Business Pilot has added status progression to its cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) and business management tool, empowering installation companies to map their processes, set tasks and instantly track progress. The new Business Pilot Status Progression Tool is the product of a year-long development programme. It gives installers complete flexibility to digitise their operational processes in “pipelines”, assigning actions or “tasks” to complete before moving forward to the next step in delivery.
Offering instant visibility on the status of each pipeline, the tool guarantees that each process is followed accurately and that nothing is missed, bringing a consistent approach to the management and actioning of each lead or job. With complete flexibility to introduce automation of process – for example creating and sending templated emails or quotes, prompting follow ups, scheduling jobs and requesting payments – the Business Pilot Status Progression Tool also reduces time spent on repeated tasks and administration.
Elton Boocock, Business Pilot’s managing director, said: “Status Progression gives installers the ability to digitise the processes they have for managing leads to point of contract, or contract to delivery. It can be whatever they want or need it to be. The big difference is that everyone in their organisation is singing off the same hymn sheet.
“With prompts and checks providing instant visibility as to where you are in that process, you build your processes and pipelines around the way that you want to work – not how your CRM says you should. Whatever you want your process and tasks to be, they can be! You can also see who is doing what and when, guaranteeing that your team approach each and every process or job consistently, improving your service to the end-user.”
The capability is unique to Business Pilot in the window and door sector and, according to the CRM and business management platform, will revolutionise the way its customers’ run their businesses. In its most basic form, the status progression tool is built around three elements:
• the pipeline or process – what you need to do to get from A to B – for example, lead to sale, or, the scheduling of an installation
• status, where you are in that process, and
• tasks, if and what you need to do before moving on the next step in the process or pipeline.
Supporting task automation, the tool also includes controls and checks which ensure that users complete tasks before progressing to the next stage in the pipeline. Every status change or task completed as part of a pipeline or process is also recorded, providing a complete record of who did what and when as part of that process.
“With automation of tasks, the Business Pilot status progression tool also allows teams to work more efficiently, for example, more than halving the time involved in converting a lead to contract status,” Elton explained. He concluded: “You define what you need, set your team the tasks that the need to be completed to deliver that process, and automate as many of those actions along the way. It saves time, money but perhaps most importantly, brings new consistency to your operations.”
