How Do Mobile Payments Pay Off for Small and Medium Businesses?

As a small business owner, you probably already use mobile for some things: updating your social media pages, checking bank balances, or communicating with customers. And you probably know about the mobile card readers that turn your phone or tablet into a POS (point-of-sale) terminal.

As today’s POS systems become more affordable and easier to use, businesses that have held back due to cost or fear of complication are starting to move forward. In fact, 40 percent of small businesses are already working with a mobile card reader, and with compelling evidence that using one could actually increase the amount customers spend, more companies — including your competitors — will soon join the trend. Read on for more compelling statistics on how going mobile can help your business succeed.

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How do mobile payments pay off for small and medium businesses?

The latest statistics tell the story. Where payments are going: Mobile payment transactions will reach $721 Billion by 2017, with 450 Million users worldwide. Most Americans still pay by cash and check, but they don’t want to: 1/3 say that checks are the least convenient payment method.

The most convenient payment methods are: 93% Cash; 92% Credit Cards; 90% PayPal; 87% Gift Cards;

Types of mobile payments: “Mobile payments” is a broad term, encompassing online banking, payment processors like PayPal, mobile wallets like Apple Pay, and mobile card readers like Square and PayPal Here. Mobile wallets have been slow to take off: Only 23% of Apple Pay users actually used it in June 2015. But mobile card reader usage is exploding. Customers don’t have to install anything – just swipe their regular credit card – and businesses don’t have to jump through hoops to accept cards.

40% of SMBs already use a mobile card reader. 16% will add one in the next 12 months.

Benefits to accepting payment: Lower transaction fees (PayPal charges a flat 2.7%) than cards swiped through a traditional POS or manually keyed on over the phone. Get paid quicker (in seconds, rather than 30, 60, or 90 days).

Customers spend 12% to 18% more vs. paying with cash. On average, businesses using PayPal see a 29% increase in total customers; a 16% increase in total customer spending; 1.8X more transactions per customer; 2X more spending per customer.

Customer considerations: Security: 84% of customers say security is the most important feature of a mobile payments system.; Simplicity: Customers say they want a seamless, frictionless payment experience.; Better records: Half of the customers say that digital receipts are more useful and fun than paper receipts.

Case Design Accelerates Sales Cycles with GoCanvas

Case Design Accelerates Sales Cycles and Improves Invoicing with GoCanvas

Overview

Apps used

Home Repair Work Order (Contracted)
Home Repair Work Order (Time & Materials)
Plumbing Work Order

Highlights

Project Managers receive Work Order forms immediately via email so invoicing or additional work can be scheduled.
Calculations on costs and mark-up are performed automatically and therefore with greater accuracy.
Craftspeople do not need to return to the office just to drop off paper work.
The completed Work Orders are automatically attached to the customer’s record in Case’s CRM system, MS Dynamics.
Their customer receives a PDF document customized by GoCanvas to reflect and match Case’s distinct branding.

The Background

Case Design is a family-owned, award-winning firm based in the Washington, DC metro area. Started in 1961, Case has always been a company of innovation. Whether that is the work it does or the company’s process for getting it done, Case has pushed the envelope in improving the results it delivers for its customers.

Case Design offers a range of services from full additions, to kitchens, baths, and handyman services. Case’s innovative twist around its handyman business was to launch a separate brand and business called “fred” (www.schedulefred.com). This slick, contemporary offer required some slick, contemporary technology.

The Problem

Multi-part carbonless paper forms don’t scream “innovation”. They take time to fill out when you’re calculating job costs and margins. They are hard to read and easily lost. And they need to be driven back to the office before anything can be done with them. A truck is definitely a slow way to transmit work instructions.

At Case, the craftspeople were supposed to fill out the top section of the paper form first and get a signature from the client agreeing to the work. Then they were supposed to start the job. After the work they would add in and calculate the materials, labor, travel fees, and mark-up. “Calculations for the mark-up on materials was left to the craftsperson. This led to calculation errors”, says Karen Eckert, Sr. Director of Technology for Case.

A credit card number was collected from the customer and written onto the paper form. Another signature was collected. And then it was driven back to the office. “In the past”, says Karen, “The paper forms required the craftsperson to return to the office before the invoice could be processed.”

The Solution

In March 2014, Case addressed this business challenge by turning to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for businesses. Thousands of organizations leverage GoCanvas’s mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paperwork order templates with highly customizable mobile forms (We call them apps!) that improve their data collection and productivity.

Businesses can search from over 21,000+ mobile app templates in the GoCanvas Application Store that can be completely customized with the online, drag-and-drop App Builder tool. Using that same tool, many businesses elect to build their own from scratch. Factor in features like Dispatch, Workflow, uploading your price and customer lists, and integration with other systems and Canvas changes the way work gets done.

