Author Archives: serviceproz
Is an iPad on your Christmas list?
Did you go shopping on Black Friday or shop online on Cyber Monday to purchase a tablet for yourself or a Christmas gift? According to CNN, Cyber Monday sales are up this year 25% from last year; along with Black Friday shoppers, who topped 247 million.
According to PC World tablets were one the most popular items on Americans’ Christmas shopping list. And PC World also predicted that online sales this year would top Black Friday storefront sales, easily.
What’s different about this year’s tablet options is that there are many more choices than just the iPad. The iPad mini has come onto the scene and the new Windows 8 OS—that adds more of a laptop experience to the tablet—which makes the Microsoft product even more appealing and super convenient. 
But the question for many is; “What is the best tablet for business and for pleasure?” PC World says if you are on the go for work that the iPad mini is your best bet but if you want an actual keyboard check out the Microsoft Surface.
Either tablet option is great for your business and can easily use many apps to streamline you daily work load. Service Proz is one of those app options that will certainly help streamline work orders, appointments and tasks with ease. Take Service Proz with you, along with your employees, for the ease of doing business on the go and have mobility at your fingertips!
We welcome your thoughts on tablets and how you use the technology is your daily life! Please comment and share your experiences!
Support Small Business Saturday
Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a day dedicated to supporting small business across the country. Small Business Saturday is Nov. 24 this year and American Express says that over 100 million people participated in the event last year and made it a point “Shop Small” in their local communities. What better way to show your friends in the community that you appreciate their small business in your city or town. It is up to all of us to create strong local economies and grow from there.
Black Friday has become almost a national holiday but if you could spare some of the large crowds and long lines at big box stores to support local businesses; the effects will be immense in your community.
Service Proz fully supports Small Business Saturday this year and urges you to participate in such a worthy cause.
From all of us to all of you, enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family—and remember we all have many blessings to be thankful for!
Deliver for your clients
Not long ago a customer that owns an appliance repair company, with over 20 technicians, decided he wanted to keep better track of his technician’s purchases. In his terms, he wanted to see receipts and where his company’s money was going!
Instead of going in circles with employees about purchases, the appliance repair company owner was proactive and sought out a way for his employees to stay in contact.
Of course Service Proz was able to accommodate this request—so we created a simple way to attach a photo to a work order.
Easily attach a photo to note on a work order with this new feature. The great thing about the Attachment feature is the ability to access everything Service Proz has to offer remotely. The ability to conduct business from anywhere and always know what your technicians are doing gives you time for more important things, like growing your business!
The new feature is a perfect addition to your home service business—whether you have 1 or 100 employees. Easily take a photo of a part or receipt, even the completed job, and attach the photo to a note on each work order. Employees love the feature and managers can always be up to date on purchases. What an easy way to synchronize your employees to management and clients, with just one click!
Mobile apps carry home service businesses into the future
Did you ever imagine in our lifetime that we would be able to remotely scan a credit card, shop easier with QRS codes, or video chat with a loved one on a smartphone from anywhere around the world? Well, we are there with our amazing technology and are moving forward each and every day to the next “big” thing!
Our current technology that encourages mobility is a great advancement in the business industry and can be applied to your home service business as well! Many small and mid-sized businesses are moving to cloud computing for data and document storage because of the ability to access the information anywhere.
With Service Proz mobility features, we are ready to help you move forward and take advantage of these time-saving mobility features.
With the ease of Service Proz mobility your employee or field tech will receive a work order on their smartphone, from there they can clock in, update the current work order and even attach an image to the work order—like a photo of a product or receipt.
Service Proz mobility will help your business save time and money on office supplies, gas and most importantly energy. Best of all, quickly invoice after the job is complete! There will not be any more confusion on a requested task during a service call or lost technicians in the field! The Service Proz app will easily organize all of these important business duties, all in one place.
Please contact us today if you would like to try Service Proz for your home service business!
“The cloud” a necessity for business with super storms in our future
After Sandy, cloud computing now at the forefront for small business
Service Proz knows how important cloud based computing is for business but many other businesses have realized the importance of “the cloud” after Sandy blew up the East Coast into New England and across the Midwest. With Service Proz, even with a super storm damaging businesses and homes, your company’s files would be safe and sound with Service Proz.
We would like to offer our service free for the first and third month, with a new contract, to those who felt effects from Sandy; either from flood, wind or fire damage. Our thoughts are with all of the areas of the country still recovering and rebuilding from Sandy, especially New England.
Unfortunately, these mega storms are seen more and more each year, and keeping your important records in “the cloud” is becoming essential to move forward with today’s technological business atmosphere. Service Proz can easily store and record all your important information along with organizing your documents, invoices and other files in an easier way than ever before.
Our service comes in at a low cost with a high return by using less paper, streamlining your business while gaining more control over appointment setting and employees; among many other time and money saving features. We strive to help your small business succeed and give you more time to focus on your clients! Our software is cloud based which enables you to always access your information from anywhere.
With Service Proz, organization and efficiency are at your fingertips, giving your home service business features that help your business run smoothly.
Please contact us today to find out more about Service Proz.
Tips for scheduling service appointments
Appointment or service scheduling is one of the most important duties that you and your employees handle on a daily basis! There are ways to make this process easier for everyone involved, especially for your clients! We thought about ways to make scheduling easier and looked around the web for ideas—here are a few of the tips that we came up with:
- Don’t get nervous on the phone, pretend that you are scheduling the appointment in person! Give your name and your company’s then ask for the client’s name. Make sure you express how important it is for you to tailor the service call to their needs and schedule.
- Keep each scheduling conversation short and to the point!
