Many of us entered the landscaping industry thinking we were starting a landscape business, not necessarily a service business. As our businesses grew, and we had the opportunity to acquire more accounts, many of us realized that “through service we grow”. As time has gone by I have come to believe this even more.
What Did Your Crews Do?
As my maintenance business grew, many commercial property managers were asking the very familiar question of, “What did your crew do this week?” – to which I responded “let me check and get back to you”. I had to track down the crew, review maps with them and then verbally report back to my client. It was a very time-consuming approach.
Many new commercial clients would require weekly service reports for their clients. To be honest, I viewed this request as challenging and very painful – especially because I knew we did not have the administrative resources to do the reporting in an acceptable manner. These types of reports often sucked up my account managers’ time in the office as they pieced together information from phone calls, text messages, site visits, photographs and more into a somewhat formatted, somewhat professional report. I’m sure this all sounds very familiar.
In the last 3 years I developed and then deployed the Cappsure field app into my company. Cappsure is an easy to use mobile app that allows the crew leader to easily draw lines on a GPSmap of the client’s property and document what services were performed that visit, week or month. It also allows the user to add in photos and notes for a more comprehensive report.
What We Learned…
- We improved our professional image in our market and across our client base: This was very important because we needed to compete with larger commercial companies and demonstrate that we were just as legitimate.
- We secured more accounts & received more opportunities to bid on properties: Many customers, managers and board members love getting service reports and the transparency, accuracy and reliability that they provide. They have since rewarded us with more bid opportunities.
- Our crews’ quality dramatically improved: Our crews have embraced Cappsure and are accurately self-reporting and our account managers spot check their field reports. This combination creates an overall team awareness about quality.
- We empowered our crews with the mobile app: We trusted the App with the team members who touched the property most frequently. They have the most knowledge of what is going on. We give them Cappsure to create reports and gather intelligence in a professional way – ready to share with our management teams and clients.
Maintenance reporting is no longer “painfully inconvenient”: Our reports come in from the field teams in real time with marked GPS maps, photos and notes. We can see what they complete each day…. and so can our clients.
Mike Martinez is owner and president of Newtex Landscape Inc. Mike is also a founder of Cappsure – a mobile field app especially created for the landscaping community. For more information go to www.home.cappsure.com or reach Mike directly at mike.martinez@cappsure.com
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