The post Foster Coldstores: Case Study appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Coldstores Limited is the market leading British manufacturer of cold rooms and has been operating out of its factory in King’s Lynn, Norfolk since 1968! They also operate internationally installing cold rooms across Europe and further afield. They supply refrigeration equipment to a variety of markets including restaurants, hotels, sporting venues, government run facilities and more.
We spoke to Adam Daniels, Installation Manager at Foster Coldstores to find out how they’re using Okappy.
Why did you start using Okappy?
Basically, we needed something that was going to streamline and tidy up our way of working. When we do installations, we have installation reports which involve getting photographs of bits of paper and signed sheets. But it wasn’t electronic, and it wasn’t how it should be. The approach to our systems needed to be made more professional. We went to a couple of different companies and chose Okappy as the best option that suited our business.
What made you choose to go with us?
The way we could essentially design our own forms in our own formats. A few of the others didn’t really give us that option. As well as that it was also due to pricing and how it worked within our business, and the subcontractors that we use. Everybody has a mobile phone or smartphone these days. So the app works an absolute treat with how we operate the business and work with our subcontractors.
How do you use the Okappy system with your workforce ?
We have our admin staff logged on and all are able to connect to our subcontractors on the system. The subcontractors don’t have the same level of access that we have in the office to view the forms – they just have the ability to fill it in and send it back. We see that number of people using Okappy growing as we add more forms. It’s getting positive feedback from the installation teams and everybody that’s using it within the office.
What’s the main difference before and after using the system?
It’s basically tidied up how we work. There’s real-time information in terms of when installations are complete. Previously, we would have a paper form that was signed and filled in, and then it would be issued back to the office either by scanning it in through a printer or photographing it in. Obviously, not everybody’s handwriting is legible, especially over a photo. Basically, what Okappy has done is given us a clearer picture of the installations.
When we run an audit, have a customer come to us for any service problem or any Installation Information, the actual form that we have is a lot more professional. We feel confident they’re not going to look at it and go, “What’s this? This doesn’t make any sense to me, this could have been done by anybody!” It’s really tidied up what we do, basically.
How has Okappy helped save time?
To estimate, it would be difficult, but what it has done is definitely save time where the finances are concerned. It’s saved time for various departments.
For example, the finance department now uses the Okappy system as reference for completed jobs. Before, they would phone a supervisor to find out when a job was finished and what the status of the job is, and from there work out the percentage of completion for invoicing and for paying off invoices to the subcontractors. But the information on Okappy reduces these types of phone calls and reduces errors in the process. The time saved from not having to phone people up is massive.
It’s also saved the office time. Especially due to keeping a real-time log of installations – how they’re progressing and when they’re likely to finish. And it’s now become a lot more streamlined for the guys on site due to using the app, and not having to return to the office as much.
How do you use Okappy Portal+ to collaborate with the network?
We love the networked element of Okappy Portal+. It means that the system doesn’t just work in-house, but also externally along the whole chain of work. This is especially useful in streamlining the way in which we work with our many subcontractors. It’s not only streamlined the operations, but it’s also improved our professional relationship with them.
The job is generated in the office, the individual installation is generated in the office, it goes into a file and then we have basically a labour book. The job is obviously given an allocated installation date. Once that job is allocated to a labour slot, the individual or team doing the installing is then issued the Okappy link to the job. It’s initially done via our admin team in the installations department, they generate it. In the near future, this process will be a lot more automated.
How have you adapted to challenges presented by Covid-19?
Going digital has meant that we’ve had a lot less contact with customers. Whereas before, you would always run through the installation completion file or commissioning sheet with the customer. As it is now, all this can be done away from site. It can then be digitally issued to the installation team on site. We have less face-to-face interactions which has improved the safety of our workforce.
We have a better file management and better information within the actual individual job files. Basically, it’s just tidied up everything we have.
What’s your favourite feature?
The only thing that we have found super useful is the radar. It’s really, really good because if you have a phone call from a customer, you can get them some real-time information as to where the individual service engineer, technician or installation team is.
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]]>The post How to Successfully Manage Your Workforce Over The Festive Season appeared first on Okappy.
]]>The festive season is fast approaching, and this year will be a Christmas like no other. Businesses are not only navigating the Covid-19 restrictions, but also figuring out how to best manage the workforce effectively over the holiday.
