For general contractors, remodelers, or home service professionals, maximizing efficiency and adopting a tech-enabled solution go hand-in-hand. But what is the best software for contractors?
Whether it be construction estimating, project progress for certain job sites, or providing detailed job costs, implementing project and construction management software that manages these functions for construction or home service companies can save a lot of hassle for contractors and small businesses.
Home service professionals want to make sure you leverage the best service management software for this purpose to ensure a smooth, seamless workflow and take your business to the next level.
Keep reading to find out why project management software can help your home service business run more smoothly and profitably.
Why Your Home Service Business Needs Software
The best tech resources and a project management tool will help you run your home service business or construction company more effectively. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an HVAC or general contractor, subcontractor, or a specialty contractor; for all, accurate oversight of the business functions and different job sites is essential in providing successful management solutions.
Here are several critical ways that SaaS software or ERP (enterprise resource planning) can make all the difference for general contractors, remodelers, and/or home service businesses.
#1. Documentation and Organization
As your home service business grows, your project management needs will be growing as well. The number of RFIs, timesheets or time tracking, invoices and other key documents you will procure and have to manage may seem overwhelming. Document management is crucial and this is where you can leverage a CRM and project management software.
From bid management and punch lists to purchase orders and change orders, all of these documents are integral to your business operations. They must be organized and stored in one place for easy access.
Employing a project or construction management tool can make this process easy for you by keeping all your key documents and digital resources. The project or job management software will be secure and mitigates the risk of losing your hard work, which may otherwise lead to delays in final delivery times to the client.
#2. Save Time
You have likely heard of the phrase “time is money.” This rings true, especially for in-home service and/or those in construction industries, where the importance of time tracking and scheduling software can make or break your business. You not only have to budget your expenses, but time.
The first five years, in particular, of setting up your service business is a time when you want to be equipped as effectively as possible with the right tools and software to provide best-in-class field service. Streamline every function of your home service business—from pricing to project scheduling to detailed job costing and team member management to your overall business management.
Managing the entire lifecycle of a project will help you refocus your efforts on profitability and value-add activities, such as client relationship management.
#3. Generate Leads and Sell Faster
A convenient feature of contractor software is the ability to produce pricing estimates, based on accurate project costs, for your clients much faster.
Construction and project estimating software helps construction and home service businesses provide quality project information and job costing. This budgeting and accounting software will streamline the process of pricing the cost of labor, materials, and other project job costs to provide an accurate quote to your clients. Software solutions come equipped with automated cost calculators and functionalities such as scenario analyses, so you can budget properly and assess project profitability for your construction business.
By budgeting and providing an accurate representation of your service’s value from the start, you can retain quality clients and generate sustainable leads for your sales funnel.
Manage Your Business With Software For Contractors
Did you know that the global home services market is expected to grow by 18.91% every year till 2026? This provides a huge opportunity for US-based construction and home service businesses catering to this market to capitalize on.
Manage Your Business From Your Phone
The days of depending on pen and paper to manage your business documents and functions are long gone. The digital era has helped contractors and home service businesses make a seamless transition to managing everything on the go and in real-time.
Signpost’s user-friendly mobile app allows you to communicate in real-time around the clock with your clients on the channels they prefer, providing a customer-centric approach to your relationships.
The app can be accessed on your phone, iPad, or any mobile device to discuss homeowner needs, pricing, change orders, and provide status/progress updates to your clients in real-time. This will save a lot of time for home service professionals and those in the construction business to focus more on customer management.
Using the mobile app will benefit your business by increasing the level of transparency between you and your clients. It will enable you to provide better customer support and further your relationship in the long run.
Receive Payments
For all the hard work that you’re doing, ensure that you’re being paid on time by your clients. Managing your cash inflow and invoicing is integral to the continuity of your contracting/construction business.
By having a payment platform in hand, you can save time by tracking your payments so that you are not actively chasing after clients for that one invoice.
Signpost’s payment solution captures everything with a bird’s eye view: from the very beginning of your client’s relationship with you (lead generation and capture) to the final delivery of the services.
The integrated platform also builds in additional automation features to drive more word-of-mouth and ongoing loyalty.
Consolidate Software with Integrations
For your jobs to run smoothly, your accounting software has to be just as integrated with other tools you are using. The functional interdependence between, for instance, accounting software (Quickbooks, Sage, Jonas) and other software systems, can determine the overall efficiency of your payment and leads in the process.
Signpost’s software can be integrated with various other platforms, ranging from CRM to document management (Google Docs and Excel) to construction project management software (like JobNimbus and Housecall Pro) and accounting systems.
Grow Your Business
One of a contractor’s or construction business’s primary objectives is growth. Expanding your client base, taking on more projects, and hiring additional staff or project managers are all indicators of a growing contracting business.
Signpost’s software can aid a home service professional’s growth strategy in the following ways.
Review Management
Online review management is a focus area for all local businesses. One of the best ways to gain more exposure and attract potential customers is by promoting your construction business online through reviews.
Leveraging a review management platform can help lighten the load by automating functions related to review requests and review generation.
You can also better equip your business to manage negative reviews, learn to respond in a smart and time-sensitive manner, and grow your digital reputation on popular social review platforms like Facebook, Google, and Yelp.
Website Chat with Customers
When prospective customers visit your website, you want to provide them with the answers and also offer a value proposition that they can’t refuse. You can do this by automating your customer chats so they receive answers or guidance in real-time.
Using a customizable and user-friendly, AI-enabled chatbot will save you time and you can invest your customer representatives in other prospect and customer management-related activities. The AI-enabled functionality will also allow your business to communicate with unlimited users; businesses no longer need a call-center with phone representatives for every caller.
Chatbots are also not time-restricted and can respond in real-time and after business hours, making your business appear more accessible to your potential and existing customers.
Marketing Automation
Would you let up on your marketing efforts the moment you secure a large number of clients and have what feels like unlimited jobs in hand?
The answer is no. Marketing and promoting your home service business or construction firm is a continuous activity and essential for your business’ overall profitability. This is true for any home service or construction professional—it’s even true for home builders and those in real estate. Regardless of your specialty, your marketing campaigns can be automated and streamlined to allow you to focus more on your client projects and customer service.
Signpost’s marketing software system and all its additional features will streamline your business management and help you proactively engage with your leads by using pre-defined templates and encouraging repeat business from loyal clients.
By doing so, you stay at the top of your clients’ minds and can ensure sustainable business operations in unlimited projects, no matter the season.