HINTS & TIPS
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 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.
The lesson
Is there a lesson here for installers?
The answer is yes. While installers
can look to designers, manufacturers
and others for technological advances
in their product catalogues, there
is another direction to look in order
to grow your business and beat the
competition when it comes to modern
advancements.
Where technology can help
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 certification,
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 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.
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.
www.powerednow.com
JUL/AUG 2019
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