The season of goodwill and joy can also bring with it a minefield of challenges for managers and directors; from struggling to service demanding clients, to meeting tight deadlines and keeping staff morale high. With the chance for people in the UK to meet with families for the first time in months across a 5 day window, staff holidays and annual leave could present tensions.
Here are our tips for successfully managing your workforce over the festive season:
1. Outsource work to subcontractors you can trust
With more people taking time off, you may need to outsource some of your work to subcontractors. And working with people that you can rely on is crucial. The key here is making the most of your network of trusted stakeholders to hire the right subcontractors. Chances are you have worked with them before, or otherwise you could ask industry contacts for their recommendations.
With Okappy Portal+ you can allocate work to subcontractors at no extra effort or cost. Simply invite them as a connection to the system and send them a job! They can then update the progress of your job as they go; ensuring you are kept in the loop and reducing some of the stress involved in working with someone new.
2. Boost staff morale
According to a survey by Accountemps, over a third (35%) of workers reported feeling more stressed during the holiday season. The biggest sources of stress include balancing work duties with holiday events (32%), taking time off and coming back to a heavy workload (23%), and having fewer coworkers to take on some of the duties (18%). Throw Covid-19 in the mix and we could be in for a rough ride.
As managers and department directors, it’s your responsibility to look after your workforce in the best way you can. Celebrate the end of a tough year by giving back and offering people some sort of christmas perk. You could run a competition or a virtual secret santa. A little can go a long way in making people feel valued.
3. Manage the workforce smoothly with Okappy Portal+
If 2020 hasn’t already highlighted your need for a simple digital workforce management system, then it soon will. Okappy Portal+ will save you time, money and stress. It’s easy-to-use, so you can get up and running in record time. And any short amount of time spent implementing the new system will soon pay back in the amount of time saved in the long run!
“It’s saved me as an individual, around 20-30 hours a week, which is over half my working week! Overall for the company, it’s a lot more than that.” – Kale Grieves, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd
“We have all our clients set-up on the system with all of their contacts. Using Okappy Portal+ means less copying and pasting from one system to another. It’s perfect for us! For anyone that is considering trying out the system, all I have to say is to 100% do it! It saves you so much time!” – Brook Clements, Director at Clemlec Ltd
Ready to make your life easier with Okappy?
Give us a call on +44 (0) 207 099 56 98, check out our free trial or request a demo to see Okappy Portal+ in action!
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]]>The post How to Make The Most of Okappy’s Market Network appeared first on Okappy.
]]>You may have a workforce management software that works well within your organisation, but communication difficulties still arise when it comes to a company’s customers and subcontractors. Sound familiar? A Market Network approach to workforce management could be just the solution you’re looking for.
What’s this about a Market Network?
A Market Network is a software-as-a-service tool which allows businesses to create a profile, connect with customers and subcontractors and manage their workflow; not just within their organisation but as they interact with other companies.
Businesses using Market Networks for job management can receive jobs from customers on an online platform as well as add jobs for their employees and subcontractors. Accessible by computer and handheld devices, any jobs put through these systems can be viewed and updated in real time, meaning no duplication of information or having to chase up workers for reports.
Users can also communicate with each other using the integrated instant-messaging system. Connecting in this way helps to ensure that messages are easily retrievable and not lost between emails, texts and forgotten phone calls.
How does it work?
It’s as easy as one, two, three… All you need to do is invite your connections to Okappy. Once they’ve accepted the invite you’ll be able to send and receive jobs to and from your wider network. Everything is streamlined onto one single digital workforce management system – meaning no more duplication, a lot less errors and a lot more time freed up as a result!
Don’t believe us? Here’s what the community has to say about it…
Brook Clements, Director at Clemlec Ltd:
“We have all our clients set-up on the system with all of their contacts. Using the Okappy network means less copying and pasting from one system to another. It’s perfect for us! For anyone that is considering trying out the system all I have to say is to 100% do it! It saves you so much time!”
James Bryceland, Director at Discovery Fire Sprinklers Ltd:
“We’ve got a couple of subcontractors that do work for us, and they’ve also got Okappy. I invited them onto it and told them that this was the way. There’s going to be twelve of them altogether, by the time we are done. These are subcontractors that we’ll be working with quite regularly. The networked element to Okappy helps to streamline what we all do along the chain of work. It basically means we don’t have to duplicate job information between different systems!”
