Maximising operational efficiency

As the weather starts to warm, thoughts soon turn to spring-cleaning for many households, many of which will wisely choose not to DIY. While service business owners and managers in temperate climes are generally busy year-round, those in colder regions know that the advent of warmer weather means that things get busy — quickly — as everyone wants their jobs done before summer really kicks in.

During any busy time, it is critical for companies to run at optimal efficiency and keep down overheads to ensure profits are maximised. If you are managing a mobile service team, there are five key areas to focus on in order to keep things running smoothly as the heat starts to rise.

1. Develop standard operating procedures

Developing and documenting standard operating procedures (SOPs) makes good business sense. It not only takes the guesswork out for your employees, but can also help improve customer service levels, as the same processes and procedures are carried out on-site no matter which technician or tradesman is assigned to the job.

Outline your SOPs in an operations manual that all employees can reference. This should be a living, breathing document — there’s no need to kill trees by printing a new manual when procedures are updated or when someone new joins the team. Your manual should be in a digital format that can be easily edited and shared and kept in a central location for easy access.

2. Evaluate your quoting process

Effectively capturing all likely costs at the estimating stage goes a long way to ensuring that the end figure matches the quote. Streamline your quoting process to ensure that you factor in adequate labour and equipment costs at the outset and keep the information in a digital repository that can be easily accessed when your client gives you the go-ahead.

Cloud-based business platforms, such as Fleetmatics WORK, provide real-time visibility for companies that want to move away from paper-based manual systems and to manage the process from customer enquiry through to billing.

Having complete visibility into every job and knowing day to day what each member of the team is doing means you can better manage the process from beginning to end. Many systems now offer drag-and-drop functionality, easy scheduling and other functions in a user-intuitive system.

3. Keep your staff on point

You can’t oversee everyone on your team, so it is important to hire operations supervisors and foremen that you know will follow procedures and keep the lines of communication open in order to provide complete visibility at every job site.

Using simple digital tools means delivery of a comprehensive snapshot of the business and all current projects. Gone are the days of 20 phone calls an hour just to stay in the loop. Digital dashboards let everyone see what others are up to and when each job has been completed.

GPS vehicle tracking will not only improve arrival times and deliver on your customer service guarantees, but can also help reduce vehicle expenses. Real-time insights into vehicle usage habits allow fleet and service team managers to influence driving behaviour in a way that benefits the bottom line. Simple things such as extended idling can add unnecessary fleet running costs into the mix. Field service technology solutions can be easily customised to send an alert when a vehicle is running for longer than a predetermined time, enabling managers to contact the driver to determine if there is a problem.

4. Know your equipment — and your people

Better planning and more efficient scheduling will help cut costs through a reduction in overtime and can additionally provide a clearer understanding of who is working what hours. Tracking vehicles via GPS means you always know where everyone is, so you can eliminate customer disputes with regard to hours worked. You’ll also know if your team are driving too quickly or making lengthy or unnecessary stops between jobs. Labour costs are one of a service business’s biggest outlays, so understanding exactly how long jobs will take enables you to implement a more competitive pricing policy and also streamlines payroll processes.

5. Never lose sight of customer service

Your customers are the backbone of your business, and running the company efficiently helps deliver on what is promised, making them happy and making your job easier. A cloud-based job management platform makes managing multiple client requests a breeze, improving timeliness and increasing accuracy.

Image credit: © stock.adobe.com/au/singkham