New technology is helping Cheshire based Boilercare 24/7 to smash it’s million pound revenue target by the end of 2017.
The company has rolled out BigChange’s Mobile Workforce and Job Management Platform across its plumbing operation and combines cloud based back-office CRM, job scheduling, a paperless mobile app for engineers and real-time tracking of vehicles.
Boilercare’s founder Alastair Barton was formerly a property developer and used to think that plumbers were his nemesis stating:“Wherever I went, plumbers were my problem – they didn’t turn up, when it was cold they wouldn’t answer my phone, they disappeared for days on end and would just re-appear as if you hadn’t called them twenty times.” This led to a lightbulb moment in 2010 when Alastair saw an opportunity to deliver a superior service across Sandbach, Cheshire and South Manchester. Starting with a team of three in 2010, the plumbing business now has fourteen employees and aims to double in size over the next two years.To realise its ambitious expansion plans, Boilercare deployed BigChange’s JobWatch system that allows back-office users to plan, manage, schedule and track work effectively including planned maintenance and urgent reactive work. In the back-office, the system is enabling planners to respond faster to customers and is intelligently allocating work orders based on real-time engineer availability, skills, live location and parts stock. This is significantly increasing productivity; minimising customer wait time and driving first time fix at competitive cost. The integrated CRM is also providing customers with a joined-up experience, thanks to automated job booking confirmations, service reminders, ETA updates on the day of service and electronic quotation and invoicing.
According to Boilercare’s founder Alastair, the new paperless technology is revolutionising the plumbing sector:“Businesses like ours were previously overrun with paperwork; job-sheets, timesheets, sales invoices, purchase invoices and the rest. We literally had filing cabinets full of documents. Now everything is safely, securely and paperlessly backed up in the cloud and we can look back at anything on demand. The beauty of the BigChange system is that everything is in one place. Before you had to have a separate diary and jobs system, a tracking system, a CRM system and something for invoicing and quotes. You’d be crazy to work between all those separate pieces of kit. With BigChange everything is all in one place and its integrated, so we really have found Utopia.”Boilercare’s team of Plumbers benefit from an easy to use Android mobile app. They start their day by completing an electronic timesheet and vehicle check, before instantly accessing job information. Integrated sat-nav with live traffic ensures the best route is taken and customers receive proactive updates by text and email. On arrival, the app allows team members to create instant quotes and guides them step by step through job-specific workflows. Users can search for parts and add them instantly to the job. Proof-of-service is instantly relayed to the back office and the system generates invoices, custom reports, Gas Safety certificates, legal documents and fully branded job-cards that are automatically shared via a customer’s booking portal or via email.
Alastair continued:“The system has freed up my time to focus on growing the business, with the comfort factor that my team have a robust management system in place ensuring we are consistently delivering the kind of service that builds loyalty and customer recommendations. Ultimately I can enjoy a holiday with my family without worrying that the wheels are going to fall off the bus. It’s also enabling us to take on bigger projects – such as big multi-unit installations for some of the national housebuilders. That has put us in a different league,”Martin Port, founder and CEO of BigChange said:“It’s great to work with Alastair and the Boilercare team, we love working with such progressive businesses that are customer focused and really harness the benefits of our technology. Like for so many of our customers, the BigChange system is the catalyst for growth as it helps companies maintain quality and improve productivity.”
