A Guide to Improving Communication in Your Business

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2 The World Is Your Office As a fleet professional or service business owner, you have a lot of pressure on your shoulders. Between juggling overhead costs, monitoring customer service and managing employees, it may sometimes seem like your business is working against you instead of for you. For service industries in particular, there can be a large disconnect between office employees and employees working in the field. Communication is key when it comes to efficiently running your business. Making sure your employees have the technology available for communicating when they re away from the office is critical to the success of your business. So, businesses with employees who work out of the office should be looking for tools that can help them cut costs while increasing revenue. And since you ve already taken the initiative to download this paper, it s clear that you care about the success of your business and are ready to determine a solution. When you don t have to worry about what your employees are (or are not) doing, you are able to spend your time focusing on other objectives to grow your business. This white paper will explore the advantages of improved communication between your employees through the use of an app for your smartphone or mobile device. Before we examine the issues involved with lack of communication, let s first look at what s driving businesses towards fleet tracking technology. Your customers expect you to do a perfect job on-time, every time and have little patience for mistakes. How do you keep up with the pressure? Break Through the Clutter There are many factors which could lead you to consider using an app as part of a fleet tracking system. Perhaps the most pressing is the need for efficient communication in an age where everyone is hyperconnected (i.e. connected via , instant messaging, telephone, face-to-face contact, the Internet, etc.). With so many channels through which people can communicate, it can be difficult to keep everything straight. Compared to just five or 10 years ago, American lifestyles have changed dramatically. Life is much more fast-paced than it used to be. Your customers expect you to do a perfect job ontime, every time and have little patience for mistakes. How do you keep up with the pressure? If you re not able to quickly and proficiently communicate with your employees, no matter where they are, odds are you re not operating at the level you should be. Pulling Ahead in a Tough Marketplace Out-of-date technology can lead to wasted fuel, poor vehicle maintenance, inaccurate payroll and missed or late customer appointments all of which lead to increased costs and decreased revenue for your business. Let s take a look at how these issues can negatively affect your business. Customers these days don t typically have large windows of time to wait for you to arrive for an appointment. Arriving late or missing your appointment completely can spell disaster for your reputation. That being said, customer service can be greatly affected by lack of communication between employees. If drivers take the wrong route or get stuck in traffic, it may affect ETAs provided to customers and reduce the number of jobs they can complete in a day ultimately affecting your bottom line. How do you track when certain vehicles in your fleet need routine maintenance? Manually tracking fleet maintenance schedules is costly and time-consuming, especially for larger fleets. Not only do you run the risk of a vehicle breakdown, but neglected engines get much lower gas mileage than finely-tuned ones. And with the cost of fuel always unpredictable, you need to do everything you can to make sure your fleet is getting the best possible MPG. Routine maintenance services such as properly inflating tires, changing oil and replacing filters and spark plugs improve fuel economy by four to 10 percent.

3 According to Fleet Financials magazine, gas prices have increased 25 percent from January 2011 to March 2012 a statistic that leads experts to believe that fuel prices will soon overtake depreciation as the number one fleet expense. Fuel prices are consistently a top news story and likely will continue to be for some time. According to Fleet Financials magazine, gas prices have increased 25 percent from January 2011 to March 2012 a statistic that leads experts to believe that fuel prices will soon overtake depreciation as the number one fleet expense. Now more than ever it s essential that companies keep a close eye on where their fuel dollars are going. If field employees are not taking the most efficient route possible, they re wasting your hard earned money. There are many available methods for tracking employee payroll hours some more accurate than others. It s common for employees to be required to travel back and forth from the office each day to clock in and out. Not only does this waste precious fuel on your dime, but it s a huge waste of time. We re confident that you can think of ways those dollars could be better spent. Many companies have multiple vehicles and several drivers working various shifts making it difficult to keep track of who did what, in which vehicle, on which day. Assigning a driver to a vehicle is typically a manual process that is done by the dispatcher. If they forget, it s difficult to identify and correct problems (such as speeding or excessive idling) and coach drivers to a solution. Ultimately, by not using mobile app technology to track these and other issues, you re wasting valuable time and money. Let s now take a look at how a fleet management app can help. Used with a fleet tracking system, a mobile app will allow you and your field employees to stay connected right from your smartphone or mobile device. What s In It for Me? An app is defined as a small, specialized program downloaded onto a mobile device. According the Wall Street Journal, As of June 2012, consumers had downloaded 30 billion apps from the Apple App Store where more than 650,000 apps are available. Google Play, which sells Android apps, is reported to have had 15 billion downloads from its selection of 500,000 apps. The fact of the matter is that times are changing, and you don t want to be left behind. Used with a fleet tracking system, a mobile app will allow you and your field employees to stay connected right from your smartphone or mobile device. Forbes magazine states, Large companies are quickly discovering that employees can quickly and efficiently complete certain tasks on their smartphones as opposed to laptops and desktops. While every fleet tracking platform differs in services offered, there are important features you should look for in a provider. For example, ease of use is key when it comes to adopting an app as part of your daily operations. If your employees find it a hassle to use odds are they won t use it. Features such as recording clock in/out times, assigning jobs, sending directions and tracking vehicle maintenance are designed to enhance your businesses communication and make life easier. By integrating a mobile app in with your GPS fleet tracking system, you can accurately and effectively manage your employees when they re working in the field. Field Information Office Information Increased Revenue & Decreased Costs

4 How much could you save on payroll? Let s assume your employees earn $20/hour. You have five employees that each takes an extra 30 minutes for lunch, 3 days a week. By identifying and cutting out those extra minutes, you would save approximately $7,500 over the course of a year! More Than Meets the Eye Because your business activities are not limited to the workplace, the NexTraq Connect App allows you and your field employees to stay connected right from a smartphone. Designed to make both office and field employees more efficient in daily business activities, this app will allow your team to work smarter, not harder, no matter where they are. Odds are payroll is one of your larger expenses in operating your business. With our app, you can manage regular and overtime hours and ensure payroll accuracy by allowing employees to clock in and out and record lunch breaks right from their mobile device. Another large operating cost for businesses with fleets is the dreaded fuel bill. By using the routing feature included in the mobile app, you can ensure your drivers are taking the most efficient routes possible. This will not only cut down on fuel costs, but also on wasted time your employees spend driving around in circles. How much could you save on payroll? Let s assume your employees earn $20/hour. You have five employees that each takes an extra 30 minutes for lunch, 3 days a week. By identifying and cutting out those extra minutes, you would save approximately $7,500 over the course of a year! If your customers are unhappy with your service, you are essentially handing them right over to your competitors. By using the maps and routing features provided in NexTraq Connect, your drivers know where to go and the best way to get there improving customer service benefits like accurate ETAs. With NexTraq Connect, you have the tools you need to manage your business right in the palm of your hand. As previously discussed, maintenance is an important, yet often overlooked part of operating a fleet. With our maintenance feature, your employees can easily let you know if there s an issue with their vehicle or record odometer readings. By integrating this feature in with our fleet tracking platform, you can ensure you never miss an oil change again. And with the Driver Assignment feature included with NexTraq Connect, you never have to wonder who is behind the wheel of which vehicle and when. By integrating driver assignment with our fleet tracking platform, you can monitor driver habits such as speeding and idling to reduce costs like fuel. With NexTraq Connect, you have the tools you need to manage your business right in the palm of your hand. You can send job details directly from the office to an employee s mobile device, providing them with the day s activity plan including job details, addresses, customer contact information and required activities. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth phone calls for job details, updates and driving directions. For more information visit our website at or give us a call today at NexTraq Connect The tools your employees want, everything your business needs.

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