always be conscious of these changes.

 

Your clients can be notified if schedule changes arise so they can plan accordingly. You can communicate changes the moment they become apparent because the platform provides real time updates. You won’t find out about problems when clients call you about teams being late. You’ll be able to give warning long before the planned visit and clients will appreciate that you respect their time.

 

What if You Need Help?

Of course it may not be your own team that’s late. HVAC teams often work with other experts and service providers. Perhaps you have so much work that you have a new contractor working for you. Can you trust them to perform in line with your business’ standards?

 

On the Serfy platform you can monitor their progress, timelines and feedback so you’ll know when to step in & manage them more aggressively. This helps you become a hands on manager without letting your teams feel you’re always looking over their shoulders. You can orchestrate from your office and only take action when it’s really necessary.

 

What Happens While Your Team is Working?

When the work is finally being dealt with your clients will need feedback and your team may need help:

• Your client may not be on site but wants to know what’s wrong with the air conditioning system.
• A team member may need expert insight to help repair a unique air con system.
• A new part may be necessary instead of a repair.

 

Communication about all these aspects can happen on the Serfy platform so your workers don’t waste time phoning. Ordering a component or sending images about the work at hand will only take a second. If your client phones you’ll have updated feedback so you don’t have to bother your worker with a call while he or she is busy.

 

It’s also a more effective way of getting permission for certain tasks—such as replacing parts—so work gets done faster.

 

What Happens When They Leave?

After work is done:

• Your workers need to know what to do next. This they easily see by glancing at their Serfy profiles even if job changes happened in the past few seconds.
• You need to be informed. Your worker simply has to update the information on Serfy and you’ll see it.
• Clients need to be updated. It becomes easy whether they see it on the platform or you can give them a call with the updated information you just received.
• The worked hours need to be allocated to a worker’s payroll file. With everything logged and digitized on the software platform there’s no chance of this data getting lost. That’s the benefit of not using paperwork which can always get lost.

 

Can you see how much more work you’ll get done every day with everything running this smoothly?

 

Do Your Clients Have the Right to Opinions?

Of course no service provider is perfect and on occasion you may get a complaint. Will you ignore it and hope it goes away? Why not use it as an opportunity to boost your reputation?

 

Many clients submit complaints with the goal of helping consumers get better service. Therefore the bad reviews you ignore should actually be used to become a better service provider.

 

Also, when you engage with clients on this topic they appreciate it and if the matter gets resolved they’re often left with more respect for you. Because they know their voices are heard they will tell others to rather trust you than large companies with no concern for their customers’ opinions.

 

On the Serfy platform this becomes an actionable goal:

• Receive feedback and complaints on the platform
• Reply to these questions so clients know you take notice
• Try and resolve the issue and provide feedback

 

If you engage in this manner clients won’t feel forced to complain on public platforms to ruin your reputation simply because they feel ignored and frustrated.

 

Is Your Paperwork Up to Date?

Last on the list you need to finalize paperwork. Even this becomes easy thanks to Serfy’s capability to handle receipts and you can create certain forms & templates online.

 

Why use it for this aspect of your business? Because digital processes are:

• Fast
• Accurate
• You don’t risk human made errors

 

What is your biggest challenge in the HVAC market at the moment? What is your clients’ most frequent complaints? Chances are there’s a Serfy solution for it and it’s time you embrace technology.