Business Pilot, the business management tool for installation companies, has been upgraded. With a new dashboard, installers can access accurate, real-time data from leads to sales, profits and product performance. We report.
“If you’re an owner of a small to medium sized installation business and you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of accurately interpreting the data you have at your disposal, then you’re not alone,” says Elton Boocock, Managing Director, Business Pilot.
There’s a reason that large organisations pay teams of experts to analyse and process their data, it can be a time consuming and often bewildering procedure. If you’re bogged down in the day to day running of the business, you might not have the time or resources to properly extract the information that you need, and you may even run the risk of ignoring it completely.
“But the days of successfully operating a company on gut instinct are long gone, if that was ever a viable option in the first place,” he continues. “We live in an age dominated by data, and if you’re not taking advantage of it, then you can be sure that your competitors are – and they will be more efficient and more profitable as a result.”
A recent survey by Deloitte identified that around half (49%) of respondents said that the greatest benefit of using analytics is that it is a key factor in better decision-making. Nearly two thirds said that analytics plays an important role in driving business strategy.
However, research has also shown that companies need to be able to rely on the quality of the data at their disposal, if they are to obtain anything meaningful from it. A report by Harvard Business Review revealed that only 3% of companies’ data met basic quality standards.
“Poor or badly presented data is clearly a big problem, it can manifest itself in incomplete or inaccurate leads, unwanted spending and can lead to bad decision making,” explains Elton. “Data is an incredibly powerful tool to have at your disposal but if it’s too complicated, or worse, inaccurate, then it can do more harm than good.”
Business Pilot, which was launched in 2019, is the result of a collaboration between two installation companies – Cherwell Windows and Thames Valley Windows – and a two-year development programme with their digital partners.
Designed as a cloud-based system, Business Pilot can provide installers with precise data on everything from leads and conversions, to job scheduling, installation and servicing costs and even financial reporting.
It has recently launched a powerful upgrade to its CRM and business management tool, a new dashboard that provides real-time data from each area of business operation, presented in an easy-to-understand format.
This includes a Status Dashboard that allows installers to see – at a glance – the value of leads in the pipeline, the number of jobs that are currently quoted for, plus the value of quotes that are followed up or are waiting for a demo. That’s in addition to the value of jobs with completed surveys, ones that have been confirmed for installation but also those that have been put on hold or have been cancelled.
The Sales Dashboard highlights unassigned leads and can also identify the leads that have been allocated to specific individuals in the sales team, which allows to managers to track their performance and hit rate.
There is also a Leads and Products Dashboard that provides an overview of best-selling products and where leads were sourced, and a People and Area Sales Dashboard that delivers a broader summary of lead allocation to salespeople.
This is accompanied by a Marketing Dashboard that can reveal precisely how much it has cost to obtain each lead, but the cost efficiency of any marketing campaign at any given point, as well as an Ops Dashboard. This draws in financial performance details such as the company balance sheet, outstanding orders, invoices fitted value, costs and gross profit, that is updated instantly whenever a bill is paid, or sale is made.
“The data that the Business Pilot Dashboards provide is highly accurate, it’s tailored specifically for installation business and it’s extremely easy to understand,” concludes Elton. “It puts your entire business at your fingertips, giving visibility of cash flow and sales, and providing transparency on the effectiveness of leads, product and performance of staff.
“It gives you the tools you need to harness the power of your data and run your business as efficiently as possible.”
