Clearview National August 2019 - Issue 213 | Page 88

BUSINESSADVICE
How to be a winner using tech
In May 1997 a little-known company called Amazon floated on the US Nasdaq
stock exchange at a price of $18. The Amazon share price reached a high of
$2,012 last year, when it became the most valuable company in world.
» » AMAZON, ABOVE ALL ELSE, HAS WHERE TECHNOLOGY CAN HELP
been taking advantage of the business benefits
that technology can bring. They started just
selling books and then added CDs. Today
they are not only responsible for 50% of all
ecommerce sales in the USA. They are also
the biggest supplier of technical “cloud”
infrastructure in the world. They have left many
of the giants, including Microsoft and IBM,
wallowing in the dust behind them.
The point of this story is simple. Technology
may have fits and starts but ultimately can
make a huge difference to entire industries.
Those that ignore it end up missing out. To
start up an installation business, you need
to be great at the job as well as having a
good business head. But if you are to grow
your business, the key skills needed change.
Benjamin Dyer of Powered Now looks at
the role of tech in helping your business to
succeed. Historically, word of mouth has been
a huge factor in getting business. Today,
that is complemented by social media and
business web sites. But this is no longer at
the cutting edge. And any impact in using
technology for marketing is blunted by the
amount of business that still comes from
recommendations.
A more important area for technology is
both winning and retaining business. Research
has shown just how irritated consumers are
by the effort to get quotes from installers
and other trade businesses. Producing good
looking quotes fast is a classic application of
technology. You can dictate notes into your
phone which can be automatically turned into
text and then go onto your quote. Quotes
can be emailed or sent at the touch of a
button and acceptance received electronically.
This can all scratch just where your customer
itches.
Then there is complying with regulation,
whether it be Gas Safe, Health and Safety
or Making Tax Digital (MTD). These are
increasingly forcing computerisation on the
industry and HMRC have even more far-
reaching plans for MTD in the works. The
great thing about today’s technology is that
keeping information secure can be guaranteed
THE LESSON
Is there a lesson here for installers? The
answer is yes. While installers can look to
the boiler manufacturers and others for
smart thermostats, self-diagnosing boilers
and more, there is another direction to look
in order to grow your business and beat the
competition.
and means that the same information that is
used to raise quotes, jobs and invoices can
also be used to comply with regulation.
In fact, probably the biggest area where
technology can help is simply keeping you in
control of your growing business, scheduling
staff and raising all paperwork. Everything held
in one place electronically. It can then quickly
be accessed from the smartphone in your
pocket as well as any desktop computer or
tablet. There’s no faffing around with paper
copies and no duplication of effort. It’s not
surprising that the fastest growing companies
all use systems to keep on top of their work.
INSTALLATION BUSINESSES
Historically installers didn’t use systems
maybe because they were technology averse,
and definitely because the solutions weren’t
mobile and didn’t do anything special for the
trade. In the last few years there has been an
enormous change. This has come from many
new tablet and smartphone-based apps.
The field trade industry has probably
had proportionately less computer systems
deployed than almost any other business
area. Although there were good reasons for
this, those reasons are now gone. Installers
finally have the chance to share in the benefits
that other businesses have been enjoying for
years.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Technology drives business. The arrival of
printing changed the world. Now there is
new technology that allows everything about
your business to be available in your pocket.
The risk of not getting on the bandwagon
is rising, just as the benefits are becoming
clearer.
www.powerednow.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Benjamin Dyer is CEO and co-founder of Powered Now.
Powered Now’s mobile apps make it easier for installers,
builders and other trades to manage their businesses.
88 » AUG 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M