Contractors are scrambling to complete their summer projects, while also strategizing on the best ways to ensure they stay occupied once the busy season comes to a close. Here at Knowify, our team appreciates just how important a productive fall is in ensuring your business success. We’ve built our software specifically with these issues in mind, and have come up with a few tips to make sure your team stays busy (and profitable) in the coming months.
1. Business insights
We realize things are not always black and white—we’re not assuming that all of your summer projects have wrapped up, and that demand for bids has crashed simply because the calendar says September. In fact, some of our clients have told us that September and October are among their busiest months! That being said, there’s an undeniable drop in new contracts signed once summer ends, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The fall can be a great time to take inventory of your team’s efforts over the summer, and to take stock of the areas in which your company excelled, and those where there might be some room for improvement. Our most successful users tell us that they spend some time each year analyzing how they can improve their bidding process, often by taking a look at which sorts of projects they landed at a high rate, and which ones they lost (you can track this thanks to tags). Fall is also a good opportunity to dive into your company’s books, and take a closer look at the type of jobs that were most profitable for you, so your sales team knows where to focus their efforts.
2. Learning opportunity
The fall slowdown can also be used as an opportunity to reflect on how your business has taken advantage of technology, and where there are opportunities to improve. If your field crews struggled to upload pictures and notes detailing their progress on job sites, for example, it might be worthwhile to set up a training session to get them more comfortable with the Knowify mobile app. The same goes for your leadership teams and office staffs—why not have them spend some time learning about Knowify’s recent Zapier integration, and the ways it can help automate their busywork? The bottom line is that more than likely, your teams are going to have some more availability on their hands over the next few months. How they use that time will be evident in your balance sheet this time next year.
What you should focus on this fall – Check list
- Assess the different areas of your business. Where has your team done great, and where is there room for improvement?
- Is your bidding process as efficient as it can be? Which types of projects are you having the most success landing?
- Take some time to investigate which projects are the most profitable—often times, it’s not what you think.
- Make sure your team is comfortable with your chosen technological tools, both in the office and in the field.
- See if there are any ways to expand your use of technology, and reduce the amount of time your team spends on menial tasks.