Aimee, Admin Manager at Westway Services Ltd:
“We have all our main subcontractors on our system that we assign jobs to. At the moment, we haven’t got all the bigger companies involved just yet, because we don’t use them often. Moving forward, if we did start getting a lot of abseiling work, for example, I’d encourage them to start using Okappy as it cuts out the duplication of information between systems.”
Graham Rowlands, Operations Manager at Darcy Group:
“We use Okappy to manage our contractors and subcontractors. This means you can use one system for everyone you deal with along the chain of work, without having to duplicate any of the job information. I’m looking forward to using it more in this way as we expand our network. The difference has been revolutionary. We were definitely apprehensive to approach digitising our systems, but once we started seeing the impact it had, there was no turning back. We’d like to transition to a 100% paperless business in the near future.”
Rick Peacock, Director of Basement Pumps Limited:
“We’re seeing a lot more collaboration in the industry with the use of multiple subcontractors for any one job. Okappy have a networked approach to job management meaning there is less duplication of information between the companies involved in the work. Using a networked system is great as you can add jobs and send them to your subcontractors and view the latest status of the job as it’s updated.
If you’re a company that values customer satisfaction like we do, then Okappy is great. They really understand that too. You can even invite your customers onto the system and let them add and view their jobs themselves. Okappy are happy to offer demonstrations and training to companies who want to understand the latest way of working, and there’s no pressure to commit to anything straight away. They also offer a lot of help and support in different formats including video tutorials on their YouTube channel, forums and support articles. So you can give yourself a crash course in your own time and in a way that you’re most comfortable with.”
James Friar, Director at Pro Waste Ltd:
“The impact has been that it saves a considerable amount of time both for us and the clients we work with. Okappy cut out the email train, and has reduced the ‘back-and-forth’ that came with it. We’ve also been relieved of the stress of someone having to sift through them to find certain details and then assign the job. As a company, we communicate with a lot of contacts on a daily basis. We have a big network of people reporting onto Okappy each day including our engineers, contractors, subcontractors and customers. Having a simple platform to put all the information for defect management in one place has made the job much smoother. It just comes through the app and it’s done!”
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]]>The post 5 Ways Housing Associations Can Improve The Way They Work appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Job management for housing associations frequently involves communicating between a number of different stakeholders, such as the management committee, housing officers, finance departments, maintenance officers and various subcontractors. The hierarchical and complex organisational structures often cause delays, as information has to move through a number of different departments.
A survey by Unite the Union found that 62% of the 320 housing association employees said they had experienced work-related stress in the past year, while nearly half felt their workplace was not good for their mental health.
Siobhan Endean, national officer at Unite, said that the findings were “profoundly disturbing” and it was clear that workplace stress was at “epidemic levels” in the housing association workforce. The report also found that 40% of respondents said they did not work for a well-managed organisation, while 42% said they did not feel valued at work.
It’s time things changed. In a world that’s increasingly digital, where remote working is now a normal part of everyday life, housing associations and councils need to act now to address their inefficient working practices , or risk falling out of step with the modern world of work.
So, what steps can you take to improve?
1. Embrace transparency
A transparent company culture can impact an entire industry and increase productivity amongst the workforce. According to the Bonusly’s 2019 Engagement and Modern Workplace Report, highly Engaged employees are 2.5x more likely to report working for a transparent organisation than Actively Disengaged employees.
The first steps to transparency are building strong foundations of trust. This means ensuring that your workforce has the right communications and collaboration tools. Outdated communication tools can be a major barrier to transparency. Especially if you’re working across different departments and with a remote workforce, like housing associations often do. Make sure you have an easy and efficient way for the workforce to connect with one another and to share crucial information.
Other things you can do:
- Share challenges
- Share progress
- Share success
When it comes to solving complicated challenges, you never know whether someone else might have a simple solution unless you share. Recognising the successes of the organisation, its departments, and its individuals with everyone can be a major boost to workforce morale.
Another step you can take is making the mental shift from asking “is it absolutely necessary to share this?” to “is it absolutely necessary to conceal this?” It’s as simple as that.
