Too many separate systems? Here’s how to avoid having to switch between them

Having too many separate systems may seem harmless whilst your business is small. But a standalone quotation package, a calendar, a chat service and Excel files mean you end up entering the same customer details over and over again. Work gets stuck right in between those programmes.

You don’t just notice this in the time spent on admin. The customer notices it too when they have to repeat their story, a quote takes longer to arrive, or a technician sets off with the wrong information. So the problem isn’t that your programmes are bad. They simply don’t know what’s happening in the other programmes.

Why do standalone programmes create extra work for a business?

Each standalone programme requires its own action. A request comes in via email or chat. You then create a contact, enter the details into your quotation programme and schedule a visit in your diary. After the job is done, the technician writes up a work order, which someone in the office then processes into an invoice.

These steps may seem minor, but they add up. Especially if you’re receiving phone calls in the meantime, are out on site or working with several colleagues. It’s easy for something to get left behind between two systems.

The same information often appears in these places:

• the customer’s name, address and contact details;
• dimensions, requirements and agreements from the enquiry;
• quotation details, prices and VAT;
• date, location and tasks for the fitter;
• hours, materials and additional work for the invoice.

Every handover also carries a risk of discrepancies. For example, the quotation may specify a different scope of work to the work order. Or the fitter may have noted down extra materials, but these do not appear on the invoice. This isn’t always a major mistake. But all in all, it costs time, profit margin and peace of mind.

Where do duplicate data entries and errors occur?

Take an installer who receives a request for work from a private customer. The customer sends a message via WhatsApp with an address and a brief description. The business owner enters this information into his diary for a site visit, later draws up a quotation in a different programme and sends the technician a separate work order.

After the job is done, the hours and materials are listed on that work order. Someone in the office looks up the quotation, types the details into the invoice and tries to work out exactly what additional work was carried out. If the customer then rings, the person who answers the phone first has to search through WhatsApp, the diary and various documents.

This is where customer work gets stuck between systems:

• A message may have been read, but no task or appointment has been created from it.
• The quotation has been updated, but the work order still contains the old details.
• The technician notes down additional work, but the administration only sees it days later.
• An invoice is left unprocessed because the paper receipt is still in the post.
• A colleague cannot answer a question because the background information is in a personal email inbox or on a mobile phone.

This doesn’t mean you’re being careless. Stand-alone programmes simply require a new transfer every time. And every transfer depends on someone remembering to do it at the right moment.

How does a continuous workflow of quotation, work order and invoice work?

A better way of working starts with a single customer file. This brings together contact details, conversations, notes, appointments, quotations, invoices and work orders. So whoever speaks to the customer can see what has been agreed previously. Find out how you can manage customer data centrally if you want to spend less time searching and asking for information.

You continue working from that customer file. If you schedule an appointment, it remains linked to the same customer. If you create a quotation, the details are already there. If the quotation is accepted, the quotation lines can be transferred to a work order or draft invoice.

For businesses that both sell and carry out work, this chain is particularly important:

1. An enquiry or conversation is linked to a contact.
2. You draw up a quotation with the agreed terms and prices.
3. Once approved, you convert the quotation into a work order for the job.
4. The technician records hours worked, materials used, photos and, if necessary, a signature.
5. The completed work order becomes a draft invoice, which you check and send.

This means you don’t have to start from scratch every time. The data is carried over, whilst you can still check at any time whether anything needs adjusting. You can read more about this practical step under ‘Converting a quote into an invoice or work order’.

Klantly brings together customers, quotations, appointments, work orders, invoices and customer communications in a single environment. As a result, a quotation is not just a document, but also the starting point for carrying out the work and invoicing. This reduces the need for retyping without you losing control.

Which administrative tasks can you automate without losing control?

Automating administrative tasks doesn’t mean everything has to be sent out without your involvement. Often, it’s actually smarter to let the system do the preparatory work, whilst you or a colleague reviews the content.

Think of a confirmation following an enquiry, a reminder for an appointment or a task when a quotation has not yet been accepted. Invoices past their due date can also be flagged with a reminder. You decide on the action and the timing yourself.

This brings peace of mind, particularly with recurring tasks. You no longer need to remember which quote you wanted to follow up on this week or which customer still needed an appointment confirmation. For follow-ups that require a personal touch, automation can simply create a task rather than sending a standard message.

Does that mean you have to integrate or replace all your systems?

No. Not everything needs to be in a single programme. An accounting package, for example, serves its own purpose, particularly for purchase invoices, depreciation and full bookkeeping. Klantly does provide a VAT summary for the sales side, but it is no substitute for your accountant or accounting package.

Similarly, a fully-fledged online shop is still quite different from a form that allows customers to put together a product and pay straight away. If you have thousands of items or need extensive online shop features, a specialised system remains the logical choice.

The question is therefore not: which programme should be scrapped? The better question is: where am I re-entering the same data, and where do I have to keep searching for the latest figures? That’s where the benefit lies. Anything that needs to remain outside your core workflow can be passed on via an integration where necessary. This way, you minimise the number of silos, without blindly replacing existing tools.

Would you like to see which steps in your customer process are currently being duplicated? Get started for free and discover, with no obligation, what Klantly can do for your business.