There is always high competition in the service sector. Therefore, a good business strives to satisfy the needs of customers, while controlling the work of the performers. This approach is focused on constantly improving the quality and speed of service delivery. A CRM system can help automate many tasks. With it, you will not lose a single client or employee, you will begin to process applications faster and, instead of routine work, you will be able to concentrate on scaling your business. If your business is related to the provision of home services and are thinking about using home services management software, this article is for you. You will learn about the capabilities of a CRM system in the field of selling home services.
Home services – illustrative photo. Image credit: CDC via Unsplash, free license
Features of CRM for Selling Services: Advantages And Opportunities
In general, the scenario for working with services in a CRM system differs little from working with the sale of goods. The most important difference is that CRM for the service industry does not have warehouse accounting. But there are many little things that simplify control over employees, and improve the quality of services and interaction with clients. Here are a number of reasons why using a CRM system is better than managing clients manually:
- Routine and human factors are minimized. Working with clients and employees in the service industry often consists of repetitive tasks. The manager responds to the client, accepts the order, negotiates with the contractor, confirms the order, reminds about the visit, asks for feedback, and informs about discounts. All this can be automated in a CRM system. Robots process orders around the clock, automatically send all necessary alerts, accept orders from all channels, and do not lose them. A person can make a mistake at any stage, especially if he is the only manager in the company.
- Employees save time. When all the routine work performed by the robot, the manager can take up strategic tasks: for example, look for partners, and corporate clients, or explore new ways to expand the client base.
- Order in the client base. All information about employees and clients is stored in one place. The schedule is generated automatically – clients will not make an appointment with the same specialist at the same time. And the manager always sees which slots are occupied and can manage the schedule of the specialists.
- There are analytics that allow you to improve processes and earn more based on data. Managing a company will become easier. You will always find out which employees have the highest paychecks, who have problems completing tasks, etc. The CRM system will show which specialist clients most often give high ratings to. And the marketing department will see which advertising channels bring more customers and redirect the budget to this channel.
- Multichannel. A CRM system for the service sector can be integrated with many communication channels – telephony, instant messengers, social networks, and chat bots. All applications fall into a single database, and it is easier for employees to monitor and process them. With this process, not a single application is lost – this is especially important for the service industry: the faster you contact the client, the more loyal he will be.
- Great possibilities for personalization. A CRM system is a flexible tool that can be easily adapted to any business process, size, and specifics of the company.
- Convenient invoicing. When a client makes an appointment with you online, you can immediately create a payment link and give him a receipt.
What to Consider When Choosing a CRM for the Service Industry?
All default management software for home services can collect and systematize customer contacts. But with additional features, you will get more value, especially if you already have a large staff of managers or many services. A CRM system will help you distribute your budget, earn more, automate work with applications and other routine processes, bring order to employee schedules and business processes, and manage your team more effectively.
Here are the functions you will need for this:
- Advanced capabilities for working with the customer base: for example, the use of robots that will respond to your customers.
- The work schedule of specialists and the form of electronic recording for them. If you use CRM forms to sign up clients for services, you will almost completely automate this process. This means that a lot of time will be freed up for searching for new clients or strategic tasks.
- Analytics. It’s convenient to track directly in the CRM system which services or even specific clients bring you more money. And it will be easier for the marketing department to analyze which advertising channels bring more leads.
- Accounting for goods and consumables. Almost any business constantly purchases equipment for work – new equipment, tools, or consumables. It’s convenient when you don’t need a separate program for this – track purchases directly in the CRM system.
- Tools for creating sales funnels. If you have several services, then most likely you sell them under different scenarios and to different clients. This means that for each service you need to build your own sales funnel. It will contain different stages of working with clients, sets of fields inside the card, and access rights to elements. The manager can monitor the progress of the transaction and adjust the work of managers at each stage. The CRM system itself will guide clients through the funnel, and if at some stage more clients are eliminated than usual, you can easily track what went wrong and correct the errors.
- Tools for monitoring employee performance. The CRM system stores the entire history of communication with clients – you can view dialogues and give feedback to managers. You can also track which employees sell for the highest paychecks, and who should be sent for training.
- Technical support. For example, a help desk, and ideally, 24/7 access to chat.
Wrapping It Up
Home solutions management software has many opportunities for working with employees and clients: automatic processing of applications, integration with all communication channels, convenient organization of the client base, analytics, space for employee communication, and the ability to issue invoices and work with online cash registers. We recommend turning to Orcatec, a supplier of reliable universal solutions for running a contracting business, which makes it possible to control employees and clients at the same time.