#servicetask

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Feature Update: Service Plans

Increase your company's productivity.

Service Task's newest feature, Service Plans, allows you to optimize your company's time. Find out how to start using the Service Plans Feature below!

To begin using the Service Plan feature, simply click the "Plans" tab and then click the "+ Plan" button to create your first Service Plan.

You will be prompted to provide a customer name, summary (of the job), the next due date, and the frequency of the job. Optionally you can choose between locations, add tags, or notes to the job (notice a crew is not assigned).

Once you've inputed all the information you can click the orange "Add Plan" button.

You've just created your first Service Plan job!

Some things to note about Service Plan jobs:

Service Plans are meant to be jobs that are are to be done on a regular schedule (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, etc.)

Service Plans are also meant to be jobs that usually can occur on any given day and/or time during the week and that can be done without needing to give notice to the customer (because there may not be enough adequate notice).

Service Plans are meant to be "back-up" jobs that are meant to fill in the gaps between jobs, rain days, or cancellations. Service Plan jobs are meant to save your company on idle and travel time.

For example:

A crew is in Cranston and gets a cancellation for the rest of the day at 12 p.m. They call the office for more work. The office needs to quickly search for all “regular service plan” jobs in Cranston and nearby areas that are eligible to be done. They select the first available/closest Service Plan job. The crew is assigned to a regular service plan job in Providence.

Service Plan jobs will not appear in the Calendar. They will only be listed under "Plans."

Service Plans are not assigned a particular crew at the time of scheduling.

When a job is closed, the next Service Plan job will be generated automatically (based on its frequency).

Like with other jobs in Service Task, overdue jobs will appear in red. The Service Plan jobs are organized from oldest due to most current.

Service Plan jobs are meant to be set up to "Auto" (though optionally they can be set to "Needs notification"). A Service Plan job set to "Auto" means that the crew does not need permission or to give notice to the customer to start a particular job. Most Service Plan jobs are set up this way to save time for the company and the customer.

Enjoy our new feature update!

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions. We will be happy to help!

[servicetask-blog]

Major Feature Update: Create a custom site to market your company through Service Task

Service Task will now allow you to market to your current as well as potential customers! You may now create a custom web page powered by Service Task through a very simple 7 step process.  Let us show you how!

Each custom web page allows you to include the following features:

Your company name

Tag Line

About your company

A company picture

A Twitter Feed

Links to your Twitter and Facebook pages

List of your services

A short portfolio to show off your work

A Contact Form

Options to style as you please

Log in to your Service Task account. On your company dashboard page you will now see in the upper right hand corner an orange button titled 'Marketing'. Click the orange Marketing button and on the left side of the Marketing page you will see two tabs; Dashboard and Website.  The Dashboard page shows you general information about how many times your site has been viewed, and who has contacted you through the contact form on your web page.  You will be able to save each new contact.

The Website tab brings you to a page where you can adjust your advanced settings to create the custom web page powered by Service Task. Click on the website tab to find a number of sub tabs listed on the left side.

Click on the General tab. To view your site, make sure that the "Publish" button is selected.  If you wish to hide your site, make sure to have The "Unpublish" button selected.  Enter the name you would like your websites custom URL name to be in the "Your website's URL" section. If you have a domain name that you would like to use to go to this custom web page, you may enter it in the "Website Custom Domain" section.  If you have a Google Analytics page, you can use your custom tracking ID to follow the activity on this new site.

 In the "Style" tab you can choose between 6 different styles.  There are 3 light styles, and 3 dark.  You can change your accent colors by simply clicking the color box and choosing a new color.

The About tab lets you add a tagline about your company, and a short description in the About text box.  Make sure to always press the orange update button to save all changes.

Use the Social tab to link your Facebook and Twitter pages to the social media icons on the new custom web page.  You may allow your twitter feed to show up by selecting the "Show" button next to the words Twitter feed. 

On the Portfolio tab you may show off the great work your company does. Here you can upload four images of your companies work.  Make sure to select the "Show" button for the pictures to show up on your page.

On the Services tab, add the services that your company offers and give a short description.  Select "Show" for them to appear on your page. 

Last step! On the contact tab simply select "Show"  to view the contact information you've provided in your company settings. Make sure to save these changes by clicking the orange update button.

You have now created your own custom site!! 

View this in our help section

and check out Service Task features here

Contact us if you have any additional questions or comments. Enjoy!

[servicetask-blog]

Tricky Choices: Buying or Leasing a Service Vehicle

Different factors influence a service business owner and fleet manager’s decision to buy or lease vehicles: financial situation, model, performance, etc. Small business owners are usually focused on cash and recognize needs from an operational point of view. The most important factor when deciding to buy or lease a vehicle should be tax implications, though. Small business owners don’t usually focus on tax implications whereas this is exactly what they need to focus on. Tax consequence affect cash, which is something that a small business owner is always worried about.

Operating Lease and Capital Lease are similar in that they allow the business to use the vehicle. In an Operating Lease, the lessee (small business) does not assume any risks or benefits of the asset after the designated term. In a Capital Lease, the asset becomes a liability. Purchasing the truck requires the business owner to include the asset on the business’ balance sheet and any loan used to make the purchase is entered as a liability. So then business owners have to deduct interest paid on any loans.

In the end, the decision to buy or lease a vehicle depends on each small business, their cash balance, and their profitability. Businesses with higher profitability should buy vehicles because they can use the IRS section 179 as a deduction. Small businesses with a small profitability should take advantage of an Operating Lease to deduct monthly expenses and avoid the risks of ownership.

Tell us what you do or what you would do! Comment on our Facebook page!

