Ben Hodson, Co-founder, JobNimbus
As a roofing professional, you work hard to build up a successful business. But often, the trick to gaining success is not to work harder, but smarter. A simple customer relationship management (CRM) or project management (PM) software can assist you in making difficult tasks easier. Roofing software is a tool to plan projects, organize contacts, track time and more.
According to a case study by the Project Management Institute, the company Du Telecom credits its success of a 32 percent growth rate in its first four years to having a project management system for its teams.
Whether you are trying to be more productive as a company or communicate more as a team, roofing software is the way to help you reach your goals. To get the most out of a system, not only do you need to know how to use it, but also how to choose the right one for you.
CRM stands for customer relationship management. A CRM system is a unique tool for building a healthier bottom line and is designed to manage data and relationships between you, your company, prospects, and clients. It focuses on your business’ customer activities and primarily lets you track leads, total revenue, and sales reps’ activities.
Project management software, on the other hand, is a tool for planning, systematizing and controlling the scope, time, budget and resources for projects. It tells you why a project is necessary, the quality of deliverables, the risks of a project and more.
There are many reasons to use roofing software for your business, but mainly, a CRM and PM system can provide solutions for higher client satisfaction and positive results.
A CRM system helps you get and provide accurate and efficient information. It allows you to improve customer relationships by updating customer contact details, tracking customer interaction and managing customer accounts. A CRM system will solve the challenges that come with handling customer data.
For example, each time you interact with a customer or meet with a new sales prospect, the information you gain from talking to them becomes valuable, actionable insight to developing a long-lasting relationship with them. Documenting this data in a CRM system will help organize the information and save it for future contact.
Without a CRM, this information could easily get lost or forgotten, and you’ll have a lot of unhappy customers. Work with clients or prospects would be based more on presumptions rather than actual communication. Additionally, if an employee who holds the client’s JobNimbusinformation ends up leaving the company, then that client’s information would disappear also.
Roofing software with a CRM feature keeps all employees and customers in the loop and provides useful, up to date information that is accessible to everyone. Not to mention, if the system is cloud-based, it can be
accessed from anywhere. Key features of CRM systems will include:
■Contact database and profile
■Lead management
■Sales performance management
■Instant messaging
■Email marketing tool
■File and content sharing
■Social media analytics
■Quotes and proposal tools
■Mobile access
Project Management
A project management system helps simplify the project management process and allows you to increase productivity and achieve better results. The software will let you view the progress of all ongoing projects. You can identify which projects are at risk, track their timelines and share their current status with people at all levels. You will also be able to view a summary of each project along with upcoming and overdue assignments.
PM systems are also great for organization. You can keep workflow tools all in one place and securely store project details and files in specific locations. Key features of project management systems will include:
■Risk management
■Project management
■Task completion tracking
■Collaboration tools
■Scheduling tools
■Budget management
■Resource management
■Photo sharing
■Workflow reports
Depending on what you decide to go with, some software will have different or additional features, but the components listed above are what you’ll typically find in CRM and PM systems. You should also keep these other features in mind when choosing your roofing software:
We’ve all used software that comes with a hefty learning curve. Who has time for that? Your team shouldn’t need extensive training to use powerful roofing software.
Find a simple yet supercharged tool that works for you—not the other way around! Take some time to figure out how your team works and find a software that will help you do what you’re already doing and improve on it.
A roofing software solution must be collaborative. After all, your reputation for problem-solving and professionalism is on the line. Look for construction CRM roofing software that supports good record-keeping and communication.
Specifically, a good roofing software solution helps contractors streamline their tracking, accountability, and employee management. It also needs to be reliable both in the office and in the field. Software with a mobile app is great for this.
Roofing software should ultimately help you improve your bottom line. You certainly have other outcomes you want to accomplish, but each of those comes down to the one that makes you a business: your bottom line. If the software you picked isn’t working, see if you can make it work or if you need to find a new one.
There are many CRM and project management systems available. Depending on your business’ specific needs, you and your colleagues will want to look further into these options to find what specialized features you’ll make the most of. You can look at online reviews and take advantage of free trials and demos to discover which roofing software platform is most preferred.
Whatever you decide to go with, roofing software will certainly change the way your business operates for the better, and assist in building customer relationships and getting projects back under control.
Ben Hodson is the co-founder of JobNimbus, an all in one roofing software, where you can track sales, jobs, and tasks from a single, simplified interface. A lifelong entrepreneur and technology innovator, he has had great success in creating and leading in the software industry.
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