Tropic Air

Tropic Air, an HVAC services company, relies on BlueFolder to cut overhead, gain control over work orders, and speed up cash flow.

Company Overview

Tropic Air Heating and Cooling is a growing HVAC services company in the greater Kansas City area. With 6 full-time technicians plus management and office staff, they serve commercial and residential clients with installations and service on everything from refrigeration and roof-top units to ice machines. Most of their clients have been with Tropic Air for several years and love how easy they are to work with, how quickly they respond to requests, and their reliable, quality service. 

The Challenge

As Tropic Air has grown over time, managing work orders has become more challenging. Initially, the team relied on texts, emails, and notebooks to record and track work orders and update the status. But as more and more customers signed on, that process became unwieldy. It was hard to tell what work was done, what still needed attention, and what each tech was working on. It was difficult to monitor equipment usage in the field. And if a technician wasn’t in the office for several days, staff wouldn’t get the paperwork to initiate an invoice which meant the company couldn’t bill for payment until a month or more after work was complete. In the words of Justin Koegler, the company’s founder and president, “It was just complete and total chaos.” 

So Justin decided to implement a field service management (FSM) application to simplify operations and smooth out the cash flow. But the HVAC software he tried out was so complicated, it made the situation worse. It was not designed with users in mind, and after struggling with it for many days, he and his technicians couldn’t make sense of the interface or accomplish even simple tasks. With little support from the developer to help them, it was back to paper, pen, texts, and emails. 

Then, in the middle of a sleepless night, Justin discovered BlueFolder. He was initially attracted by the reasonable cost and month-to-month payment plans that didn’t lock him into a big investment. As he and the team took BlueFolder for a spin, they realized they’d found the HVAC software solution they needed.

The Solution

BlueFolder Is Simple and Fast to Deploy

As part of a growing business, Tropic Air employees stay constantly busy, and they didn’t have time for a long, tedious enrollment process. Because BlueFolder takes a proactive role in helping customers deploy, Tropic Air was up and running in two days. The staff just sent their customer details and information to the support team at BlueFolder, and they took care of the setup. 

The Team Learned BlueFolder Intuitively 

BlueFolder is so easy to use, Tropic Air didn’t have to pull technicians out of the field for formal training. They could navigate the intuitive interface and learn how to complete tasks on the fly. Justin notes that with just a couple of hours exploring the system, he and his technicians could input work orders, schedule them out, and make updates. They found the interface logical and clear, which made it easy for the whole company to adopt the new system quickly. 

Managing Work Orders and Status Is a Snap 

Using BlueFolder, the TropicAir team has streamlined work order management. Submitting, tracking, and updating work orders takes a fraction of the time and effort required by the old pen-and-paper method. Customers send their work requests, and Tropic Air managers easily input it into BlueFolder. They can add details, schedule it out to technicians, update status, and log technician’s time for billing with just a few clicks. Customizable notifications highlight work orders that still need to be completed, and managers monitor equipment in the field through the system. Plus, BlueFolder’s calendar helps keep everyone on track. 

BlueFolder Support Was There with Tropic Air Every Step of the Way 

Tropic Air didn’t need a lot of help getting started with BlueFolder, but when they did, the company responded quickly, answered questions, and got them back to work. Their BlueFolder representative even called directly to see how they were doing and if they needed anything. 

The Results

BlueFolder Provides the Best Value for the Money 

Tropic Air has used BlueFolder for over 18 months and would recommend it for any services company that needs to simplify operations. The cost is reasonable, and there’s no long-term commitment. The system is extremely reliable; it’s never down unexpectedly, and BlueFolder publishes their server status for added transparency. There’s a mobile app that some of the Tropic Air technicians have found useful in the field to make quick updates on their phone. And BlueFolder offers features that Tropic Air will take advantage of as their customer list expands, such as the customer portal and integration with their billing software. 

Like many companies, Tropic Air needed a way to manage a growing business without sacrificing quality and responsiveness. For them, BlueFolder offers the best value in the marketplace for easy, robust, and effective work order management. 

See what BlueFolder can do for your growing business. Try a free demo here.