Business Automation Can Streamline Your Operations and Beef Up Your Profits!
The Annual Technology Survey we held in August revealed many interesting adoptions. Specifically, most tech adoptions happen through automation of general business operations, such as customer invoicing. In this article, we discuss each of the areas of business automation technology followed by takeaways for your business.
Automation of invoicing is not new. For many years, contractors have been working to increase office productivity. Today’s customers and vendors expect to use efficient administrative operations. Contractors understand that it is crucial for their cashflow to send invoices quickly. They try to invoice within one day of job completion, and several contractors invoice the same day.
Since the majority of contractors already have adopted automation of landscaping business operations, that puts these technologies in the Late Majority Phase.
The most difficult part of office productivity improvement is to get cooperation from your field staff. I started my career as an irrigation service tech and know well the hassle of satisfying the office staff. For most good service and install people, making customers happy is their driving factor; the paperwork be damned! However, change is happening. Read on to learn about some good indicators on automation of landscaping business operations.
Install or Service Job Hours logging
The majority (56%) of contractors report they are using technology to gather field data for invoicing. Service hours are tracked by either business management software (BMI) or an add-on third party module.
For most (43%), tracking hours is done on a daily basis. There are several platforms and programs available, but most contractors use cell phones or tablets to transmit data to the office via the internet. Others still rely on computer or tablet docking stations at the office.
Owners and managers struggle with implementation of field data because it is not being accepted by staff. For this software to be implemented successfully, it will take strong education on why the software is important and how to use it, along with several months of strong leadership guidance.
Automated Daily Invoicing
In this report, ‘Automated’ means at least part of the process is automated. Fully automatic invoicing systems do not exist; all these programs still require some manual manipulations. Of the responding contractors, 37% have implemented an invoicing system and processes allowing invoices to go out daily (28%) or at least weekly (8%).
This automation shows great benefits. It is well documented that the faster you get your invoice in the customer’s hands, the faster they will pay you. It is also good to realize that some customers will use your invoice lag time to determine when they pay you. For example, if it takes three weeks for them to receive your invoice, customers will assume they can add two or three weeks to whatever terms you give them.
Invoice E-Delivery
Surprisingly, 75% of contractors report they that they email or text their invoices. Of this segment, 54% sends invoices daily, 14% weekly, and 8% monthly. This shows that 25% still mail paper invoices.
E-delivery saves a lot of time and paper-handling and makes it possible to invoice on the same day. It is also how people expect to do business transactions today. Anyone under 45 prefers to do business with a company that offers online payment and account management. If you offer electronic invoicing, it shows younger customers that you are the kind of company they want to do business with.
Online Customer Payments
The survey shows that 46% of the survey contractors utilize some form of online payment system. Accepting customer payments online can be done with credit cards or bank ACH payments. (ACH means Automatic Clearing House which is used for automatic withdrawal from the customer’s account. It is a service offered to business accounts by banks.) Online payments can be set up using a third-party program or it may be available within your business management software, such as QuickBooks.
It may already be obvious but accepting online payment will tremendously enhance your cashflow. With only a few clicks your customers can see their invoice and pay the bill. For you as contractor it reduces trips to the bank or scanning checks. However, it is worth noting that there is a generational divide. Older contractors and customers tend to avoid such services, and often say they do not trust them. However, younger customers will balk at having to write and mail a check. Since the younger folks are becoming the majority and the older folks are disco dancing their way into retirement it is to your advantage to accept online payments.
Take-Aways for Your Business
Automation of landscaping business operations is well established, but you may realize there is room for improvement for your business. Wolf Creek is interested to find out what questions you may have about assessing how to streamline your business operations. Shoot us and sk******@wo**************.com ?subject=Mail from our Website”>email with your questions or comments, or leave them below!
Wolf Creek Company’s Annual Technology Survey was held during mid-August until the end of September in 2020. Eighty-two contractors participated from our geographic service area in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky. Read more articles about our survey results.
