Tag: <span>AccuLynx</span>

Tag: AccuLynx

Technology for the Future: How Having a CRM Gives You a Comprehensive View of Your Roofing Business

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As the owner of a contracting business, it’s imperative to have a pulse on not only how your company is performing at any given moment, but historically as well.

Everything from leads, current job statuses, contracts, and finances gives you a comprehensive idea of how your company is performing – and comparing that to year over year or month over month historical data provides a snapshot of growth or stagnation.

Finding the right software for your business may seem daunting – there are a lot of options on the market, and none are guaranteed to be the silver bullet you need. When doing research, business owners should consider what they need or want to see when they think of the overall performance of their roofing company, and how a CRM might provide that overview.

Finances at a Glance:

CRM’s that include integrations to your accounting software, such as QuickBooks, can provide an immediate idea of your company’s financial performance. Comparing individual sales figures, having access to overhead, material orders, outstanding contracts, and commissions means that all of your data is compiled into an easy to digest dashboard, specific to owners who want to know where their money is – down to the penny.

Archived Data in Hand:

A business that has been around for a few years is going to have records – previous jobs, insurance forms, material orders… and all of that paperwork needs to be filed and stored so that it can be accessed by employees for reference in the future. Dealing with years of archived paperwork can be a logistical nightmare – for example – a project manager is at a job and the customer mentions work done during a previous storm. The PM would need to call the office, ask an office staff member to locate the previous files and reference the work, then relay that information back to them. All of this can take hours if your staff is busy or can’t locate the files.

Having your files stored digitally in a CRM means your staff doesn’t have to go on a paperwork expedition – your field staff can simply call up the customer’s file, right in front of them, and reference previous work – paperwork, photos, contracts, materials – it’s all there.

This immediate archive retrieval also goes a long way when it comes to personalization. A salesman can reference all of this even before creating the estimate. They can also reference notes that previous teams made – such as if the customer mentioned needing new siding, or potential gutter work “next time”.

None of this would be possible with physical paper documents back in the office.

Easier Employee Onboarding:

During times of high production, roofing companies may hire seasonal, specific trade or additional labor to supplement their increase in business. Having an easy to use, simple software program with pre-built templates ensures that these new employees are creating paperwork that adheres to your company’s protocol, as well as creating records that can be archived for future use.

Software that is intuitive means that there will be fewer mistakes, and new employees can learn quickly and hit the ground running.

Keeping Up with Technology Trends & Tools:

Technology is always changing, as the needs and tools for roofers and exterior contractors become more sophisticated. Software that provides integrations can make your job a lot easier.

Instead of maintaining several applications or accounts for all the different features you need, software that offers integrations within a single application means less toggling back and forth – ordering roofing measurements that immediately populate estimates, photos taken, annotated, shared and stored directly in the job files – these are features that save you time and money in the long run.

Inevitably, technology requires updating. CRM’s that are hosted and maintained by developers, and not your office staff, mean fewer outages, constant updates, and dedicated customer support – meaning one less thing for you to worry about.

CRM’s for Roofing Companies:

CRM’s, business management software – whatever you want to consider – is not a new technology – but the value they provide, in addition to new features being added all the time can help provide the overview roofing business owners need who are looking to make the jump from paper and Excel to an all-inclusive digital space.

Note: This article first appeared on the AccuLynx blog and can be viewed here.

Top Roofing Technology Trends for 2018

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By: Brad Foster, AccuLynx.

As companies continue to expand within their local markets, the demand for roofing technology to support advances in business management, sustainability, and material trends has increased alongside that growth.

Companies that take advantage of new, cutting-edge roofing technology will be at an advantage as they continue to increase efficiency on the job site, as well as within their organizations through better business management processes.

