Managing maintenance contracts without missing any service appointments

A spreadsheet containing maintenance contracts often starts off well-organised. Until it contains dozens of customers, someone forgets to update a row, or a reminder gets lost in a personal diary. You can only manage maintenance contracts effectively if you record, for each customer, what needs to be done and when.

This is important because periodic maintenance doesn’t have a natural trigger. No new request comes in, and the customer usually only calls when there’s a fault. Without a fixed process, a service appointment therefore quickly becomes something to be done ‘when things are quieter’.

Why are maintenance visits so often forgotten?

With a new job, there’s pressure: a quote, an appointment or a handover date. Maintenance works differently. When the work is carried out, you agree to return next year or in two years’ time, but after that, that agreement fades into the background.

A loose list or diary works as long as one person remembers everything. But that person might be out and about, off sick, on holiday or busy with work that needs to be finished today. And as soon as several colleagues are helping customers, nobody is sure who’s going to handle the next service call.

You often only realise the consequences too late:

• A customer rings up themselves because maintenance should have been carried out months ago.
• You miss out on turnover that’s particularly welcome during quiet periods.
• A mechanic has to be squeezed in at the last minute between other appointments.
• It’s difficult to track the history of previous inspections, materials used and points for attention.

Planning maintenance is therefore more than just putting a date in your diary. You want to know which jobs are due, for which customer, at what intervals, and what was done last time.

How do you create a maintenance schedule for each customer?

Don’t start with a long annual list containing only names and dates. Record the maintenance appointment directly with the customer. That way, the schedule remains linked to the customer’s details, previous work orders and the information a technician needs.

Determine a logical interval for each type of maintenance. This could be annually, every two years or otherwise, depending on what you provide and agree upon. Also specify which tasks and checklist items are required for the next service.

A useful maintenance schedule should always include:

• the customer and the address where the work is to be carried out;
• the interval and the date on which the next service is due;
• the tasks that need to be carried out;
• a checklist for the technician;
• the tools or materials you usually use;
• notes and photos from previous visits.

This means a colleague doesn’t have to search through old emails or paper receipts first. They can immediately see what has been checked previously and any specific issues relating to this customer. Furthermore, by recording appointments and customer information centrally, you prevent that knowledge from being tied to a single employee. That is precisely the benefit of centrally managing customer data.

Why does having a work order ready on time help?

A date on a list does not in itself constitute a completed maintenance job. The work must reach the right person on time, with enough information to prepare properly for the visit.

In Klantly, you can turn a completed work order into a recurring maintenance schedule. You set the interval, and the rules and checklist from that order become the starting point for the next time. As the date approaches, Klantly creates a new work order that’s ready to be scheduled.

This prevents you from having to start from scratch every year. The technician has a clear work order with the standard checkpoints. On site, they can add hours and materials, take photos and have the customer sign off. The completed work order can then be converted into a draft invoice, without having to retype any details. Find out what should be included on a digital work order.

Important: an automatically generated work order does not schedule a technician to visit the customer without prior consultation. It is simply ready, so you decide when to get in touch and which time suits the customer’s diary.

Example: annual maintenance of sun blinds

Suppose: a sunblind company has installed external sunblinds for a customer and offers annual maintenance. During the first maintenance visit, the technician checks the mounting, operation and wear and tear, takes photographs and notes any parts replaced on the work order.

Once completed, the office team uses that work order to create a maintenance schedule with an annual interval. The checklist and standard procedures are carried over to the next service.

Around the next due date, a new work order is automatically generated. The planner rings or emails the customer to arrange a suitable time and books the technician in. During the visit, the technician can see on his phone what was done last year and any comments made.

Afterwards, they simply add any details that are different this time. Hours worked, materials used, photos and the signature are immediately available to the customer. This means that service is no longer dependent on a spreadsheet that someone just happens to open.

Where do planning and customer contact remain a human task?

A system can remember when maintenance is due. It can prepare a work order with the correct basic information. But it doesn’t determine whether maintenance makes sense for each customer at that particular time, or which route is most convenient for your technicians.

Customer contact also remains your responsibility. Some customers want to book an appointment well in advance. Others need to be phoned first because their situation has changed. When it comes to complex scheduling involving multiple technicians, materials or a fixed sequence, you still make the decisions.

It does, however, help if your calendar and appointments are linked to your customers. You can then schedule a maintenance appointment directly from the contact record, and the customer receives a confirmation and a reminder. You can find out more about this under ‘Appointments and Planning’. This also reduces the chance of a technician turning up to find the door locked.

The key is simple: let the system remember what needs to be done next, but retain control over contact, capacity and execution yourself. That way, planning periodic maintenance becomes a standard procedure rather than a recurring list of worries.

Would you like to find out, with no obligation, how Klantly can bring together maintenance, work orders and customer data for your business? Get started for free