What a lost technician hour costs

The question is not what the tool looks like, but how many hours a month are lost to coordination and how many of them can be recovered.

Important: The figures below are an illustrative model, not the result of measurements among ServisBook customers. The point is to show the method; for a decision, use your own rate and at least a few weeks of your own operational records.

Step 1: the hourly rate you are losing

Do not count labour costs, but the amount that can be invoiced for that hour.

In the model calculation we use EUR 32 per hour. This is not a claim about a typical rate; put in your own real figure.

Step 2: where the time goes

In this model it comes to 15 hours a month. This is neither an average nor a promised saving; the actual result may be considerably lower or higher.

Step 3: how much of it can be recovered

The model assumes that not all of the time comes back: in the example, arranging appointments shrinks to a quarter, piecing together free slots almost disappears, and phone calls and tracking down history both drop by half. Replace these ratios with your own observations.

Under these assumptions the result is 9 to 11 hours a month, which at the model rate of EUR 32 is EUR 290 to 350 a month. It is the result of the assumptions entered, not a proven result of the product.

The point is not to make people work more. The point is to stop them spending time on coordination that can be automated.

Step 4: the wasted site visit

This item is the one most often underestimated. One wasted site visit costs:

• 2 to 4 hours of a technician's time,
• travel and fuel,
• the rest of that day's work being pushed back,
• and the customer's trust, which cannot be quantified but shows up at the next order.

If you keep records of wasted site visits, compare their actual quarterly cost with the price of the tool. Without your own count of site visits, the return cannot be honestly claimed.

Step 5: comparison with the price

At EUR 20 per active user per month, a team of six comes to EUR 120 a month. In the model above, the value of the time saved is higher than the price, but your return only emerges from a comparison with your own measured values.

What belongs on the other side of the calculation

Introducing a tool also costs something. Include in your own calculation the time for setup, data transfer, training and the period when the team works more slowly. ServisBook does not yet have published measurements from which it could honestly promise how long this phase takes.