What is Roofing Software and How Will it Help My Business?

By Sarah Smith, JobNimbus.

Understand how roofing software can help you improve efficiency and automate your business.

If you’ve recently bought or are thinking about buying roofing software, it's important to know just what roofing software is so you can optimize it and maximize your success.

Roofing software is typically a cloud-based program that includes multiple features and functions to help roofing contractors efficiently manage and accomplish tasks. Some roofing software contains roofing-specific CRM technology that lets you manage customer information and improve business relationships.

Every industry is different, but the roofing industry, in particular, is a hard laboring field that requires certain features for employees to work effectively. Roofing software is built to fulfill roofing businesses’ needs and workflows by providing the necessary tools to manage everyday responsibilities.

With several roofing software options available, many programs out there have their own separate, unique features, but most will share the same basic functions. Roofing software like JobNimbus allows you to easily manage all your contacts, jobs, tasks, documents, and more. Here are additional features JobNimbus has to offer, and integrations you’ll need in a good roofing software:

Capture and upload job photos on-site

As a roofer, it’s crucial that you document the photos you take of your job progress from beginning to end. However, documenting and organizing photos can be difficult to do without the help of roofing software. Most roofing software will give you the ability to take and upload photos from your phone as you’re on the job site.

You can capture photos of roofs, gutters, siding, and other exterior shots on JobNimbus while using the mobile app. Your pictures are uploaded instantly to the web. You can also share those job photos with customers, subcontractors, and insurance adjusters via email or Job Share. Photos will get stored with the job and will be available whenever you need them. For more on tracking job progress through photos, check out this article here.

Prepare estimates and invoices

The ability to create, send, manage, and report on estimates and invoices is a key function to roofing software. With JobNimbus software, you can view live reports to track invoices as they change statuses and are being acted upon. This function helps with preparing and tracking finances as you execute a job.

Roofing software also lets you build professional-looking estimates & invoices with the customer at the job site. You can save products and services, use templates, and pull from previously saved quotes to build them faster every time. Also, separate your estimates by trades for all your exterior jobs and have the ability to email your estimates with just a couple taps as well as collect payments and run reports.

Capture leads and signatures at the door

Because sales are such a big part of growing your business, you can use roofing software to increase sales numbers by capturing leads and signatures right at the door. Get contracts and agreements signed right from the roofing software’s mobile app. This will significantly increase your success by immediately collecting customers’ information and facilitating better engagement and long-lasting relationships.

With JobNimbus as your mobile roofing CRM, you can add new leads on your smartphone or tablet and they’ll sync automatically. Quickly call, text, or email your clients to keep in contact. Roofing software will help you make sure no lead falls through the cracks. Additionally, you can sell faster and earn referrals by providing a better experience for your customers.

Create and manage appointments and tasks

Managing appointments and tasks will be one of the main features you’ll use on a daily basis on your roofing software. Advanced tools in roofing software make managing the many roofing tasks you have to do easier to carry out. It also helps to remind you of important meetings with clients along with the specifics of a job you’re working on for that day.

You can track your appointments, to-dos, work, and follow-ups as you sell jobs and move towards completion. With shared calendars, JobNimbus advanced roofing software gives you full control to keep your life and business organized.

Track your jobs and manage your production

As you track jobs you’re working on, you can assess what areas may need some improvement or change of direction. Using the information provided from your roofing software will help you plan for future jobs and see better results. Roofing software also allows you to easily view, track and update all your current roofing jobs and individually manage work order and due dates.

You can see and manage your roofing jobs with interactive boards on JobNimbus. JobNimbus lets you record and track important details of a job then access it all from wherever you are. Your jobs are your secure project file folder. With roofing software, you can manage job statuses, track notes and emails, and upload attachments and photos. Tracking jobs can also help you make more money. All these tools in roofing software will make tracking and managing your jobs ever so easy.

Create reports for everything

When running a roofing business, it’s important to know how your business is performing. Roofing software lets you create and customize reports on data from estimates and material orders to job performance and more. These reports give insight into what is happening in different parts of your business and help you reach your business goals.

In JobNimbus, you can report on anything you do, including sales pipeline, activity, time logs, payments, and more. JobNimbus has a live reporting tool where you can see what is happening in real time and it updates instantly as you make changes to the report. That means you’ll always see the most up-to-date information in your roofing software at exactly the right time.

Assign work orders to your team or subs

You can adjust and distribute assignments to team members with roofing software. This feature helps you see how a project is moving along and view how employees are spending their time working. By seeing what work orders your team has, you can evaluate what the priorities are and manage your work all in one place.

With roofing software, you can divide your work orders out for roofing, gutters, siding and other exteriors trades with work orders. JobNimbus lets you track statuses, assign tasks, and view your work orders on interactive boards. Keep your production moving with contractor project management tools for every step of your process.

Empower yourself and your team to succeed

Roofing software lets your team share their work tasks so everyone can get on the same page and contribute to a project. This helps increase productivity while you and your team work together to check off priorities. Use roofing software to keep customers and insurance adjusters in-the-know, as well as share details with subcontractors. You can also get information from your crew on parts of a job that need improvement. Then, you can get back on track and plan for success.  

Shared calendars let you see everyone’s schedule and coordinate work. Roofing software lets you see everyone’s tasks on a map and know exactly what’s getting done. Features include dispatching your team, sending messages by mentioning team members in notes, and making sure everyone knows what they need to do whether they’re in the office or out in the field.

