What Is Zapier? How It Helps Cleaning Businesses, and A Few Alternatives to Consider
Technology is changing the way businesses are done around the world. Every business is trying to leverage the potential of technology to make it work for them. And cleaning businesses are no exception.
In fact, cleaning businesses are in a much more favorable position to take advantage of automation and technology due to the sheer nature of service offerings.
If you are looking for such an option, nothing gets better than Zapier, which is an excellent tool to help you automate your business operations.
So what is Zapier, and how can it help you?
Let’s try to learn a bit more about it.
What is Zapier?
A robust and powerful automation tool, Zapier helps businesses tether multiple web apps with each other and integrate the same to automate tasks. It is a platform that allows you to create workflows and automate repetitive tasks in your business.
Zappier has over 2 million businesses using it, which itself is a huge testimonial to the platform’s capability.
It helps you streamline and automate the transfer of information from one app to another, which helps reduce the reliance on humans.
Besides, it is fast and error-free.
How does Zapier work?
In simpler words, Zapier works by connecting two or more web apps with each other to automate their work. These connections between applications are called Zaps. Usually, there are two aspects of Zap—trigger, and action.
A trigger is something that causes the action to take place.
For example, your trigger could be an email that you receive from your client, and the action is creating a card for the email on Trello. The entire thing is called a Zap.
You can create multiple Zaps to make automation an important part of running your business.
What are Zapier’s features?
One of the most important elements that make Zapier an impeccable automation tool for your cleaning business is its long list of features.
Here are a few features that are sure to impress you:
● Automate your workflow
● Application integrations
● Successful error handling
● Create multi-step Zaps
● Options for collaborations
● Extensive customization
The importance of automation in the cleaning business
Productivity and profitability are the two important metrics that businesses need to consider if they want to grow. While the former is directly related to internal ops management, the latter is also influenced by the customers.
With automation, a cleaning business can largely address most of the efficiency, scheduling, project management, and employee management issues that they face. Automation can help a business afford more time to focus on important aspects of the business, such as marketing, growth, and decision-making.
As a result, businesses can scale their operations and gain a competitive advantage in the market to grow and attain their growth aspirations.
What are the challenges that cleaning businesses face now?
Like any other business, cleaning businesses also face a variety of challenges today. It could range from internal challenges to customer-centric and industry-specific challenges.
However, some of the most common challenges that cleaning businesses face in the industry now are as given below:
Time management
One of the biggest challenges that cleaning businesses now face is managing their time. They often get several cleaning requests from their existing and new clients. However, due to time-management constraints, they find it difficult to serve all of them well.
If you are a cleaning business, you can take care of this issue by working with a software company to integrate Zapier automation tools for your cleaning business.
Customer management
Satisfied customers are the foundation of any successful cleaning business. However, most cleaning businesses have trouble effectively managing their customers and cleaning requests. They may even miss a request at times.
However, you can address all these by relying on Zapier to ensure workflow automation in your cleaning business.
Scheduling assignments
Delivering timely cleaning services to clients is paramount for a cleaning business. However, there are cleaning businesses that struggle to live up to the demand in the market and fail to schedule their assignments.
Don’t ever let that happen, and Zapier can help you automate scheduling your cleaning assignments as the work comes in.
Increasing costs
All businesses face the issues of skyrocketing costs. However, cleaning businesses experience the most heat as they are labor-intensive businesses. Installing Zapier in your business can lower your cost and improve productivity, leading to better profitability.
How Zapier can be used in the cleaning business
The Zapier automation tool for cleaning businesses can be used in a variety of ways, from setting up Zaps when you get new assignments and projects to managing your human resource.
Here are a few ways you can use Zapier in your cleaning business:
- Automate sending emails to your clients when scheduling cleaning tasks.
- Automatically send invoices to clients after cleaning tasks are completed.
- Send reminders to the clients to alert them about the scheduled cleaning work.
- Update the project calendar with new projects when new customers sign up.
- Create a profile in your CRM when customers share their data on the website.
These are only a few workflow automation examples, and there are plenty more that you can do with Zapier and Eco York.
Benefits of using Zapier in the cleaning business
Zapier can help your cleaning business in a range of elements to not only manage your projects and assignments but also help ensure the timely delivery of services.
Here are a few major benefits that a cleaning business can enjoy with Zapier workflow automation.
Better project management
You may be receiving multiple requests for services from your clients all day long. It would be hard for you to manage the same things. However, with Zapier, you can manage each of the projects since you will never miss a project as your Zap takes care of each client request.
Improved productivity
Your cleaning business may find it hard to track all the client requests for services, and this may result in your business losing productivity due to a lack of streamlining projects. Zapier can help you with it as it tracks every project and its status, improving your productivity.
Reduce human errors
When you create adequate Zaps that automate your cleaning workflow, the chances of human errors can significantly reduce. This results in improved accuracy of service and customer satisfaction.
Cost savings
A huge amount of overhead in the cleaning business goes to project management. When you integrate Zapier into your cleaning business, it can considerably reduce costs, which improves profitability.
How to get started with Zapier?
It is easy to get started with Zapier. The first thing you want to do is to sign up for an account at zapier.com and choose a suitable plan that works for your cleaning business.
Once the account is created, do the following:
- Choose a trigger and action that you want to automate the tasks to be carried out. You can do this with multiple apps using a variety of Zaps.
- Set up your preferred Zap according to the instructions from Zapier or you may hire a software development company in the US to help you in this regard.
- Before putting it to full automation, test the same with multiple scenarios and make sure that the automaton works flawlessly.
- Once you have done that, turn on the Zap and let the automation work its magic. You need to also ensure you have all the necessary permissions, access codes, and credentials to use the application you want to use before you go with the same.
How to integrate Zapier into your cleaning business
There are multiple ways that you can integrate Zapier into your cleaning business. Most of the time, you need to create a Zap, which consists of a trigger and an action.
For example, if you are getting a cleaning request in your mail, you can have the CRM automatically create a schedule for the same. Here the mail or request you get is called the trigger, and creating the schedule for the work is the action.
You can do this for anything, as there is a gamut of zaps you can create to ensure workflow automation.
Top Zapier alternatives for cleaning businesses
Although Zapier can be a great tool for workflow automation for your cleaning business, it is not the only solution you can use. There are numerous Zapier alternatives that you can consider for your cleaning business.
These tools might fit you better in terms of their features, pricing, and overall support. Therefore, before making a decision in haste, consider the following top workflow automation tools:
Compass Wave
One of the most suitable estimation and lead generation tools for small businesses and enterprises, Compass Wave can help your cleaning business in more ways than one. It helps you generate sales in no time and you can nurture the leads to expand your business.
Some of the advantages of using Compass Wave for cleaning business workflow are:
- Capture top-notch leads from your websites or social media marketing without going through normal lead generation hassles.
- It allows businesses to create excellent estimates and weed out price shoppers.
- Get timely email notifications when a customer creates an estimate to nurture the lead for conversion.
Conclusion
As a cleaning business, you can take advantage of Zapier or Compasswave in a range of ways to automate your business activities. With this strategy, you can surely improve your operational efficiency, ensure customer satisfaction, and reduce overhead costs.
However, you need a reliable service provider who can help you integrate Zapier or Compaswave with your existing ERP or CRM system and create the required Zaps. If you are looking for an expert team to do that, Eco York can help you. As an established software development company in the US, we know how to leverage software to improve the efficiency and profitability of your cleaning business.
Being a top custom software development company in York, we have worked with hundreds of businesses to help them with integration.
If you wish to know more about how we can help you, speak to us.
