If you are looking for the best software for your plumbing business, then this is just for you. I am going to walk through the three different options which are available.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that “Employment of plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters is projected to grow 16 percent from 2016 to 2026.” Knowing that business is projected to continue booming means you need to tackle your most common problems, whether you work in residential or commercial plumbing, the issues management faces are the same.
What are the most common issues facing the plumbing business?
- Hiring and training high quality, skilled employees
- Finding new clients and retaining them
- Collecting payments on time
- Creating a schedule that works for everyone
- Tracking employee’s working hours
- Ensure you’re pricing each job correctly
- Maintaining constant and updated communication with all mobile employees
With all of the above in mind, tackling these issues is a must if you want happy clients, happy employees, and a bank account that makes you happy too. What’s the best way to achieve all this and more? In our opinion, apps for plumbing contractors are best.
Benefits Of Mobile Apps For Plumbing Businesses
- Enhance Professional Skills
Everything is available on your employee’s smartphone, which includes all training materials, procedures, protocols, videos, and so on. This allows employees to build their professional skills at a pace that works for them so they can provide amazing customer satisfaction.
- Simple and Efficient Scheduling and Dispatching
A mobile app allows you to dispatch jobs or set recurring shifts, plus all employees have direct access to their upcoming schedule via their smartphone.
- Accurate Time Tracking
Almost all plumbing business software keeps clocking in and out simple, and there’s the added benefit that the employees’ GPS location is stamped so you can avoid buddy punching and time abuse.
- Engaging Internal Communication
Keep everyone on the same page by starting a chat or group chat so your employees are aware of updates and important announcements.
- Automate Daily Workflows
Transform all checklists, forms, and reports to digital so that your employees can fill them at any time from anywhere. With the click of a button, you can gain feedback from summary reports, daily logs, incident reports, equipment checklists, and much more.
- Easy To Use
Time is money in the plumbing business so you don’t have time to waste with complicated mobile apps for plumbers. That just defeats the purpose, find a solution that doesn’t require you to be tech-savvy, instead, it’s as simple as download and go.
We decided to look at what apps for plumbing contractors can benefit you most. It’s all about working smart, efficiently, and effectively but with so many options in the market, it can be a little hard to know where to start. So just take a look at the list we compiled, your workday is about to get a whole lot easier.
10 Best Mobile Apps for Plumbing Business
The best software for invoicing
Whether you’re in the field or office, you can send invoices, estimates, and handle customer management. With Invoice ASAP, you can also accept credit card payments and can charge clients a service fee. Customers can also digitally sign invoices and estimates from any location.
To improve customer satisfaction, you can add photos before, during, or after a job. Additionally, view the full customer summary on one screen, such as the balance due, invoices, and customer notes.
Price: Free. Connecteamhttps://player.vimeo.com/video/587389703?h=b4138c6921&dnt=1&app_id=122963
The best all-in-one plumbing management app
Connecteam is the leading plumbing management app that allows you to save time, earn more revenue, and streamline day-to-day processes. Just check out the list of robust features below on how this is possible:
- Efficient Time Tracking: Your team can clock in and out from their mobile phone, excluding breaks from paid time, collect each technicians’ location with GPS-stamps to avoid buddy punching and time abuse. Also, live geo-tracking capabilities with Breadcrumbs location updates can track your employees’ location throughout the day, with little effect on the employees’ mobile phone data plan or battery life.
- Scheduling and Dispatching: Plan and distribute your schedule and dispatching needs without the headache. Assign jobs in a click, drag & drop, use recurring templates, or open shifts up for grabs. Include shift information such as time, location, tasks, additional notes, and more to enhance consistency among technicians.
- Automate Daily Processes: Make all checklists, forms, and reports digital so they can be done while in the field. Gain feedback from summary reports, daily logs, incident reports, equipment checklists, and more on the go so you can make smarter business decisions.
- Professional Knowledgebase: All helpful information should be available on your employee’s phones, like installation tutorials, equipment manuals, safety policies, and more. The information can include training and onboarding materials, procedures, protocols, videos, and so on. This ensures your technicians can enhance their professional skills to deliver great customer service.
- Streamline Communication: Keep everyone on the same page so all techs are connected from field to office by starting a chat or group chat so your employees are aware of updates and important announcements, like a change in protocol, a new gig landed, COVID safety measures, and more.