2. Cultivate strong interdepartmental relationships
Strong relationships are the foundation of every healthy organisation. They not only improve people’s wellbeing, but also drive workforce engagement, but it doesn’t happen automatically. Cultivating these strong relationships can be especially challenging when there are a number of different departments in the mix, all with varying vested interests.
Building strong relationships in the workforce takes time, effort, and sometimes, dedicated team-building activities which can be done remotely. Research suggests companies should be creating spaces that encourage, and even generate “collisions.” Zoom pub quiz anyone?
3. Inspire workforce autonomy
Everyone hates being micromanaged. Not only is it ineffective, but it does very little to inspire trust between the various stakeholders. If you hired someone to work for you as an employee or contractor, you should trust them to manage their responsibilities effectively and get the job done!
You can put workforce autonomy into action by allowing people to exercise choice, let go of the 9-5 mentality and create decision-making opportunities. Shift the culture from being held accountable to embracing accountability as people take on and own their initiatives.
4. Create stronger links with subcontractors
The housing association sector is heavily reliant on a network of subcontractors, whether that be for maintenance or whole estate management. Making sure the ties you have with these external parties are as strong as they can be is paramount to the successful running of a housing association. This means making sure communication with these stakeholders is as seamless and easy as possible. We’ll touch on this more in the next step…
5. Welcome new technologies
We’ve mentioned the importance of ensuring your company has the right communications and collaboration tools. But we bet you don’t know just how life-changing this can be when housing associations get this technology right.
Okappy is a communications and collaborations tool with a difference. It operates as a Market Network, which means that you’re not stuck with having to duplicate the information into another system when you work with external stakeholders.
You can invite contractors, customers and sub-contractors as connections, so you can seamlessly send and receive jobs in real time. This means less information gets lost, less time is spent following up on the status of a job and an overall improved work-life balance for all.
“I now work so many less hours a week. I can actually go on holiday and enjoy myself. I don’t have to be constantly on the phone every minute. It’s made my life so much easier. I don’t know what we’d do without it. Using Okappy is a no brainer!” – Kale Grieves, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd
Which of these steps are you going to take first?
Even a truly amazing housing association will always be a work in progress, evolving in tandem with your organisation, it’s people and all the stakeholders involved. Our tip? Start with improving your relationships through the use of a digital communications and collaborations tool. It contributes to so many of the factors we discussed above, and is an initiative that’ll make everyone feel good.
To see how easy it can be to implement, check out our free trial or request a demo to see Okappy in action!
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]]>The post Why You Can No Longer Ignore Market Networks In Facilities Management appeared first on Okappy.
]]>2020 has been a tipping point for industries worldwide. As the country went into national lockdown in March, the UK government called for everyone to work from home where they could. Then, as restrictions eased in July, people were encouraged to return to work to kick start the economy by commuting back into city centres. But, with a second wave on the horizon, the government is once again calling people to work from home.
It’s plain to see that without a robust system in place to help you adapt to these shifts, company structures could be at risk of falling apart completely. We take a look at just how far the industry has come and what opportunities lie ahead when it comes to improving the way that we work.
Traditional job management in FM
Traditionally job management in the Facilities sector involved lots of paperwork and phone calls. Paper is usually cheap and easy to distribute, but the costs for printers, ink, servicing and storage can add up. There’s also the time spent looking for lost job sheets and chasing clients and engineers for lost information – costing companies valuable time.
Richard Harris, CEO of Okappy argues: “Traditional job management systems are costly for users; the systems are often very time consuming which means disputes can take a long time to resolve; information provided by paper job sheets can be unintelligible and out of step with modern internet society.”
Digital transformation
Queue the paperless workplace. Digital systems have been around for a while now. In an increasingly digitised world, there is no need to continue managing jobs with these old and inefficient paper-based processes. When it comes to software, there’s a plethora of options out there – all with varying features on the market that can help companies manage the workforce.
The challenge
The problem of duplication still proves problematic when it comes to dealing with subcontractors, as each company will have a different software. Clients have a growing expectation that the services will be delivered not only digitally but in real-time; putting more pressure on companies to further streamline their processes. So, how can we further streamline to make sure the FM industry is in the very best position to adapt and work efficiently in the months to come?
