Mobile IT, telematics and cloud drive 40% growth at Flow Free Drainage
Flow Free Drainage has deployed new tracking, mobile worker and cloud technology as part of a paperless system that connects mobile apps to back-office management software. With the JobWatch system from BigChange, Flow Free has achieved 40% annual growth with an actual reduction in office administration resources.
The 5 in 1 BigChange solution combines customer service (CRM), job scheduling and invoicing software with real-time vehicle tracking and smartphone apps. With a fleet of 18 vehicles and a team of field service engineers covering mainly the South East of England, Flow Free maintain and repair drainage systems.
Flow Free are part of Property Consortium Drainage, a network of drainage specialists undertaking insurance-related work. Operating 24/7 year-round, Flow Free work to stringent Service Level Agreements with guaranteed fast response times dealing with burst pipes, blocked drains and leaks causing disruption and damage to premises. Based on the Hertfordshire-Essex border, the company also has national contracts with major retailers and land owners.
“BigChange provides us with a single system to manage the entire business digitally, from the initial call out to invoicing and management reporting. It really has revolutionised the way we work and had a very significant impact on our efficiency and productivity.” says Steven Cornelius, managing director of Flow Free Drainage. “We started using JobWatch 18 months ago and last year we grew the business by 40%; even though we actually reduced numbers of staff in the office.”
Using the BigChange back-office Flow Free log incoming calls on the CRM for optimised scheduling of the most suitable resource by skill, equipment and location. JobWatch has also helped speed up quotations and invoicing. As Job Sheets are completed by engineers onsite, the office is immediately notified of any additional service requirements and quotations are raised with 24 hours; less if the material requirements are simple.
“Being real-time and paperless, JobWatch has dramatically reduced administrative work. Five or six people used to be tied up managing jobs, generating quotes and invoices manually. Now we can deal with typically 60 jobs a day with just two people involved. That frees up time for customer service and sales work and is central to our plans to grow the business,” says Cornelius. “Things are just better controlled and quicker; one client couldn’t believe we could actually send out an invoice within an hour of the job being completed!”
BigChange tracking devices are also providing valuable data to reduce fuel consumption through better job planning, route optimisation and better driving. Flow Free use BigChange to monitor driving performance with a reward for the best driver each month. This has led to a 25% improvement in driving and less accidents, leading to lower insurance premiums.
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