- Task Management: Avoid back and forth phone calls with a true task management app so you can delegate tasks and be notified in real-time on their progress. Include all information like task descriptions, group tasks, subtasks, attach images and files, create due dates, etc. so your techs have everything they need to get the job done.
Price: Pricing is easy on the back pocket as it starts at just $39/month for up to 50 users. Try the free 14-day trial and then get started with the free plan to test the plumbing management app.https://www.youtube.com/embed/w6JDMeZmw6Q?feature=oembed
#1 Plumbing App To Increase Efficiency & Ops
14-day free trial, no credit card required!Get started for FREEGoogleKeep
The best task management software
GoogleKeep keeps you on track with its online checklist capabilities. Create a list and share it with your employees, friends, or family. It’s easy to add notes, lists, photos, and voice memos.
Color coordinate tasks and create unique labels that are topic-specific. GoogleKeep has location-based and time-based reminders so you and your team never miss a task. Access the checklists from your smartphone, tablet, or computer.
Price: Free with a Gmail account. Image Meter
The best measuring app
ImageMeter was created to help you define your photos with measures and notes, instead of those messy sketches that are way too difficult to understand. This measuring app puts the measurements straight into the photos you take. You can measure lengths, area, angles, circles, rectangles, and height points. It’s easy to export images as JPEG or PNG, or you can export an entire folder as PDFs or ZIPs.
Price: There is a limited version that is free or you can pay $4.99 one time to enjoy all features like unlimited measures. Flashlight (iOS)
The best “working at night” solution
Working in cramped and dark spaces can be brutal and even worse when you have to balance a bulky flashlight as you’re working. Instead, download the Flashlight app on your phone for super-bright lighting to make working in tricky areas an easier task. There is also White Light Flashlight for Android users.
Price: Free.Route4Me Route Planner
The best route finding solution
When you’re constantly on the move, aimlessly driving to your next job could hurt you as you’re wasting time just to get to the next location. All you need to do is type in, copy-and-paste, or upload your customer list. Then, choose how many drivers you have and click “optimize”. That’s all it takes to get the best, optimized route for you and your team. Route4Me saves you time and money so it’s a no-brainer to add this app for plumbing business to your daily operations.
Price: Pricing starts at $149/month and there is a free 7-day trial. BTU Calculator
The best plumbing and heating BTU calculator
When you need to estimate the cooling needs of a room or house, the BTU Calculator does it all for you. So if you’re wondering exactly what size radiator you need for that room, this plumbing business software tells you just that.
All you need to do is plug in the room dimensions, fill in the “Assumptions” category (such as wall type, flooring type, and which direction the room faces) and you will know exactly how many BTUs and watts it takes to heat the room.
Price: Free.QuickBooks for Plumbers
The best software to manage finances
Quickbooks is an easy to use finance management software for all business sizes. It’s simple to track expenses, create and send forms (like quotes, invoices, accounting reports, etc.), know your cash flow status, and more – the user-friendly dashboard makes it easy to understand your financial situation so you can focus on the big picture.
Price: Start a free 30-day trial and after, choose from a pricing plan: Simple Start ($15/month), Essentials ($23/month), or Plus ($31/month).RescueTime
The best app to track productivity
In the background of your smartphone or desktop, RescueTime tracks how long you spend on applications and websites. At the end of the day, you receive a detailed report of your activity so you know exactly how long each task took you – from answering emails to meetings to creating invoices to scrolling social media and so on. You know exactly how much time was wasted and how productive you actually were.
Price: RescueTime has a free for life plan for time management or the Premium plan costs $9/month (includes a 14 day free trial) and provides an in-depth review of your time.Pipe and Fitting
The best app for discovering measurements
Do you know the dimensions of the piping and accessories when you’re on the job? It can be a little difficult to calculate off the top of your head. That’s where Pipe and Fitting comes in. Set measurements in metric or the U.S. on the app and you can easily find the measurements related to pipe size, pipe clamp, fitting, flange, pipe hanger, and gaskets.
Price: Free
Conclusion
When running a plumbing business, time is money. The quicker you can complete the job means more profit. This often means getting less than optimal workmanship, but not with the right tool kit.