GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Garage Door Software

Repair Work vs Install Work: Setting Up Garage Door Software for Both

Repair work and install work feel like two different businesses under one roof. Repairs are fast, urgent and unpredictable. Installs are planned, quoted ahead and can take most of a day. Many garage door companies do both, and the software needs to handle both without forcing either one into the other's shape.

Two Kinds of Work, One Board

Splitting vans by type of work is covered in Garage Door Software for Two to Five Vans: Splitting Repairs, Installs and Tune-Ups. This article looks at how each kind of job moves through the software, regardless of how many vans you run.

How a Repair Job Moves

A repair usually starts with a phone call, a customer app request or a website request form:

1. The office finds or adds the customer and address.
2. The office creates the job and uses the From House picker to bring the door, springs or opener onto it.
3. The job goes onto today or tomorrow on the dispatch board, often on the repair van.
4. The tech gets the job in route order with the equipment on the card, does the work and taps Complete.
5. The invoice is created and the card on file can be charged.

Speed matters most here. There is no estimate step for a typical spring or cable call. The services on the invoice, like a $89 service call and a $295 torsion spring replacement, come from your service list.

How an Install Job Moves

An install usually starts with an estimate:

1. The office or owner builds an estimate from the service list, such as a $549 opener install or a $1,895 new door install.
2. Equipment details, like the new door's size, material and bay, are filled in on the estimate.
3. The customer approves online, or estimate follow-up emails keep it in front of them until they do.
4. The approved estimate becomes the scheduled job, with the equipment carried over.
5. The office books it on the install van on a day with room for a long job.
6. The installer completes the job, the new equipment saves on the house, and the invoice is created.

Accuracy matters most here. The installer needs to know exactly what was sold, and the estimate makes sure of it.

Setting Up Services for Both

Your service list is where the two kinds of work live side by side. A practical setup:

• Repair services: service call, torsion spring replacement, extension spring replacement, cables, rollers, off-track repair, opener repair, sensors, keypads and remotes, weatherstripping, after-hours emergency.
• Install services: opener install, new door install, panel or section replacement.
• Recurring services: yearly tune-up plan, commercial door maintenance.
• Commercial: commercial door repair.

Set your own prices. Estimate templates for your most common installs save rebuilding the same quote each time.

Equipment Records Tie Them Together

The equipment saved on the house is what connects repair and install work. A repair visit tells you the door is a 2012 wood door with worn panels and a chain-drive opener. That is the starting point for an install estimate. After the install, the house record shows the new insulated steel door and belt-drive opener, which is what the repair tech will see on the next call.

Because changes on a job flow back to the house, the record stays current whether the last visit was a repair or an install.

Scheduling Around Long Jobs

The challenge of doing both kinds of work is keeping installs from crowding out same-day repairs, and keeping repairs from pushing installs back. Two habits help:

• Book installs on a set van, or set days, so the repair van always has space.
• Set route order by hand on install days so the long job goes first, then fill the rest of the day around it.

Crew GPS on the office map shows where everyone is, so an urgent call can go to whichever van can actually fit it.

Turning Repairs Into Installs

Plenty of install work comes from repair calls. The tech runs the door safety inspection, marks the door “Repair recommended” and writes that the opener is old and noisy. The office prints the Garage Door Safety Inspection report and sends an opener install estimate. The homeowner approves it online. A repair customer becomes an install customer without a sales call. More on that path is in The Printed Garage Door Safety Inspection Report: What the Homeowner Takes Away.

Repair, install and tune-up work all run through the same system. See the full picture on the GarageDoorBossPro garage door software page.