An electrical contractor requires a lot of skill to get the job done right. But if you have your own electrical business, you know that running it successfully requires a different set of skills.
Between managing your team and keeping track of customers, it’s difficult to stay on top of everything. You need a system to stay organized, and this is where electrical business software comes in.
Today, you’ll learn why electrical business systems are the first step towards skyrocketing your business success.
Let’s start with the basics.
What is electrical business software?
Electrical business software is a type of field services software that helps electrical contractors run their businesses. This can include anything from QuickBooks for electrical contractors to a CRM or a payroll electrical business system.
The right software helps manage every aspect of your electrical business, including:
- Creating estimates.
- Scheduling jobs.
- Managing work orders.
- Following up on invoice payments.
Even though these are important tasks for operating your business, spending hours on manual work isn’t the best use of your time.
Field service management software does the work for you. Let’s take a look at how.
The benefits of electrical business software
Electrical business systems affect several aspects of your business to improve your bottom line.
Here are some of the top benefits of using electrical software to run your business.
Automate repetitive tasks
It’s no secret that data entry is dull. It’s hard to continuously pay attention to tasks that don’t excite us, which is a recipe for errors.
The best electrical business systems take the repetition out of these tasks. All you have to do is set up the automation and let your software do the rest!
Here are some common tasks electrical business software automates:
- Job scheduling.
- Time tracking.
- Invoice processing.
Keep your whole team in the know
As a field services business, your team is scattered throughout the day. Your field technicians are on the go, and your office team is on standby to ensure that everything goes smoothly.
Electrical business software keeps your team connected. The best field service software solutions have a mobile app to create a direct line of communication.
With a mobile app, your dispatcher can assign your electrician to a new job while they’re on the road. Likewise, your electrician has a way of updating you on job progress and can quickly inform you of any problems that arise on the job.
Provide industry-leading customer service
Gaining new customers is how your business grows, but retaining customers is how you sustain that growth. Good customer service is the key to retention.
Using electrical business software shows your customer that your business is organized and that customer satisfaction is your top priority.
This is made possible with features such as:
- Integrations with scheduling tools such as Google Calendar.
- The ability to track job progress on work orders.
- A customer portal for payment processing.
These features give your customer a good impression of your business and encourage them to continue with your services.
Professional communication and invoicing
One of the key elements of quality customer service is a clear line of communication with your customer.
Think about it: When you first meet a customer, you don’t want to leave them hanging. You need to communicate with them throughout the process to let them know that they are your priority.
Electrical business systems let you keep track of your customer history, including past interactions. On top of this, they make clear communication from the first interaction all the way into the invoicing stage easy.
Pro-tip: It’s important to send your customer an invoice as soon as the job is complete to avoid payment delays.
If they do forget to pay, with the right electrical invoice software, you don’t have to remember to follow up. You can set up automated messages for your customers to remind them about invoices.
Next, let’s dive deeper into the features of good electrical business systems.
Typical features of electrical contractor software
What makes electrical business software worth it is the features that make it easier to operate your business.
Different software has different benefits, but these are some of the most valuable features you should consider when choosing electrical contractor software.
Marketing and lead management
Lead management plays a key part in any marketing strategy. Every new lead is an opportunity, and you never want to let an opportunity slip out of your hands.
Unfortunately, managing leads is a common challenge for small businesses. Automating your lead management process, on the other hand, prevents potential customers from getting lost.
One of the best tasks to automate is email campaigns. Field service software solutions make email campaigns easy with:
- Email templates.
- Organized contact lists.
- Performance analytics.
- Integrations with other email tools.
Digital lead gen forms
As mentioned, leads represent opportunity, so it’s important to have electrical business systems that ensure you catch them all.
Electrical business software makes that possible with lead gen forms, which capture contact details from visitors to your website then notify you of the new lead.
What’s more is that the right electrical business systems let you customize these forms to ask your potential customers for information specific to the electrical industry. This can be anything from if your customer has pets to the size of the space you’ll be working in.
On-the-go employee communication
When you run an electrical business, you always have employees on the go. Even though you trust your team, being able to receive updates from your field electrician gives you peace of mind.
Choose an electrical contractor software solution that includes a mobile app for your field techs to provide real-time updates while on the job.
Clear communication isn’t the only benefit of a mobile app. It also simplifies employee scheduling and dispatching.