Drone Technology for Roofers

Drones have taken the world by storm and have become a popular toy for all ages. Their role as a tool for roofing businesses, however, is just starting to emerge. Drones with 4K cameras allow sales teams to take detailed pictures of problem spots and identify safety hazards without having an inspector climb onto the roof, immediately reducing risk before a job begins. These images can be shown to customers to help them visually understand where repairs are needed, as well as to your crew before a job begins to make work more efficient. As drones become more advanced, their potential to be a useful tool increases, and it may be time to evaluate their usefulness to your own company.

 Roofing Safety Innovations

Safety is always a top concern for onsite crews, and steps can and should always be taken to reduce risk on a job. While protocols and careful management can reduce the potential for mistakes, accidents do happen.

Roofing technology trends that have a direct impact on the safety of your field teams can dramatically reduce common risk factors:

  • Companies like Redpoint Positioning are integrating GPS into safety equipment so that they can mark hazards by proximity and warn crew members when they may be approaching a dangerous area.
  • Other companies are putting sensors into safety vests that can detect body temperature and heart rate to tell workers when they’re starting to overheat.
  • Research is also being done to put airbags into the neck of safety vests that expand when a sensor detects a sudden vertical drop. Using computers and sensors built into equipment has the potential to significantly reduce the risk on a jobsite.

Applying Environmental Efficiency to Roofing Materials

The demand by homeowners for environmental efficiency is becoming increasingly important and its effects on the roofing industry are apparent, especially for material manufacturers. Many shingle manufacturers are creating new eco-friendly products that may appeal to homeowners financially as well as the added home benefit of reducing their carbon footprint. Reflective granules allow for shingles to reflect more of the sun’s heat, lowering air conditioning costs in the summer.

Solar panels can be inserted into roofs, but usually do not offer enough weather protection to be used as a significant building material. Building applied photovoltaics are solar panels built for roofing. They are tough enough to withstand severe weather, are tileable for easy application, and come in different types and colors for both commercial and residential uses. Work still needs to be done before photovoltaic systems will be able to completely replace conventional roofing systems, but as time goes on their potential as a green and financially viable alternative to regular shingles only rises.

Offering homeowners eco-friendly options during roof replacement or repair can help businesses increase market potential compared to other companies who do not offer specialty services.

Marketing Tools for Roofers

Companies are constantly bringing in new leads and completing different jobs, often making it a headache to keep track of the necessary information for each customer. Software for roofing companies with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) capabilities streamline this process. Newer programs are capable of tracking traditional information such as address and contact information, but also allow for searchable tags like geographical location, job timeline, or communication history.

Integration with programs such as Smart Documents and supplier pricing tools allows you to bring your office with you when meeting a customer. All of your necessary paperwork is always with you, and estimates can be constructed and altered for customers in just minutes. The ability to store customer information in a customized database greatly increases organization and ensures the customer is well taken care of.

Managing a roofing company is difficult; you have to keep track of leads and salesmen, scheduling crews, ordering materials, collecting payment, and countless other important details. Using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to combine all of these systems into a single dashboard will make this process substantially more efficient. Advanced ERP’s will allow you to track a job from lead to completion while offering tools to aid every step along the way. From cloud-based documentation to online ordering tools to Quickbooks integration, ERP’s offer limitless utility to streamline the entire job process.

New roofing technologies are constantly being invented and are changing the industry all the time. Keep an eye out for new innovative products, tools, and software that can be used to help your company grow.

Note: This article first appeared on the AccuLynx blog and can be viewed here.

When to Use Personal Drones versus Ordering a Professional Roofing Measurement

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Personal drones are increasing in popularity among roofing contractors so it’s important to know when it makes sense to use one and when it doesn’t.

By AccuLynx.

The ultimate toy-turned-tool for any roofer, drones have become popular for contractors in the roofing industry, for several reasons. As an effective tool that allows sales or project managers to visualize a project before making an estimate or starting work on a home, drones provide a real-time safer alternative to climbing up on a roof to take measurements or pictures of damage.

Drones for commercial business use are becoming more and more popular – but when does a toy become a tool, and when does it make more sense to acknowledge other technology to get the job done?

