It’s a fact that simple administration tasks consume around a third of the overall working week for most small to medium-sized businesses including electricians, plumbers, facilities managers. Paperwork wastes time and can hinder the potential growth of a business.
Across the 1.1 million businesses that work on an appointment basis, there is an awful lot of time wasted due to managing bookings as well as interruptions caused by customer queries. It may come as a surprise to know that both of those conditions can be automated to save time.
Across all the SME’s (Small to Medium Enterprise) within the United Kingdom, a shocking 20 million minutes are spent each and every day dealing with simple administration tasks. On average, up to a staggering 5 minutes can be spent coordinating and making alterations to each individual booking, this kind of time wastage is unacceptable, especially as it can be dealt with efficiently using the right technology.
The FSB revealed in a recent study that around 12 days per year are wasted with tax administration. Again, this is another factor where time, and therefore money, can be saved.
For businesses such as electricians who run on an appointment based structure, it does have a huge effect when customers fail to keep booked appointments. It’s a huge hindrance, and cause businesses a lot of wasted time and money throughout the course of a year. It’s estimated that across the country, 40 million minutes are consumed in clients no-shows and coordination mishaps.
The NHS is a prime example and has been estimated to lose around £700 million per annum due to missed appointments alone. It goes to show that whether a business is large or small, none can escape the lost time and money resulting from customers missing appointments and then the re-coordination of appointments after.
For most SME’s, hiring a personal assistant or receptionist can become a huge financial burden, especially for smaller businesses. With the average salary of around £24,600 per annum, hiring an assistant just isn’t possible, and that is where alternatives such as online booking and job management systems which take away a large chunk of the admin can become very attractive.
Gerry So, Okappy says
Small businesses spend too much time on managing bookings, customer no-shows and needless admin, which is limiting the time they can actually invest in growing their business and getting more customers.
Online job management systems can mitigate high costs of hiring PAs and money lost on missed appointments – it’s really about providing local businesses with the opportunity to thrive.
Small to medium businesses alike spend far too much time on needless administration tasks such as reorganising and managing appointments, as well as dealing with customers who just failed to keep to their appointment. All these factors work together in limiting time and resources that could be used more productively in expanding a customer base and helping a business grow.
Making use of efficient systems can aid small businesses such as electricians in improving job and time management. Making use of systems to aid in the day-to-day running of a business can really help reduce paperwork and free up time for more important tasks. The following are some systems that can help cut costs and lower time wastage.
The main aim of any business should be to cut costs where possible, save time and then become more profitable.
Making use of such technologies as job management and online bookings can really help businesses both large and small to thrive. Therefore, allowing companies to focus on the important things such as improving customer service. The money that is saved can be used to expand the business and help fuel growth.
The current economy is looking positive and can help businesses to expand, but it’s essential that businesses become more streamlined and efficient. A great start would be by eliminating the various time and cost wasting factors discussed, then businesses can really make the most of these savings and grasp even more opportunities to grow.
Find out more about AutoAlert Job Sheet Software and how it can help you avoid missed appointments.
0207 099 5698