Set-up

Karen built Case’s work order using GoCanvas’s powerful App Builder tool. GoCanvas’s professional services team then customized the PDF document that the GoCanvas platform generates to match Fred’s paperwork order.

Case also leveraged GoCanvas’s Professional Services team to connect GoCanvas to Microsoft Dynamics CRM in order to further automate the process.

According to Karen, “Building out the work orders and getting the integration with our CRM system went very smoothly. The team at GoCanvas was wonderful to work with. They created custom PDFs that look just like our paper form. GoCanvas was also very responsive to assisting me in building the work orders.”

The Outcomes

Case now has one cool team of craftspeople out in the field each with an iPad mini, and their fred business is more streamlined than ever. Now what does their process look like?

Craftspeople

They quickly populate the customer’s information at the top of the form by choosing the appropriate job number from a drop-down. The rest of the customer’s information is populated automatically using GoCanvas’s Reference Data feature.
The Reference Data (their customer list) is updated automatically thanks to the integration with MS Dynamics CRM.
They then review the job with the customer and capture their signature prior to starting work. They have to because GoCanvas does not let them advance to the rest of the form until they do!

After the craftsperson completes their work, the process looks like this:

They enter their costs into the form and mark-up is automatically calculated for them using GoCanvas’s Calculation functionality.
They collect the customer’s signature agreeing that the work has been completed to their satisfaction.
Or, if more time needs to be scheduled, the form is updated to indicate that and it is sent off to the Project Manager right away.
They can collect payment via swiping the customer’s credit card with the iPad mini (Case does not use GoCanvas’s mobile payment solution because they had an existing relationship with their bank for this.).
The form is transmitted immediately to the office so next steps can be taken right away.

Project Managers

The Project Manager receives an email with the PDF form attached.
If the job is complete, then the Project Manager can close it out right away in their system. Electronic forms are much easier to read and craftspeople can’t skip required fields.
If the job requires more hours, the Project Manager can schedule that right away to keep things moving.
The PDF is automatically attached to the customer’s record in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

The Impact

A number of things have been dramatically improved for Case since moving this process over to GoCanvas.

Customers are happier because jobs requiring an additional work request are scheduled right away.
Case Design’s billing is more accurate because pricing and the associated markup is calculated automatically.
Job close-out happens sooner and faster.
Cash flow is accelerated. Especially if the customer pays via credit card on the spot.

Ready to Rethink How You Work?

GoCanvas has helped a variety of businesses across multiple industries transform their safety processes and rethink their efficiency, ultimately saving them money. Why not do the same? Reach out to one of our experts today to kickstart your process revolution.

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Royal Cargo Saves Over $144K Annually with GoCanvas

How Royal Cargo Innovates and Saves Over $144K Annually with GoCanvas

Overview

In recognizing the need to keep up with their customers’ digital lifestyle, international total logistics provider Royal Cargo constantly seeks innovative solutions to digitize operations. Through a partnership with Globe Business and its IT Enabled Services Group, the premier logistics company implemented the breakthrough paperless mobile solution, GoCanvas.

The Solution

Through GoCanvas, Royal Cargo was able to convert its pickup/dropoff, discrepancy, damage, and situation reports as well as many other paper forms to dynamic mobile applications that have far more functionalities than paper. Since users can capture information on any mobile device and send it to customers or colleagues in seconds, GoCanvas allows Royal Cargo to save on paper as well as processing time.

Royal Cargo has over 35 years of experience in cargo transportation and handling and has a global network of owned companies and trusted agents. Following its vision to become a world-class total logistics provider and its commitment to using up-to-date technology, the company acquired the GoCanvas licenses and has been using them successfully since 2014. With an improvement on the “Track and Trace” process through the instant updating of the system, Royal Cargo was able to implement a more efficient system of transporting goods — allowing a fast, live, and accurate transfer of delivery information through mobile solutions.

The transition from a paper-based Proof of Delivery (POD) to an ePOD on mobile devices has enabled Royal Cargo to transmit details from a delivery destination to the system that updates the POD milestone accordingly with a touch of a button. Drivers are equipped with mobile devices like Android smartphones that allow them to capture critical information including the actual date, time, and location where the shipment was delivered, the e-signature of the consignee, plus a real-time photo taken when the shipment was received. All the data collected from their mobile applications are instantly uploaded to the cloud and emailed to the corrected channels. This capability further strengthened the specialized logistics services being offered by the company including international and domestic freight forwarding, warehousing and distribution, projects and heavy lift, business process outsourcing, customs clearance and brokerage, liquid transportation, shipping agencies, trucking service, and logistics solutions for clinical research and development.

