Ben Yackshaw | Tuesday, February 9, 2016Winter has officially arrived! Right now every one of your customers is struggling to weigh their personal comfort against their desire to avoid bankruptcy when the heating bill arrives. As an HVAC professional, you know that a programmable thermostat can go a long way towards establishing this balance. But how do you convince your customers to bite? Well, this handy infographic might help! To view the infographic, simply click the image below. To download the infographic, right click the image and select “Save link as…” You’re welcome to share this infographic with your customers, print it out, and distribute it in whatever way you’d like. Be sure to bookmark our blog for more helpful business tips!
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Thursday, January 21, 2016Many older Windows machines struggle to launch the SQL service required to use Smart Service after powering on or rebooting. Usually this happens when a computer or server’s startup process becomes too complex. A machine that attempts to start too many processes after booting will sometimes fail to launch all of them properly. Fortunately, there’s a simple series of steps to follow if this issue is affecting your Smart Service experience. 1. Open the start menu. 2. In the search bar, type “services.msc.” An item marked “services” will appear with a gear icon next to it. Click on this item. 3. In the resulting Services window, scroll down until you find “Sql Server (SMARTSERVICE)” 4. The status column will indicate […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Wednesday, January 20, 2016Spring! The time of flowers, rain, and the constant battle between the heater and the AC. Here are some other solutions to warm your home.
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Wednesday, January 6, 2016Smart Service has a brand new answer to the routing needs of the modern service company: Smart Routes! Add route optimization to the already-prolific scheduling, dispatching, equipment tracking, and invoicing abilities of Smart Service to reap some massive time and fuel savings. How does Smart Routes work? Easy. Simply assign jobs to an employee, pick a day, then press a button. Smart Routes then arranges jobs in the most logical, efficient manner available. This module puts your business on autopilot! Like every one of Smart Service’s features, Smart Routes fits around the specific, individual needs of a service company. It all depends on how you’ve chosen to run your business. If you like, you can set a hard limit on […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Thursday, November 19, 2015For businesses with a single warehouse or location, managing inventory is a relatively straightforward process. For the service companies of the world, things aren’t so simple. Most start with a centralized warehouse or office, then compound the complexity with a fleet of vehicles. After making and receiving a parts order, it’s sometimes tricky to track which truck or building items end up on/in. This is precisely why Smart Service’s Multi-Truck Inventory module is so cool. For service companies that need to track multiple, distinct inventories, there’s no better tool. Check out our brand new demonstration video to learn how it works: If your service company is looking for a better means of handling inventory, consider requesting a demo of the Multi-Truck Inventory […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Tuesday, November 10, 2015We’re firmly entrenched in autumn, and that means only one thing: winter is coming. If you’re an HVAC company, you know that this is your last chance to get your customers ready for the wintery weather ahead. The best way to do this? Preventative maintenance! Now is the time to sell as many PM contracts as possible, and the Smart Service team has created a great tool to help you do precisely this. Our informative infographic makes the case for preventative maintenance as sound financial planning. Feel free to download this infographic and share it with your customer base in any way you like. One of the goals of the Smart Service blog is to function as an all-around resource […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Wednesday, November 4, 2015When setting a service schedule, it’s possible to run across a job that simply cannot be scheduled right away. Sometimes, the job calls for specific weather conditions or backordered parts. If you don’t have a good system for handling these scenarios, finding a good time to do these jobs quickly becomes a nightmare. Panic at the scheduler can mean lost revenue, and even worse, lost trust. This is where the right service scheduling software can make a huge difference. Smart Service eliminates any margin for error through its handy waiting list feature. When a customer requests a service that can’t be scheduled right away (or when a previously scheduled job needs to be reset), the job can be added to Smart Service’s […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Friday, October 23, 2015Most service businesses put a lot of time and money into building and maintaining their websites. If this effort weren’t already enough, many companies continue to pour money into marketing campaigns and SEO strategies in an effort to constantly drive traffic to their digital domains. Oftentimes, a website can feel like a money pit. After making so hefty an investment in yours, it’s important to get some return on all those hard-earned dollars. Enter Smart Leads. Smart Leads gives service businesses of all shapes and specializations the ability to turn website traffic into revenue. Check out this brief demonstration video to get an idea of how it works: Smart Leads ties a service request form on your website to the […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Tuesday, September 8, 2015The ability to use a card reader to collect payments in the field is indispensable to small businesses, but businesses collecting payments in this manner should be aware of a major change credit card providers are about to unleash. To combat credit card fraud, all major credit card manufacturers have been mailing replacement cards equipped with EMV chips to consumers. These cards purportedly offer a more secure means of transaction. While any existing card reader should be able to process these new cards, a coming shift in credit card company policy should prompt your business to upgrade to a reader with the ability to read EMV chips: Starting October 1, the liability for incidents of credit card fraud will shift […]
Read More Ben Yackshaw | Friday, August 21, 2015With the rapid advancement of mobile technology, several hardware options have emerged for collecting credit/debit card payments in the field. The ability to process electronic payments on-site is a great way to instill your customers with a sense of your company’s professionalism and credibility. When asked, there are a few payment collection options our product specialists recommend. Square – Possibly the most recognizable name in the card collection game, small businesses everywhere use Square to process payments every day. It’s easy to see why. Square has no up-front cost or subscription fee. Instead, the service keeps 2.75% of every transaction. When coupled with an iPad, users can enjoy an expanded feature set, making Square a great option to pair with our iFleet […]
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