This article has been reviewed by Billy Stevens for accuracy.
Using Electrician Service Software to Improve Employee Retention
Employee retention is a challenge across many industries but can be particularly trying for electrical contractors. Research from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) finds that contractors and utility companies are hiring younger workers more frequently, whose turnover rates are highest.
This means electrical services — especially small businesses like residential contractors — are exploring ways to strengthen employee retention. There are many possible solutions, from focusing on career growth and professional development to revamping company culture. A lesser-discussed strategy for bolstering retention is creating more efficiency with day-to-day processes. This is possible with electrician service software. Learn more about this software solution and the benefits it can provide your employees.
What is employee experience?
Employee experience refers to how a worker perceives their experience while working for a company. It encompasses the people, policies, and processes that comprise a business, as well as the work environment. It includes an employee’s experience with daily operations and when undergoing transitions within the company, such as promotions. It also involves the interactions they have with the business owner, managers, and coworkers.
A positive employee experience has many implications for a service business, including increasing productivity and customer satisfaction. One of the most important effects is better employee retention. Workers are more likely to stay with a company if they feel valued by employers. If a business retains its employees, it can accomplish more and potentially grow revenue.
How Electrician Service Software Enhances Efficiency
The business model for electrical contractors looks different than in other industries. Electricians are in the field serving customers at their homes, and office staff handle dispatching, estimating, and similar tasks from the office.
If electrical businesses don’t have a well-defined system for job management, it creates confusion and redundant work, diminishing the employee experience. It also impacts the customer experience, and homeowners may be inclined to take out their frustration on electricians or customer service reps, lowering employee morale.
More efficient business operations begin with the right approach to field service management. While electrical contractors can develop a manual system for managing their businesses, they can automate it with field service management software (FSM software). FSM software helps electrical contractors identify and root out inefficiencies that hinder your entire team’s ability to do their work, creating a better experience and boosting retention.
Discover the following benefits of FSM software and how they contribute to better employee retention:
Streamlines Scheduling
Your customer service team is vital to the success of your business; avoid having their days bogged down by answering service calls with scheduling software. Increasingly, customers prefer an online option for booking appointments, and scheduling software makes this possible by enabling them to submit service requests and schedule follow-ups online, 24/7. The result is less time spent answering phones and more time spent on the most productive tasks. It also helps increase your overall bookings.
Automates Dispatching
One of the greatest challenges for dispatchers is managing electricians and their progress with daily workflows. This uncertainty can lead them to send the wrong electrician to the wrong project, leaving homeowners waiting longer for a solution. These difficulties impede the employee experience.
FSM software provides automated dispatching to simplify the process. Through dispatching automation, dispatchers can quickly assign an electrician to an assignment based on several specifications, such as their current location and capability. Dispatching software also gives these team members an overview of service requests to provide electricians with the information they need before arriving at the job site.
Other functions make dispatching more efficient, like time tracking, giving dispatchers insight into each electrician’s progress with their work. This knowledge enables them to rearrange schedules based on who’s available to keep up with new service requests. With features like drag-and-drop calendars, dispatchers can make manual changes in minutes.
Improves Estimating and Invoicing
A common experience in the home service industry is the back-and-forth that happens with estimating. Homeowners request a quote, and the electrician must contact the office for an accurate estimate. This can be a time-consuming task, leaving customers waiting for a quote and causing stress for electricians.
With estimating software, electricians can create quotes within minutes while at the job site, eliminating the extra step of communicating with office staff. This leads to more efficient invoicing and helps teams deliver better customer service, enhancing their experience, as well.
Similarly, FSM software streamlines job costing, calculating all job details, from materials used to labor hours, to deliver accurate invoices quickly. What’s more, FSM software typically offers QuickBooks integration for payment processing, simplifying accounting and bookkeeping tasks. All these features promote a strong cash flow.
Strengthens Communication
Maintaining team communication is hard with personnel operating in different spaces. It can be easy for miscommunication to occur, leading to pricing errors and other inaccuracies that diminish employee confidence.
FSM software strengthens communication between employees and between the business and customers. For example, when dispatchers tweak an electrician’s schedule, they’ll receive a real-time push notification of the change, which ensures they make it to the right service request on time.
On the customer side, office staff can send customers notifications regarding appointment confirmations and updates, such as texts with estimated arrival times and reminders to schedule a follow-up.
Empowers Mobile Project Management
Although office staff likely use computers, it’s unrealistic for electricians in the field to lug around laptops. That’s why an essential feature of FSM software is compatibility with mobile devices. Electricians access job details, checklists, and other important information on mobile apps before reaching job sites, ensuring they’re fully equipped to handle the task. They can also submit invoices and similar documents immediately, making work easier for office staff.
See How FSM Software Can Affect Employee Retention
As the electrical industry faces continual challenges with turnover, contractors can create a better employee experience by enhancing efficiency with electrician service software. An all-in-one solution like FSM software considers the many tasks of home service businesses, and the various teams responsible, to streamline operations.
Sera offers electrician service software specifically designed to help small-to-medium-sized residential electrical contractors eliminate inefficiencies and add more money to the bottom line. Based on the four pillars of efficiency, our software enables businesses to achieve strategic objectives and foster a better employee experience. We also offer a hassle-free onboarding process to ensure the smooth implementation of our software.
Contact us to learn more about electrician service software, or schedule a 15-minute discovery call today.