5 Ways FSM Software Can Boost Your Janitorial Service’s Profits

Janitorial services manifest as squeaky-clean floors and gleaming, dust-free surfaces. But the success of the business depends on smooth behind-the-scenes workflows that boost profits and delight customers.

The competitive nature of the janitorial service business leads to tight margins. Service providers have to seek ways to improve their efficiency to stay profitable. Janitorial service software enables hyper-efficiency, which delights customers, improves competitiveness, and boosts profits.

1. Optimize scheduling and routes

Field service operations involve on- and off-field crews serving multiple customers in tandem. 

Scheduling is nightmarish in such a scenario. Double-booked cleaners, missed appointments, and wasted travel time are common occurrences. The resultant inefficiencies, wastage, and customer discontent blunt competitiveness and reduce profits.

Janitorial service software reduces scheduling errors. The suite allows intelligent scheduling, ensuring faster service and higher on-time arrival rates. The time to process the work order and schedule a work crew is reduced to just a few minutes.

A host of intuitive features available in top janitorial service software makes the lives of schedulers easy.

Calendar views offer a bird’s eye perspective of the jobs allocated to work crews. Schedulers get ready information on the work crews’ team load, off days, leaves, and other relevant information. Such insights improve accuracy and preempt the need to make last-minute changes.

The scheduler can 

• Identify the work crew free to take up a fresh work order. 
• Classify their work crews by skill sets, experience, location, and the nature of the work to assign the best crew for any work. 

Advanced features allow dividing responsibilities among specific team members. 

The janitorial service software also ensures the crew reaches their work sites in double-quick time, using the best routes. 

Janitorial business software integrates with maps to plot the most efficient route for the client’s site. Lesser time behind the wheel translates to more time on cleaning jobs, leading to better productivity and cost savings. 

2. Enhanced inventory management

Often, poor inventory management subverts efficient scheduling. Schedulers may assign field crews to a work order, but they cannot work owing to stock-out situations.

Janitorial service software streamlines the inventory of cleaning products and ensures minimal wastage. Managers and work crews can track inventory data, tag specific inventory quantities to work orders, and manage returns. These options eliminate confusion and pre-empt cancellations for want of inventory. The field crew can proceed to the work site, equipped with the necessary inventory to perform their tasks well.

The janitorial business software also helps track inventory levels. Managers, schedulers, and other stakeholders get insights on how much cleaning solution they have left. Such insights reduce surprise stock-out situations and frantic phone calls for replenishments. 

3. Streamline communication and collaboration

In field service, relying on telephone calls and generic chat tools leads to a mess of missed calls and garbled emails. Miscommunication becomes common when managers handle multiple field crews. The situation leads to missed appointments or wrong jobs done on client premises. Such bloopers frustrate clients and erode profits. Gathering details and communicating with the field crew becomes time-consuming and error-prone.

Janitorial business software ensures clear communication and seamless collaboration.

The suite becomes a central communications hub. Stakeholders can access schedules, update job progress, and communicate with managers and clients. 

Field crews get information related to the job, including work orders, customer contact, and site information. They also get timely information on new and upcoming job assignments without following up with the back office. 

Managers get near real-time updates through GPS tracking capabilities. Consider a scenario where one work crew finishes a task early. A quick message on the platform allows the scheduler to assign another job, ensuring faster turnaround. Likewise, if a field crew runs late, the manager can intervene to identify the reason and make timely amends. 

Customers get timely updates on the work crew’s ETA and work completion status. Both the office-side and customer experience improve.

4. Gain data-driven insights

One of the stumbling blocks that hinder smooth field service operations is the opaque nature of operations. As field service operations occur outside the office, managers cannot enforce direct control. 

Data compensates for the lack of direct supervision. The janitorial business software offers GPS tracking of the field crew, which keeps managers updated on their location. Field crews also update the status of work competition through their companion mobile apps.

Managers and other decision-makers can use such data to make informed decisions related to staffing, resource allocation, and other operational factors. Such informed decisions reduce reliance on guesswork and gut instincts.

Decision-makers can also use data-driven insights to 

• Track employee performance, analyze job completion times, and identify areas for improvement. 
• Understand the specific needs and preferences of clients. The business can move beyond one-size-fits-all cleaning to offer flexible and customized solutions.

5. Digitize administrative tasks

In the competitive world of janitorial service, every minute counts. The time field crews spend on administrative tasks comes at the opportunity cost of cleaning premises. Worse, manual data entry is tedious and error-prone. Manual paperwork often leads to lost invoices and time spent searching for essential information. Such situations breed inefficiencies and drain revenue. 

Janitorial business software digitizes critical administrative tasks to overcome such administrative chaos. The suite makes administrative tasks organized, efficient, and accessible from anywhere.

Field crews can use janitorial service software to 

• Capture electronic data, including images. They can generate and email reports on the fly. Electronic reports eliminate unproductive tasks such as chasing down paper trails or deciphering illegible handwriting.
• Download digital forms. Managers can create digital forms and upload them on the janitorial business software. They may also use the custom forms and checklists that the software provides. Field crews may download these forms and checklists and work as indicated. 
• Generate invoices. Digitized invoicing systems ensure timely payments. After completing the work, the field crew can generate the invoice through the janitorial business software. The suite auto-generates the invoice and emails it to the client. The crew can collect payment before leaving the premises. Such real-time payment collection improves cash flow and leaves a positive impact on the customer. Billing becomes clean, transparent, and swift. Customers get a hassle-free experience.

Janitorial business software is a strategic investment that empowers the work crew to deliver sparkling results. Top janitorial service software such as ReachOut offers comprehensive features with unmatched flexibility and a robust back-end. The suite frees up the work crew to focus on what truly matters – delivering exceptional cleaning services and exceeding client expectations. 

Explore ReachOut’s Janitorial Business Software today! Start your Free trial now!