Client Services: Communication & Scheduling

Operations Process Flow - Asphalt Repair Services

Customer Interaction

• Customer communicates pothole issues to the sales team (CSR).
• CSR explains the asphalt repair process and adds customer and property info to CRM.
• Sales rep creates a survey task for Dispatch to trigger the inspection scheduling- WWC or regular inspection. If an inspection is not required, CSR can move on directly to Proposal Generation.
• CSR adds notes in the tasks they create: property type, location, other details.

Inspection Scheduling

Three types of survey inspections:

• Regular- Completed within 7 days. No notification for regular inspections; they appear in the scheduling list. Ops members receive urgency notifications on day 6.
• Walk with Clients- Dispatch contacts clients on the same day and schedules as per client preferences. CRM notification for inspection scheduling only if WWC.
• PARC surveys- Auto generated by system and has to be scheduled within 2 weeks.

Daily schedule: 10 surveys within a 5-hour driving time. PARC and regular surveys take approximately 30 minutes each, while WWCs may take 1 hour or more. New or large properties, like FedEx yards with 50K parking spots, may take longer. CSR notes are embedded in the inspection task.

Scheduling and building the route:

• Client has to get the quote within 7 days. Therefore, surveys are scheduled within the week.
• Dispatch considers various factors when designing routes:
  • Jobs
  • Available surveyors
  • Drive time to and fro survey/client locations
  • Google Maps for efficient route design
  • Weather considerations (avoiding rain, snow, wind)
  • Client/sales pressure
  • Time
  • Property type (e.g., shopping center, utilities, parking lot)
  • Surveyor’s preference to choose where to begin.

On rare occasions, surveyors or technicians may be asked to complete jobs beyond 5 hours of driving time, requiring special permission/approval from management (Terry).

Property Inspection

• Surveyor uses the Proposal Maker app to view property details.
• Surveyor marks damages, records pictures, and adds notes in the app.
• For all questions, including client-specific or property-specific issues, surveyors are to call the Operations Team. If the Operations is not sure about the response, Operations will contact the Sales team and the client for further clarification. The Operations team will then call the Field team with an answer, choosing the solution that is best for the client, company and team, in that order.
• The Sales team is automatically notified when the inspection is complete.

Proposal Generation

• Sales team reviews the surveyor's data and generates an interactive proposal.
• Proposal includes line item pricing, pictures, and damage location.
• Proposal emailed to the customer, followed by a clarification call.

Approval and Dispatch

• Customer approves and signs the proposal, sending it back to CSR.
• While opportunity is “Quote Pending”, any and all changes can be made by anyone. After a quote is made into a job ( status changes “Closed Won/ Authorized by Client”), opportunity gets locked and no more changes can be made except by the Management.
• Priority scheduling is based on
  • Type of job
  • Special notes
  • Necessary Documentation
• Operations team verifies all documents are complete and entered into the system.
• Operations team checks the job into the scheduling system.

Job Scheduling

Dispatch reviews specifications and schedules the job.

4 types of jobs/ dispatches:

• Priority/ Emergency job: Urgent work completed in 72 hours, incurring extra costs for potential route disruption.
• Regular job: Must be completed within 2 weeks of approval.
• Fixed Date jobs: Scheduled well in advance, providing clients with advance notice based on their preferences.
• Cold weather jobs: In temperatures below 30 degrees, each Temporary Repair (TR) takes 45 minutes to 1.5 hours. The cold weather plan involves providing clients with a temporary patch during winter, and the PHR team returns in spring for a permanent fix. Clients are billed for the temporary repair, with no payment due for the final repair. Photos of the damage, temporary repair, and final repair are provided to the client. Cold weather repairs are expedited, with a 60 TR job taking only a few hours, as opposed to the normal 2-2.5 days. If the temperature rises above 40 degrees or if work is slow, technicians switch to thermal repairs, adjusting the schedule accordingly. You can read more about the process here.

In an 8-hour shift, tech teams complete 25-30 TRs within 4 hours of driving time. Unloading, starting machines, and cleaning/packing equipment can take 30 minutes for each job. Technicians receive job details in the E-TECHNICIAN app.

Job Preparation

• Technician loads trailer with materials, inspects equipment, and performs truck/trailer check.
• Daily inspection in the E-TECHNICIAN app ensures readiness.

On-Site Repairs

• Technician drives to the job site and locates approved potholes.
• Tech starts the job in the app, which automatically notifies the Customer, Operations, and CSR departments, and records progress in real time with the E-TECHNICIAN app.
• New repairs may be added, if approved.

Job Completion

• Tech completes repairs, records with pictures and notes in the app.
• Job closed in E-TECHNICIAN app, tech cleans up the site.
• Customer, Operations, and CSR receive completion notification.

Billing and Invoicing

• PHR billing department receives job completion notifications.
• Invoice sent to customer for payment.

Cycle Continuation

• All departments are notified of customer satisfaction.
• Process repeats for ongoing service excellence.

Other scheduling

Use Google Calendar to schedule the following as recurring events until the CRM is set up.

• DOT Inspections, Annual Driving Tests and other compliance documentation (to be scheduled on one day within one week in January annually)
• Maintenance schedules for truck, trailer, and small machines (every 3 months- January, April, July and October)
• Monthly Inventory and Truck/Trailer cleaning days (last working week of each month)
• Bi-Annual Inventory Audits (to be scheduled in January & June )

Special notes on Route Optimization (while scheduling surveyor inspections and technician jobs)

• Define objectives: reducing fuel costs, travel time, completing services (TRs)
• Collect data: Customer locations, service time requirements, vehicle/ crew capacity, constraints due to weather, scheduling time frame, traffic, type of property, client requirements, etc
• Choose Route Optimization software: Input data, choose customization, and optimize routes.
• Review and adjust routes
• Implement and track
• Dynamic optimization of routes
• Evaluate and Iterate

This comprehensive process flow ensures a systematic and efficient approach to asphalt repair services, from initial customer interaction to job completion and invoicing. The integration of technology and effective communication among departments contributes to the overall success of the operations.