Do you feel more like a circus juggler than a business owner? Moving as fast as you can to keep all your plates in the air can be exhausting. You know that dropping one can have devastating consequences, so you hustle even harder. If this sounds familiar, you might be able to benefit from some project management strategies.

Dan Worstell, owner of Pyramid Roofing in Williamsburg, VA, shares his best strategies for project management for roofing contractors. With four locations throughout the state, 30 fleet vehicles and at least 15 jobs in progress at any given time, Worstell knows about juggling.

Prioritize Your Jobs

“Ideally,” says Worstell, “it’s first in, first out. But sometimes things come up that make moving jobs around necessary.”

One of those things is rain. If rain is predicted the day a big job is scheduled, you don’t want to begin and get caught with a naked roof. So Worstell reschedules to fit a smaller job in for the morning and moves the larger job out.

“I prefer to start big jobs on a Monday,” he says — a tactic that eliminates leaving a job undone over a weekend.

Other factors in prioritizing jobs include the homeowner’s preference and availability of materials.

“Some homeowners want to be home when you’re doing the job, others want to be on vacation,” he says.

Use Project Management Software

Worstell uses Dataforma, an integrated CRM with project and service management built in to keep track of everything.

“Dataforma” does everything,” he says. “And in addition to the desktop program, we all have the mobile app on our phones as well.”

Plus, Pyramid uses a GPS lead-management system to keep track of its 30 trucks in the field. That way, if someone on a job needs extra roofing materials, the dispatcher can see where all the trucks are located so he can choose the closest one to deliver the needed items.

Have One Point of Contact

Pyramid Roofing employs three project managers who act as the points of contact for each job. Homeowners who have questions can contact the project manager assigned to their job. This process eliminates the breakdown in communication that happens when a message gets relayed through too many people.

To wrap things up, Worstell always calls the customer when the job is complete. Since he obviously can’t meet each homeowner personally, he takes this opportunity to introduce himself as the owner of the company, thank them for their business and ask for feedback. Then he shares a recording of the call with his team.

“Because they like to hear ‘job well done,’” he says.

Take Advantage of Atlas Resources

There are many project management programs made to support to every aspect of your business needs. Although it may be a challenge to sift through the options, finding one that makes your job easier can increase productivity and your bottom line.

As a leading roofing manufacturer that strives to listen and connect to our customers, Atlas has partnered with companies whose project management software is proving successful for contractors, including CompanyCam, BuilderTrend and, of course, those found in the AtlasPRO™ Portal.