What Is Job Scheduling Software?
If you’re a busy business owner managing dozens of mobile workers, you know it can get tedious at times. But if you’re running one of the 84% of small businesses that are slowed down by manual processes, you’re making it unnecessarily hard.
It might be time to start automating some of these tasks with online job scheduling software!
Let’s look at a typical scenario. Maybe you run a brick-and-mortar nail salon and have a team of roving technicians who provide services to clients at their homes.
We’re guessing you’ve got to:
- Stay on top of things at your physical location
- Work with your nail techs to plan their schedules at the salon
- Work with them to figure out their mobile schedules
- Plan and optimize your mobile workers’ travel routes
- Ensure your service providers are delivering high-quality service
- Manually track sales
And, on top of all that, you’re manually organizing bookings and payments.
With job scheduling software, your customers can schedule, reschedule, or cancel appointments themselves.
Job scheduling softwares also enables you to sell your services online, creating new revenue streams!
What is job scheduling software?
Job scheduling software is a technology tool that helps manage your service business’s appointments, and can also provide a streamlined, convenient e-commerce experience for customers.
This software goes by many names depending on the industry. You may have heard it referred to as:
- Mobile workforce scheduling software
- Service scheduling software
- Field service management software
- Appointment booking software
Scheduling software for businesses doesn't just automate time-consuming tasks, it can even function partly as a sales tool.
Take MarketBox, for example.
The platform not only automates customer appointments and mobile workers’ schedules, but even provides businesses with a branded sales page for easy browsing and bookings.
The best appointment scheduling software won’t just alleviate the headache of scheduling, but will help you sell your services online so you can compete with other service businesses’ e-commerce efforts.
What Are Mobile Workers?
The term mobile workers applies to almost anyone who works outside of an office.
If you run a service business, it refers to people who provide the services your business offers. What makes them “mobile” is that these workers typically travel to people’s homes, offices or other locations to deliver services in person.
You may have also heard them referred to as field workers.
Why Use Job Scheduling Software for Mobile Workers?
Stay relevant by selling your services online
Consumer preferences are changing rapidly. You already know this: modern customers have been conditioned by giants like Amazon to get what they want when they want it.
That’s the new standard for business: convenience at the push of a button.
Are you making it easy for your customers to schedule services by using a booking system, or do they still need to connect with a receptionist by phone or email?
Job scheduling software isn’t just about booking appointments. It’s about making services more visible and easier to buy. Staying relevant means embracing e-commerce. In doing so, you’ll stay competitive in your market.
Selling services online not only opens up new markets, it increases service business’ accessibility to existing customers by providing them with an alternative to traditional booking.
If you’re not doing what you can to stay relevant, customers will likely take their business elsewhere.
Increase sales by making it easy for customers to pay online
For a service business to be competitive, the booking process should be accessible, quick and easy to use. A scheduling system that’s difficult to use can lead to higher bounce rates and missed opportunities to build customer loyalty. And a business with no scheduling software at all can make for an outdated, less-than-convenient experience.
The easier it is to schedule an appointment, the more likely customers will be to choose your service business, remain loyal, and continue to book with you.
And of course, more bookings means increased revenue!
Reduce Administrative Headaches
Automating mobile worker management with job scheduling software can help cut down on manual, time-consuming tasks. Why have admins book appointments over phone or email when it can be done with a click of a button?
Instead, take advantage of job scheduling software that allows customers to self-book and enables employees to input their own hours, so you can allocate your time towards more productive tasks.
Make your customers happy by providing a great booking experience
A great booking experience is quick and simple. It means not having to reschedule appointments due to human errors that can occur with manual processes (like double bookings or over-bookings).
Job scheduling software allows customers to book appointments easily at their convenience.
Automated billing and invoicing also allows you to efficiently collect payments without letting invoices slip through the cracks.
A hassle-free booking experience keeps your customers happy and loyal, which increases the odds of future sales.
Typical job scheduling software features
Schedule overview
Forget spreadsheets!
Use job scheduling software to view and filter appointments by location, provider, or service to get an idea of your mobile workers’ schedules and customer bookings.
Automatic reminders
With job scheduling software, your mobile workers are notified anytime an appointment is scheduled.
That way, they don’t have to rely on contacting you to check their schedule and potentially miss a booking.
Customizable schedules
Instead of taking time away from running your business, leverage scheduling software so mobile workers can input and edit their own schedules.
The software will automatically update workers’ availability on the customer’s end.
Easy scheduling means less hassle for you!
Reports and analytics to track sales
Here’s one area where job scheduling software overlaps as a sales tool.
Basic job scheduling software often comes with overviews of hours logged, sales made, and appointments scheduled.
As a service business owner, you can leverage this feature to track booking and sales trends and make adjustments based on data.
Profiles
Your mobile workers should be able to upload a bio with a name and image.
This has the potential to create brand affinity quickly and increase revenue, because it gives customers an idea of who they’ll be receiving a service from.
This detail may seem small, but it gives you an edge over your competitors, whose roster of mobile workers is invisible to customers.
Job scheduling features you NEED
Really want to take your business growth to the next level? Then you need these essential job scheduling software features.
These non-negotiable features include:
Travel zone and route optimization
More-advanced field service management software options allow your mobile workers to upload their travel zones and availability.
The software can then find the best routes and build workers’ schedules in a way that reduces the wear and tear of vehicles and improves fuel efficiency.
For example, MarketBox offers a feature that enables mobile workers to draw their exact travel zone parameters.
You can then compare workers’ travel zones to identify “dead zones” or areas where customers can’t access your services and fill them in!
Automatically schedule service calls and appointments
More-advanced mobile workforce scheduling software will allow customers to do most of the scheduling themselves.
Based on their availability, your customers can schedule, reschedule, and cancel their appointments directly on the platform without having to contact you or your team, reducing time-consuming back and forth.
For businesses that prefer to have their agents complete bookings on behalf of customers, these advanced features still save time, since the agent can immediately inform the customer of available time slots and match the customer with the right service provider.
The upshot of all this is that it can increase sales and profit; unlike competitors who may take days to respond to a customer and confirm a date for an appointment, your company’s easy scheduling platform will have an advantage.
Invoicing and payment processing
Scheduling software for service businesses can also create a stream of recurring revenue by automatically taking payments from your customers’ credit cards.
When a job is complete, an invoice is automatically generated and sent to the customer. After the payment is processed, a receipt is issued.
Collecting money online means your office administrators don’t have to chase after payments from customers and your mobile workers won’t have to carry card readers to job sites to get payments.
Collecting money online also means that your business will have fewer cash flow issues.
Streamlining payments is always a good thing for your service business!
Ready to get started?
Job scheduling software is an excellent way to automate tedious manual tasks and increase revenue.
Ideally, the best appointment scheduling software will be a scheduling tool, a way to sell your services, and collect money online.
Some job scheduling platforms include more features for business growth than others.
Don’t settle for typical. If you’re looking to grow—not just manage—your service business, then MarketBox is the solution for you. We take businesses with mobile workforces to the next level by turbo-charging their growth and finding new, better ways to increase revenue!
