Every small business is constantly looking for ways to save on overhead. The costs of running a small business are so much higher than most people think. For major companies, the costs of office supplies, scheduling, and other backend costs are a write-off. For small companies, on the other hand, each pencil is a cost concern.
Web services like FieldPulse are here to help lower these costs. Rather than running dozens of other programs to keep track of employees, jobs, and scheduling, FieldPulse can handle all of these things in one convenient location. In an age when things like student loan debt and higher costs are causing many of America’s 30.2 million small businesses to close their doors, any cost saving measure can be a lifeline.
Take a look at this comprehensive FieldPulse review based on my actually testing it to see if it can save you and your small business from suffering from unnecessary overhead costs.
Related: Field Service Software Options | Software for Plumbers | Software for Electricians | Smart Service Software Review | Service Titan Software Review | Service Fusion Software Review | ServiceBox Software Review | Tradify Software Review
What is FieldPulse software?
FieldPulse bills itself as an “all-in-one” business management solution for contractors. There’s nothing more tedious than having to manage not just your small business, but also a small mountain of paperwork and a handful of apps and websites. FieldPulse puts all of that in one place. Their web portal is packed full of features and extras that have the resources you need to help your independent business grow.
FieldPulse can be used either from a central office or by workers out in the field. It has scheduling capabilities, GPS tracking, payment management software, and dozens of other features.
Let’s take a deep dive into FieldPulse and see who this software can work for, what it takes to sign up, and what features it has to offer.
Which small business industries this software is geared toward?
“Small business” software is always hard to pin down. Bakeries don’t have the same concerns as plumbers. Many of the “small business” solutions on the market today try to be everything for everyone and because of that wind up offering little service to anyone. FieldPulse narrows its target audience down to just a few different groups and because of that, is able to actually offer quality services.
FieldPulse’s website has sections dedicated to a variety of specific jobs usually worked by independent contractors. FieldPulse is custom built for people working in repairs and home services. Their website names a few specifically: Contractor, Remodelling, Renovating, Roofing, Painters, Plumbing, HVAC Techs, Electricians, Handymen, and other contractors. This software might not be very useful for your catering company, but for the wider world of home services, FieldPulse has tons of features.
It’s always good to see when these contractor software companies recognize a specific market to work for. There’s nothing worse than spending money for new software then finding out it’s actually more geared to small businesses that handle merchandise rather than small businesses that are sending crew out to job sites. Your business doesn’t serve all possible industries, so the services and supplies you rely on shouldn’t either.
Now that we’ve covered who this is for, how do you get it?
What’s involved with setting it up?
Thankfully, setting up FieldPulse is an easy process.
Your experience with FieldPulse should start with a free trial. Unless you are certain about paying the monthly service fee, taking some time to try the free version can give you an understanding about how this web service could work for your company. To start your free trial, simply enter an email and get started!
The first part of the set-up is something you will definitely be used to. You just have to enter your contact information as well as set up a password with FieldPulse. This can either be the public-facing information for your company or your personal contact information. However you manage your finances and business contact works.
Here’s where you start to fill out information about your line of work. This section includes your business name and the general area you work in. You can always select “other” if none of their pre-existing options match the line of work your company is in. Most of the common home services and repair lines are present here. Missing are the obvious inclusion of Handymen and appliance repair techs, but clicking “Other” works just fine for some of the more niche markets.
This feature caught me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting a custom invoice design to be part of the setup for the free trial. You get the option to upload your company’s logo and enter in your work’s contact information. Make sure you enter the contact info for your small business here as this page goes on the actual invoice itself. Better not have that personal email or phone number showing up on customer invoices! It’s great to get professional looking invoice instead of the old printed out Excel spreadsheet move that all of us started with.
It’s great to see this little service this early on in the setup process.
This was another surprise I had when setting up this software. Usually, our only contact with website-based services is when there is a problem, but FieldPulse is taking a different approach. Rather than leave you in the lurch trying to figure out how to get the most out of a free trial, FieldPulse schedules a meeting with one of their reps as part of your setup process. This was a welcome surprise as most of these programs leave you on your own at this start in the setup process. Especially since this comes in before you trial expires, you can really get hte most out of testing this app. This is proactive and is far better than digging around through forums and tutorial videos. You can always skip scheduling this meeting if you are a computer whiz and you don’t need this kind of support, but I do recommend giving it a shot.
After this, you are ready to start using this service.
Mobile Devices
FieldPulse comes ready to work on a variety of devices. No matter what your team is equipped with, you will have something to work on with FieldPulse. This web app works on laptops, tablets, desk tops, phones, and pretty much any device that can get access to the internet. It even comes with a mobile app.
