Choosing software for your electrical business: test it on a real job

Start with the task that is holding you up

If quotes are waiting in your notes, find what stops them going out. Is the scope missing, the price undecided or the document slow to prepare? Buying a subscription will not decide the price.

Choose the process you need to improve. For a sole trader it may be enquiry to quote to invoice. With several engineers, it may include assigning work and keeping the desk informed.

Take one sample job through the whole process

Use fictional customer details or a safely anonymised job in a demonstration. Prepare a quote, record acceptance, book the work, collect completion information and prepare the invoice. Look for information typed twice.

For certificate tools, the responsible electrician should check the forms, technical workflow and sign-off arrangements. A tidy screen does not prove the output suits the work.

• Can you use the quote layout and optional extras you need?
• Can an engineer see the latest job information on a phone?
• What happens when a date, scope or price changes?
• Can the office tell what is finished and what needs approval?
• What stops a reminder after a reply, acceptance or payment?
• What works without a signal, and how do changes sync?

Count the full cost for your team

Ask for the cost for your actual users and functions. Include setup, training, modules, messages and connections to other systems. Compare monthly and annual commitments on the same basis.

Allow time to move records and train people. If certificates or accounts need another product, include it. Ask to see the actual task completed rather than relying on a feature name.

Check permissions and the way out

Decide who may change a price, send an invoice or see customer information. Test those roles. Ask about backups and recovery.

Export a sample customer, quote, invoice and attachment. Open the export and check the records are useful. Find out what you retain if you cancel and how long you have to collect your data.

Let the people using it try it

Give an engineer and the person handling the desk the same sample job. Watch where they need help. Record the task, expected result, actual result and anything to fix.

Check whether the tools you already use can support the routine before replacing them. A template, clear completion trigger and owner can remove repeated work.

Write down the handover first

For bigger electrical firms, we set up and link job and customer systems, build templates and train the team. We start with how you run jobs.

Use the free Admin Handover Pack to describe one process before buying anything: what starts it, which information it needs, what requires approval and what finished means.