The new way of working
While many workforce management softwares work well within a company, communication difficulties still remain when it comes to a company’s customers and subcontractors. Applying a Market Network model to this problem is one very viable solution.
A Market Network is a software-as-a-service tool which allows businesses to create a profile, connect with customers and subcontractors and manage their workflow; not just within their organisation but as they interact with other companies.
Businesses using Market Networks for job management can receive jobs from customers on an online platform as well as add jobs for their employees and subcontractors. Accessible by computer and handheld devices, any jobs put through these systems can be viewed and updated in real time, meaning no duplication of information or having to chase up workers for reports.
Users can also communicate with each other using the integrated instant-messaging system. Connecting in this way helps to ensure that messages are easily retrievable and not lost between emails, texts and forgotten phone calls.
What’s the future for workforce management?
Lockdown has given people time to consider the things they miss by working virtually, especially a lack of ad hoc conversations. The physical office provides a sense of belonging and identity for many people. Although remote working is key to being able to adapt to future challenges, it should not be at the expense of employee well being. However, using a more streamlined system like a market network allows for people to stay connected in a more reliable way, whilst also promoting flexibility and a healthier work-life balance.
Kale Grieve, director at Liquid and Gas Ltd, now use Okappy’s market network and told us how it has also improved his well being.
“Prior to using Okappy’s market network, there was no way I could take time off for a holiday.” He went to say, “When I was off, the whole company was off. When I did take some time off, my phone wouldn’t stop asking for information regarding work and jobs – it was just non stop. But now I can leave that to others, as all the information is on the Okappy system.”
As our world and the workforce continue to rapidly evolve to uncertainties presented by Covid-19, it’s clear that we all need to be using efficient workforce management systems if we’re going to keep up – whether working remotely, in the office or a combination of both. Market Networks prove to provide a viable solution to keep employees, customers, contractors and subcontractors connected, whilst streamlining communications and freeing up valuable time.
Ready to make your life easier with Okappy? Check out our free trial or request a demo to see Okappy in action!
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The post Why You Can No Longer Ignore Market Networks In Facilities Management appeared first on Okappy.
]]>The post Jobs on Okappy – v2 appeared first on Okappy.
]]>After a lot of work, we’re happy to announce the release of our new job page which is cleaner, faster and hopefully makes it more easy to see which filters you have applied.
The changes
- We’ve moved the job button to the top of the screen so it’s more readily available.
- The layout of the top navigation bar has been improved and simplified.
- The job filter is now in the middle of the page and away from the global search. This helps differentiate between the two and makes it more obvious when a filter has been selected.
- When you sort on a column, the colour of the relevant column header changes to make it stand out
- The calendar and job settings buttons are now bigger and more easy to see.
New scheduling view
- We’ve added a new scheduler view which which allows you to more easily see at a glance who is doing what and when.
- The scheduler is available by clicking on the Calendar icon and then day view.
- Each of your engineers and subcontractor are listed down the side of the page with their jobs listed horizontally.
- You can also view all jobs for the week or month in the same way as you can on other calendar software.
We hope you like the new features. We’re also interested in your comments or suggestions, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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The post Jobs on Okappy – v2 appeared first on Okappy.
]]>The post China Business Forum 2017 appeared first on Okappy.
]]>Join Okappy at the London Business School (LBS) China Business Forum. May 20th, 2017 at The Merchant Taylors’ Hall, 30 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8JB.
The LBS China Business Forum (CBF) is one of the largest student led, China-focused forums in Europe. It attracted 300+ audiences in 2016, over 80% of whom were from professional communities outside of LBS.
Distinguished past speakers include Mr. WANG Shi (Founder of Vanke) and Mr. KWAN Savio (former President and COO of Alibaba).
Initiated in 2012, CBF is a one-day event with thought-leaders from business, politics and academia from both China and UK. It offer participants opportunities to LEARN, DEBATE and NETWORK with both Chinese and world leaders.
The 2017 LBS China Business Forum has a strong focus on innovation and its strategic importance in driving growth and collaboration between China and UK. For the first time, CBF will feature a special Tech Demo to allow forum attendees to touch and feel tangible innovative products and have face-to-face interactions with start-ups at all stages.