- Use a service scheduling software like Service Proz to streamline the scheduling process. It’s simple and easy to have management, the client and the technician in the know! With Service Proz at your fingertips your scheduling will run smoother than ever before.
- The words to use when you schedule an appointment really do matter. Offer various times for your client’s to decide about the appointment; use words like “when” rather than “whether.” For example, “Is this afternoon good or would Tuesday be better?”
- When you ask to speak with your client, say “Bill Jones, please,” rather than “May I speak to Bill Jones?” Don’t ask for permission, but speak with authority.
With Service Proz workforce management software your scheduling and invoicing will become a breeze. The app easily downloaded to your smartphone or tablet is a low cost for the value you receive in return. Contact us today and get one step closer to better communication for your company and, most importantly, your clients.
Workforce Management is more than just scheduling
Workforce management is far more than a human resources term or just a way to schedule employees. Managing your workforce is one of the most important aspects of your home service business to maintain happy clients and a high level of service for your customers.
Workforce Management covers customer management, billing, technician management, scheduling–and what Service Proz provides is a way to make all of this mobile!
For example, with Service Proz your employees can clock in at an appointment, check exact job duties from their smartphone along with pulling up a map with directions. At the home office, managers have the ability to schedule technicians, create work orders and bill customers with just a few clicks.
The mobility of using Service Proz in the office and in the field, along with the freedom of using cloud-based software is what will set your HVAC, cleaning or even plumbing company apart from the others.
In the end you save time, money and please your valuable customers with excellent service.
Service Proz can handle your workforce management competitively in today’s market. Contact us today for more information and this fall receive one month free with new service.
Smartphones have become an American staple
This week Apple released the iPhone 5 along with iOS6. So many Americans have reserved and bought their new iPhone and the popularity of the Android smartphone is off the charts.
Smartphones have become a staple in personal and business life in the United States. CNN Tech recently reported new research from the Pew Internet and American Life Project that said 45% of cell phone owners say their phone is a smartphone.
Smartphones and cloud based workforce management systems are essential even to small companies with less than 10 employees to a large corporations. With Service Proz cloud based software, smartphones are included with service which makes the Service Proz software even more appealing? And we’ll make it even easier for you this fall!
Take advantage of Service Proz Fall Special for your home service business! You will get one month free of Service Proz workforce management, cloud based software. The service comes in at a special price of $50 per month for 2 users and 2 field level users and $99 per month for 5 users and 5 field level users.
You will have the ability to easily track your customer needs and direct your technicians to the exact task needed to be performed, you will reduce fuel costs and “lost” technicians on the road along with speeding up customer billing and payments.
With all your extra time, you can be focusing on growing your client base while your employees streamline their daily duties.
Contact Service Proz today to take advantage of our Fall Special and start growing your business!
The Cloud of Confusion?
The cloud has been around for years now but it seems people are still a little confused. A recent report from CEPro.com, a technology trade publication, really caught my attention. The report detailed a study on what Americans thought “the cloud” actually was and surprisingly, not many people knew what cloud computing is or its benefits for small business to large corporations.
Some people in the study even said they’ve never used “the cloud” but unknowingly used it every day.
For those that are a little confused, cloud computing is used for online shopping, banking, social networking and file sharing, among many other applications.
The study, commissioned by Citrix, said that 97 percent (of 1,000 asked) of Americans actually use the cloud but 54 percent claim they have never used it. Most people said that the term “the cloud” relates to the weather, pillow, drugs or toilet paper.
The cloud is the key to the home service business management system from Service Proz, which enables customer tracking, workforce management, scheduling, dispatch, inventory, billing, mobility and more.
The CEPro.com report also detailed the benefits of “the cloud” for small business and called the technology a catalyst for growth, lowering business costs and boosting customer engagement.
Service Proz software handles all these issues for your business for a low monthly fee to enable your business to be more efficient, organized and, most importantly, more profitable.
This month, Service Proz will be launching a new campaign promoting our cloud based services. Check out our Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages this month for more information about the exciting promotions during September at Service Proz.
Automatic Billing: The Headache Saver
As a small business, one of the most important things you can do to stay ahead is to keep your finances organized. Streamline your billing and payment processes with the right software to save you time, make your job easier, and ensure that calculations are accurate and invoices are being delivered on time. A service management software that provides your company with automatic billing and integrates with QuickBooks is an easy, assured way to keep your finances in order, all while taking the headache out of tracking your finances. What can automatic billing do for your company? Here are three things that automatic billing can do to help your business, and save you the headache:
- Finish your job with the press of a button. Automatic billing gives your technicians the freedom and convenience of billing your customers directly on site, with the press of a button, from a
mobile device. The technician just has to enter the job details, and an invoice can be generated, and emailed to the client right on the spot. No need to wait until you are back at the office; saving you time, and ensuring you will get paid more quickly. - Custom Invoices. An automatic billing application that comes as part of a service management solution like Service Proz allows you to create and send custom invoices containing the information you want your customer to see. It can also include your jargon, your logo, and your business details. The invoices can then be printed on site, emailed, or sent in the mail, whatever way you choose to invoice your customers.
- Integration with QuickBooks. Your invoices and payments will be sent directly to QuickBooks, so that you can balance your books and all your billing information will be stored in one place. It eliminates extra steps you might take in tracking your billing information, helping with your accounting, filing taxes, and more.
Automatic billing simplifies your job, saving you time, human errors and other complications that come with keeping track of business finances. It can cut down the time that it takes customers to pay you. Once you make the commitment to add automatic billing to your business processes, you will wonder what you ever did without it.
Visit Service Proz’s YouTube channel HERE to see how their billing applications work.
Building a Better Business 