Do Your Research: Whether you’re looking to purchase a drone, or already own one, you’ll need to do your research on what model will be the most effective investment for your company. You’ll need to consider drone maneuverability, connection features (to your phone or CRM platform), cost, warranties and repair options.

DronesGlobe is a great source when you’re considering all of these options.

Get Certified: Did you know that to legally operate a drone for your business, pilots must have a “remote pilot airman certificate” issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)? Flying under the radar can have consequences for your business if not properly and legally vetted first.

Luckily, it’s easy to get certified. You can read all the FAQs here, and learn what steps you need to take to ensure you are legally operating your drone.

When To Use Your Drone: Once you’ve done your due diligence, you can start using your drone to help grow your business. Using your drone for the purpose of measuring a roof for replacement or remodel is certainly an option; however, as a non-reporting company using a drone, FieldPulse says, “Granted, most of the [drone] technology is designed for preliminary work such as design, roof replacement, or repair.”

Drones are most effective and provide the best time-savings when they are applied to design or remodel work.

Examples:

  • Photos of Window Placement or Siding
  • Damage Reports – places on the roof that may have been impacted by a storm or are tagged as the source of a leak inside a home.

Having a drone in these cases allows you to see current issues, make notes, and even allow the homeowner to see real-time shots of their property.

“…drones can’t be depended on to perform thorough inspections into the roof, [but] they can give a roofing company a good idea of what they’re dealing with before getting on the roof. Drones also allow roofers to view an entire area hit by a storm. They will have enough information to provide the right type of transportation and equipment needed to perform a proper inspection. (FieldPulse)

Additionally, if there is damage found on a roof by a drone, these photos can be shared with your foreman and crews so they know what safety gear to bring, and where the damage is on a home without the guesswork.

When Ordering a Roofing Report Is More Effective: Even an experienced roofer/drone operator will need to study any photos or footage of a property carefully in order to make a detailed estimate or contract. Drones may be effective tools, but they are essentially just eyes in the sky – you might still run the risk of the operator miscalculating or misjudging critical data that can impact your orders, scheduling, and bottom line.

Ordering a Roofing Report from a trusted third party vendor, such as EagleView or SkyMeasure (both of which are fully integrated with the AccuLynx platform and mobile app) will validate your estimate numbers, come quickly, and will already have accurate measurements mapped out, which will save your sales rep time in the field.

Know Your Teams’ Skillsets and Tools: Using drones for your roofing or contracting business can be a huge asset when it comes to documentation and archives. However, it’s important that you don’t come to rely on the skillset and license of one or two people.

Make sure your drone operators are professional – you are trusting them with an expensive piece of company property. While accidents can always happen, you should make sure that the person operating the drone always has their certified FAA license on hand, and can report back immediately if something does happen to the drone.

Know when a drone is an asset, and when it’s more cost and time effective to order a report. This may be up to your rep’s discretion, or you may have a protocol in place. Either way, it’s important to remember that while the drone is a fantastic piece of technology, that doesn’t always mean it’s the ONLY technology at their disposal.

This blog first appeared on AccuLynx’s blog and can be viewed here.

AccuLynx is designed to help contractors see their business more clearly and communicate better — there’s nothing to download or install — you just log in and get to work. Learn more at www.acculynx.com 

5 Ways AccuLynx Can Help Streamline Your Insurance Restoration Process

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While the insurance restoration process can be confusing and tedious for the homeowner, it can be equally as challenging to navigate as a professional roofer.

A home’s roof is one of the most important parts of a house or building to ensure, as anyone who has suffered damage from a storm or other “act of God” can attest. While the process can be confusing and tedious for the homeowner, it can be equally as challenging to navigate as a professional roofer.

Working as a sort of go-between for the customer and insurance agency, along with all of the necessary paperwork, scheduling and invoicing can be a headache for your office manager or bookkeeper, especially during high-volume times.

AccuLynx has several tools that your office manager can utilize to help streamline this paperwork process that is all part of the platform, minimizing time spent dealing directly with insurance companies on a day to day basis.