“We realized the value of using GoCanvas mobile forms primarily for our PODs to customers. For the most important requirement — that the final link in the supply chain has to be updated and communicated in real-time — we thought of utilizing GoCanvas and implemented ePOD with our deliveries,” shares Calvert ‘Abet’ M. Cabungcal, Vice President, Global IT of Royal Cargo Inc. “And today, we’re reaping the results of a faster and more accurate delivery of goods to our valued customers,” he added.

Every GoCanvas mobile application is customizable through the “drag and drop app builder tool” and can incorporate functionality such as electronic signatures, image capture, dispatch, barcode scanning, GPS, push notifications, and access data such as parts catalogs, price lists, and customer records. Subscribers can start from scratch or choose from a wide variety of customizable Transportation and Warehousing mobile form templates available in the GoCanvas Application Store. Canvas eliminates paperwork, captures more information, and allows collected data to be shared instantly — anytime, anywhere.

The Outcomes

GoCanvas eliminates paperwork, captures more information, and allows collected data to be shared instantly — anytime, anywhere. With the utilization of the GoCanvas mobile application, business customers that are going paperless can reap significant cost, productivity, and efficiency gains, saving up to 75 percent on paper costs alone and achieving significant annual productivity savings.

“With a service like GoCanvas, Globe is better able to provide companies like Royal Cargo with innovative solutions that help them better transition their existing business processes to a more productive and sustainable system,” shares Rey Lugtu, Vice President for IT Enabled Services at Globe.

The collaboration between two global leaders in telco and mobile applications for business enabled Royal Cargo to implement innovative solutions that improve productivity, heighten collaboration, and generate quick returns on investment.

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How Co-operative Group Saves $265k Monthly with Paperless Retail Audits

How The Co-operative Group Saves $265,000 per Month with Paperless Retail Audits

The Background

The Co-operative Group, based in the UK, is one of the world’s largest community-focused food retailers. It is also the largest organization of its type in the UK with over eight million members. They even have a store in every single UK postal area (2,800 food stores and Petrol stations total nationwide).

The Problem

The Co-operative Group sought a solution to allow their field management team – responsible for conducting on-site store audits – to ditch pen and paper-based audits in favor of a mobile solution to enable them to spend less time in the office on paperwork and more time on the shop floor, improving their document management practices in the process.

The Solution

The Co-operative Group led an initiative to address this challenge and turned to GoCanvas. Thousands of organizations all over the world leverage our cloud-based, software-as-a-service mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps. These forms can be filled out on any mobile device, and the data can be shared in real time so there are no delays or additional manual data entry required.

To help subscribers get started, the GoCanvas application store has over 20,000 ready-made apps that can be easily customized to an individual business user’s needs, with no limits on how many apps can be used. GoCanvas also offers a do-it-yo u rself app builder that enables non-technical users to build apps in minutes, with no programming or coding needed.

GoCanvas enables organizations such as The Co-operative Group to convert paper-based processes to electronic forms rapidly and cost-effectively. The Co-operative Group launched multiple apps for this project, including:

In-store internal audits and checks – Mobile apps are used to conduct day-to-day checks that ensure stores are up to standard, operating legally and complying with health and safety standards. As part of the audit process, the data captured is transmitted in real-time to Head Office. This ensures that any issues can be dealt with immediately and without delay.
Toolkits – GoCanvas mobile apps are used for stores facing a specific issue such as cash loss or workforce management problems. Unlike the audits, these apps are permanently assigned to users. The apps ensure the user asks the right questions of their teams. When the user indicates a policy or procedure is not being followed, the app advises them on how to remedy the situation.

The Outcomes

The ease of the GoCanvas service for both back-end IT administrators and front-end users, along with strategy and leadership provided by the core Co-operative Group Food team driving the project allowed the organization to get 230 Field Managers using the system for these business processes almost overnight. This followed an initial two-month development and trial phase that exceeded expectations. From the initial launch of 230 Field Manager users, an additional 400+ users have been added to GoCanvas. New users include health & safety teams and the quality assurance team. The Co-operative Group’s use of GoCanvas has expanded to include conducting risk assessments and monitoring the quality and freshness of their products.

The shift from paper-based forms and manual processes for auditing and sales to GoCanvas mobile apps has delivered significant productivity and cost benefits to UK Co-operative Group Food, including:

Transformative Change in Work Culture

GoCanvas users access the apps via a combination of devices including iPads, iPhones, Android devices, and Windows PCs. Using GoCanvas has sparked a change in work culture and the way that hundreds of field workers operate. They are more efficient, spend less time at the office inputting data from paper forms and can focus more time on their jobs.

Real Time Access to Data

With almost 700 users, The Co-operative Group leverages GoCanvas for detailed data analysis that can be collected and shared in real-time throughout the organization. Canvas’s cloud-based platform has allowed The Co-operative Group to leave behind paper forms in favor of real-time, actionable intelligence.

