Fieldwork

Cloud Based Pest Control Software

Smart Folders

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We have add a new feature to all accounts called Smart Folders.  Fieldwork’s Smart Folders allows you to save a group of customer accounts, work orders, invoices, or any group of documents under the Sales menu so you can track, organize, and find the information quickly.

A few good examples for Fieldwork’s Smart Folders in use:

  • Customer Page: Filter by zipcode, city or other component of an address and a Tag, like Commercial then click SAVE and name the folder for future quick access to bulk send monthly statements
  • Sales > Work Orders: Filter dates for last month with Completed status and a specific service type then click SAVE and name the folder to last month’s work
  • Sales > Invoices: Filter dates for this week with a status of unpaid – bulk print all invoices and SAVE to name the folder and reference all invoices printed today.

 

Why You Should Focus On Employee Training (Even If They’re Family)

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One of the most important aspects of your field service business is your staff.

Hiring the right employees is key to success, and having a solid training program in place for improving workplace skills can bolster your customer service and prevent employee turnover.

But what happens when your employees and staff are also part of your family? How do you implement a successful training program when it involves the people closest to you?

Nearly 80% of businesses around the world are either fully or partially family owned, and 30% of family-owned businesses survive at least two or three generations.

While working with family can certainly have its benefits, the often-informal family dynamic could have a potentially negative impact on the effectiveness of that training. You’re not necessarily correcting or directing random hires, you’re addressing your children or grandchildren, siblings, parents, or other loved ones.

You will need to be aware of the challenges faced training family versus training non-related employees.

Free download: 12 Training Resources for Family-Run Businesses
Click Here

Surviving Employee Training With Family

It’s natural for family businesses to welcome members of the next generation, but it’s important to remember that any role given within your company is not an entitlement. They may be family, but they still have a job to do.

That’s why it’s important to ensure that any roles fulfilled by family members come with real responsibility and accountability. Every employee needs an opportunity to make difference in the company.

That’s why if you’re dealing with employees and staff that are also relatives, it will be important for you to:

  • Provide accurate feedback on performance – Just because they’re family doesn’t mean they get a free pass to slack on the job
  • Create a positive and supportive climate – On the other hand, don’t assume you don’t have to encourage them simply because they know you love them
  • Create opportunities for growth and further skill development – Encourage engagement by offering opportunities to advance, don’t leave them stuck in a role with nowhere to go
  • Establish effective conflict resolution processes – Emotions can run high when working with family members, so it’s important to have a process in place for handling difficult situations before they happen
  • Start training early and do it often – Offer incentives for training and encourage every employee to engage in the learning process

It’s also important to treat non-related employees with the same standards as relatives (and vice versa) so that everyone understands the value they add to your business.

How to Train Family and Non-Family Employees

When it comes to the actual training, there are several methods you can use with family and non-family employees to improve engagement.

Start By Training Your Top People

If you work with family, you may have a tendency to favor relatives by giving them certain roles, even if they’re under-qualified. While favoritism may gain you brownie points with said relative, it won’t necessarily help your business.

A trained employee is less likely to disengage than an under-trained one.

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Ideally, you want to train your highest-performing staff members first, regardless of their relationship to you. Training the most qualified employees will ultimately be more cost-effective, and it can create a sense of ownership for both family and non-family employees who want to stick around the business longer.

A trained employee is less likely to disengage than an under-trained one, so choose employees that have shown the appropriate level of interest, those who have the right skills and aptitudes, and those whose attitude will help the company grow.

Train By Trickle-Down

Sending all of your employees through intensive training isn’t necessarily a cost-effective option for small businesses, but having a few top-level, highly trained employees can make a big difference in the overall culture of your company.

These employees can also be used to train other employees, who can then be used to train those further down the chain of command. Using a trickle-down training method saves time and energy and can also foster a sense of community, as each employee feels responsible for the success of another.

Be aware, however, of any emotional conflicts between multi-generational workers or if there are any family conflicts that may interfere with trickle-down training. For example, a family member from an older generation may not appreciate being lectured by the younger generation.

That’s why it’s important to have conflict resolution strategies in place so that trickle-down training can work effectively.

Train as a Long-Term Investment

Investing in employee training has been shown to improve field resolution times, increase productivity, and improve customer satisfaction. But training is not necessarily a quick, easy, or cheap process, and you certainly don’t want to waste training hours on anyone who doesn’t take the job seriously.

