What are your ST responsibilities?

[KhianaKlatt]

Hello Canadian Users! 👋 

We have a new group member @Dave who is looking for some help.

"I'd like to know what other peoples ST responsibilities are as well their techs-office staff ratio.  We currently have 12 techs and 3 office staff + owner. Having never used anything like this before, I find I have no baseline.  No comparative data."

If you have a moment, could you please comment below and offer him some information about how your company works so he has an idea. Thank you in advance for helping our fellow community member out! 😀 

[KhianaKlatt · Accepted solution]

@Dave Currently, our HVAC company has 4 technicians and 2 office staff. Our owner works as a technician but also has office work to complete as well. 

Each technician has a phone and an iPad that they can use ST on. They clock in and out, dispatch, arrive to jobs, close out of jobs, build and send estimates, make phone calls, send invoices, add job summaries, attach photos and documents to location profiles, add equipment to profiles, etc through ST. We are starting to set up our inventory now and to use it more so they will also be receiving items in inventory. They can use pricebook to look up materials. They have access to the content portal as well and use it regularly. 

Our owner uses ST to send estimates and to follow up on his estimates. He helps with some of our pricebook. He makes calls and sends texts through ST. He creates estimate templates for us. He adds important files to our content portal. 

Our office manager @mirdesch handles our warranty claims and all of our accounting. Our time sheets are through ST so he uses this for our pay. She also uses ST to process some customer payments and to keep track of our memberships. She is our tech person and ensures everyone's ST and software is up to date on their devices. She helps train the employees on how to use ST. She makes calls and chats with customers through ST.

I am the main CSR and dispatcher. In regards to ST I clock in and and out with it, book calls, reclassify abandoned calls, add recurring services to customers, sell memberships, follow up on unsold estimates, book in recurring services, merge locations/customers, create purchase orders, receive purchase orders, add/edit items in pricebook, call/text vendors/suppliers, etc. 

Each person kind of has their own role and we help each other out when necessary - especially during busy season! Everyone has ST training and we recommend completing the online modules that suit that employee's role within the company. I think each company will be different in their office staff-tech ratio depending on how they are set up.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂 

[Dave]

The fact you took the time to type this out means more than....well, it means a lot. 

We're having "one of those days" today and I am in a rant & rave kinda mood. Your response helped provide a bit of perspective.  I hate that thoughtfulness and kindness have caught me off guard. 

I hope you buy a scratch ticket tonight.  Gotta good feeling......

[KhianaKlatt]

AWE this comment made my morning. Thank you so very much for the kind words! Honestly, I made this group because I want to be able to help others. That's why I am here. If you ever have anymore questions, never hesitate to reach out. I hope today is a better day for you! Sending positive thoughts your way and wishing you nothing but the best! 😊 

[MirandaMel]

I have worked in a couple places that are very opposite.  One had max 3 office staff and up to 20 techs.  Another company had 5-7 office staff with about 20-25 techs.  It varies quite a bit based on your volume, the type of crews you have and their capabilities.  Along with utilizing a number of ways that your customers can contact you...that helps ease the phone volume.

[Dave]

I am VERY interested to learn how 20 techs on tablets goes....lol. 

[KhianaKlatt]

Yes, I also agree with utilizing a variety of communication methods. If customers can chat in or email - it reduces the number of calls each day. I also agree that the ratio varies from company to company. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!