Digging Into Data: How Reports Lead to Actionable Insights

Your business management software provides powerful data that can have a positive impact on your operations if you’re looking at the right reports.  

“We’re able to measure and say, ‘Well, hey, here’s how we should be performing,’” says John Richter, owner of Richter Landscape Company, based in Birmingham, Alabama, who uses BOSS Software. “Are we performing above or below a targeted budget number on labor hours? To be able to look at specific jobs instead of how’d we do for the month matters. Because that can be very misleading. You can have a bad month, but you did good on some of the jobs. It allows us to identify some of the wins throughout the month, throughout the year, instead of waiting on drum roll…here’s the end of the month, it was a bad month.”

Key Metrics and Reports to Review

Matthew Colson, owner of SouthView Pest and Turf Management, based in Crestview, Florida, says some of his favorite reports to run on Briostack include completion reports, aging list, last month’s reservice list, and payments captured.

“Say we did $2,500 in revenue today, but we only captured $1,200,” Colson says. “That gives me the information I need to go, ‘Okay, let’s reach out to some of these other customers and see if we can talk them into getting on autopay.”

Colson says he likes to focus on reports that let him know who owes them money and how much work they completed over a set period of time. With the previous month’s reservice list, he makes a point to check in with the clients to ensure they solved the customer’s problem.

Running reports regularly can also be eye-opening. Colson says they do regular price increases, and occasionally, a report will highlight a subset of clients who aren’t even close to the minimum price requirements.

“Without the software being able to capture those reports and send them to you, you would overlook it easily,” Colson says.

Christopher McCormick, director of maintenance for Miracle Farms Landscaping, based in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, says with LMN, they can quickly track their sales pipeline and lead generation. He also likes being able to review their manhours and materials used on a site.

“It’s made us put more of a focus on constant communication with our clients, and it’s easier for us to do that now more than ever, because we can see if they called into our admin team in the office in real time,” McCormick says. “In the field, it gives account managers and project managers much easier access to be in the know of what’s going on. It’s reinforced our emphasis on client communication and transparency.”

Jason Cromley, CEO of Hidden Creek Landscaping, Inc., based in Hilliard, Ohio, says some of the metrics they pay attention to in LMN include where their leads are coming from, where clients are in the sales process and their closure rate.

“All helps to deliver a great sales analytics component that’s necessary for me as an owner to see in a snapshot,” Cromley says.

Richter says he likes being able to see their conversion rate of leads as well as how many leads they’re qualifying per year and their closing ratio for projects. He says they use their production rate report to recognize the most efficient crew at the beginning of each month.

“That’s a good way to link the software that we’re using that we see the benefit, we link it all the way to the teams performing in the field,” Richter says.

Richter adds that this award also emphasizes the importance of crews being accurate with their job hours.

Tim Johnson, president of Tim Johnson Landscaping, based in Statesville, North Carolina, says with Aspire, they can track days to close and creation dates to determine if they have a bottleneck in their sales process. He says they also like to monitor their retention rate as a sign of effective customer service.

“We have learned that in addition to our retention rate, enhancement sales can be a good leading indicator of customer satisfaction,” Johnson says. “Additionally, the clarity we gain from understanding the number of contacts it takes to make it through each step of the process gives us clear insight on what we need to be doing on the front end to ensure that we reach the goal line.”

Tangible Benefits

Paying attention to your data and responding can lead to increased sales conversions, improvements in efficiency and reduced costs.  

The increased visibility of your sales pipeline enables your team to prevent qualified leads from slipping through the cracks. Johnson says it also helps them understand what types of leads provide the most value.

Colson says by leveraging Briostack, he’s been able to optimize his routing and scheduling.

“It cuts your driving time down,” Colson says. “It makes you more effective. You get more jobs done. You’re not driving all over the city.”

Richter says one overlooked savings area for them is printing costs. In the past, they leased two different printers, and now they can share their reports digitally.

“Eliminating a lot of that, it’s not huge dollars, but it does add up,” Richter says.

Richter also says switching to BOSS allowed them to share the workload and delay hiring an additional admin person for four years.

“When people would ask me, ‘Well, what’s your ROIs?’” Richter says. “Well, here is the hard fact number. The best number that I can measure is we delayed hiring somebody for four years. Now, take that salary that you would have spent and multiply that by four. That’s a real number for us.”

Similarly, Johnson says their CRM has allowed them to process a higher number of proposals with the same number of support staff.

Advice for Others

When you implement a new software, it will take time before you can access meaningful insights.

“The first year is all about learning and putting in the data,” Richter says. “The second year is now confirming what the first year told you. The third year is really the magic year where you really start making the fine-tune adjustments.”  

McCormick recommends reaching out to your service provider to understand and tap into your software’s full capabilities, as it can speed up the process.

Richter compares your software usage to a gym membership. If you have access to a swimming pool, basketball courts, tanning beds, sauna, and smoothie bar, but you’re only using the free weights, you aren’t taking advantage of the technology at your fingertips. 

“Use every single piece of the software you’re paying for the subscription,” Richter says. “Once you master that one area, continue to expand and continue to learn and continue to leverage it. The only way you can do that is through continued training.”

Cromley agrees you need to dedicate time every week to implementing your software, following your processes and improving upon them.

“Commit to the time needed to develop the process that allows you to fully utilize your CRM,” Johnson says. “When scaling a business, success in this area is critical to maintaining the momentum needed to grow at a rapid pace.”