If you’re familiar with the HVAC industry, you know how many moving parts need to align for your business to thrive. The HVAC industry is especially notorious for ebbing and flowing throughout the year as temperatures change.
As your business continues to grow and you get into a workflow during peak season, you may quickly realize that you need assistance with dispatching and scheduling. This is an integral part of any field service management business, and HVAC dispatch software can automate the process for your team.
Knowing that your business is operating as efficiently as possible thanks to HVAC scheduling and dispatching can save you time, money, and stress.
What Is HVAC Dispatching, Anyway?
HVAC dispatching refers to the process of coordinating and scheduling the most efficient route for your HVAC technicians. It includes assigning the correct tech with the incoming work order and coordinating their route to the proper location. The more efficiently this process is completed, the more assignments your business can accept.
What Exactly Does an HVAC Dispatcher Do?
HVAC dispatchers need access to all job-specific information to help coordinate which technician should take on which job. Not only do they have to communicate with the company’s HVAC technicians, but they have to prioritize customers’ ever-changing needs and communicate with them calmly and efficiently.
An HVAC dispatcher handles responsibilities such as:
- Planning incoming service requests and assigning the right service technician to each job
- Schedules shirts and appointment times for field service employees
- Finds the fastest route for each technician to arrive at the job site
- Help troubleshoot any issues such as late technicians or traffic issues
HVAC dispatchers need to excel at multi-tasking and staying calm under pressure to help coordinate your business’s scheduling.
Can Your Company Benefit from HVAC Dispatching Tips?
Manually taking care of your company’s HVAC scheduling and dispatching needs will only be successful for so long. A simple switch to an automated scheduling and dispatching system can improve manual data entry by anywhere from 50-75 percent, depending on the business. This is one of the easiest and most effective HVAC tech tips available.
Not only do manual systems increase the chance of error, but the slower speed can result in lost business for your company. Customers don’t want to wait around for delayed technicians or drawn-out service. They expect fast, timely, and reliable service at the drop of a hat, and the right system makes this easy and stress-free.
10 HVAC Scheduling and Dispatch Tips
HVAC business software can improve the efficiency and profitability of your business and ensure customers have nothing but a positive experience with your company. We’ve compiled 10 tips to improve the operations of your business below.
Tip #1: Ensure the Right Tech Is Assigned to Each Job
HVAC dispatching software allows you to automatically assign techs to jobs based on their background, experience, credentials, proximity to the job site, and more. This can help increase the efficiency of each job and improve customer satisfaction, giving them a chance to provide feedback directly after the job is completed.
Flexible scheduling is another huge benefit of HVAC scheduling software, as it allows you to see what technicians are available to take on new jobs at any given moment. This transparency and timely information eliminate the potential of accidentally double-booking a technician or booking a technician who is currently out of the office.
Tip #2: Centralize Customer Information
Keeping track of customer-specific information by hand can be tedious, time-consuming, and has the potential to be inaccurate. If you need information on a customer’s work history, contact information, etc., at the drop of a hat, sifting through files and databases by hand will only result in a frustrated and impatient customer.
The right dispatching software provides you with this customer-specific information quickly and accurately. Easily search for customers by name, address, or location to find out important details to make future bookings that much easier.
Tip #3: Take on Emergency Calls
No matter the size of your HVAC business, emergency calls will undoubtedly come through. Manual HVAC scheduling services require an organized system to field incoming emergency calls and ensure they are addressed promptly. This results in your field service technicians completely rearranging their schedules at the last minute to accommodate these requests.
Instead of taking on emergency calls by hand, you can instead rely on dispatching tools such as color-coding to see your current technicians’ schedules. This provides you with information such as the number of jobs per day, the priority level of each assigned job, the type of customer they are serving, and much more.
Tip #4: Keep Customers Informed
Transparency is one of the most important facets of good customer service. The last thing you want is to send a field service employee to a customer if they’re not home. If you aren’t on the same page as your customers in terms of timing, it can result in a huge decline in the positive reputation you worked so hard to build.
Dispatching software has features such as customer notifications that alert them when the technician is 30 minutes away from arrival. This gives customers a chance to ensure they are home and eliminates wasted time from scheduling errors, ultimately proving that your business cares about building lasting customer relationships.
Tip #5: Keep Track of Unallocated Jobs
With so many moving parts happening in your HVAC company at any given moment, it’s not surprising that some jobs may not be able to be completed right away. This may be due to a lack of inventory or scheduling complications. As a result, many callback requests can easily accumulate and slip through the cracks.
A centralized system allows for simplified tracking and dispatching methods and follow-up reminders to easily keep track of any job that comes your way.
Tip #6: Manage Your Service Agreements
A consistent flow of incoming service agreements means your business is growing. But this also means it’s even more difficult to keep track of incoming agreements or a method of reminding you when customers are due for maintenance. Not only are you losing money by not having an organized system, but you run the risk of equipment failing on your customers.
HVAC scheduling software helps alert you when your customers need service and stay one step ahead of their needs. Eliminate last-minute service calls by recognizing the needs of your customers before they do. This helps build trust and separates you from other HVAC companies in your area.
Tip #7: Transition from Paper to Digital
Whiteboards, manual spreadsheets, and paper copies of service orders will only work for so long. This method of organization and dispatching also runs the risk of human error in addition to keeping track of a human paper trail.
If you’re looking for a simple and easy way to keep track of your service orders and dispatch your team efficiently, invest in automated software. This gives you the information necessary to help customers in real-time and allows you to feel more in control with your customer base. Scaling a digital-based business is significantly easier as well.
Tip #8: Track Your Techs in Real-Time
If HVAC dispatchers have real-time access to where their technicians are, this can significantly help ensure jobs are taken as quickly and productively as possible. Real-time tracking allows you to make the most informed decisions for your business without running the risk of losing time or money.
Easily pull up information on a customer and record it on the spot. Scheduling software also allows you to make changes to your techs’ schedules and make adjustments as needed, helping to increase the revenue for your business.
Tip #9: Improve Communication Between Departments
Not only do your techs need to know where they’re going at any given moment, but they need to be able to easily and quickly communicate with other departments such as the office. One major benefit of HVAC dispatching software is its ease of staying connected with other team members through one streamlined platform.
Dispatching software allows for independent working with the constant option to communicate with other people at your company.
Tip #10: Streamline Parts Management
The inventory you have in stock at any given moment will play a significant role in the types of jobs you can take on. To improve the efficiency of your HVAC company, consider end-to-end software that manages and assesses your available inventory of parts.
This will help keep jobs moving and ensure the right jobs are being accepted on behalf of your business.
Why You Should Consider Using HVAC Scheduling and Dispatch Software from serviceminder.io
Serviceminder.io makes it easier than ever to streamline the operations of your business. Our platform is completely customizable to meet your HVAC business’s needs and help improve productivity on all fronts.
In addition to dispatch software, our platform also offers features such as generating proposals and invoices, completing payroll, and attracting qualified leads, just to name a few. We know what it takes to run a more successful business with less effort while maintaining strong relationships with your customer base.
To learn more about our HVAC service software for small businesses, don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly for a free demo!