Special Report: Software for Business

BY PETE GRASSO

Choosing new soft ware to help you run your business can be a daunting task. First, there’s soft ware for seemingly every aspect of your business, from fi nancial and accounting to fi eld service management, to sales and service. Not to mention all the soft ware capabilities you never thought about!

Maybe you’re happy with your current company soft ware, or maybe you simply don’t know what’s new and available.

Whatever the case, with so many soft ware solutions available today, fi nding the right one for your business can make all the diff erence in the world.

Perhaps the best way to research soft ware is to hear from your peers — those who run similar businesses who have been through it already.

I recently interviewed a panel of top contractors from around the country to get their thoughts on business soft ware and how they make decisions on the purchasing soft ware for their businesses.

Th e panel includes Linda Couch, COO of Parrish Services in Manassas, Va.; Karly Rolls, service administrator for L.J. Rolls Refrigeration Co. in Fenton,

— Brian Stack

Mich.; Michael Rosenberg, president of Rosenberg Indoor Comfort in San Antonio; and Brian Stack, president of Stack Heating, Cooling & Electric in Avon, Ohio.

Here’s what they had to say.

Couch: We use ServiceTitan for service operations, QuickBooks for fi nancials, Microsoft O365 for email, spreadsheets, collaboration, forms and databases. We also use XOi for remote support and service, Podium for reviews and customer chat, and RingCentral, which we’re going to replace with functionality from ServiceTitan and O365. With the exception of XOi, which we started using in 2018, we’ve been using these soft ware platforms for about fi ve years now.

Rolls: Sage 100 Contractor, which we just started using a year ago.

Rosenberg: We use S2000 by Davisware for our service management and dispatching and Fieldesk by Mobilogic for our mobile fi eld invoicing. We use QuickBooks for our accounting and fi nancials, Wrightsoft for load calculations and OnCall Air for replacement proposals, which is cloud based.

We started using the DOS version of S2000 in 1988. Eventually we upgraded to the windows version. We started using Fieldesk for our mobile invoicing 10 years ago. We have used Wrightsoft for 25 years and QuickBooks for 17 years. We started using OnCall Air air 3 months ago.

Stack: We use FieldEdge, which we just switched over to about three months ago, QuickBooks and Sales Builder Pro.

Couch: Overall, we had been on a strategy since 2009 to migrate all our soft ware to web-based so that we could work from home and improve our business resiliency; and be paperless. Every purchase fi t into that overarching strategy.

We’d been paperless since 2010, so the web-based design of ServiceTitan fi t our strategy. It was more expensive than what we had, so the single feature that made it worth switching was the visual price book. We believed the incremental sales would more than pay for the diff erence in cost. We were forced to move to QuickBooks when we chose ServiceTitan.

Rolls: Th e mobile tech platform and the detailed job costing capabilities is what convinced us to go with Sage 100 Contractor.

Rosenberg: We learned about S2000 from the original owner and developer at an ACCA meeting in 1986. One of our MIX Group members was also using S2000 and they were happy with it.

Stack: We were looking for a soft ware package that provided a better mobile experience for our technicians and our customers.

Couch: 1) Is it cloud-based? 2) Does it integrate with what we already use? 3) What’s the fi nancial impact (i.e., how much incremental revenue can it bring OR what effi ciencies will we achieve OR both)? 4) What is support like? 5). What’s the learning curve for users? 6) Cost — which can totally be overcome by Nos. 3 and 4.

Rolls: Price point versus capabilities … what is the ROI on the soft ware? Also, it’s important to understand the availability of use, i.e.: how many remote employees can access this?

Rosenberg: What type of contracting business do you have? Do you do mostly service or do you perform a lot of new construction work? Diff erent soft ware has its strengths and weakness in both areas.

Another factor is cost and whether or not the additional features will benefi t your business and help pay the increase in cost.

For example, if your soft ware has a really good business follow-up feature for additional work, this could help your business earn additional revenue to pay for your soft ware.

Th e quality of support and ongoing soft ware enhancements are also important factors in choosing a soft ware package.

Stack: Ease of use, good fl ow through a work order, being able to get meaningful reports and good mobile solution for the technicians are all important factors.

How important is manufacturer support?

Couch: Very, but the ‘support’ doesn’t have to be you answer my phone call on the fi rst ring. If the application is welldesigned, the training is eff ective and the product documentation is thorough, upto-date and easy to use, that’s more than enough for us.

Rolls: Th e importance of this cannot be understated, especially during the migration process. Being able to switch soft ware with minimal downtime and minimal corruption is priceless.

Rosenberg: Soft ware support is very important to us. We call S2000 for help with custom report writing and they help us if we have an accounting question.

We also use support with Fieldesk when a unit is not communicating or when we need a customized form. Oncall Air has a live support Bot on their soft ware. It makes getting answers to questions very effi cient.

Stack: Support is very important, especially when fi rst starting off . Th ere are many ways that you can manipulate how you use soft ware. Support helps you fi nd the most effi cient ways to use it.

Couch: It’s web-based, integrated with other applications, easy to learn and

— Linda Couch

well-documented.

Rolls: Th e soft ware is fl uid, meaning the information needed is only ever one click away. Th is allows us to work more effi ciently and well educated. It also is scalable — we started with 45 employees using it and moving to 60 was a breeze.