Submit material orders to suppliers

A huge part of roofing is getting materials ordered from suppliers, so your crew has what they need to get started on a project. These orders need to be made and received by strict deadlines in order to stay on track with your work. Roofing software makes submitting material orders easy and by directly emailing the supplier. You can save the supplier as a related contact and make a template to make the process even faster.

When you build your own contracts and proposals, JobNimbus will auto-fill contact and job details. In JobNimbus, creating material orders is easy. You can build material orders from your estimates in one click, edit them if you need to, and then email them to suppliers. You’ll get all the materials you need without the hassle of creating new orders or picking up the phone.

Sync everything online

With JobNimbus roofing software, you can sync QuickBooks desktop or online classes. This feature allows you to save your work and will sync contacts, jobs, invoices and estimates, products and services, payments and more. You can decide between either a two-way or one-way sync, which means no more double-entry! Syncing will keep your accountant up-to-date automatically.

Set up automation

There’s nothing better than cutting some unnecessary repetition out of your life. Automation helps you increase productivity and time efficiency. Roofing software gives you the option to set up workflow automation in order to get things done faster. You can automatically send emails to customers, change customer statuses, create tasks, send reminders and more.

Time-based automations are quick and easy and can be edited at any time. You can automate your workflow to set triggers when you want to accomplish something or receive notifications. Notifications will pop up instantly on new assignments and tasks that are due that day. The automation ensures that nothing will slip through the cracks, so it’s worth having roofing software to take care of that for you. 

Customize workflows

One of the great things about having roofing software is the ability to customize your workflow, or just about anything to your liking. With roofing software, you can digitize your existing workflow to be more efficient. Test what works for you and use the process you’ve learned to perfect for future workflows. You can customize types, statuses, and more with roofing software.

Use the mobile app

Many roofing software companies offer an application for your mobile device. That way, you don’t have to run back to the office in order to do your work. Because roofing software is usually cloud-based, you can access your work from anywhere, at any time, and from any device. You don’t need the internet to save and sync your work. Plus, you can enter information from your device whether you’re in the office or out in the field. Your roofing software follows where you go. For more on what the JobNimbus mobile app can do, click here.

Send emails with attachments

Nothing’s worse than not knowing what’s going on in your business. Roofing software lets you communicate better with your crew, customers, and others through email. In JobNimbus, everything, including emails and text messages, is recorded. That way, you know what your job status is and what you have yet to complete. Sending emails with attachments helps you build a stronger communication channel with other parties.

You can email directly from your roofing software and replies will appear automatically. The email system allows for a strong relationship between you, your customers and partners. Having roofing software to store everything ensures that no email or attachment is left out of the conversation. You can also reply directly to emails and forward them with a simple click.

Take notes

Taking notes is an important part of the roofing industry, but keeping notes is another story. Imagine keeping contact information or specific details for a job in a notebook then losing your notebook. It would be a major step back for your business. An effective roofing software will be able to keep and organize notes you took from meetings with customers and team members.

JobNimbus specifically has a feature where you can use notes for communication and collaboration. Jot down notes you took from a call or save an important email in your roofing software. You can also record the work you did that day to track progress. Note-taking will help you concentrate while you’re on a job and listen to the customer’s specific situation and needs. This will help guarantee you do the best job possible and fix all the client’s pressing issues.

Time tracking

In order to have effective job management, you need to make sure everything is on the right course towards success and properly time track. Roofing software gives you the option to add time estimates to tasks and track the time you worked for. It will also create time log reports for you. Time tracking gives you a better perspective on what’s going on during your project and what your hours are going towards.

With JobNimbus, you can track time spent on tasks for yourself and your employees. This feature gives you a bigger picture of how much time each job requires, or compares actually spent hours to how many hours you predicted would go into the project. Time tracking also gives you the opportunity to split up tasks if you see that too many hours are going into less important tasks than necessary. Tracking will help you manage your time efficiently and accomplish your most important tasks first.

Build budgets

Roofing software lets you analyze what parts of a project require more time and effort, which tells you where you should invest more of your budget into. As a roofing business, it’s essential that you create a budget and keep track of your job expenses. Put your budget and actual costs into your roofing software, where you can divide multiple categories in a spreadsheet to track job costs from the duration of your project.

You should regularly track and share your job costs to understand how your project is performing and whether you are staying within budget or not. With the help of roofing software, you can make adjustments to your budget so you make sure to earn money, not lose it. Roofing software can help you set limits and track commissions. 

Benefits of roofing software

Along with the points provided above, it’s proven that roofing software provides a number of benefits to its users and gives you the tools you need. Additionally, it helps build your business, save you time, and put more money in your pocket.

JobNimbus users grow 43% of their average revenue, save 8 individual hours per week per employee, and collect 25% more payments than without a roofing software.

What is the best roofing software?

There are a lot of ways to figure out what is best for you. Make sure to schedule demos with any company you’re looking at, check out reviews, and talk to others who are using roofing software.

The great news is there are a lot of amazing tools in all kinds of roofing software to help you bring your company to the next level.

Learn More About JobNimbus Roofing Software
 

Read, Listen or Watch on demand to learn more about starting to use software automation and how you can leverage technology to improve your business.  

Original article source: JobNimbus