As the seasons change, managing the yard work that comes with it can seem like a never-ending challenge. From clearing snow to mowing lawns and everything else mother nature has to offer, where does one find the time?
Finding a solution to manage the changing seasons is how PropertyWerks got its start. Starting in Calgary, Canada (where the weather can change in the blink of an eye), PropertyWerks has become the name to call for help. They have a fleet of services ready to deploy for lawn mowing, yard work, snow removal, landscape design and fencing.
But as service requests grew, finding the time to keep up with billing became the real challenge. So Lawson Beaty, the owner of PropertyWerks, sought to create an app that could manage invoicing and payments while enhancing the customer experience.
The situation: too much time spent on billing
Payments at PropertyWerks started with a virtual terminal solution through another payment provider. Things were easily manageable at first, but that was before subscriptions and for a small client base. As more service requests started to come in, things began to take off.
"We got to a place where it was taking 60 hours a month just in billing," says Lawson. "We had somebody going onto the virtual terminal and running the monthly or weekly transactions for mowing. It was getting to be a halftime job just in billing."
As the company offers both subscription and one-off services, it became apparent that billing needed recurring capabilities. There needed to be a better way to request a payment rather than sending an invoice through email or mail, which could take weeks to get paid, and payment would often be through mail-in checks.
Not to mention, as their transaction volume skyrocketed, they were still paying the same rates. As they continued to grow, PropertyWerks wanted to do everything programmatically and used their growing transaction volume to find a solution that would get them there.
The solution: create an app
PropertyWerks wanted to find a modern API that would allow them to handle subscriptions, billing, and payments all in one place. They also needed to negotiate a rate that would make sense for their transaction volume. When they found Worldline, they found a payment integration that could give them both.
Working with the integrations specialist at Worldline, PropertyWerks built all the features they wanted into their new app, named Rabble. Subscriptions for services could now be easily managed, and push notifications for requesting payments could be sent, streamlining the payment process.
What's more, is that Rabble not only solved the need for PropertyWerks but could be used by any services company to achieve the same result. Just by telling Rabble how the service is delivered and how to take a payment, businesses can take bookings, schedule work, and most importantly, get paid.
The results: time well spent
The scheduling and routing of services like snow removal are now easily manageable through Rabble. And once the service is complete, payment can be requested on-site through the app. No more waiting around for checks to arrive in the mail.
"Just by sending a simple email request that allows people to click a button and pay, people pay right away," says Lawson. "It used to take 20 days to get paid. Now it takes 2. And then with subscription and automatic post service payments, we've dropped any manual payment processes down to 0 hours a month."
By leveraging Rabble and Worldline, any field services company can start using the app to streamline operations and get paid fast, just as PropertyWerks has. And with transparent processing rates, it's a solution that makes sense for any size company.
Freeing up these valuable hours means more time PropertyWerks can spend helping customers with their landscaping needs. As the grass continues to grow, PropertyWerks is there to mow, and Worldline is there to make sure payments are always firing.