The Power of Software

By Jeff Cross, senior editor

March 22, 2011

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Over the past few decades, carpet cleaning and disaster restoration technicians have enjoyed improvements and advancements in technology.

Today, compared to a few years ago, they have vastly superior tools, equipment and chemistry to do their work.

Not to be overlooked are improvements and advancements in business management tools, especially with computer and online software, that have enabled business owners and managers to ensure their companies are maximizing profits.

Carpet cleaning and disaster restoration are very competitive industries. One way to keep an "edge" is to use the best tools at your disposal.

This month, Cleanfax magazine takes a look at some of the best software concepts on the market today.

Online scheduling

One tool for business owners to take advantage of is online scheduling.

The days of Yellow Page advertising driving the majority of telephone calls is in the past. Although most carpet cleaning customers find contact information online and most schedule cleaning appointments by telephone, online scheduling is steadily increasing.

It''s all about convenience, according to Steve Mastio, president of BusinessBridge Inc. Mastio''s company is the creator of FittleBug, a real-time online scheduling tool for the carpet cleaning industry.

"Online scheduling allows unattended 24-hour marketing and booking, not just form-driven scheduling requests, of appointments based on exact availability," he said. Most important, Mastio believes, is that it "empowers" consumers to book appointments on their own time, allowing service providers to extend their marketing and sales opportunities to 24 hours at a minimal cost.

When a potential customer visits a carpet cleaning company website, they should have options, Mastio said. One of them is to easily book exactly what they want, down to additional services, with an online scheduling tool — one that gives the customer the ability to pick not only the date of cleaning, but also the time of the appointment.

The carpet cleaning company can easily control all parameters of the program, Mastio said, ensuring that all appointments are easily fulfilled, ensuring customer satisfaction.

"Consumers today are used to booking appointments online," Mastio said. "It''s what they want. Travel, financial and retail industries have laid the groundwork and conditioned the consumer to know that it saves them time, and it allows for providers to reduce costs."

Mastio has also developed two "add-ons" to the FittleBug application that he believes will make scheduling even better for carpet cleaning providers. His program allows interaction with popular "Deal-of-the-Day" platforms like Groupon, Living Social and others. FittleBug also offers consumers a way to easily refer carpet cleaners to others though e-mail, Facebook and Twitter, bringing value to the referrer, referee and the carpet company.

Mastio realizes that if it isn''t automated and easy, most service providers will not use online tools.

Job management

Once the job is booked, job management software can step in and keep the entire process running smoothly.

Kelly Vargas is the general manager of sales for ClientRunner, a project management software application specifically for the restoration industry, although many of the features can be implemented into the carpet cleaning industry.

"With a web-based product, you are able to access your job information 24/7," Vargas said. In addition, she said, a job management program allows everyone in the company authorized to see the latest information entered or tasks that have been scheduled.

"Job management software must allow you to keep all of your jobs, customers, adjusters, estimators, job notes and contacts organized and within reach," Vargas said. "You can manage your entire company and every job all in one place."

It''s important to keep it online, she said, so that anywhere with high-speed Internet, even from a mobile device, company job information can be accessed.

Discarding "pen and paper" spreadsheets and whiteboards is vital for companies to become more efficient and profitable, according to Torgeir Braaten, manager of product management with Assured Software.

"The trouble with using whiteboards, spreadsheets and handwritten forms is that the information is too scattered for the business owner or manager to see any kind of trends, red flags or opportunities in his business," Braaten said. "These methods also involve lots of rewriting or re-typing of the same information over and over, which can result in errors, not to mention the waste of time. Finally, manual systems require a lot of filing and sorting through paperwork."

Braaten believes in a software system that keeps a complete and organized history of every aspect of the job. "Customized reporting means that managers can get the big picture of what''s happening in the business and drill down to find answers they need to make decisions," he said.

Although there may be "off-the-shelf" products available, Braaten believes that business owners should use products created specifically for their own industry.

"Because we specialize in the restoration industry, we know the types of forms, inventory lists, invoices, work orders and reports that contractors need," he said. "Valuable customer information stored in the system can be used for marketing and bringing in new business."

Braaten said that his products do not require access to the Internet, "so business owners can relax knowing that their data is secure, and managers can work knowing that their data is accessible even when a storm knocks out Internet access. We invented the detachable database feature that allows managers to take job information with them on their laptops."

Business growth

Many software applications allow for marketing and business building options. This is important in today''s competitive marketplace.

"If the business is more than a few years old, the fastest way to build it is to improve their repeat rate," according to Joe Kowalski, chief executive officer (CEO) of ServiceMonster Inc.

"Most cleaners don''t know their true repeat rate. It is more difficult to calculate with the method they may currently use, which overstates their actual repeat rate," he said. "It''s been my experience that once a cleaner can visualize their weaknesses, they''re much more likely to fix it. Client-tracking software can be a great data visualization tool to address this."

Software can also track marketing effectiveness. Kowalski cites two kinds of marketing: Prospecting and client retention. "We can debate about prospecting, but marketing to your current clients better provide big returns — if it''s not, you''re doing it wrong," he said.

Ultimately, it''s about implementation, Kowalski stated, and believes that there are effective industry specific providers that can do much of the marketing for business owners.

Most of these are focused on client retention and, he said, if it''s integrated with your business software, even better.

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Jeff Cross is the senior editor of Cleanfax magazine and is an industry trainer and consultant, and offers carpet cleaning and disaster restoration marketing seminars and classes through Totally Booked University (www.cleaningprofessor.com and www.totallybookeduniversity.com). He also offers IICRC technical training for carpet and furniture cleaning, spot and stain removal and carpet color repair. Contact him at jcross@ntpmedia.com.