That’s a tricky question because it’s like asking when your business will become a full-time operation machine rather than just a side hustle. For a business owner building his livelihood from the ground up, every day is just as busy, and it’s hard to tell the difference.

Jacob Szender, Sure Lock & Key’s CEO, faced a similar question when his business was starting to expand. With over 20 technicians and 20 members of other staff, Szender’s business has branches that provide door and garage door services, especially in times of emergency (such as lockouts or whenever car keys are lost). We caught him for a quick session asking him when he started using Workiz and, most importantly, why.

As is common in a lot of small businesses, Szender and his brothers worked all aspects of the company: they were the technicians, the dispatchers, the customer support, the CEOs, and whatnot. “We would accept the calls, note down customer’s info and appointment details, and then render the service, and it was tough to keep track of everything,” recalls Szender.

So naturally, as the customer base grew and the Szender family decided to expand their business, they felt the need to level up their operations. Most importantly, as Szender emphasizes, they wanted to “stay on top of all the data and manage the team better.”

Why Workiz?

“It covers all of our needs, has an appealing user interface, and is very easy to use. Even our senior technicians got a grasp of it in no time. Most CRM systems were designed for big companies, but Workiz is aimed specifically at small businesses and has many handy features that are very field-specific”.

“Even our senior technicians got a grasp of it in no time, and we have no problem introducing it to new employees.”

Szender and his team have been using Workiz for five years now. The software is vital throughout their operations: “We use it for scheduling appointments; keeping records of the customers, invoices, payments, and bills; dispatching technicians and keeping constant communication; billing customers, monitoring team performance, gathering statistics, etc.”

In addition to Szender and other managers, many of their staff also use Workiz. As Szender points out, Workiz is used primarily by on-field technicians and dispatchers at the office, but also by the managers, IT department, accounting department (“commissions report made life so much easier for them”), and supply coordinators. Workiz is so easy to operate and navigate that Szender has no trouble introducing it to his new employees as part of their onboarding process.

“Highly adaptable and customizable.”

Szender mentions three main benefits of using Workiz:

  • Automation – “Workiz has automated a lot of processes for us, especially when it comes to the inventory and reports.”
  • Team management – “we can clearly see every dispatcher’s performance and efficiency in the dispatcher performance section, which really helps us manage the team accordingly and take measures aimed at improvement immediately.”
  • Lead-Tracking – “Workiz makes it easy to make data-informed decisions regarding advertising, as we can easily track the calls advertising campaigns and areas they’re linked to.”