While it may seem like a good idea to train family members who work within the company, you should keep in mind that the most effective employee training will happen to those who are invested in your company for the long term.

A child who just wants to work for you over the summer will be less likely to retain valuable training than one who is being groomed to take over the family business, for example. Keep this in mind when you decide who should be trained and for what roles.

Record Training Process for Future Generations

If you find a training process that works, make sure to record it for the future. Developing a proper training protocol can take time and energy, and you certainly don’t want to have to re-invent the wheel every time you experience seasons of employee turnover.

It’s not necessarily practical to assume that all of the family members currently working for you will stick around indefinitely. Your training processes should be straightforward and easily accessible to every employee, regardless of when they started.

Keep in mind that technology will also change over time, so take advantage of online training materials, apps, and other programs that can grow with your business over time. Technology will be essential for business owners passing on the torch to younger generations who are more tech-savvy than their older counterparts.

Don’t miss these 12 resources designed to help your family-run business
Click Here

Final Thoughts

Running a family-owned business can come with many ups and downs. The important thing to remember is that a valuable employee is worth their weight in gold, whether they’re related to you or not.

Make sure that the staff you have working for you want to be there and are committed to helping the business grow. Train your best people first – those who have the most longevity potential and aptitude for the job – and leverage their knowledge to train other employees.

Don’t forget to have a process in place for dealing with potential conflict during training processes and be aware of generational differences during training. Utilize any and all technology to bridge the gap for younger generations, and don’t forget to reward and encourage employees who take their training seriously – even if they’re family.

 

Create One Payment For All Open Invoices

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About one month ago, we improved the payment feature so you have the ability to pay multiple invoices with one payment. By now, you have used the new bulk payment feature on multiple occasions and I am highlighting it in this week’s Feature Friday to point out the details.

Now you can….

  • View all open invoices in the payment window + outstanding balances after you [Choose a customer…] in the New Payment window.

  • Auto Distribute the bulk payment to outstanding invoices by clicking the[Distribute Payment] button.

  • Manually enter payment amount per invoice and ignore the way the system distributes the payment.

Tips for the new payment update:

1. Don’t forget to distribute the payment.  If your Unapplied amount equals the Payment Amount – the payment isn’t applied to invoices and will look like a credit on the account.

2. You need to select specific invoices to pay and leave others unpaid?  No Problem! Simply edit each Amount field in the outstanding invoices list.

3. Don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of the form if there are many invoices and click SAVE.  If you simply click out of the form, your payment details will not be saved.

Deleting vs. Deactivating User Accounts

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Parting ways with employees often leads business owners directly to the DELETE button to deny the user’s access to Fieldwork.

This is not the best option for terminated technicians.

If your employee was a licensed technician, consider using the DEACTIVATE button instead.  Once deactivated, the user will receive a message that they no longer have access to the system and maintains your service history for record keeping purposes.

Another tip when managing a personnel transition is to review the past, present and future work orders assigned to that user.   Consider moving all future work orders to another route with the bulk action Move Tool in the Users & Routes section of your admin settings.

Deleting office users is perfectly fine.  Deleting users that are not technicians is the right choice to keep your account access secure.

Delete vs. Deactivate Overview:

When should you Deactivate a user?
if the user is a Technician and has an associated Route

When should you Delete a user?
Office / Admin User (No Route)

You Can Save Hundreds of Dollars Each Month With This Small Change

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Saving money is a priority for any field service business, especially small businesses, and chances are good you’re already putting in an effort to cut costs around the office.

But one thing you may have overlooked could be costing you hundreds of dollars every year. We’re talking about paper. Yes, paper is actually costing you big bucks!

Yes, paper is actually costing you big bucks!

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Between documentation, accounting, invoicing, filing and reporting, field service businesses are notoriously paper heavy, and the costs for using paper can be surprisingly high.

U.S. organizations spend around $80 per employee on paper annually, as the average worker goes through 10,000 sheets of paper each year.

Even in a small business with relatively few employees, those costs can add up quickly. But going paperless – or as close to it as possible – can save money as well as time and energy.

