Stress-free snow and ice management with Aspire

The winter season is notoriously difficult for snow and ice management companies. Combine the unpredictable nature of inclement weather with the need to coordinate crews, materials, and equipment at a moment’s notice, and you have a chaotic situation that can quickly—pardon the pun—snowball.

Snowstorms aren’t just overwhelming for snow removal companies; they’re difficult for their clients as well, mostly due to a lack of communication. 

“I think the biggest thing you hear in our industry is that clients always complain about not knowing what’s going on,” says Brian Maurer, president of Brian-Kyles Landscapes of Distinction in Lorain, Ohio. 

“That’s one of the things I found out when we started doing more retail clients—they felt that if they’d had a better idea of what to expect, they would’ve had a better understanding of what’s controllable and what’s not,” he adds. 

Learn how Brian-Kyles used Aspire to expand their snow division to a 24/7 operation

Technology can help you manage client expectations, quickly dispatch crews, and save time during snow events, not to mention increase profitability—a must for the less consistent revenue of the winter season. 

Aspire clears the way for your snow and ice crews to do their jobs quickly and safely—while maximizing profits and providing superior customer service.

Measure properties and material quantities with precision

One of the toughest challenges for snow and ice management businesses is accurately estimating quantities and takeoffs. 

Aspire's integration with PropertyIntel allows you to capture accurate takeoffs and supply quantities with precision measuring tools designed for landscapers, eliminating any guesswork. By overlaying green and snow/ice measurements on a sitemap, you can isolate snow/ice areas instantly. Estimating calculations are readily available, allowing you to build accurate estimates and make informed purchases. 

Aspire also allows you to pull snow material kits from the catalog, saving time and ensuring you have all the necessary labor, materials, and production factors accounted for when tackling any snow or ice event.

Easily dispatch crews and subcontractors

Coordinating and aligning teams can be the toughest task during a snow event. With labor and supply costs rising year over year, you can’t afford to waste labor hours on inefficient scheduling and routing. 

Detailed sitemaps provide valuable property and project information to inform and align your teams, ensuring they can meet client expectations and clear more sites faster.

By displaying entry and exit points with directional arrows and indicating the location of snow pile storage, your crews and subcontractors can work safely and efficiently. Aspire's time-based scheduling, scheduling assistant, and route planning and management features simplify scheduling, including overnight shifts and crew routing during an event. 

Your crews can clock in and out and enter materials on the go in Aspire Mobile, ensuring accurate and timely recordkeeping while allowing you to track costs in real time.

Real-time visibility and performance tracking

You wouldn’t send your crews to tackle snow clearing with a truck full of shovels. Business management software like Aspire provides the functionality to visualize your crews in real time and ensure that you have proper coverage and knowledge of jobs in progress when it counts.

Aspire's schedule board and time-entry screen allow you to monitor the progress of your teams and track their time accurately. Work ticket lists provide a comprehensive view of estimated versus actual data, grouped by invoice type, allowing you to analyze job performance effectively. 

By drilling into time and materials tickets, you can review detailed information and make necessary adjustments when needed. The inventory location feature enables you to monitor and adjust quantities of snow materials in real time, ensuring you have adequate supplies.

Close out snow events in a matter of days

Closing out snow and ice events promptly without invoicing errors is crucial for maintaining a smooth cash flow. Aspire facilitates this process by starting with accurate time and material estimates. By displaying the estimate on the sitemap, you can easily determine the exact salt amounts and estimated time required. 

Aspire's T&M work ticket and invoicing features simplify billing during hectic snow seasons and ensure your costs are accurate. You can generate purchase receipts, review work tickets, and create invoices with just a few clicks.

Brian-Kyles has seen the benefits of Aspire during snow events. They’ve been able to invoice events within 36 hours—sometimes as little as 12 to 18 hours—ensuring accurate billing while the memory of the job is still fresh in the crew’s and client’s minds. 

“A lot of little features like tags make things more streamlined throughout the process so that at the end of the day, you’re done when the storm’s done,” says Director of Operations Shaun Keefer. 

Aspire also allows for generating fixed payment invoices in bulk, saving time and reducing the risk of invoicing errors. The platform’s invoicing assistant also provides frequently referenced reports like aging accounts receivable, enabling easier payment tracking, faster payments, and in turn, healthier cash flow. 

Snow season doesn’t have to be stressful. With a centralized system like Aspire, you can clearly visualize your profitability and performance in real time and minimize gaps in communication. 

By capturing precise takeoffs and quantities, managing crews and subcontractors efficiently, and closing out projects promptly, Aspire gives you the tools you need to meet winter challenges and deliver exceptional service to your clients.

How can you glide smoothly through the upcoming snow season? Schedule a demo with an Aspire expert today.