How Tigerpaw Users Get The Most From Their PSA — And Are Planning To Use Tigerpaw One
Ann Johnson, CFO of Premiere, a Tigerpaw Software user, can tell you what every job costs down to the penny. With locations in Chicago and Naples, FL, Premiere, an audio, video, and automation integrator, often has jobs that last four or five years and from design to completion can total $1 million. Tigerpaw professional services automation (PSA) helps Premiere track equipment, materials, and labor hours, detailing the type of labor (e.g., installer, designer, project manager) and their rates. “We can watch the project as it is progressing,” Johnson says. “This allows us to take preventatives measures midway and still turn a profit.”
At the Tigerpaw Partner Conference 2015, October 27 to 30 in Omaha, NE, Johnson told Business Solutions that business is different now for Premiere compared to seven years ago before the company used Tigerpaw: “We went from taking a stab in the dark to knowing — knowing which division is more profitable than another and which location is more profitable and by how much. We know exactly who is more efficient. We are like night and day from before Tigerpaw to now.”
Jamie Pavel, COO of PavelComm, an IT services, voice, and networking provider, in Portland, OR, a Tigerpaw user since 1999, leverages a number of the PSA’s features, including reporting. PavelComm was a beta user of Tigerpaw 15RI, released in June, which included the “matrix.” Corey DeJong, director of marketing, explained that the matrix redeveloped list views into a customizable system. Users can request as much data as they want on a particular point and share the information across all users.
“We are going gangbusters over the matrix,” Pavel said. “We love that you can report on custom fields.” She said the company had trouble tracking call backs and first call resolutions, two key performance indicators (KPIs) for PavelComm’s technicians — a problem solved by the matrix. “Having a way to report is critical,” she commented.
Providing Users With All The Tools They Need
When he addressed conference attendees on the first full day of the event in Omaha, Tigerpaw CEO Foxall pointed out that having the right tools and giving your business every advantage has never been more important.
James Kernan, Tigerpaw VP of sales, told Business Solutions, “There is convergence in so many markets. It’s not traditional voice, data, managed print, security, video — all of these things can be packaged for a recurring monthly revenue stream.” Kernan added, “The competitive landscape is brutal. We advise leveraging your tools to differentiate yourself from the competition.”
For example, Foxall, said with an increasingly commoditized market, the reports generated from your PSA and remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform — showing the services you provided and the problems you corrected or prevented — can help confirm your value with your clients. “The more you are entrenched. The better you are protected,” he commented.
To help users stay competitive by increasing efficiency and productivity and controlling costs, Foxall announced at the conference that Tigerpaw has set a goal of making all of the PSA’s tools available to every user. A major step toward that goal is Tigerpaw One, which packages all of the software’s modules into one SaaS product for a monthly fee instead of an upfront capital expense. As Tigerpaw adds features and functions, they will become a part of Tigerpaw One at no additional cost, along with current modules including Tigerpaw Mobile with CRM, payment processing with encryption that removes Tigerpaw from PCI (Payment Card Industry) scope, Outlook Journal Connector, Email Connector, Microsoft Exchange Integrator, and customer and employee portals. Tigerpaw One also enables users to have visibility into other areas — sales, service, payment — with administrator permission.
Along with the other attendees at the Tigerpaw Partner Conference, both Premier and PavelComm have the opportunity to try Tigerpaw One at no charge for one year.
Johnson said, “I’m hoping it will lead to a whole experimental year of pushing our boundaries and challenging us to think of new ways we can improve.” She said Premiere is at a point where each Tigerpaw user in the company is an expert in his or her own area. Tigerpaw One will allow them to access other areas — the purchaser will be able to review service records, for example. “By giving more people access to these features, we are going to have some aha moments. Expanding everyone’s use should help our communication and our efficiencies,” she said.
Both Johnson and Pavel want to explore how the customer portal could help their businesses, providing an additional way of communicating with customers and taking payments. Pavel also said her company wants to test use of the employee portal, which Web-enables Tigerpaw for remote users. “Our employees take their computers everywhere. This will let them to use Tigerpaw wherever they are,” she said.
Foxall said with all of the features and ways businesses can use them to their advantage, “the trick is making sure everyone in your company is empowered to get things done.” The Tigerpaw Academy offers resources including training, courses, live “ask the expert” sessions, and webinars. New users receive links to training resources, and the academy includes a certification system that provides managers with information on which courses users have completed. The academy also includes peer-guided webinars that offer advice on overcoming challenges.
Advice For Tigerpaw Users
Both Johnson and Pavel said their advice to other Tigerpaw users is to take advantage of the training and informational resources Tigerpaw offers.
Johnson said, “Put away your fear. It may seem overwhelming because Tigerpaw offers so much, but someone there has done the hard work of figuring out clear paths for you to follow.”
Pavel said her staff often comes up with ideas to use the PSA to make their jobs easier — and she usually can make it work with Tigerpaw, “but if I can’t figure it out I call, and they send me off in the right direction,” She added that working with Tigerpaw is best described as a partnership, not one-way communication.
Johnson agreed: “Tigerpaw is intentional about building community and encourages us so we can continue to grow in a changing market place. Then everything appears doable.”
Kernan said Tigerpaw recognizes that implementing new systems takes an investment of effort and time, but there is quantifiable ROI. “One user said he saved 75 percent in man hours in accounting when his company implemented full payment processing and automated billing. When you get that much time back, it’s pretty compelling,” he said.