Okappy will be showing off its market network and inviting delegates to compete for prizes and the recognition of being the “fastest finger in London”.
Okappy’s ‘Fastest Fingers’ competition
We ran a competition at the event. It was supposed to be like those famous horse vs people competitions where we pitch our job management network against the best that paperwork can throw at us. Unfortunately no one wanted to actually write their information on paper jobs sheets which I guess is testament to the ease of use of the Okappy app on mobile devices compares to having to pick out a pen and write our your answers.
It was a good example of our technology with live scores being instantly updated on the Okappy job management dashboard and available for everyone to see.
The final results are shown the table below. Each “contestant” received the chance of an Okappy branded cupcake although as the demo was held after lunch, take up was not as great as expected. 
| Name | Job sheet format | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Richard | iPad | 64 seconds |
| Donald | iPad | 1 minute 20 seconds |
| Potential Investor | iPad | 1 minute 40 seconds |
| Linda | iPad | 1 minute 54 seconds |
| Xihao | iPad | 2 minutes 20 seconds |
| Howard | iPad | 2 minutes 30 seconds |
| Lena | iPad | 3 minutes |
| Nadeem | iPad | 3 minutes |
| Lindsay | iPad | 3 minutes 10 seconds |
| Zhiyi | iPad | 3 minutes 30 seconds |
| Richard | iPad | 3 minutes 50 seconds |
| Store deliveries | iPad | 4 minutes |
| Gerry | iPad | 5 minutes 3 seconds |
| Steve | iPad | 5 minutes 20 seconds |
| Angel investor | iPad | 6 minutes 20 seconds |
Who’s behind the China Business Forum?
London Business School
Track record of offering world class graduate level education in business, with flagship MBA, EMBA, Master in Finance, and Master in Management programmes
Boasting the most internationally diverse student body with a fast-growing Chinese student community
Extensive and strong alumni network in UK and around the globe
London Business School has been ranked the top Business School in Europe as per the Financial Times Ranking 2016. Its LBS Masters in Finance Programme has been ranked number 2 and its LBS Masters in Business Administration (MBA) has been ranked third.
LBS China Club
The largest regional club at LBS with over 2,700 members, including current students, alumni, and exchange students
Acting as a bridge between China and UK to promote cultural and educational exchanges and greater business opportunities
One of the most active student clubs, with annual signature events such as China Business Forum and China Treks
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]]>The post Top 5 Ways to Make Your Business More Efficient appeared first on Okappy.
]]>If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for ways to make your business more efficient. I speak with small and medium business owners on a daily basis, and I find it’s something even the best companies can improve on. Our 5 top tips for making your business more efficient was recently published on Fresh Business Thinking. The article generated a lot of interest as improving efficiency is an area that the best companies are always keen to improve on.
But if you’re a drainage or electrical contractor, what does efficiency mean? Efficiency is a broad term that could mean a lot of things. But what it really boils down to is one question: how can my company make the biggest profit in the smallest amount of time?
Check out the following tips from the article and learn how you could increase profit in the smallest amount of time.
- Figure out how much money you’re throwing away. Then find a way to reduce it
- Use your time more effectively
- Help your employees do their jobs better
- Ask your employees how you can improve
- Don’t give your customers a reason to go elsewhere
Find out more below.
1. Figure out how much money you’re throwing away. Then find a way to reduce it.
How often do you lose money because of simple mistakes, like missing a job or sending out an invoice with incorrect details? How often are your invoices delayed or forgotten and how often do you spend hours searching for information to answer a complaint from a customer?
Even if you accept that a certain amount of waste is inevitable, the fact is that lots of small costs can add up over the year, potentially taking a large chunk out of your profits. Take time out each month to analyse your business. Look at your accounts to see what money is being spent and what costs could be reduced. Keep a note of mistakes and review them periodically and also jot down ideas for improvements as they arise.
With Okappy’s job management software you can quickly search for information and generate reports to show you which jobs have been done for each customer, by each employee or at different site addresses. This could help you work out which jobs or customers are profitable and which are not. You can view your invoices through Okappy, or analyse your costs in your favourite accounting package.
2. Use your time more effectively
In a nutshell, time is money – or the potential to make money. The more time you waste on inefficient activities, the less free time you have to spend doing productive activities that will help your business grow.
