5 Ways Software Helps Heating Businesses Improve Customer Service

Every heating & plumbing business needs happy customers. When even the tiniest detail can influence whether or not someone sticks around and becomes a long-term customer, it’s crucial to get things right.

Good customer service is fast, personal, and reliable, but it’s often the small things that leave a lasting impression: running late, forgetting to send out quotes, and losing paperwork to name a few.

Plenty of heating & plumbing businesses today use software to make their lives easier, but not all know they’re also the perfect customer service tool. In this blog, we’ll cover the top 5 benefits, including:

#1 Accessible & detailed customer info

Keeping all your customer details online makes life far easier when talking to customers. Instead of flipping through a contact book, you can do a quick search and find out exactly who you’re speaking to when the phone rings.

For this, specialised software has an edge over a simple digital spreadsheet as it can link together all previous job details under one consolidated customer profile. This complete job history can be used to find out more about previous jobs and other bits and pieces you couldn’t possibly know.

There’s no way you can remember all your customers, but having all this info at hand helps make things more personalised and shows people how much you value them.

#2 Quick, easy, and professional certificates

Paper records may be perfectly valid, but they’re a pain to manage. You’ve often got several copies flying around to give to customers, admin staff, or take home and file away yourself. Handwritten paperwork can also quickly get messy with mistakes, scribbles, rips, and tears – and that’s as long as it doesn’t get misplaced. 

Comparatively, Gas Safety Certificates made using software are quick to create, share, and file away. And, from your customer’s point of view, they receive a professional-looking, neat piece of paperwork instantly via email which they don’t have to worry about keeping safe. 

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to the Best Gas Certificate Apps & Software

#3 Clear & convenient quotes & invoices

Your quotes and invoices are a huge part of the process for your customers. They’re the first and last piece of paperwork they receive, and need to demonstrate your business’ professionalism. 

Going digital means you can quickly and effortlessly put together detailed quotes with line items, VAT, and broken down pricing and email them straight to your customer. 

Likewise, invoices can have clear payment terms, your own branding, and even a QR code for your customer to pay on the spot without the hassle of organising bank transfers, writing a cheque, or paying with cash. 

Read more: Invoicing on Paper vs Software: What’s Best for Gas Engineers?

#4 Better scheduling

Scheduling is one of the fundamentals of a trade business, and it has the power to ‘make or break’ how your customers view your services. But keeping all your scheduled work in a diary can make it hard to see the finer details of a job and arrange your work effectively. 

With scheduling software, you can effectively plan ahead for work by seeing who’s free and who’s overbooked alongside things like proximity, your whereabouts, and part order statuses. Working with a team only makes having access to this information more important and can make a huge difference to your travel times and staying on time. Not to mention, you’ll be able to make real-time adjustments to schedules that instantly update and sync across all devices.

Customers will never notice any of the details that go on behind the scenes, but they will remember late engineers and last-minute rescheduling.

#4 Improved communication

Part of this goes back to simply knowing who you’re talking to over the phone, but other ways you communicate before and after a job are important too. This might be a quote you’re checking up on, payment reminders, or a gas safety service date and even marketing content.

Software can help automate many of them so they’re sent out at a specific time – not days or even weeks later. They usually run on a template which you can customise and use to sound professional, polite, and informative without having to repeatedly type and send them. At the same time, the time saved with these automations can be spent interacting with customers. If you and your team aren’t constantly in a rush you’ll quickly find out if a customer needs extra help with something or has friends / family that need work done. 

Quality workmanship will always come first, but customers also love helpful and friendly businesses that communicate well and make them feel valued.This isn’t as much about having the gift of the gab as it is simply having the time to do the job properly and go the extra mile.