The data captured via GoCanvas is transmitted in real-time to corporate offices. Therefore, store issues can be dealt with immediately and without delays. Compliance rates for their stores are often close to 100%. At the corporate office, decision-makers now receive reliable, standardized data delivered in real-time, eliminating the need to collate and organize thousands of datasets.

Improved Information Flow

As a cloud-based mobile service, GoCanvas has provided The Co-operative Group with the flexibility to easily add or edit each app, as user and business needs evolve. With other mobile app alternatives, making even minor changes within each app was cumbersome. At the same time, The Co-operative Group can now create fully customizable forms depending on particular business requirements. This flexibility allows the synchronous flow of information seamlessly between the corporate office and the field teams.

Rapid App Deployment

Canvas’s intuitive mobile app platform has enabled The Co-operative Group to create and deploy apps for key business processes in a matter of days, by non-technical users within the organization.

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Mobile and the cloud are popular with small businesses today. Companies with fewer than 20 employees are more likely to be using the cloud than large companies, and the best small businesses know that embracing mobile also means growth: those SMBs that use mobile payments intensively, for instance, see revenues grow twice as fast as their peers.

“A growing majority of SMBs regard mobile solutions as essential business enablers, with 60 percent saying mobile solutions are critical to business,” says Laurie McCabe, an analyst with the SMB Group. “Mobile solutions also account for a growing share of small business technology budgets when we compare findings over the past four years.”

Find more details about what’s working for the best small businesses and then get yours up to speed.

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HOW TOP SMALL BUSINESSES USE TECHNOLOGY

The Cloud: 87% of all businesses and more than 60% of businesses with less than 99 employees now operate in the cloud.

SMBs with less than 20 employees are 20% more likely to have adopted the cloud than companies with more than 500 employees.

60% of SMBs say mobile solutions are critical to business. 84% of small businesses and 87% of medium businesses view mobile apps as complementary to traditional business applications. 66% of SMBs have a mobile-optimized website; 16% do not. 80% of internet searchers use their smartphones. 47% use a tablet.

Mobile payment: Only about 13% of small businesses are currently accepting mobile payments. But the SMBs that use mobile payments most intensively see revenues growing up to 2x faster and add jobs up to 8x faster than their peers.

CRM is expected to grow to a $36.5 Billion market worldwide by 2017. Since 2012, CRM is gone from a rank of 0 to 7 in the list of technology that businesses say support their goals. 71% of small businesses prefer cloud-based over on-premise CRM systems go up from 48% in 2013.

69.7% of U.S. Internet users prefer email for communicating with businesses. 59% of marketers plan to increase their email marketing budgets in 2015.

Universal Waste Management Saves $20k Annually with GoCanvas

Universal Waste Management Saves $20,000 Annually with GoCanvas

Overview

Universal Waste Management (UWM) is a medical waste transporter and storage facility headquartered outside Jacksonville, Florida. It specializes in the retrieval, transport, and storage of hazardous medical waste for organizations.

UWM was started by professionals frustrated with the high price and poor customer service in the medical-waste transportation and medical waste disposal industry. UWM strives to create close personal ties with its customers, considering each an incredibly important relationship.

The Problem

But as UWM tried to provide great service, it struggled with the growing burden of paperwork. Florida law requires medical waste generators (who handle infectious waste, biohazard waste, infectious substances, clinical waste and more) to hold records for at least three years. As UWM’s customer base grew, so too did its number of filing cabinets and space required for paperwork.

Invoicing customers for service was also bulky. As a paper-based company, UWM had a four stage process. The office would give information about the customer to the driver. Then, the driver would return to the office with his carbon copy proof of service. An office employee would then add pricing to the carbon copy. Finally, it was sent to the bookkeeper.

The result? Invoicing customers would take anywhere from four days to a week. Not only was this process slow, but it also created opportunities for errors. “With paper and pen,” said Jason Kenny, President of Operations, “we couldn’t read what [drivers] were doing.” Carbon copies led to issues with inaccurate invoices and slowed down the company’s billing cycle.

As a growing business, UWM wanted to be able to continue to provide great service while reducing storage needs, increasing cash flow, and, eliminating human error. Management began to look for a solution that would streamline communication and get rid of paper.

The Solution:

In November 2012, UWM switch to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for business. Thousands of organizations leverage Canvas’s cloud-based, software-as-a-service mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps.

The Outcomes

Businesses can search from over 21,000+ ready-made form templates in the GoCanvas Application Store (many of which are for documenting hazardous waste, biohazardous waste and more) that can be customized to an individual business user’s needs. In addition, GoCanvas offers a do-it-yourself app builder that enables non-technical users to build their own custom apps in minutes.Over the past two years, UWM’s employees have ditched paper and use a mixture of Android devices with GoCanvas mobile apps. UWM even created a custom PDF output for a seamless brand experience.

