- Case Studies
Field Service Case Study: Commercial & Industrial HVAC Company Uses Service Pro and Vista for Speedy Scheduling, Billing, and Field Communication
- By MSI Data
Overview
Rapid growth and stellar service goals meant this service company needed more than just file cabinets and spreadsheets in their service department.
This California-based HVAC company decided they needed a better way to operate. They serve industrial and commercial clients, providing whole-system design/building, building automation, piping, installation, repair, and maintenance.
Though the company finished hundreds of projects per year at the time, they were missing out on their full revenue potential. The culprits were paperwork and slow billing. Over the years, the company learned that using just papers and Vista didn’t help their business operations go smoothly. The team eventually sought out Service Pro FSM to eliminate paperwork in and out of the office and enable their continued growth.
The company were seeking a software solution to automate their billing, invoicing and administrative processes.
“There was a lot of paperwork and drawn out processes from start to end. Billing didn’t move fast, and there were many unnecessary steps,” – Dispatcher, Commercial/Industrial HVAC
In the office, dispatchers used Vista by Viewpoint to create schedules and billing spreadsheets, but they needed better technology than that. The company learned that Service Pro would fulfill their operational and clerical needs after just two training sessions.
Challenge
The company’s old paper based system was messy, which resulted in low cash flow for the owners. Service technicians would log their work orders, purchase orders and requisition in books all day. Service managers and dispatchers struggled to keep track of where technicians traveled all day by just phone and e-mail.
Double data entry: Every day, more than 30 field techs tracked their work hours by hand. They would take photos of their work order sheets and texted large attachments to their bosses after finishing their jobs. Dispatchers spent too much time entering everyone’s hours and purchase orders in the system. Even worse, they found it impossible to enter all data on busy days.
Slow billing: It would take up to three weeks after service orders were finished to bill customers. Sometimes, billing sheets would get lost and so would work hours, which led to profit loss.
Poor organization: The office got many calls per day, which took priority over data entry. The unfinished paperwork continued to build up, which made the entire business less efficient.
“We were losing service work orders. Between that and coming back to the office, the papers would get lost,” said their Controller. “Bottom line, loss of money.”
Solution
Before Service Pro FSM, the the company’s back office staff struggled to write out and enter so much paperwork every day. Service Pro FSM helped the office go paper-free. We provided a two-day training session for their leadership, which made them confident that their large field team could buy-in and quickly learn.
The businesses co-founder found it convenient to know that Service Pro works with their Vista system. This was an easy decision for him, and got even his most skeptical business partner on board.
“I don’t like it when customers have to wait over two hours for any service no matter how minimal,” he said.
With Service Pro FSM, on and off-site employees exceed his expectations.
Results
Since integrating Service Pro FSM and Vista, field techs have all the information they need to solve problems via iOS or Android while they’re on the road all day. Employees no longer lose important documents or have customers fill out any paperwork, which gave them an even better reputation.
Dispatchers use a Vista visual calendar to send field technicians their work orders and schedules. The field techs view their assignments via Service Pro FSM, which includes customer contact information, history, parts and model numbers, and detailed problem descriptions with urgency level. After a service is done, the customer gets an invoice and receipt by e-mail and can pay by card.
“Business has gone up 15% on the service side,” their Controller said. “Our desks are clean, and everyone works only 40-hour weeks.”
User-friendly mobile integration
Service Pro is a native mobile app that works on laptops, tablets and smartphones. The HVAC techs at the company find it convenient to use a mobile phone to take photos on rooftops, enter and submit labor time. Service Pro FSM also includes a mobile inspection checklist, which technicians complete and email to the office as a PDF attachment.
“When a tech completes a work order, we set it up so dispatchers get an email with a work order attachment. Each technician cc’s the completed work order to the customer’s email,” said their Controller. “This replaces that same sloppy handwritten thing customers couldn’t read before.”
Better labor and miscellaneous cost tracking
Before Service Pro FSM, HVAC techs couldn’t charge for welding costs with their old system. The unbilled welding services further reduced profit. With Service Pro FSM, the company can now enter a fixed welding cost to automatically bill each customer.
Dispatchers and service managers use Vista to create schedules and work orders. Field technicians use Service Pro FSM’s mobile app to track and send labor time to managers. Vista also has a “Work Completed” feature which separates time entry by task. Dispatchers no longer have to re-enter field techs’ work hours, which frees time to answer more phone calls.
Instant billing
Before Service Pro, the company’s dispatchers only used Vista to assign work orders. Now, they report a reduced error rate and need for data entry. Most importantly, techs no longer issue bills in messy handwriting, which presents a professional image. Customers receive invoices on the same day of service and e-sign on the spot via the technician’s mobile device. The system automatically e-mails receipts to customers after they pay.
Conclusion
The company had a customer-centric strategy that helped their service sales go from $600,000 to more than $1 million with the help of Service Pro FSM. We are proud to have helped them streamline their business operations to drive further revenue.
Authors
MSI Data
- This entry was posted in Case Studies, Construction, Field Service Technician, HVAC, Mobile Field Service Software, Service Pro, Service Pro for Vista by Viewpoint
- by MSI Data