GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Scheduling & Dispatch

You're Stop 4 of 9: The Customer's Live Route Map for Garage Door Visits

A homeowner waiting for a garage door tech has one question: when? A time window helps a little. A text when the tech is on the way helps more. But the most satisfying answer is the one they can check themselves, any time, without calling anybody: you're stop 4 of 9, and the tech is three stops away.

The Customer's Side of a Busy Day

On a day like the one in Cold Snaps and Busy Days: Scheduling a Garage Door Company When the Phones Light Up, the office has no time to answer “where is he?” over and over. The customer's live route map answers it for them.

In GarageDoorBossPro, the customer app shows today's route on a live map. A customer on today's schedule sees their place in line, like “You're stop 12 of 20 — the tech is 5 stops away.” As the tech completes jobs, the count goes down. When the route changes, the customer sees the new picture.

Why It Fits Garage Door Work

Garage door visits usually need the customer to do something before the tech gets there. Open the house door into the garage. Move the car out of the bay. Put the dog inside. Be home for an install walkthrough. The live map lets them time it. A homeowner who sees the tech is five stops away can finish errands. One who sees the tech is next can head home or get the garage ready.

It is especially useful on days when the route shifted. If a car-trapped call jumped the line, every customer behind it moved back one stop. Customers on the map simply see that their stop number did not move for a while, which is a lot less frustrating than waiting by a window with no information.

Commercial contacts get the same benefit. A shift lead who needs to clear a dock door, or a property manager meeting the tech at a building, can check the map instead of calling the office. That keeps the commercial visit on time and the dock clear when the van arrives.

Alerts and the Map Work Together

The map is for customers who want to check. Alerts are for customers who want to be told. Customers choose their alerts in the customer app: the night before, when they are next, and when the tech arrives. The tech app also sends on-the-way and arrived texts automatically.

Many customers use both. They get the night-before reminder, glance at the map in the morning, and wait for the “you're next” alert to head home. For the texts, see On-the-Way Texts: Letting Homeowners Know the Garage Door Tech Is Coming.

What Else Is in the Customer App

The live map is one part of the customer app, and the rest of it supports scheduling too:

• Request service. A customer whose opener is acting up can request service, and the request shows up for the office to schedule.
• Sign up for services and pricing. For example, a yearly tune-up plan that comes due on its own every 365 days.
• Update their card. So the card on file is current when the tech completes the job.
• See invoices and pay. No paper invoice in the mailbox.
• Rate and refer. A customer happy with a same-day spring fix can pass the company along.

Privacy for Everyone on the Route

A route map raises a fair question: does one customer see the others? The customer app shows the customer their own place in line and how far away the tech is, not the names and addresses of the other people on the route. The company's other customers are just stops ahead of them. It is the same idea as a delivery tracker, applied to a garage door van.

Fewer Calls, Better Mornings

The office feels the difference on the busiest days, when the phone is ringing with new emergencies and does not need to also ring with “is he still coming?” Techs feel it too, when they pull into driveways where the bay is clear and someone is waiting. And customers feel like they are dealing with a company that respects their time.

It also takes some pressure off the techs. A tech who knows the customer can see the route does not feel the need to text ahead from a personal phone, and does not get calls from customers who found that number last year. Communication stays with the company.

Getting customers to use the map is mostly a matter of mentioning it. Put a line about the customer app in the night-before reminder or on the invoice, and have techs mention it at the end of a visit. Once a customer has used it on one visit, they tend to check it on the next.

For how the customer app fits with the dispatch board, routing and texts, go back to the garage door scheduling software page.