The company has discovered measurable results.

Real-Time Billing

Previously, it would take up to a week to bill customers. Worse, the four-stage process allowed multiple opportunities for errors. “Once a customer called us [to complain],” Jason said. “She was billed for 11 containers, but only two had been picked up. The driver had put down two lines and the office saw it as eleven.”Going mobile has removed any confusion. Today, text is always clear. With drop down fields and barcode scanning, information returns in a standardized format.

By using GoCanvas, UWM receives all its medical waste transport details accurately and in real-time. All documents are stored in the GoCanvas cloud, making it easier to find and track submissions. Calculations are now embedded in the app, so invoicing can go straight from the driver to the bookkeeping staff. Going mobile has dramatically streamlined the invoicing process. Sending an invoice once took a week. Today, UWM can send it out in the same day.

Improved Customer Service

From the beginning, UWM has strived to provide the best in service to every customer. Yet it wasn’t happy with how carbon copies presented the company to its customers.
In addition, if a customer called UWM for a copy of a lost invoice, the office staff could spend up to an hour trying to find it. Instead of presenting tired paper tickets, drivers today show up on client sites with tablets and smartphones. In real time, tickets can be emailed to the client by entering the customer’s email at the end of a submission.

UWM’s customers also get the added benefit of having their medical waste removal documents saved in MyCanvas, a portal for customers of GoCanvas subscribers. Its customers get free cloud storage and easy access to their critical information.“We used to have to find records for customers at least once a day,” said Jason. “Today we only get a request once a week.” Improved access to information frees up UWM’s administrative staff for other important tasks. Canvas’ PDF receipts and MyCanvas help UWM provide better service to its customers as well as a more professional and clean layout of important work information.

Enhanced Data Security and Accessibility

Previously, employees would write down waste disposal manifests on a triplicate form. Then they would bring the forms to the office at the end of a long day. This time lag and multiple site visits made it easier for drivers to lose records, putting both clients and UWM at risk.

It was also difficult for UWM to access the information. It was only available at the office inside UWM’s filing cabinets. It took time to find the documents, and meant certain tasks could occur only inside UWM’s office.UWM now has two different places to store information. Canvas’ integration with Google Drive allows UWM to host its information both in the GoCanvas cloud as well as on Google. This provides double protection and copies of UWM’s data.

It also provides flexibility for access. “Our office manager prefers accessing information from the GoCanvas portal,” Jason explained. “For me, it’s easier to access the information on Google Drive from my smartphone. The Drive integration has been huge.”The changes in productivity, customer service, and billing have had a dramatic impact on UWM’s bottom line. “We spent a couple hundred a month on our paper forms alone,” Jason said.

Going mobile has reduced UWM’s labor, invoicing, and recordkeeping costs. Jason estimates that the organization has saved up to $20,000 a year by going mobile.

Flexibility to Meet Evolving Business Needs

As a cloud-based, mobile platform combined with an easy-to-use mobile app builder, GoCanvas provides the flexibility to update the mobile form’s content and even add new features and functionality. As needs evolve and change, GoCanvas makes editing form apps a frictionless process. For instance, as UWM grows, it’s easy for management to add new customer information into their GoCanvas apps. UWM doesn’t need to rely on IT support or have any knowledge of coding. With GoCanvas, it’s a simple drag-and-drop interface that anyone can use.

Other mobile app alternatives make this process cumbersome or costly, weakening the effectiveness of their platforms. With GoCanvas it is a frictionless process at no additional cost. Today, UWM has gone completely paperless with mobile apps. With more time in their workday, they can focus on providing the best medical waste management solution.

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Cascade Integration Inc. Scales Their Business by Going Paperless

The Background

Cascade Integration, Inc. has over 20 years of experience in Residential and Commercial low voltage and electrical systems. The team understands every aspect of electrical and low voltage wiring, including automation, audio and video systems, lighting control, networking, security, camera surveillance, and advanced structured wiring.

More than experience, Cascade Integration brings exceptional service to its customers. Whether a commercial or residential project, distributed audio, or a home theatre, this business strives for great quality work finished in a timely fashion.

The Problem

Yet, as Cascade Integration was growing, back-end processes were undermining its work. Getting work orders back from the field was time-consuming. “Our guys would have to remember to fill it out right, track it to the calendar, and turn it in on Mondays,” explained Jay Divine.

As the company grew, teams would start to have turn their paperwork in every other week. “It was slowing down everything,” Jay said, “including our billing.” All of the paperwork, data entry, and additional work would require an entire day of work.