Don’t Miss: 5 Other Ways to Save Money with FMS Software
Click Here

Benefits of Going Paperless

Here are a few ways paper usage contributes to rising costs and how going paperless can help alleviate some of the burden:

  1. Physical space

On average, 50-70% of office space is devoted to filing and storing paper documents. If your office is already cramped, this can be a setback to productivity. Eliminating paper can help you make room for what matters as well as reduce your physical footprints and related overhead costs. The U.S. Department of Energy also offers tax credits and rebates for sustainability, and you can use your paperless initiatives as part of your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting.

  1. Security

A major drawback of using paper is that it can be misfiled, lost or stolen relatively easily, and you’re often not aware of the problem until it’s too late. This is especially harrowing if that paper contains sensitive employee or customer information. Paperless file storage can lower this risk through encryption, file backups, and theft alerts. There’s also less chance of files being destroyed by disasters like fire, flood or office mishaps, so you can recover any missing data much easier.

  1. Remote data access

Sending your field techs out on the job with stacks of files isn’t always practical. What happens if they need information that’s not immediately available to them? Having remote access to files is an important part of a field service business, and chasing down necessary information can waste time and weaken customer satisfaction. Paperless systems can be accessed remotely, even on most mobile devices, putting the right data into the right hands, at the right time.

Where to Go Paperless

While you may not be able to eliminate the use of paper entirely, there are certain areas of your business where going paperless will be the biggest benefit.

  1. E-signatures

If customers can schedule online, they should be able to sign any important documents online too. E-signatures give you and your customers the ability to process paperwork much quicker, and you never have to wait for a paper document to be returned to you.

  1. Invoices and record keeping

Digital invoicing can eliminate the headache of sending out invoices to customers. Digitizing will also cut down on overhead costs but will also improve your chances of getting paid on time. You can also create a digital database of records so you don’t have to go digging around in a filing cabinet to see if someone’s paid their invoice or not.

  1. Reporting

Reporting is a big deal for many in the field service industry, especially in businesses like pest control that utilize heavy chemicals on the job. Reporting can create unnecessary paper waste, in addition to taking up valuable time. Digitizing this process will help you generate reports at the click of a button and you can quickly review and export data when and where you need it, saving you countless hours of manual work.

How to Transition to Paperless

If you’re used to having stacks of paper or filing cabinets around your office, it may take some adjustment time to transition to a paperless office. Here are a few ways you can make that process easier on you and your staff.

  1. Choose the right tool

There are plenty of tools out there for helping you go paperless, but not all will be a good fit for your business. You have to take into account your business needs, how much access your staff and field techs need to documents, security concerns and more. Good Field Service Management (FSM) software will help make your life easier, not more complicated.

  1.  Gather your paper materials

It’s important to make a plan to transition from paper to digital. You will probably need to scan and organize files at the beginning of the process. Just remember that digitizing will save you time and money in the long run. If you do have some files digitized in spreadsheets, you can import files to your chosen FSM system to save time.

  1. Educate yourself on proper FSM usage

There will always be a learning curve when it comes to technology, but most FSM software is designed to make your life easier, so training should be relatively straightforward (if it’s not, find a tool that’s more user-friendly). Make sure all of your staff and technicians know how to access the documents they need before they need it so you don’t run into slowdowns on the job.

Here are 5 more ways FMS software can save you money:
Click Here

Final Thoughts

Going paperless isn’t always completely possible, but the more you can do to minimize your paper footprint, the better off your business will be. You will find that going paperless increases productivity, eliminates waste, and saves you time and money in the long run.

You will need a solid transition plan at the start, especially if your current business relies solely on paper documentation, but keep in mind that paperless FSM software will save you countless hours and will cut costs in the long run.

For all of those office tasks that do require the use of paper, Green Business recommends using 500 sheets of paper or less per staff member per year (instead of 10,000) and businesses are also encouraged to recycle paper as often as possible.

Appointment Reminders : Feature Update

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Just created or rescheduled a work order?  Send an appointment reminder on demand.

In Fieldwork, the new Send Reminder button on the EDIT work order page will email and / or text your customers the Appointment reminder message immediately. (this feature must be enabled in your company settings to see the button)

Your automated reminders still work as-is, but this new feature will manually send an additional reminder at the exact time you hit SEND.

This feature was one of our most-requested features in 2016.  Thank you for always sharing your thoughts and ideas on how to improve the system.  We are listening and take everyone’s ideas into consideration during our weekly planning meetings.

Contact us

5745 West Howard
Niles, IL 60714

T. (847) 647-2230
E. info@fieldworkhq.com