Michael Gerber, in his world-famous book ‘The E-myth revisited – Why most small businesses fail and what to do about it’, stresses that one of the reasons businesses fail is that the owners spend too much time on day-to-day tasks. So if you are a small business owner, it’s vitally important to spend enough time steering your ship in the right direction.
One of the most common ways our clients improve their time efficiency is by using Okappy’s job management features. Because Okappy provides you with the real-time status of all your jobs, you spend less time chasing for their status. In addition, you and your employees can spend less time filling out and duplicating job sheets, as all data is managed and sent to staff electronically. Okappy even generates invoices for you, saving yet more time.
3. Help your employees do their jobs better
This one is particularly important if your employees are out in the field. If you can’t assign jobs to staff and relay information to them easily, they will miss out on opportunities to finish jobs quickly. This could result in you taking on fewer jobs overall, meaning you’ll make less profit.
This is another reason that a mobile-based job sheet system like Okappy is so useful. As soon as a job is entered into your system by you or a customer, it can then be assigned to an employee, who receives an instant notification on their mobile device. Additionally, you can simply communicate via Okappy’s messaging system. It’s a lot easier than trying to get busy workers on the phone.
Using software can empower your employees by putting key information into the palm of their hands. It can help them make decisions in the field without having to call the office.
It’s also important to ensure that your employees are kept in the loop with company developments and have time to catch up with colleagues. When engineers are often out of the office, its all to easy to feel isolated and separated from the progress of the company.
4. Ask your employees how you can improve
Have you ever been working for a company and thought “our company could save so much money if our managers only asked us for input”?
The fact is, Directors of a lot of companies just never think of asking low-level employees for help. Your employees do the same job every single day, so there’s a chance they know their corner of the business better than you do. Why not ask them if they have any ideas on how you could save money or improve your service?
5. Don’t give your customers a reason to go elsewhere
We’re all human, and sometimes mistakes are made. However, there’s no reason why you can’t provide feedback to your customers and look for ways to improve. At the very least, you should make sure that you are doing a better job than your competitors. Even if you feel you’re already doing this, it’s worth asking yourself a couple of times a year, “if a competing company opened tomorrow, would I have any reason to be worried?”
One of the best ways to retain your regular orders is by giving good customer service. If you don’t, it could cost you – a 2013 study showed that UK businesses lose £12billion a year through poor customer service.
While we don’t want to overdo the self-promotion, this is another area where Okappy can help. Your employees can update job statuses from their mobiles and when customers call for updates, you’ll always have up-to-date information ready for them. Okappy also warns you if a job hasn’t been picked up or is running late, so you can correct the problem sooner.
Find out more about how Okappy’s job management software can help your business.
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]]>1) An important email has ended up in Spam…and you discover it a day too late
It might be an enquiry from a client that had the potential to lead to a new raft of work. They just need you to pop out and give them a quote in the next 5 days, and you find the email on the 6th day. We all get more and more emails every day, so email mailboxes compensate by doing a great job of filtering the stuff it thinks you don’t want to see. However, often new senders can get sent to junk, meaning you can be missing out on opportunities. Our job management software makes sure you never miss a beat! Simply login with your details and you’ll be able to see the status of your jobs in real-time, completed job details and invoices sent, received and outstanding.
2) Your invoice has ended up in your client’s inbox, but it gets lost amongst everything else
The average person receives around 140 emails every day, meaning that although we send out important correspondence, it gets lost in the sea of other communication. So when you send out an invoice to your client, expecting it to grab their attention immediately, more likely it gets pushed to the bottom of a file of more pressing matters. Through job management software like Okappy, invoices can be accessed quickly and easily by you, your customers or your subcontractors, by logging onto our platform, cutting through all the noise of email.
3) You’ve been away for a couple of days and return to find your inbox is full
Inevitably if we don’t tend to our inbox, it can get full pretty quickly! Inbox capacity is increasingly getting bigger and bigger, but if your inbox fills up you might miss out on potential job offers and other correspondence from clients, giving a poor impression of your business. Our job management software is cloud-based, we look after the storage size and the security around the system on your behalf, allowing you to not miss out on any potential job opportunities and giving you peace of mind.
