Business Pilot has a lot of features that we love, but some are so instrumental to the system being so much further ahead than anything else available that it would be wrong of us not to single them out for our Why We Love list. The interactive schedule board has to be one of those and is at the heart of Business Pilot.
If there was a single reason to stop using a previous installer CRM system and build Business Pilot, this was probably it. Prior to Business Pilot, the only option to scheduling was manual, even if that meant Excel. Enter the Interactive Schedule Board.
To explain the board, we need to back up and talk about how it is connected to everything in the system. Let’s begin from within a contract. Once the job has been surveyed and confirmed that a set number of hours/days will be required to carry out the install, a card is added to the schedule board ‘holding bay’. Essentially a waiting area for schedulers to take intended jobs and place them on the schedule board.
Other than this being digital and drag and drop, which are things we now take for granted, this is good, but not great. Here is where the great part comes in.
Because Purchase orders are entered into the contract area, the schedule board knows whether you have ordered the goods, have a provisional delivery date, a confirmed delivery date or have the goods in store.
Using this, we use a visual cue to let you know how ‘solid’ your schedule board is. You can plan out into the future and see how realistic the schedule is. This is done by using a three dot (bar) system on every card. One short bar meaning you have a provisional date, two short bars, a confirmed date and one continues long bar meaning the goods have arrived in stock.
If you move the job before the confirmed delivery date, the card will be faded out. Move it after the confirmed delivery date and it is full strength. Instant visual cues that help you create the most efficient and reliable schedule and minimise days when your fitting teams are having to ‘jump onto something else’.
Now that we have moved into the great category, it’s time to take things up a notch. One thing our users know is that we never sit still. Every time we release the next must have, how amazing is this, feature, we start asking how it could be even better. Here we go.
We did say interactive schedule board. This means you can click on any job card and see every detail of the job. That means documents, emails between you and the client or suppliers, photos, PO’s, every thing! One click. Connected.
What’s more, as you move around your installations, all of your financial reports are automatically updated too. Why wouldn’t they be. You could create a schedule board based on how you need your cashflow to work out, if that was ever needed.
You can view on the map view to see where all of your installations are. This could be great for marketing and generating more sales. Or just being efficient with journeys. On that note, every contract contains the distance and time to a job, you can access that too.
Then of course, the way the board interacts with the Site App. Installers get to see all the jobs they have coming up and this is done automatically for you. As soon as you drop a job onto their ‘row’ on the board, the App is updated. We have a separate Why We Love on the App itself, so look out for that.
There is even more to the schedule board but let’s just finish this piece with the ability to have multiple boards. You can have an unlimited number of boards and add who you want to them. Your installers can be on multipole boards of course. This could be by region, product type, you name it. Then you can view your schedule as you want to see it.
With all of this, it is obvious why we love Business Pilot’s Interactive Schedule Boards.
The question is, when you log in to your CRM system, or use whatever system you currently use (even diaries, excel, whiteboards), do you have everything you need to know instantly at your fingertips and is it all updated live as you move your installations around? Can you manage your installations schedule from anywhere, any time? And, is all the relevant contract information with you at all times, from your phone, tablet, laptop or desktop, wherever you are? And if it isn’t, just imagine what having that would do for your business. And how much easier your job would be. That’s why we love personal dashboards!
