No matter how big or small your company is right now, sooner or later you’ll find your business has grown significantly, and this is a time to get the workflow automated. Once you face this problem, the search for a required solution begins.
As James Ross, a mobile computer support business owner, started looking for a system to generate invoices remotely, he faced typical problems: traditional apps didn’t fit his requirements and none of the online services corresponded to his business structure. It seemed that there is no suitable solution exists until James came across TeamDesk:
"Almost everything can be automated so I don’t have to pay more office staff as the business keeps growing. As a business, we can concentrate on delivering computer support and not get consumed with office procedures. Way to go TeamDesk, you’re making us look like heroes".
Apart from invoices, TeamDesk became really handy for project status and payments tracking, improving employees accountability. As the business goes on, its model keeps evolving too. Being a business model reflection, the application structure has to adapt to these constant changes:
"It’s evolving every day. As a business need arises I figure out a way to make it happen in TeamDesk. The flexibility is fantastic".
Not only TeamDesk-based application improves business process. It simplified technicians’ life as well, allowing them to concentrate on supporting their customers instead of losing their time on the business commute.
"The customer loves it because it’s all so professional. The tech love it because they don’t have to come into the office anymore and I love it because I don’t have to pay anyone to handle the invoices or double handle the information".
The initial Application has significantly evolved as it keeps matching an ever changing business model, and became integrated into the whole business process.
That story was written almost 4 years ago. Its now 2012 and we are still using Teamdesk heavily to manage our business. The application, now called “That Computer Guy – Business Manager” continues to grow with us. Five years ago we needed to automate the invoicing which is still in use today but now the app does much more. Booking jobs into the calendar, texting the customers at any stage of the job cycle is old news. Now teamdesk automatically follows up on unpaid accounts, reminds us to check in with quiet customers and even suggests what to say with email and call scripting templates. With a little outside help we push our emails into Teamdesk to create a complete history of our comunication with the customer… our “little” invoicing program isn’t so little anymore and its actually evolving into our own Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). Last year I trialed system after system to enhance our sales processes. We looked at Saleforce, SugarCRM, Solve360, and even Zoho. All excellent products but I didn’t want most of the things they offer or have to work out how to migrate the data from one system to another… I like our system! I kept coming back to Teamdesk to see if I could make work. The biggest problem was getting the emails into the “email” table but once we worked it out we were off and running and making it our own again. Sure it can be a puzzle but there is usually a way if you think about it long enough.
Last year we started offering Managed Services. (complete IT for a monthly fee). We now monitor over 130 computers in the field. Teamdesk helps us track the time we perform on each computer and it automatically includes the value of the work with each invoice. The client can see they are getting value for money and I don’t have to stress that work is not getting billed. All our techs have to do is log the work and Teamdesk does the rest. The customer can see exactly what they have saved every month. I can’t imagine how long that would take if we had to do it manually for every customer.
The amount of administration Teamdesk does for us everyday is enormous. The more I can make it do the less I have to pay (or teach) someone else to do it. The team loves it because they only have to ask for something to be improved and it gets done because everything is inhouse.
In the near future I plan to put more stucture into the sales process by introducing a pipeline so our technicians don’t have to learn the sales process. Their sales tasks will be automatically placed in thier daily workflow.
Our business manager doesn’t make mistakes and it never sleeps. The funtionality has evolved over the years and not once have I seen the support staff at Foresoft drop below excellent.
This product has really helped us get things done over the last four years, I can’t help but wonder what it will help us do in the next four.
Jamie