On top of slow turnaround for work orders, the language wasn’t standardized on bid forms. Each of the project managers had a different way of saying the same thing. This made creating bids more complicated. In addition, the estimating software with prices was back at the office. Without important information in the field, errors would occur in some bids. Confusion around these forms slowed down Cascade’s process in getting new business.

Cascade Integration realized that paper forms were holding it back from even more growth. It began looking for a solution that would improve processes and allow employees to focus on providing great work.

The Solution

In October 2014, Cascade Integration switched to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for business. Thousands of organizations leverage Canvas’s cloud-based, software-as-a-service mobile app platform to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps.

Businesses can search from over 16,000 ready-made information-gathering app templates in the GoCanvas Application Store that can be customized to an individual business user’s needs. In addition, GoCanvas offers a do-it-yourself app builder that enables non-technical users to build their own custom apps in minutes.

The Outcomes

Cascade Integration’s 25 employees in both Hawaii and Washington State have ditched paper and now use GoCanvas mobile apps. The transition was easy: Cascade uses a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, reducing hardware costs. To begin, the team gathered for 10 minutes to go over how to use GoCanvas. A month later, the team came back together and discussed any outstanding issues or problems and fixed them quickly.

Over the past six months, the company has discovered measurable results.

Improved Data Accuracy

Handwritten forms have always had information issues, missing fields, unclear handwriting, and incorrect information. Cascade Integration struggled with these issues as well.

By using GoCanvas, this organization has gotten rid of many common types of errors. Required fields ensure that all work orders submitted to the office return completely filled out. Reference data allows them to prepopulate apps with pricing and product information. Speech-to-text options have made it easy for all employees to fill out the information as well. In addition, all submissions (completed forms) are automatically emailed to the office. Once an employee has filled out a work order, it’s stored in their GoCanvas account in the cloud. Work orders no longer get lost between jobs, or forgotten in the truck. By going mobile, Cascade Integration has more accurate data and made capturing it easier than ever before.

Standardized Language

Previously, bids for projects were different from manager to manager. With different word choices and different focuses, it made it difficult for estimators to properly assess a project. Often, project managers would go through and fill out parts that weren’t pertinent to the project or omitted things that were necessary. This slowed down potential bids and chances to get new projects.

By switching to GoCanvas, all bids are now filled out in a standardized format. Drop-down lists, required fields, and other GoCanvas functionalities allow Cascade Integration to have a streamlined and standard bid form. Another powerful feature, conditional logic, has also improved the experience. With conditional logic, project managers can skip parts of the bid form depending on how they answer certain questions. So, this feature saves project managers’ time, helping them to focus on the parts that matter. Going mobile has reduced confusion and error as well as making it faster to fill out information for bids.

Streamlined Administrative Processes

When working with paperwork orders, the process for billing was painful and time-consuming. “The challenge,” Jay explained, “was getting all the paperwork back in time. Everyone waited until the last minute. It led to a stressful scramble.”Today, all work orders return in real-time to the cloud. When Jay goes to do billing, all information is available, accurate, and ready for processing. With an integration to Google Drive, it’s become even faster.

This streamlined administrative process has saved a significant amount of time: Though Jay has 50% more work for billing, he is able to complete it in the same amount of time. Faster billing processes has allowed them to grow and maintain a short sales cycle.

Improved Oversight

Before, jobs were scheduled using Google Calendar. This allowed management and employees to easily see and understand what was happening, especially as the number of employees grew. However, tracking jobs and understanding the work in real time was lacking. Today, Cascade Integration uses GoCanvas in tandem with Google Calendar. With our light dispatch functionality, jobs are sent to employees as pre-populated forms with information including customer name, address, and the work wanted by the customer, allowing employees to get started working quickly.

Not only do employees spend less time filling out forms but management also gets more oversight. With dispatch, management can see when a dispatched job has been opened and when it is sent back to the office. With both Google and GoCanvas, management can understand the big picture schedule and the details of each job in real time.

Flexibility to Meet Evolving Business Needs

As a cloud-based, mobile platform combined with an easy-to-use mobile app builder, GoCanvas provides the flexibility to add new features and functionality to any of their mobile apps. As needs evolve and change, GoCanvas makes editing apps a frictionless process. For instance, as pricing for tools or products changes, it’s easy for management to add or update information into its GoCanvas apps. Cascade Integration doesn’t need to rely on IT support or have any knowledge of coding. With GoCanvas, it’s a simple drag-and-drop interface that anyone can use. Other mobile app alternatives make this process cumbersome or costly, weakening the effectiveness of their platforms. With GoCanvas it is a frictionless process at no additional cost.

Today, Cascade Integration receives better information and enjoys faster processes. As a growing business, it can focus on continuing to provide the best electrical systems service to customers.