[servicetask-blog]

Ad Advice: Make Sure You're on Top of Your Social Media

Small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) struggle with their social media presence, if they even have social media accounts at all. Either they don’t focus on it or they don’t know how to effectively use it to make an impact on their target market and promote their business. Thankfully social media adoption rates are on the rise, suggesting that there is an increase in users.

SMBs face difficulties with social media strategic implementation. Among small businesses, social media use has risen from 44% to 53%; and to 63% from 52% among mid-sized businesses (Nathan Eddy, EWeek). The gap is growing between those who are using social media platforms for informal purposes and those who are using a strategic, set approach. Most businesses are stating that they use social media in addition to other avenues such as direct mail, newspapers/trade journals/ magazines, and e-mail marketing. It is reported that the adoption of social media was more influenced by the age of the decision maker and the type of industry and less influenced by company size or type of customers.

In the world we live in, no matter how old you are, what you do, and what your needs are, not having a social media presence can hurt. Social media is extremely beneficial for every aspect of a business: building reputation, marketing, networking, sales, fun, etc. There is no loss in establishing yourself on social media platforms. Get into it!

Tell us what how your business uses social media by commenting on our Facebook Page!

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Productive Points: Getting Your Clients to Trust You

As a service company, it is important that you establish trust so that your clients keep calling back. There are numerous sources of trust but not every business can draw on all of them. Businesses get stronger by drawing on some of them. Authority, Affinity, Longevity, Credibility, Frequency, Familiarity, Celebrity, Demonstration, and the list goes on...

You need to understand how people actually end up trusting in something to successfully establish maximum trust. People have anxiety about everything from the news they watch to the car they drive. Trust-based marketing is a powerful tool, rather than focusing on cute advertising and other product-centric presentations. The most mundane purchases involve trust. For example, when buying cereal, you go for brand name rather than the generic brand, even though the taste is 100% the same and the generic brand is cheaper.

For service businesses, customer trust will come mostly from reliability and performance. Make sure your customers can reach you when they need you. They come first! If a customer can’t reach you to make an appointment, ask questions, or make comments about a job, they can’t rely on you. Clients of service businesses like to make sure that they can reach them because they provide a recurring service. They need to be able to trust a business enough to have them keep coming back. Also, in terms of performance, if a window cleaner does a poor job the first time, it is highly unlikely that the client will call back to have them come again.

The ServiceTask team can’t really help with the performance side of things, but we can definitely help with the back-end of the office. Making sure that the business is running smoothly with easy job scheduling, customer tracking, and all other features that ServiceTask offers will definitely help you run your business better which will in turn result in a better reputation for your business. We respond instantly to e-mails, phone calls, comments and messages on our social media platforms, etc. because having our customers trust us is our top priority! Contact us today.

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Now Introducing...ServiceTask Mobile Web App and Quickbooks Integration Online!

ServiceTask is constantly hard at work to meet the needs of its customers. Satisfaction is important to us and we take pride in keeping our customers happy. ServiceTask has introduced a web application and Quickbooks online integration.

Web apps combine the power of the Internet with the simplicity of Multi-touch technology, all on your device. Smartphones let you easily flick through your apps with a finger tap. Once you add the app to your phone screen, the ServiceTask mobile web app brings convenience to service contractors that are out on the field, needing constant access to their scheduling and customer information. Get it now! Check out the Help section! There is also a QR code you can scan!

Although we introduced Quickbooks Integration for desktop a few weeks ago, we realized that customers also needed to be able to integrate online so, the ServiceTask team went to work! With Quickbooks Online Integration, you save even more time with anytime, anywhere access to your data. Make sure to visit our Help section for step by step details.

[servicetask-blog]

Studies Show: There are Different Types of Entrepreneurs

There are certain characteristics that are found in self-made men that are not found in other men. Do you notice the characterisitics? Creativy? Tenacity? A head for numbers? A nose for deals? SBA.gov defines an entrepreneur as “a person who organizes and manages a business undertaking, assuming the risk for the sake of a profit”. See the opportunity. Make a plan. Start a business. Manage the business. Receive the profits. That sounds easy!

What type of entrepreneur are you? Check out these categories.

1. Heart _ Passionate, Big Picture, Founding Visionaries that may not necessarily make rational and research-based decisions. Ex: Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder.

2. Gut _ Seek out uncertain business ventures with the possibility for high reward (risk takers) or are capable at managing situations with heavy consequence (risk tolerators). Ex: Richard Branson, Virgin..

3. Luck _ Strategically expose themselves to luck by developing strong connections with a group of people and having an optimistic look at life to be able to take advantage of opportunities. Ex: Tony Hsieh, Zappos.

4. Smarts _ Rational, Makes decisions based on facts, Sets Goals, Delegates Responsibility, and knows how to hold people accountable. Ex: Warren Buffett, Billionaire Investor.

Take an aptitude test to learn what kind of leader you are!

[servicetask-blog]

Now Introducing...ServiceTask E-mail Reminders!

Here at ServiceTask, we never stop innovating and making your life easier. ServiceTask now allows users to send e-mail reminders for job appointments to customers!

Users are now able to set custom e-mails with the company name, customer name, date, time, and details of the job.

With the e-mail reminder settings, users are able to set what date or deadline they would like to send the e-mail by, and the frequency (repeat, week, day, hour, etc.).

E-mail reminders are sent to the customer’s first e-mail address, and from the e-mail users set in their company information. The customer has to have an e-mail address in ServiceTask in order for the -mail to be successfully sent.

Visit our Help Center for more details and step by step instruction to use the e-mail reminder tool! Do not hesitate to contact us about questions at [email protected] or call us at  1-888-536-8275.

ServiceTask provides for all your job scheduling and customer tracking needs.