Forum Discussion

hellench's avatar
hellench
Contributor 2
27 days ago

Improving Workflow Efficiency with Simple Logic Thinking (Letter Boxed-Inspired Approach)

Hi everyone,

I am new to using Jobber and currently exploring how to better understand operations and workflow setup for a small service business.

One idea that’s been helping me think differently is using a Letter Boxed style approach to problem solving breaking workflows into separate sides (like clients, scheduling, jobs and invoices) and then trying to connect them in the most efficient sequence without unnecessary steps.

For example, instead of thinking of operations as one long process I try to visualize it like:

Client request → Scheduling → Job completion → Invoicing → Follow-up
and then look for ways to reduce friction between each step.

I am still learning so I would love to hear from experienced users:

How do you simplify your day to day operations in Jobber?

Do you structure workflows visually or rely on automations?

Any tips for avoiding unnecessary steps in service management?

Looking forward to learning from your experience!

2 Replies

  • Randy_Warner's avatar
    Randy_Warner
    Contributor 4
    26 days ago

    Hi hellench​! I always suggest that every business maps out their processes in one long flow from beginning to end. The two main ones that you will hear people talk about are 'order to cash', or as I say, 'lead to cash', and 'procure to pay'. This covers both the revenue and expense sides of a business.

    Lead to cash should cover everything starting with a new lead in your system to when that client submits payment for product/service. You could take this one step further and call it a lead to review process but that's personal preference and really gets more into the nurturing side of things.

    In terms of the "how", this is all personal preference. For me, I like to use a tool called LucidChart where I can lay our a diagram with boxes and visualize the flow while adding text, conditions, etc.

    You'll find (if you haven't already) that within the overall process there are "micro-processes"; just don't get caught up in the weeds from the beginning. None of these should be static and will naturally evolve as the business grows and things change.

    Once you have this complete then you can identify manual processes that are currently being done that are prime targets for automation or refinement. Start with the ones that if automated, modified, or eliminated would provide the highest ROI and then move on from there. One of the biggest inhibitors to growth is responding with "well that's the way we've always done it".

    Hopefully this helps spark some thoughts on how you might go about this for your company. This is a great topic and I love talking about it so feel free to reply with any questions!

  • HUGEHomePros's avatar
    HUGEHomePros
    Jobber Ambassador
    26 days ago

    I second what Randy said here- you have to map it out. And after a while you need to remap it out just to make sure it's accurate. Jobber does an excellent job of going from request to quote to job to job close out so that system can be very dialed but there are a lot of sub systems in there specific to your company you need to make sure are getting addressed. 

    There are certain programs like Go High Level which are really good at tackling the sales side of things so I'd recommend them for automations. Super inexpensive also. Compliments Jobber really well.