By Lynn Wise
Anyone who has ever had a furnace break down because of a complex issue knows that there comes a time when you must hire an expert. While most of us know how to change the filter on the HVAC system, we don’t really know that much about what makes a furnace tick.
And, while you may be that HVAC expert or own a company that employs these HVAC experts, you may not be the authority in accounting or on call center management.
One way that you can boost your business is to hire the experts you need to handle your accounting or call center by outsourcing these roles to the experts. Instead of spinning your wheels trying to hire and train the right people to do these jobs, you can employ a skilled and trained team to manage these roles for you so you can focus on retaining your plumbers, electricians or HVAC techs and growing your business.
Outsourcing by the Numbers
As a home service company owner, you know how difficult it is to hire qualified technicians. The cost to recruit, train and retain your staff is probably one of your biggest expenses next to payroll and insurance.
But it is also becoming increasingly difficult to hire degreed and qualified accounting specialists, too. According to The CPA Journal, the accounting profession is facing a shortage of accountants, making it just as difficult to find the right team to manage your books.
By outsourcing your accounting team, you no longer have to take the time to recruit and hire someone with a skill that typically you do not know how to train. Bookkeeping and/or accounting skills are skillsets that require specific training to be competent. Your business will save itself the cost of paying for a full-time accounting team, and you don’t have to provide benefits.
If you hire a skilled and trained accounting service provider, you will also get access to experts who know how to manage your books. These providers do all of the recruiting and training and are also experts in finding the best accounting professionals.
In addition, outsourcing your accounting team allows you to scale your business based on your current and future requirements. The right professional knows your operations and therefore understands your workflows to enable correct recording of transactions in your financial files. For example, you won’t need to over hire full-time accountants so that you’ll have a big enough team to handle duties during your busier seasons. In the past, you’d need to take the time to hire temporary workers or you’d have to pay your team overtime during the busy season, which can cause burnout and turnover.
This makes outsourcing your accounting functions more cost-effective. It also allows you more time to spend on recruiting the skilled tradesmen you need to grow your business and take on more customers or provide more services.
Calling on the Professionals
But accounting isn’t the only way you can save money while scaling your business.
Outsourcing your call center is another way to get the professional help you need while saving you time since you will no longer need to consistently hire and train a fully-functioning call management team.
Like outsourcing your accounting department, contracting with a professional call center team can help you save money on salaries, benefits and infrastructure. But it can do so much more. This includes:
- Providing you with an expert team. Third-party call center management companies not only hire experts in customer service, they also provide all the training so that your call center team understands how to improve the customer experience.
- Giving you access to the latest technology. The best call center management companies provide their teams with the latest tools to access the data they need to answer calls professionally. These companies also invest in the latest call center technology, including telephony and artificial intelligence-powered chatbots.
- Allowing you to scale your business. Many call center management companies offer 24-hour, 7-day-a-week services so that you can extend your hours or provide better service during peak periods.
- Providing you with quality control. These companies also provide better monitoring so they can see where their teams need additional training. This not only improves customer service interactions but provides you with the analytics you need to determine where to improve your company’s customer experience.
Outsourcing your back office and call center teams provides you with instant access to skillsets you would never be able to afford individually, and gives you back the time you need to focus on your primary business operations.
Dreaming to Scale
Imagine being able to have the time to train more plumbers, electricians or HVAC technicians while having the accounting and call center support you need to quickly grow your business.
Contracting out these services can be a boon for the smaller home service business owner. As you work to grow your business, it is imperative that you have enough work for your current number of technicians, as well as a plan to hire more as you gather more clients. This can be tricky, especially during the shoulder months when repair and installation work slows down.
Outsourcing these employees also allows you to provide more complex solutions for your existing customer base and the scalability to grow on an as-needed basis. In other words, you’ll no longer be paying salaries for people who don’t have enough work during the slower times or burning out your employees when there is too much work during the busier seasons.
Choosing the right accounting or call center management partner can help you streamline your business. It can free up your cashflow to pay your critical managers and top talent more so you can retain the best employees, while also freeing up your time to recruit, hire and train new talent so you can grow your business to the level you’ve always dreamed about.
Lynn Wise is the founder of Contractor in Charge, a company offering organizations services such as accounting, dispatch and customer service representatives for the home service industry. She is also the author of “Build It, Grow It, Sell It! Nine Steps to a Thriving Contracting Business.” Wise has spent the last 35 years as the successful owner of multiple small businesses, including a plumbing and heating repair company and a remodeling company.
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