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Customer Story: Hafsco Achieves Business Success and Operational Improvements

Hafsco Achieves Business Success and Operational Efficiency with GoCanvas

Overview

HAFSCO, founded in 1934, is a full-service food service company located in West Haven, CT that provides commercial and restaurant kitchen design, sales, and service along with consulting services. As a family-run small business, the firm sells and services commercial kitchen equipment and products for restaurants, country clubs, universities, hotels, etc. For 78 years HAFSCO ran its small business as many do, relying heavily on paper forms for business processes ranging from work orders to invoicing and human resources. This was especially true for HAFSCO’s 7 technicians out in the field responsible for delivering and servicing customers’ commercial equipment requirements. These technicians carted around piles of 3-part carbon work order forms – forms that were critical for ensuring customers could be invoiced, and that product, service, and maintenance requests could be filed in an accurate and timely manner.

The Problem

HAFSCO knew they had a problem with paperwork orders, but it wasn’t until mid-2012 that it realized how massive this problem was and that it was costing them upwards of $10,000 in revenue per month. Often, technicians would lose or misplace copies of the work order, which meant that HAFSCO could not invoice the customer and get paid or really have any insight into where technicians were on a given day and what they were doing. Equally damaging is that it might be 3-4 days before a technician would return to the office, which meant that a work order request for a product or service made at the customer premises on a Monday wouldn’t even be filed until the end of the week.

Convinced that inefficient paper processes were costing the firm revenues and customers, HAFSCO’s management team sought a mobile solution that could be deployed quickly, inexpensively, and with an intuitive user interface so that technicians would embrace the transition.

The Solution

After exploring several technology options and vendors, HAFSCO turned to GoCanvas, the global leader in mobile apps for businesses. GoCanvas has established itself as the fastest-growing mobile business app store in the world, with thousands of organizations leveraging the GoCanvas App Store to replace cumbersome paper forms with highly customizable mobile business apps that work on nearly every smartphone and tablet on the market. The firm’s app store now has several thousand ready-made apps to use or customize to an individual business user’s needs, and GoCanvas also offers a do-it-yourself app builder toolkit that enables non-technical users to build mobile apps in minutes.

HAFSCO was drawn to GoCanvas’ mobile solution for its ease of use, ease-of-deployment, and ability to allow technicians in the field to submit work orders at the customer premises – or anywhere – from smartphone and tablet devices. Equipped with Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet devices and using their GoCanvas work order app, HAFSCO technicians are able to:

Capture all of customer information in real-time on their mobile device, ranging from, the parts they use to make repairs, the costs, the time they start and stop the job, and a customer signature.
Customize any form depending on specific customer needs.
Send work order and invoice information in real-time via the Cloud to proper HAFSCO back-office systems, so that parts can be ordered immediately and billing can be made promptly.

HAFSCO also uses GoCanvas to audit its billing. All data collected with GoCanvas is stored in the cloud on GoCanvas’s servers where GoCanvas subscribers can access it anytime they wish. HAFSCO logs into their GoCanvas account and visits the “Submissions” area to view all work orders that have been submitted by their mobile users. They export the data in a CSV file for the time period they are interested in, and can then check them against what has actually been billed in their system to ensure that all work is being invoiced

The Outcomes

By transitioning from paper-based work orders and employee time cards, HAFSCO has realized several key benefits:

Elimination of missing work orders – With GoCanvas mobile apps, the percentage of missing work orders has dropped from 25% to, in effect, zero, as technicians now use the GoCanvas app to send work orders from Galaxy Tab devices to back-office systems in real-time via the Cloud.
Converted lost revenue into business growth – Eliminating lost work orders added thousands of dollars in previously lost revenue to HAFSCO’s coffers, and the firm has utilized those revenues to grow the business by hiring additional staff and purchasing more vehicles for technicians servicing customers.
Rapid invoicing and payments– No longer would it take technicians several days to return to the office and manually prepare invoices. Through GoCanvas mobile apps, invoices are generated in real-time and sent to HAFSCO’s billing department via the Cloud. As a result, HAFSCO is able to receive customer payments much sooner than with the paper-based invoice system.
Improved customer service – The elimination of missing and delayed work orders has improved the ability of HAFSCO to live up to its reputation providing the highest level of customer service. Customer complaints dropped significantly after transitioning to GoCanvas from paper forms

Ready to Rethink How You Work?

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How Mobile Apps Are Improving Productivity

All businesses have information they need to collect and share. There are millions of processes happening each day–some you see (e.g., the plumber who brings an invoice to your house) and some you don’t (e.g., safety inspections happening at every construction job site).

There’s a revolution happening with how these organizations are collecting and sharing information, and it’s awesome seeing GoCanvas lead the way.

But how are businesses and organizations really using mobile apps to better collect, share and learn from their data?