4) You’ve sent multiple invoices, and your client says they never received it
When you’ve forgotten to reply to some correspondence, it’s easy to blame it on your inbox and claim you never received it! You can send multiple invoices, and if your client isn’t ready to pay or if they are inundated with other emails, they may simply claim that they never received it. Equally, it takes the effort to open it and action it, and with a heavy workload, they simply might not have the time that day. Our job management software allows you to send invoices quickly and easily, you can tell when a client has viewed or printed their invoice, making them more inclined to pay, and giving them an easier way to do so.
5) You’re sending out a job to a contractor, and you need to know if they have time, but you have to wait for a response
Email seemed unbelievably fast when it was first launched, now, compared to instant messaging, seems impossibly slow. Gone are the days when someone is willing to wait for a response to an urgent email, they want to see that the message has been read and that the person is responding. Sending jobs out to contractors via email means sending the job, then waiting for a response before being sure that the job is being dealt with. Job management software allows you to allocate jobs to your contractors who can quickly accept them and keep you updated with the progress throughout. You can also send instant messages from our platform to your employees or customers, making communication even easier and simpler.
Email will always be an essential communication tool in the business world. However, if you’re willing to improve communication within your company, then job management software like Okappy would certainly help! You can find out more about us here.
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]]>Here are our tips for the impact it can have:
1) Paper and Printing
With job automation software such as Okappy, everything is cloud-based, meaning it can be accessed wherever you are with a huge reduction in the amount of printing your business will need to do. It might seem like a minor saving, but in the long run, reducing paper and printing costs, can have a huge impact. It also demonstrate a professional, contemporary and environmentally friendly side to your business. It has a knock on effect, reducing the amount of filing and space needed to store paperwork, resulting in a much more organised and streamlined approach. If you’ve been wanting to make more space in your office for a while, this could be the solution!
2) Duplication of Work
It’s amazing how much duplication happens at work without you ever realising it. It might be entering duplicate information into different applications or entering team job sheets into more than one system, then filing away. Job automation really helps you to look at your process from the outset, see how it can be improved, and efficiencies achieved. Okappy provides invoice management, so you can immediately raise an invoice once a job is complete and be able to see at a glance who has paid and who hasn’t. Once an invoice is raised, this information can be integrated with accounting software such as Xero or Kashflow, saving you time and avoiding duplicate information.
3) Chasing Invoices
Chasing invoices is without a doubt the biggest downside to owning your own business. However, it’s essential to keep your business moving. Job management software can really help with this, making the whole process much smoother. Once a job is complete, you can raise an invoice straight away, without having to wait for your paper job sheet to come back to the office. The sooner you raise an invoice, the sooner you get paid. It’s easier for them to pay too, as rather than receiving a paper invoice that they’ll need to remember to pay through a bank transfer or by cheque, they’ll receive their invoice electronically with regular reminders if the invoice remains unpaid. With Okappy, even better, customers can pay directly within the platform.
4) Fuel Costs
It was reported this week that the happy days of low fuel costs will soon be over as there’s a hike on the way! Whether that happens or not, you need to keep an eye on your fuel costs. Job automation can help as you can analyse how long journeys take and plan out the most effective route. Okappy’s Radar function generates reports so you can see where time was wasted, allowing you to identify heavy traffic spots that your team can avoid to allow you to save fuel costs.
5) Improving Communication
Job management software can also help to improve communication between you, your team and your clients. Being able to confidently tell a customer where their electrician or plumber is located, for example, makes you and your business more trustworthy to their eyes, and could hopefully lead to more bookings! The ability to send jobs quickly and easily to your team via job management software, as well as giving them the chance to update it throughout the day, means that less time and money is spent on repeated phone calls to update on job progress, and more time can be spent on making money!
6) Maximising Job Opportunities
Chasing invoices, duplicating work, trying to get in touch with your field workers, all results in one thing – lost opportunities! Whilst you’re in the office battling through paperwork, you could be out earning on a job, or pitching for new business. Job automation gives you peace of mind. Knowing that everything is being taken care of, allows you to focus on growing your business.
Keeping costs down and profits up, is of course, the aim of any business, and job automation can really make a difference. Considering job management software like Okappy could be just the cost saving that you really need to drive growth throughout 2016.
You can find out more about our job management here.
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