Rosenberg: It gives us what we need to run our business accurately. It also does not crash very oft en … it’s reliable.

Our annual soft ware support is reasonable compared to some of the other soft ware solutions out there.

Stack: I believe that every soft ware package has its glitches or things that you wish it would do that it doesn’t do. Th at being said, you have to fi nd the one that works best for you 80 percent of the time.

Technicians need to be able to move through their day easily on a phone or tablet.

continued on page 12

Testo Instrument Testo 550 Kit Testo 550 Kit with Hoses Testo 557 Kit Testo 557 Kit with Hoses Gift Card $40 Gift Card $50 Gift Card $50 Gift Card $75 Gift Card

For more info visit www.testo.com/en-US/spring2020

Rebate amounts vary based on item purchased. Offer valid March 26 - July 31, 2020.

continued from page 11

Couch: I HATE the reporting functions. Th ey’re clunky and unsophisticated. We like to dig into our data, so I would like to be able to connect directly with the database and use our own database reporting tools.

Rolls: We are 110 percent satisfi ed with our soft ware.

Rosenberg: My current soft ware does not have a live KPI dashboard that displays daily, weekly or monthly sales numbers or goals. It also could do a better job at automated marketing letters and send automated reviews.

Stack: I’m still learning how it all works, so it would be unfair of me to say that FieldEdge is not doing something yet that I may not understand that it does.

Couch: We’ve used Capterra, an online tool that lets you fi nd and compare soft ware. We’ve also done product demos, consulted our IT company and talked with current users of the soft ware we’re researching.

Rolls: We spoke with other contractors of our size, fi eld and volume. From there, it is important to evaluate what your needs are and to schedule demos. Being able to see others navigate the soft ware helps you understand the workfl ow of each platform.

— Karly Rolls

Rosenberg: I read trade magazines and learn about new soft ware from networking through Service Roundtable, ACCA and my ACCA MIX Group.

Stack: Talking to other contractors is the best way to research soft ware. Call the referrals they give you and ask lots of questions. Most contractors are willing to talk and give you their honest feedback. I learned a lot from my ACCA MIX Group members. Th ey use a variety of diff erent soft ware packages and we are able to learn from each other what works and doesn’t work.

Couch: No. We start all soft ware purchase questions by fi rst identifying our requirements for all stakeholders. Th at means the fi rst question we’re asking is if the product is going to do what we need it

to do. If it’s something free, we might just play with something before going to all the trouble. But for a purchase, never.

Rolls: Yes, we previously used one and we quickly outgrew its capabilities. Software should allow you to work more efficiently and potentially have room to expand, so you should make sure you do not outgrow the platform.

Rosenberg: We have purchased several replacement proposal platforms that we ended up moving away from.

Stack: Yes. We actually had purchased another package last fall. That only lasted about three months before we figured out this was not going to work for us.

Couch: Stepping back for a minute, you want any investment to be consistent with your business strategy. If you’re a lowcost provider, you need to buy more costeffective products. If you’re differentiating

— Michael Rosenberg your services and charging a premium, you are and how your team will ensure the need to buy software that will help your information is accurately and consistently company stand out. entered into the software.

I can’t stress enough how important it Rosenberg: Check references, make is to start with requirements and to gather sure they are a secure company and will be them from everyone who will touch the around a long time, make sure the software software. It’s easy to get caught up in the is going to accomplish everything you vendor’s gee-whiz features, and before need for your business. you know it, you’ve bought something that doesn’t work for you. Also, most companies use only about 20 percent of a product’s functionality, so you end up spending money on features that you don’t use. Finally, getting input from all your users helps create buy-in for when Stack: You need to realize that software will not always be able to do 100 percent of what you would like it to do. You need to be willing to adapt and change a bit to utilize the software to its full potential. Find one that fits most of your needs. you make the change. Anything else you’d like to

Rolls: Software is only as good as the add? information that your team puts into it. Couch: It’s important to identify the It’s important to consider what your KPIs switching costs of replacing software. The learning curve and the initial loss of productivity are not trivial. Talking to references can help you gather information about this.

While we haven’t had the case where the software didn’t perform as expected, we did have the problem where a third-party vendor told us they would do something that they didn’t end up doing. We believed them and didn’t build a contingency plan. That was a mistake. Along the same lines, we bought software that worked as described, but our hardware didn’t work as expected. If you’re making a big decision, talk to lots of references or try to beta test something before taking the plunge.

u

Pete Grasso is the editor of HVACR Business magazine. Email pgrasso@hvacrbusiness.com to connect with him.

RLS press fittings are the fastest way to make reliable HVAC/R copper tube connections. Our patented double circular crimp gives you a permanent mechanical joint every time, in just 10 seconds. That means you can save time and increase profits on every job, plus have time to get more jobs done.

And because RLS fittings are flame free, they eliminate the additional costs and hazards of brazing – including hot work permits, fire spotters and more. To learn more about saving time and money with RLS fittings, check with your local distributor or visit rapidlockingsystem.com.

More RLS Advantages: • 10-second press connections • UL Listed to 700 psi for HVAC/R • Huge time and cost savings • No gas or brazing materials • No hot work permits or fire watch • No need to nitrogen purge • Millions installed since 2015

rapidlockingsystem.com

AMERICAN MADE