A Checklist for Choosing the Best CRM Software to Optimize Your Businesss

The ServiceTitan Difference

Ultimately, a top-notch CRM solution provides an easy-to-use template to help small businesses access rich customer data, grow revenue, increase efficiency, and improve long-term customer relationships. The best CRM features automate much of the job-booking process, allowing your team to service more customers more effectively in less time.

ServiceTitan's comprehensive software solution, built specifically for contractors working in the skilled trades, offers a variety of core features to help businesses streamline operations for a better customer experience, such as:

Call booking: When a customer call comes in—via phone, web inquiry, or chat—CSRs simply enter the customer information directly into their system, coding for job type, start date, priority, and more. If it's an existing customer, the CRM shows who's calling and a complete job history, so the CSR can easily answer any questions or book a new job as quickly as possible.

Smart dispatching: With tech availability calendars and geographical booking zones right at their fingertips, your dispatchers will always know who's ready to send to the next job and exactly when they can get there, leaving potential customers with a good first impression.

Automated texts to confirm appointments: No one likes waiting around all day for a service technician to arrive. Confirm appointments by text the day before, and notify customers when techs are on the way. Provide even more comfort to your customers by letting them monitor tech arrival in real time with a GPS tracking tool, see a photo of their tech, and read a few fun facts about the person entering their home.

Call playback feature: Every call is recorded and logged into the relevant customer's account, so techs can listen to the CSR's call with a customer before arriving and arm themselves with details to improve service or perfect their sales process. This feature also provides better accountability when disagreement or nonpayment occurs, or for coaching CSRs to improve customer interactions.

On-site job estimates and mobile payments: Techs use mobile tablets to inspect, diagnose, and prepare job estimates on site using your company's set pricing for a specific job. Mobile technology also allows customers to enter credit card information directly into their tech’s tablet, apply for financing, or follow a link via text to submit payment online.

Marketing automation: Add a unique phone number to a specific marketing campaign, then track the effectiveness of those marketing efforts to expand your sales pipeline. You can even track new business metrics attributed to your social media accounts to closely monitor how customers find your company online.

Follow-up on unsold estimates: Equip your sales reps to improve the company's bottom line by following up on unsold estimates in a more timely fashion. Using software to easily identify customer segmentation, your sales team will immediately know which customers to target for higher sales conversions.

Painless integration with QuickBooks: ServiceTitan's software syncs in real time with QuickBooks (even when offline), so the two systems work together as one to keep financial reporting accurate and up to date (and eliminate the need for any add-on services). With all customer communications organized in one central hub, you'll speed up your company's workflow and stop wasting time on updating information between the two systems.

CSR Performance Scorecard: Easily track how many calls your employees are booking, what percentage of potential business they’re booking, how long they’re taking to do it, and more.

With the right CRM in your team's toolbelt, you'll be able to:

• Keep techs focused on the job

• Increase average ticket prices

• Free up CSRs for valuable follow-ups

• Ensure skilled techs close more profitable jobs

Use this software evaluation checklist to assess different CRM vendors and determine whether their product meets your company's specific CRM functional requirements. 

CRM Checklist: 

• Cloud-based storage: Offers better usability, access, security, synchronization, and more for your company's online business processes and customer data.

• Contact management: Store customers' preferred method of contact in a central hub, so complete job histories, past invoices, and important notes automatically pop up on every call.

• Client interaction tracking: Listen to customer call recordings before responding to requests for service or repair, so techs always arrive prepared to tackle the job. 

• Mobile access and support: Create seamless communication between your office staff and techs out in the field, allow techs to prepare job estimates or invoice customers directly on their mobile tablet, and even capture electronic customer payments as soon as the job is done.

• Database management: Every customer communication, interaction, and service/installation call leaves a trail of rich, insightful customer data. Learn how to use the data for future forecasting and better business growth.

• Affordability and scalability: Cost plays an important role for most growing companies, so understand pricing for any software changes or upgrades in the future. Additional costs may include training, customization, support service, or data exports.

• Marketing and campaign management: Link specific marketing campaigns to unique company phone numbers, then track attributed revenue from each campaign to understand true return on investment (ROI).

• Workflow automation and employee management: Your CRM software needs to be intuitive and easy to use so your team fully embraces its speed, functionality, and customer benefit. No more workarounds!

• Seamless integration: A good CRM software integrates the best CRM tools with the tools you're already using, such as direct mail or email marketing, project management, financial reporting (QuickBooks), invoicing, billing, and more.

• Sales automation and lead management: Segment lead generation with automated filters applied to marketing campaigns to identify potential customers more apt to buy your services in a specific area, then deploy your salesforce to close those jobs with a more targeted approach.