KICKER


TECHNOLOGY TODAY By Michael Mayberry


Start the season off with efficiency


I


Trying to institute change during an ultra-busy time period will likely


lead to low adoption since your people


are already focused on other issues.


f your company doesn’t operate in an evergreen market, the winter can become a time of year when you aren’t interacting with your clients as much. Luckily, there are lots of excellent tech-


nology solutions that can help you stay in contact through the downtimes or reinvigorate interest as you come out of the snowy season.


Digital time tracking


Paper timekeeping should be a relic of the past in your company. Tere are many apps available that allow your employees to log their time digitally. Dig- ital time tracking removes a lot of friction from the process and allows a lot of great visibility and report- ing. Additionally, digital time tracking may allow you to further automate some of your processes by connecting with your production software to provide accurate job costing. It may also connect to your pay- roll system to generate paychecks.


Email marketing


Mass email marketing can be a great way to keep in touch with your clients over the slow season or to get them to reengage at the start of the season. You can send out informational articles about ser- vices you perform and why, or you can use them to try and stimulate business by offering early signup discounts.


Social media


Posting pictures of your company events or sharing informative blog articles your company has written on social media will help your customers stay en- gaged with you even during slower times. Seeing your company appear in their feeds will remind them you haven’t disappeared. It’s also a great way to show them your company’s culture and can be used as an employee recruiting tool.


Michael Mayberry is the chief technology officer for Level Green Landscape LLC in Upper Marlboro,


Maryland. He can be reached at michael.mayberry@ levelgreenlandscaping.com.


8 Irrigation & Lighting March 2023 Customer surveys


If you want to know what your customers are think- ing, ask them! Surveys are a great way to gauge your customer’s loyalty and happiness with your company. You can learn a lot about your customers by asking


them one question. For example: “Would you rec- ommend our services to others?” Tere are a lot of online platforms that can help you easily send out surveys, collect the responses and collate the data vi- sually to help you drive actionable changes.


Routing software


If your business model requires you to visit many lo- cations in a single day spread out across a wide area, you should consider looking into getting some help from routing software. Tis type of software can use real-time analytics and artificial intelligence to map your technicians’ day in the most efficient way.


Applicant tracking systems/ client relationship manager


During the start of the season, you will likely need to fill some open positions. Tere may be an influx of applicants that potentially creates a mountain of paperwork during a time when your customers are also making lots of requests. Handling all of that communication would be a lot easier if you utilize applicant tracking systems for potential employees and a client relationship manager for your custom- ers. An ATS system will allow you to collect and re- view applications and applicants digitally. Using an ATS platform will also help you retain notes about prospective employees and allows for better report- ing. A CRM will do the same for your clients, al- lowing you to store notes about their preferences for services or products. Using both of these platforms will ensure that even if you have turnover in your company, you will retain the important information in the system.


Most of the items on this list require a decent amount of initial background work to get the plat- forms running properly. Tere are also costs associat- ed with most. If you are interested in implementing you should plan out the proper time. Trying to in- stitute change during an ultra-busy time period will likely lead to low adoption since your people are al- ready focused on other issues. If you feel you missed your window for this year, plan and budget for next season!


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