Michael Pugh realized he had to find a new way to manage his company’s paper problem. Fed up with mountains of invoices, bills and work orders spread across multiple offices – not to mention the time his team spent searching for them – he knew he had to do something.
But Pugh, chief technical financial officer at Pugh’s Earthworks in Memphis, Tenn., had to shop around before finding the right software for his commercial landscape installation and maintenance firm.
“I spent probably $50,000 to $60,000 buying different versions of software. Most of what was on the market was for scheduling,” he says. “We’re not a route-type sales organization where our guys go to the same spot every day or even every week. Our business is very weather dependent and we really didn’t need the scheduling part of it.”
Pugh just wanted a simple way to manage work orders across a large company and multiple offices. But his options were limited to route- or schedule-based software programs.
“Our problem was to get the parts of the software that we wanted, we had to use scheduling software,” he says.
In 2010, the need for document management made sense.
“We thought of all that paper we were generating and it kind of hit home,” he says. “We had one whole room that used to be an office full of records. I was going to have to rent storage space to put all these boxes full of paper because I had a new employee who needed an office.”
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Where to start Both Freeman and Pugh offer similar advice to companies who are considering this kind of software. “Plan how you will use CNG within your organization. Take advantage of the training tutorials. You’ll be surprised how fast this begins to flow and eventually you will have your entire company using CNG.” Freeman said. Pugh says, “Spend a lot of time deciding what you need the software for. Instead of trying to fit yourself into someone’s software, try to find software to fit with what you want and what you are doing.” |
The software he chose – Cabinet NG – lets you scan documents and then houses the digital files on third-party servers. It integrates with programs like Outlook to automatically save copies of invoices emailed to customers.
When he looked at the software again it dawned on him how much it could actually do. “It has an Outlook and Quickbooks integration. I’ve been using Quickbook ever since it came out.”
Not to waste a good marketing opportunity, Pugh’s Earthworks sent letters to 400 customers announcing that the company had started its green initiative and wanted to start sending invoices through email.
A blizzard of paperwork. Founded in 1992 in Memphis, Tenn., the company expanded to Jackson and Nashville, as well as Jackson, Miss., and Little Rock, Ark. Being in so many locations only increased the need for a document management communication tool.
“When we opened our Little Rock branch we didn’t know how to manage an off-site branch,” Pugh says. “CNG basically provides an electronic filing cabinet that anybody in our company can look into.”
So a branch manager can look into the software and see any customer’s contract with email correspondence between the company and the customer. Before the finding the software, sales produced a blizzard of paperwork.
“Under the old way, our salesman would sell a contract, get a customer signature, come back to the office, make anywhere between four to six copies of it, and put one on everyone’s desk so that each department would be alerted.
If it was made in another branch, he would fax that copy to Memphis and we would make copies for everyone who needed it. If a customer wanted to change something on the contract, we had to go back through that process.”
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How it works Document management software allows you to create electronic versions of your work orders, time sheets and other paperwork. Here’s how:
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Recordkeeping for account payables was equally cumbersome. “The IRS requires you to keep records of your purchases for three to seven years. I’ve got nooks and crannies everywhere filled with bills from vendors. We scan all that now and it integrates with Quickbooks.”
Pugh measures his return on investment in saved office space, paper and foot traffic. “I’ve got a whole office freed up which is like $6 a square foot and that’s $5,000 a year.”
Low overhead, high profit. Like Pugh, Robin Freeman of Freeman Landscape decided to implement document management software to get out from under a mountain of paperwork.
“At first, I kept paper copies of everything because I didn’t trust the electronic world,” Freeman says. “Now almost everything is a digital document.”
Freeman Landscape has one location in Wilmington, N.C., but services the eastern half of the state. The company, with 50 employees and annual sales of more than $3 million, installs landscape irrigation, hardscapes, water features and lighting and provides landscape maintenance.
Freeman estimates her software package paid for itself within the first year. “The time that our staff does not spend in looking for documents has been invaluable. Also, finding documents related to warranty issues, customer communication and billing – all the time that would normally be spent pulling files has basically disappeared.”
Because it made their jobs easier, Freeman’s staff welcomed the new software.
“We’ve lowered our overhead, which in turn has allowed us to be more competitive in the marketplace as well as improve our profitability,” he says.
“We can honestly tell our customers that we’re striving to be a green company both within our organization and in the field.”
How to choose:
In our April issue, we offered a five-step illustrated guide to choosing the right kind of software for your business. You can download it at bit.ly/bizsoft.
The author is a freelance writer based in Medina, Ohio.
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