Keeping Your Insurance Information Organized, and Available:
When a customer files an insurance claim to cover and help pay for their damages, a lot of paperwork tends to be involved. By filing information such as the Claim Number, Adjuster Name, Contact Info and more into the Job File, everyone has the information readily available, at any time.

But, not all paperwork starts its journey in the office. The AccuLynx Field App supports uploading scanned documents, so your sales team can upload the masses of paperwork that an insurance job entails right from the site, or their truck, without having to go back to the office to scan everything into the system.

Keeping your files organized is only the first step – AccuLynx has specific modules built into the platform that are dedicated to the insurance claim process, including a Supplement Tracker and Mortgage Check Tracker.

Using the AccuLynx Supplement Tracker, your company can create custom statuses that can be used to track the supplement progress. Office Managers can make entries within the Job, and make notes specifically regarding the progress of that supplement. This allows anyone in the company to see what the status is and track the overall progress of all outstanding supplements.

The Mortgage Check Tracker is similar, but it’s designed to let assigned people know the status of checks that are awaiting the mortgage holder to co-sign so that the funds can be released.  This allows Sales or Project Managers to keep track of the check status without having to contact the Office.

Building Estimates: Include What Insurance Companies Want
By creating and using the AccuLynx Estimate templates specifically when dealing with an insurance claim, you can ensure that all of your paperwork meets the basic requirements of insurance companies, and your sales teams won’t forget to fill out important fields.

State Farm Insurance suggests that professional roofers estimates include:

  • Quantity of materials needed
  • Labor charges
  • Work specifications
  • Approximate starting and completion dates
  • Payment procedures
  • Building permits secured (if applicable)
  • Warranty details – review conditions that would void it.

You can expedite this paperwork by building these templates as SmartDocs in AccuLynx, which allows you to cut back on time filling out forms by automatically populating known fields from your Job Files. Estimates can be included in document packets that can include warranties and permits, all sent to the customer in one electronic bundle, ready for signature. Once the packet is completed, it is returned to your Job File, and your office staff are notified. If there are any changes from the insurance agency, you can add a Change Order directly to the packet and send it back to the customer for approval.

This process expedites the handling of paperwork, keeps your files organized, and keeps the customer in the loop on the progress of their claim.

Include Photo Annotations for Documentation with the Photo App:
Another component of the AccuLynx platform that allows you to provide transparent validation of your Estimates is the Photo Annotation Feature on the AccuLynx Field App.

Using the App, your Adjustor or Field Sales Rep can take photographs of the damage, make annotations to those photos and store them directly in the Job File. Providing specific photos of the damages as part of your Packet can help insurance companies visualize the estimate and correlate that damage with the materials and labor times you quote.

Invoicing Directly from Estimates, Saving Time:
Roofing companies that utilize the Estimate Feature on AccuLynx for insurance claims have an easy and simplified method for invoicing.

Place material orders directly through AccuLynx to trusted suppliers like ABC and Allied Building Products, and set delivery drop schedules. These records are also stored in your Job File, should insurance companies require proof of order and payment on your end, as well as invoices sent to the Customer.

Convert your Estimates to Invoices with all final changes and notes categorized and cataloged already within the Job File with the click of a button. Final Invoices and copies can be emailed directly from AccuLynx without the hassle of printing or scanning, and no double data entry is required by your office staff.

QuickBooks Integration: Give Your Bookkeepers a Break:

AccuLynx has a Quickbooks integration feature that allows your bookkeeping and office staff to input financial data once, and share applicable Job information across the platforms. While your staff can continue to track and manage all company financial data in Quickbooks, Job Cost tracking can be shared with AccuLynx so that Project Managers can see when invoices are scheduled and paid.

This blog first appeared on AccuLynx’s blog and can be viewed here.

AccuLynx is designed to help contractors see their business more clearly and communicate better — there’s nothing to download or install — you just log in and get to work. Learn more at www.acculynx.com