Running a cleaning busy can get messy without the right tools and technology. As a small business, you have little time and resources to streamline your operations. If you currently depend on spreadsheets or other inefficient means, you need cleaning service software.
With such a platform, you’ll enjoy a host of features that will help you grow your business. Your employees and customers will appreciate the wonders of technology.
The Cleaning Industry Is Strong
In the last year, cleaning businesses have been soaring. With a focus on cleanliness and sanitation, everybody needs a cleaner. Homes, offices, and places of business are all in play in the industry. They are also a popular franchise investment for those looking to run their own business on a concept that works.
Experts expect the industry to grow by 7.4% in 2021 and is worth around $117 billion. There are opportunities, but margins can be thin. You have to manage labor, equipment, and products. If you’re going to gain some of this market, you’ll need to be nimble and operationalize processes. One of the best ways to do this is with technology.
What Features Are Critical in Cleaning Service Software?
The features you need in your software relate to critical areas around scheduling, dispatching, communicating, and invoicing. Here are a few key elements to seek out when comparing cleaning business software solutions.
- Managing and scheduling jobs: With a dynamic calendar, you can schedule appointments and ensure your entire team has visibility. Drag and drop functionality makes moving jobs around easy should things change.
- Dispatching: Once you assign a team member to a job, the person immediately receives an alert. There’s no need to send emails or texts.
- Customer communications: You’ll want client notifications as a feature. Through the platform, customers receive SMS messages that let them know you’re on the way. They’ll appreciate this heads up and won’t grow frustrated with waiting.
- Invoicing: Are payments a challenge? They no longer have to be when you use a cleaning service app. You’ll be able to take payment immediately at the end of the job. Alternatively, you can send a secure link. Make sure that payment activity can sync with QuickBooks, too, by opting for a solution that integrates.
- Inventory management: Cleaning companies use lots of products, materials, and equipment. You can add this to your software to track usage by job and standardize pricing for this on invoicing. Inventory management helps further organize your business.
With these features, you’ll eliminate manual efforts. With extra time, you can focus on more high-level work that produces income. Getting operations into a new groove wipes away the chaos.
What to Avoid in Looking for Software for Your Cleaning Company
There is no shortage of options, but not all of them will help you grow your business. Some offerings focus too much on features that don’t apply to your business. They are custom to field service industries.
Others do a good job of scheduling but forget critical features like a CRM. A CRM is a must-have for your software. It’s a place to centralize customer information. It’s often hard to find a solution that merges operational features and customer-specific ones. If they do, then they come with a hefty price tag. When your costs keep rising, but your revenue doesn’t, that’s a problem.
So, where can a professional cleaning small business turn?
Run Your Cleaning Business with Service Raider
Service Raider, software built by and for field service pros, is your ally. We know that managing a field service business is hectic and complicated. We’ve been there, and that’s why we created the app. It’s cost-effective and reliable. Plus, we’re adding new features all the time. So, why not try it today for free? Let’s do this! Start your free trial now.