We love seeing all the ways businesses are streamlining their processes and rapidly transforming their work with mobile forms on phones and tablets. Organizations are not only using multiple form apps, but they’re also building and deploying them to their workforces faster than ever before (almost 70% built an app in a day or less!)–an indication that businesses of all sizes are shifting from expensive, resource-intensive custom builds to cloud-based mobile business app solutions.

Here’s a look at how a few key industries are using mobile form apps to automate their work processes.

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The GoCanvas 2015 online survey was completed by more than 1,600 decision makers from a broad range of company sizes and industries that have historically relied heavily on paper forms and manual processes, most prominently construction and contracting, field services, retail and wholesale distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, government, and transportation & logistics.

Key Survey Findings

Organizations using multiple mobile business apps – Two-thirds of respondents indicated their organization used 1-5 mobile business apps in 2014, and a robust 20% of organizations used 10+ mobile business apps last year.
Organizations are saving money converting manual processes to mobile apps – Of those tracking their cost savings, 17% saved between $25,000-$100,000 annually switching to mobile apps, while 81% indicated cost savings between $1,000-$25,000.
Mobile apps are still used most heavily for inspections and work orders – When it comes to specific tasks businesses are using mobile apps for, inspections (52%), work orders (35%), checklists (20%), and surveys (20%) remain the four most popular – as was the case in last year’s survey.
Signature capture and image capture popular features – The 2015 GoCanvas survey also tracked, for the first time, which mobile business app features organizations have used in the past 12 months. Image capture (56%), signature capture (52%), workflow (23%), and GPS (22%) were the most popular.

Use of Core Business Applications

64 percent of businesses see value in integrating core business applications – such as Dropbox, PayPal Here, Salesforce, and Quickbooks – with mobile devices and tools, up 1 percent from last year’s survey. That said, significant customer data gains were experienced by Box and Google Drive for cloud storage, and PayPal Here for credit card processing.

What business applications are being used in 2015

The survey of GoCanvas customers, conducted March 25^th – April 7^th, 2015, included companies from a broad range of industries and sizes. Of the respondents, 28% were from businesses with 500+ employees; 26% were from businesses with 101-500 employees; 19% worked at organizations with 26-100 employees; and 27% hailed from small businesses with 25 employees or less.

Interested in how your business can streamline manual processes, eliminate paperwork and transform the way you collect, share, and learn from your business information? Browse our collection of Inspection and Survey mobile templates.

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Businesses Rapidly Building, Using More Mobile Apps

The 2015 survey of more than 1,600 businesses suggests that organizations rapidly building and deploying multiple mobile apps.

Construction Businesses are using mobile apps for: 49% Work orders; 31% Checklists; 61% Inspections.

33% of businesses used more than 5 mobile business apps last year. Retail Businesses are using mobile apps for: 36% of Inspections; 38% of Checklists; 41% of Surveys.

68% of organizations were able to build a mobile app in 1 day or less. Manufacturing Businesses are using mobile apps for: 25% Work Orders; 30% Audits; 41% Inspections.

Google Drive, Box, and PayPal Mobile applications saw the biggest year-over-year usage gains. General Businesses are using mobile apps for: 20% Checklists; 35% Work Orders; 52% Inspections.

64% of businesses see value in integrating mobility with core business applications, such as file storage, CRM, credit card processing, note-taking, and accounting. Healthcare businesses are using mobile apps for: 25% Work Orders; 18% Invoices; 20% Logs.

Eye Opening Facts About Field Service

Eye-Opening Facts About Field Service

There are dozens of websites, publications, and email newsletters dedicated to field service technology. But what’s actually driving field service companies to technology? What kinds of software and devices are they using?

We’ve gathered some eye-opening facts to help you understand where the industry is today, and how real businesses are using technology to innovate and stay productive.

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Mobile technology is no longer a rarity in field service: it’s becoming expected for staying competitive and improving service. You may have noticed that this trend is only going to grow further to 2.5 million units.

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EYE-OPENING FACTS ABOUT FIELD SERVICES

Driving field service mobility: 80% customer demand for improved service; 44% Competitive pressures; 33$ Need to work with reduced field workforce; 41% Growing volume of service requests.

Common mobile workforce challenges:

1. Ensuring the mobile workforce is at optimal productivity/efficiency

2. Accurately capturing and sharing data in real-time

3. Improving first-time fix rates

Berg Insight expects mobile workforce management to grow to 2.5 million by 2018 in North America and Europe.

What devices are the workforce using? – 66% Currently use an automated software solution; 47% use a cloud solution; 41% mobile phones; 22% tablets; 37% computers.

Top 3 reasons for the cloud: 1. Faster deployment; 2. Less strain on IT; 3 Lower upfront cost.