To keep your HVAC business running optimally is a 24*7 job. At any given time, there’s a whole gamut of back-end operations that need to be handled on an ongoing basis. It goes much beyond sales pitching to customers or installation of HVAC systems at customer locations.
Managing servicing and maintenance of HVAC systems, repairing or ordering parts and components, billing customers, and managing dispatch schedules and routes are just some other tasks that need to run in parallel to keep business operations running seamlessly.
And that’s where the right HVAC dispatch software can play a crucial role. It can help streamline field service operations so payments can be collected onsite, invoices generated, and customer information can be retrieved just as easily on the go.
But how can you choose the best HVAC dispatch software for your business? HVAC Business Solutions discusses the considerations to keep in mind when shopping for HVAC software.
Things to Look for in HVAC Dispatch Software
The best HVAC dispatch software simplifies operations, not make them complicated or cumbersome. Therefore, digitization is not the sole objective. It must also offer streamlined operations, ease of use, and speed so as to increase the productivity of on-field staff so they can focus on building lasting customer relationships.
Here are some top features you should look for in dispatch and field service software:
1. Customer Management/Scalability
Customer management forms the core of any business and so it is with HVAC businesses. Creating multiple customer accounts, adding servicing updates, capturing job photos onsite and uploading them, setting billing terms, sending email or text invoices, diagnostics and appointment reminders are just some of the tasks that you should be able to do with your dispatch software.
Plus, it should allow technicians restricted access to customer information.
Additionally, if you’re using QuickBooks, it’d make sense to opt for HVAC dispatch software that easily integrates with it. The benefit of that is that it would be easy to upload customer lists.
Another desirable attribute of HVAC software is that it should be scalable to accommodate an expanding customer base, if need be.
2. KPI Dashboard/ Reporting
Having HVAC software that provides KPI dashboard and performance reporting tools can work wonders for your business. It would help you keep track of the performance of your business overall as well as that of the team including technicians and sales associates.
With ready-metrics like the total service sales, average service ticket, average maintenance ticket, total service agreements sold, and so on, you can analyze the profitability of your business and make strategic changes to increase growth.
3. Intuitive Interface
Software that is not easy to use defeats the purpose. After all, the primary objective of any HVAC business software is streamlining operations and increasing efficiency. The best HVAC dispatch software offers easy to find and easy to use features – a big boon to on-field technicians as it helps them accomplish more tasks on any given business day. On the other hand a confusing interface can delay operations, creating more challenges than resolving them.
4. Invoicing and Payments
Another critical requirement of any HVAC software is invoicing and payments. Hard copy invoices are not only cumbersome to manage but can also lead to errors, which can completely upset your accounting and financial systems.
Online invoices and payments ease transactions for all parties, businesses, staff, and consumers by eliminating paperwork. Technicians and sales people would benefit from having an easy invoicing and payment system that allows them to process invoices and collect payments at the click of a button.
It would help save time which they can allot to more important tasks like building deeper customer relationships. At the same time, it would help organize your accounting and also increase accuracy, making things a lot easier, especially during tax season.
5. Staff Tracking, Management, and Paycheck Processing
The right HVAC software can help you delegate tasks to your staff – including technicians, sales people, and drivers – in a faster and easier manner. With streamlined HVAC dispatching, you can assign jobs to your staff in real time and also track their progress online.
The tracking feature is an invaluable tool as it allows you to make changes to their routes in case there are appointment cancellations or emergency calls to add. And this is only possible with a one-stop solution that allows you to track your staff’s location, availability, and job progress.
Overall these are the top five desirable features to have in any HVAC solution. HVAC Business Solutions has one of the best HVAC dispatch software that offers all of this and much more! To see how it can improve operations and help you achieve your business goals, get a demo today!
