GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Garage Door Software

Your First Week on Garage Door Software: A Day-by-Day Plan

Setup is the easy part. The real switch happens in the first week, when every call, every tech and every invoice either goes through the software or slips back onto paper. A simple day-by-day plan keeps the week on track without stopping the business.

Before Monday

This plan assumes the steps in Setting Up Garage Door Software: Services, Vans, Techs and Customers are done: your service list is in, your vans and techs have PINs, and your customers came in through a CSV import.

Over the weekend, put the tech app on every tech's phone. It runs in the browser on iPhone and Android and can be installed to the home screen, so there is nothing to download from an app store. Have each tech log in once with the company login and their PIN, so Monday morning is not spent on passwords.

Monday: Every New Call Goes In

The only rule for day one: every new call goes into the software. Whoever answers the phone looks up the customer, or adds them, and creates the job. Even if the techs still get a paper copy today, the job exists in the software.

Put tomorrow's jobs on the dispatch board by van, and try auto-routing Closest First from the shop. Adjust by hand where you know better.

Tuesday: One Tech on the App

Pick one tech, ideally the one most comfortable with a phone, to run the whole day from the tech app. They see their calls in route order, tap navigation, read the job card, tap Start, take before and after photos and tap Complete.

Ask them to fill in the equipment at every house they visit: door size, material, opener, springs, bay. That is how the house records start to build. At the end of the day, look at the completed jobs in the office together. Most questions get answered in ten minutes.

Wednesday: Everyone on the App

Move every tech to the app. Paper copies can still ride along as backup, or print route sheets from the dispatch board if someone wants them.

Watch for two things on the first full day:

• Skips with notes. If a tech cannot do a job, they should tap Skip and say why. The office sees it and can text the customer and reschedule.
• Completed jobs creating invoices. When a tech taps Complete, the invoice is created. Check that the line items match the work.

Customers get on-the-way and arrived texts automatically from today, which usually means fewer “when are you coming?” calls by the afternoon.

Thursday: Tune-Up Plans and the Waiting List

Spend some office time on recurring work. Make sure every tune-up customer has a plan set to 365 days, and every commercial maintenance customer has theirs, using last year's visit dates where you have them. Open the Waiting List map and see who is due now and who is overdue.

Pick a few due tune-ups near tomorrow's repair calls and add them. Ask techs to run the door safety inspection on each one, so the office can print a Garage Door Safety Inspection report for the homeowner. More on the map is in The Waiting List: How Garage Door Software Brings Yearly Tune-Ups Back on Time.

Friday: Billing and Loose Ends

Look at the week's invoices. Which were charged to a card on file, which were paid online in the customer app, and which are still open? Past-due follow-up will take care of the stragglers from here, but it is worth checking that nothing was missed in the switch.

Set your property managers, HOAs and commercial accounts to Monthly if you have not already, so their work collects on one statement with each address labeled.

Then ask the techs one question: what did you still have to call the office about this week? Those answers usually point to access notes or equipment that need adding.

Week Two and Beyond

By the second week, the paper ticket book should be in the glove box instead of on the seat. Keep building the habits:

• Every new call into the software
• Equipment filled in at every house a tech visits
• Door safety inspection on every tune-up
• Every tune-up customer on a plan
• Every website lead worked from Form Responses

Within a season, your busiest houses will have their doors, openers and springs on file, and the From House picker will be doing most of the typing. To see every tool that helps, visit the GarageDoorBossPro garage door software page.