Job dispatching and routing
The quicker you dispatch a job, the sooner your team gets to work.
Field service software simplifies the dispatching process and notifies your field technician through the mobile app. That way, they know what their next job is before they wrap up their current one.
Better yet, your techs can get to the next job faster with automated routing. A good electrician scheduling software solution integrates with your mapping app of choice and pulls optimal directions.
Optimized routing minimizes downtime and takes work off your office team’s plate.
Employee time tracking and scheduling
As a services business, the best way to keep track of your labor expenses is by tracking your employee’s time.
Time tracking is important for several reasons, including:
- Knowing where your electricians are.
- Minimizing downtime.
- Payroll.
Many electrical contracting businesses use spreadsheets to track employee time, but this isn’t an efficient system. There are electrical business software solutions that include time tracking tools to simplify the tracking process.
With a mobile app, your electricians can add their time entries for approval. Once you approve the time entries, sync them to your accounting software of choice to streamline your payroll process.
End to end financial management
Managing the financial aspects of your business is just as important as managing your team, jobs, and customers.
The sales process typically looks like this:
- Create an estimate.
- Accept a deposit.
- Dispatch a work order.
- Deliver an invoice.
- Accept final payment.
Electrical business software simplifies financial management by automating these steps. Good electrical business systems think about what’s the next step in your process and action it.
An example of this is electrical software that emails an estimate to your customer after you create it. What’s more is that electrical business systems save you from paperwork by converting your estimate to a work order.
When the job is done, you can also convert your work order into an invoice and deliver it to your customer before your electrician leaves the site.
It’s a bonus if your electrical business software syncs with your accounting software of choice, such as QuickBooks. Integration means there’s no need for double date entry, and your entire team stays on the same page.
Customer experience capabilities
Using strong electrical business systems gives your customers a good impression of your business.
The right software gives you tools to manage your customers and ensure that they each get the attention they need.
Use electrical business software to enhance your customer’s experience by:
- Tracking customer history.
- Automating recurring jobs.
- Setting reminders for customer follow-ups.
- Using online customer portals for self-service.
A positive customer experience leads to customer retention, which is the foundation of your business.
Electrical business system reporting
It’s easy to get caught up when business is booming, but you should always have a critical eye on your business to ensure that everything works to your advantage.
The best way to gain insight into your electrical business is through reports and data. Electrical business software makes reporting easy by doing the hard work for you.
Generate reports to:
- Gain a 360-degree view of your customers.
- Analyze average time spent on jobs.
- Dive deep into your revenue.
Custom reports allow you to make data-driven decisions to improve your business.
Next, let’s look at an all-in-one solution that’s bound to amplify your electrical business’ potential.
The best electrical business software — Method:Field Services
Now that you know how electrical business software can drive your business forward, it’s time to explore your options. For QuickBooks users, the best solution is Method:Field Services.
For starters, the two-way sync with QuickBooks ensures that key information is always up to date.
Beyond this, Method’s web to lead forms capture demand, then automatically notify you so that you can plan your next steps. You can also schedule follow-ups so that you have regular touchpoints with your potential customers.
When you win a new customer, Method:Field Services simplifies scheduling and dispatching with automated routing. Inform your field techs of new jobs through the mobile app, from which they can also access new routes.
Once the job is complete, capture your customer’s esignature on-site, convert your electrical work order into an invoice, and have it immediately sent to your customer.
You can even set up automated reminders for your favorite forgetful customers for them to quickly pay through your online portal. Below is an example of what Method:Field Services can do for your day-to-day operations.
Method:Field Services understands that every job is a learning experience. That’s why this solution has custom reporting to provide personalized insights into your business.
Method:Field Services’ other key features for electricians include:
- An option to set up recurring work orders.
- The ability to add custom fields to forms
- Employee time tracking.
- Integrations with other tools such as Outlook and Google Calendar.
The bottom line on electrical business systems
To recap, electrical business software enhances your bottom line by:
- Boosting your team’s productivity.
- Simplifying your workflows.
- Ensuring customer satisfaction.
Method:Field Services is a customizable field service solution with the features you need to fuel your electrical business l growth.
Ready to drive your electrical business forward? Start your free trial of Method:Field Services today!
Image credit: jarmoluk via Pixabay
