Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Shiny objects. Features and benefits. All the things.

With new and amped-up versions of business software frequently hitting the market, should you change platforms? The grass-is-greener syndrome is a tough one to beat. Is anyone completely happy with the software they’re currently using? Bug fixes are part of everyday life. So is a learning curve, and the reality that software platforms aren’t designed to solve every problem.

Adam Woodard’s advice: Fight the temptation to jump ship from one software to the next because you’re tempted by an interesting feature.

“One of the biggest challenges is being dedicated to a software, and then you hear another one has a tool that you don’t currently have, so it’s tempting to switch,” says the technical training director of J&J Exterminating in Lafayette, La. “The money and logistics of moving data from one provider to another is where the nightmare comes in.”

Go into the software selection process with an eye on what your business needs to achieve.

“It doesn’t matter what software you use, no one I’ve talked to is 100 percent in love with what they have,” says Doug Foster, Burt’s Termite & Pest Control.

There’s no silver bullet.

“You have to choose software that has features that are most important to you,” Foster relates. Some don’t care about a billing feature, and to others, it’s really important.”

For instance, James Saitman, president, MadCo Pest-a-Side in Wildomar, Calif., wanted to limit phone calls and streamline communication. So, with his software, he can set up “triggers” to notify customers of upcoming service. “All my customers get a voicemail, email and text a week in advance that their service is coming up,” he says.

With so many regular pest management customers on the docket, taking time out to dial and remind is just as unprofitable as windshield time. “This stops us from making so many (phone) calls,” Saitman says, adding that this interview with PCT was his only scheduled phone call of the day.