Is your landscaping business growing by leaps and bounds? Do you spend the majority of your weekend doing payroll, paying taxes, and doing customer service tasks?
If you’re starting to hire more employees and you feel like you’re working 24/7, then it’s time to outsource some of the back office job tasks to a contractor or purchase software that completes some of the administrative functions for you.
Why Outsource the Back Office?
The internet’s evolution has included mobile apps and software that keeps you organized. As your company starts to grow, you may only be able to invest in landscaping software until you hire a person to administer those duties.
While you may hesitate to hire someone remotely, you can find people in your local community who’ll be trustworthy and shave time off your work duties. Many folks run accounting, bookkeeping, and web design businesses near you.
You can also hire a virtual assistant to provide customer support, take phone messages and oversee your CRM (customer relationship management).
For example, Pink Callers specializes in field services, including the green industry. Its motto, “Rockstars for Your Home Service Business,” sums up its customer service vision. Pink Callers works with the best landscaping software to streamline your back office duties even more.
Here are other job tasks that you can farm out to local providers or virtual ones:
- Bookkeepers
- Content writers
- Graphic designers
- IT specialists
- Marketing directors
- Web designers.
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You want to be able to trust the people you hire remotely. Realize you may need to pay more for quality work. Here are eight tips for finding the right fit for your company’s back office needs:
- Get to know your provider. Check out their Google reviews and customer feedback.
- Study their website and their LinkedIn profile.
- Ask your provider for work samples or a portfolio. Sometimes, you can find a portfolio on the contractor’s website.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions when talking with your provider. While you may ask some questions that you would use when interviewing a new hire, remember your relationship with your provider is a partnership. It’s not an employer-employee relationship.
- Meet with your provider a few times online or in person to know whether this will be a rewarding partnership.
- What services does your contractor provide? For example, your web designer may only work with builders.
- How long will a project take? Will it be a few weeks or a few months? How much time will you need to be available for this project?
- What is the provider’s experience or skill level? Do they have experience working with landscapers?
Landscaping Business Software
Software companies dedicated to lawn and landscaping have popped up over the past 10 years, particularly CRM software.
Read more: Upselling Your Lawn and Landscaping Service to Residential and Commercial Customers
What’s CRM software?
CRM software manages the following:
- Captures your customer and sales prospects’ data
- Keeps a record of all of your interactions with your customers and sales prospects
- Automates sales tracking, reporting, and forecasting
- Eradicates inaccurate record-keeping such as spreadsheets for sales
- Maintains one platform that everyone uses in your landscaping business
- Operates an accurate and up-to-date software management system.
Overall, CRM software keeps everyone accountable in the back office, including sales, bookkeeping, and other administrative duties, recording each person’s activities.
CRM software also allows you to scale your landscaping business when you add more employees to your company. Everyone must use the same software keeping your company streamlined and well-organized.
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Since CRM packages cover much of the back office tasks, you want a product that you can trust. Here are six characteristics of pro landscaping software:
- The software can be used across the board of devices, including desktops and laptops. Also, you should be able to hook up the software through apps on your mobile devices for workers out in the field.
- The software should be cloud-based.
- The CRM software should be easy-to-use for anyone accessing it.
- It should be customizable for each department using the software.
- It should retain communication by syncing your email provider to the program. The CRM software should also be able to capture calls.
- The CRM should track your leads and other sales reporting. You can trust the CRM’s reporting because it’s reliable and accurate.
Here’s a list of the best landscaping software:
Save time and your landscaping business’s success by outsourcing your back office tasks to specialists. Look into landscaping management software to see which products will meet your sales and other customer relationship duties efficiently and accurately.
Invest in a Spyker Spreader This Winter
If you’re a four-season landscaping business that provides snow and ice management, you need to add Spyker Spreaders to your fleet!
Consider our Ergo-Pro Spy50L – 2S 50# Ice Melt Winter Spreader with Variable Deflector that spreads ice melt efficiently and safely. Our Ergo-Pro Ice Melt Winter Spreader with Variable Deflector features these three benefits:
- Hi-Vis variable deflector for adjustable spread width
- Ergonomic adjustable handle
- Stainless steel carving blade for breaking up ice melt.
You can find our Spyker Spreaders at your local dealer or online at these retailers.
Have a question about your Spyker spreader? Then, call our customer service at (800)-972-6130 or fill out our contact form.
Sources:
BusinessNewsDaily.com, Effective Tips for Outsourcing Work to Drive Growth.
LawnandLandscape.com, Comfortable with CRM.
SoftwareAdvice.com, Landscaping Software.
Turf.com, Get Equipped: Business Software.
