Blackhall, Edinburgh’s oldest family run provider of plumbing, heating and electrical services, has invested in a BigChange job management system to secure the next 100 years of business. The company has transformed the management of its mobile operation with integrated CRM, tracking and reporting, resulting in better customer communications, fewer queries and more accurate on-site charging.
BigChange is also supporting Blackhall’s green ambitions with intelligent scheduling and routing of its fully electric fleet and its commitment to paperless working.
P Blackhall was established by Peter Blackhall in 1913 and has been run by his descendants ever since. Now in the hands of the fifth generation, the company has diversified its service offering and was one of the first to specialise in renewable energy solutions in Edinburgh and has more recently started to offer EV charger installation, service and maintenance. Blackhall selected BigChange to replace a previous scheduling system which it felt had not kept pace with technology or its changing requirements.
“Blackhall’s has been through various transitions in its 110-year history evolving from a one-man-band to hugely respected provider of high-end domestic and commercial services, and technology has always played a part,” commented business director Stuart Blackhall, Peter Blackhall’s great, great grandson. “My grandfather, who was awarded an MBE for his services to the engineering sector, made the first foray into computers in the early 80’s with a reported investment of £20,000 and a desire to extend the use of technology to support all aspects of the business.
“Now, 40 years later, that is exactly what we have with BigChange,” Blackhall continued. “A system that supports every aspect of the business. From initial customer enquiry, right the way through to invoicing and payment, BigChange allows us to capture and record information and share it within the business to inform decision making, and with our customers to improve service levels.”
The cloud-based BigChange job management system, which incorporates customer relationship management (CRM), job scheduling, live tracking, resource management, job finance and business intelligence, in one simple to use and easy to integrate platform, was selected by Blackhall and is being used across the business. Customer enquiries, quotes and correspondence, created and stored within the CRM, together with automatically generated ETA notifications are boosting customer service levels without additional back-office resource. Whilst, customisable job sheets, complete with photographs and time and date stamps, are helping to manage customer queries and improve on-site charging.
Blackhall is also using BigChange to minimise its environmental impact and manage rising costs. Having already invested in a fleet of electric vans Blackhall uses BigChange to intelligently schedule jobs and route its vehicles between jobs reducing unnecessary mileage and avoiding areas of congestion. Real-time tracking and driver behaviour alerts are also helping to improve the performance and maintenance of vehicles, reducing servicing costs and minimising additional charges such as parking fines.
