Technology has changed the pace of every business, and it doesn’t matter which industry you belong to. The new generation of Customers is getting advanced with time. “Time is Money”, It is a world where everything is done in a few clicks.
The Traditional way of doing business is history now. The process is changed. Everything is automated and the focus has shifted to higher recurring revenue with increased loyal customers.
For HVAC Contractors, there is a big difference between Digitization and Automated Digitization.
Contractors who have already adopted technology into their process has experienced the following biggest benefits in a very short period.
1) Transparency in day-to-day operations
2) Right Business Metrics at all the time
3) Higher customer satisfaction
4) Increased sales and productivity
5) Secured Financial Information
6) Efficient in Customer Engagement
Automated digitization has reshaped the HVAC business in recent years. As per the studies, demand for HVAC has increased by 6.8% annually in 2019 about a total of $20.4 billion. Mobile Solutions have played a bigger role in this growth.
Now contractors are getting smarter and doesn’t matter if it’s a small or mid-sized business, residential or commercial, someone starting the business from zero is able to experience a very quick growth at the initial stage with the help of few powerful features like in-build Call Integration, Smart Scheduler, CRM, Accounting Integration, Automated Maintenance Agreements, Inventory Management, Picture Price Book, multiple Payment Integration options, etc.
This industry-specific mobile software is available at very reasonable prices in the market. However, every single one is different from the other due to its limitations and specifications.
Only the United States is expecting revenue growth of around $60 billion in the coming 12 months. Climate changes are forcing the contractors to have a robust solution and manage all the existing customers from a single touch-point ensuring high-quality services, and long-term relationships and it is possible only through a Smart Application accessible to all the members within the business on real-time.
Contractors still carrying out the business manually, are facing stiff competition on various levels and losing customers gradually within a short period due to poor operational stats and lack of data available to them.
Example- Nokia’s legacy in the Global phone market came to an end due to the following reasons-
1) Ignored the Market
2) Overlooked the threats from Competition
3) Choose to stick with the same old platform
4) Lack of Innovation and Adaptability
As a result, Apple and Google are the legends now for continuously being Innovative and creative in their technology.
Learning — HVAC contractor has to evolve and adopt automated digitization not just to get a competitive advantage in the market, but also to maintain the revenue curve higher during non-seasonal periods.
The development of the Internet of things (IoT) technology, cloud computing, big data solutions, wireless and network solutions are replacing traditional solutions. Data analytics, and big data solution have become popular with the introduction of smart Solutions and digitization of HVAC systems.
This data can be used for future operational decisions. Data analytics is helping HVAC owners save energy consumption and money which are mostly invested in purchasing unnecessary equipment or replacing outdated equipment.
With the help of these tools, the office staff knows who be the right technician to perform a specific task, and what has been the customer’s service history. As a result, the technician is equipped with the right information before reaching the job site.
The HVAC owner, on the other hand, is having a complete watch on both the office and field team on a single screen and can make quick changes that are updated in real-time to everyone.
The days of paper invoices and forms are over. These Mobile Solutions enabling the techs to create estimates, invoices, and any other form in just clicks by making the office-workers job a lot easier. Instant payment integration has kept the cash flow coming in on an everyday basis.
Through digitized solutions, the owner is now able to identify the Market knowing exactly how much revenue sourced by various job types, locations, etc. through data analysis. Also, it helps discover which marketing campaigns are yielding revenue and which types of services are being sold the most.
The HVAC owners are staying connected with the customers through intuitive and real-time engagement touchpoints by sending pre-job and post-job greetings and alerts. Letting customers know when their technician is dispatched and arrival time. Sending them emails or texts with attachments to their invoice and collect feedback before the tech leaves the site to ensure a high-quality experience.
It provides the technicians with access to a complete history of past records, and an opportunity to increase conversion of quotes, do invoices and collect payments, much faster. Also, allowing the in-house team to convert more calls into booked jobs and increase the average job ticket size by allowing the field techs to sell more estimates and equipment in the field.
On the field, this has been a great relief as now it is much easier to collect comprehensive information about the problem using custom forms & checklist. They are able to collect open-ended data or dynamic drop-downs to the customers a list of options to choose from. Even trigger techs to automatically fill this out in different parts of the job cycle, making sure the techs collect every information.
It allows business contractors to import and upload their own price-book which is on excel, or in any other format and easily implement any updates on pricing across the board for the entire company account. It is much easier now to build estimates and email those out to the customers to track and get converted to a full-blown job.
Out in the field, techs browse the price book, any descriptions, product information, and easily build beautiful, and optimal estimates that convert much faster. It’s much easier to set up recurring membership services through digital platforms and searching through service agreement files for scheduling prepaid visits becomes a breeze. Prior notification for renewal as it can set up the contracts to automatically renew and convert additional opportunities through recommendations from the past equipment health.
Technicians can easily log in their travel time, clock-in, clock-out and break intervals for each job while on live which later sync back to their payroll in seconds. With the help of digital signatures, techs can collect payments on the jobs as soon as the job completes. Whether capturing cheques or credit cards, making it as easy as capturing them using the camera and keeping the office notified with open balances on invoices.
