Ensure a robust software package to prevent disastrous consequences

Yesterday, news broke that one of the largest energy suppliers in the Netherlands has been struggling with an IT outage for a week. For the past week, customers have been unable to contact customer service via telephone and live chat. And given the current turmoil in the energy market, this is particularly frustrating for these customers. Major IT outages of this kind are costly for any installation company, large or small. We want to explain why a robust software package is an absolute must.

Customer irritation due to unreachable customer service

Customer service that is unavailable for an extended period or has deteriorated very quickly irritates your customers. Especially in today’s era of social media and transparency, you can be left behind very easily. Customers are already much less interested in purchasing multiple services or products from you. Still, on top of that, these customers are very quick to look at your competitor’s options. It is comparable to a renovation at the local supermarket. If your usual supermarket is closed for an extended period, it means you are forced to go to another branch. But this quickly becomes the norm, meaning you will never return to your old supermarket. You lose the customers who switch to your competitor, and they will not return.

An IT outage can cause problems with invoicing.

This major outage at one of the largest energy suppliers is due to a malfunction in the customer service system. But who says that is the only issue? A malfunction in your ERP software can also easily cause problems with the administration of used parts or completed jobs, and the invoicing thereof. Imagine that invoicing cannot be carried out for an extended period or that you are missing data in your records. Especially for smaller installation companies, cash flow problems can arise very quickly.

The consequences of IT problems for their own staff

IT problems affect not only your customers but also your own staff. If customer service is down for an extended period, all the downtime must be made up later. And, generally speaking, the customers contacting you at that moment are not satisfied. Customer service employees, therefore, have to put out fires while also dealing with increased work pressure. Furthermore, suppose the IT problem does not concern customer service but your field service technicians; this means that jobs cannot be carried out or administered, or can only be done with difficulty. In all cases, it causes frustration among your own staff. Especially with the current labor market shortage, this is something you want to avoid.

A robust software package is an absolute necessity.

It is simply the case that under no circumstances do you want to deal with IT problems or failures. Your customers become irritated and dissatisfied, and switch to your competitor. Your own staff also loses job satisfaction and, in today’s climate, is very quick to find work at an organization where the IT is in order. And although IT problems have major consequences for both large and small companies, they may hurt smaller organizations particularly quickly. Therefore, always ensure you have robust ERP software for installation companies or HVAC software so that you can rely on your IT and prevent these types of problems.