The FieldPulse app gives you access to everything you need from the main FieldPulse website. You can schedule jobs, keep track of employees, and schedule payments all from the phone in your pocket. This is a great solution for people who are out in the field with their staff. It’s also great for workers out on job sites that need access to some “office” style features while on the job. The app can run on either Android or IOS and doesn’t consume much battery unless you start using the GPS features which, like any GPS program, starts to suck up battery. The app is a much better alternative to the mobile website.
Nowadays, most mobile websites are what is known as responsive. This means that they can adjust based on the size of the screen that is viewing the page. The website for FieldPulse is not responsive and just displays the standard desktop screen when using it on mobile. In fact, it is the same page you get on the desktop version of the app.
For workers on laptops and larger tablets, this shouldn’t be an issue at all. If you are using your phone however, the web page is fairly hard to use and the text is too small, but that’s what the app is there for.
Automation Capabilities
FieldPulse has a few builtin automation abilities. FieldPulse has a robust scheduler which can assign jobs to workers, keep track of invoices, and schedule payments. This lets you handle most tasks from inside of the scheduling software.
One of the best automation features is automatically sending a message to your coworkers when jobs have been assigned to them. This takes out the guesswork and the annoying use of multiple apps in order to keep track of who has been assigned which jobs.
Another great feature is built in time sheets. This lets employees clock in and out without having to touch base at a central office every day. This also means that you can centrally manage timesheets and payday all from one application rather than having to manually count up physical timesheets or go through the painstaking process of correlating dozens of Excel files.
So we’ve seen how FieldPulse can make things easier for you, but can this software help you make money?
Marketing features
FieldPulse is designed to help you get to work and doesn’t come with any built in marketing features. Unlike some other software packs, you can’t post to Instagram or send tweets through FieldPulse.
But that’s not always a bad thing.
Sometimes simple is better. FieldPulse relies on the best marketing being word of mouth. If you’re a small business, your social media marketing is less important than making sure customers have positive things to say about your service. While FieldPulse isn’t going to be helping you go viral, it will help you stay on time and make sure your customers have nothing but good things to say about you and your crew.
FieldPulse is also expanding its features on a regular basis. They are also open to hearing from customers about new addition they would like to see. If your company relies on social media integration or other marketing strategies, reaching out to FieldPulse just might make those additions happen.
At the end of the day, there really isn’t any better marketing than doing a good job.
Features
FieldPulse has a massive list of available features. This web app does so much and keeps adding more.
Like other, similar software packs, FieldPulse can schedule your jobs, workers, and payments to keep you on top of your costs. It can also handle invoicing, mobile payments, e-signatures, GPS tracking, and more. Really, this is an impressive list of features. It’s easier to talk about what FieldPulse doesn’t do than what it does.
With all these great features, FieldPulse could do with the ability to upload images from job sites. This way workers out in the field can keep you up-to-date with changes at the job site. Integration with social media and other common marketing platforms would also be a welcome addition to this program. Still, as we discussed earlier, it’s not the worst thing in the world that these features are missing and might even make for a better marketing strategies for small business that grow intimate ties to local communities.
Integrations:
FieldPulse comes readily integrated into QuickBooks which means tracking your finances through FieldPulse is a fairly easy process. QuickBooks integration is a welcome feature from an app that otherwise acts as a standalone piece of software. This is a great piece of integration to have and with how invested FieldPulse is in expanding its offerings it wouldn’t be surprising to see this expand to other programs as well.
Customer support
We mentioned back in the setup tutorial that after you finish your setup you get to schedule a meeting with FieldPulse staff. This meeting is there to help you use their software and get the most mileage out of your interactions with customer support.
The rest of FieldPulse operates on this same strategy.
FieldPulse has a phone line, email, live chat feature, and the ability to schedule video chats with its staff. Whatever your concern is with this service, they have someone on their end who can help you resolve your problems. You can even chat with them about features you would like to see in upcoming updates. If you have problems with pricing, using the service, or, of course, logging in, there is a quick way to reach out to FieldPulse staff members.
It’s great to see this level of customer support coming from FieldPulse. There’s nothing worse than starting to use a new software and being stuck in the weeds with the ins and outs of a new program. FieldPulse has gone the extra mile to make sure that there is a human available to help you every step of the way. I did mention that these are all humans, right?
That’s the best part of FieldPulse. If you call, email, or video chat you will be connected to a real live human to help you out. There’s no wasting time automated robots here. You can actually get in touch with a person interested in helping you out with FieldPulse. Talk about good word of mouth!
Pros and Cons
Like everything in life, FieldPulse comes with its pros and cons.
Pros
- Amazing customer service. We really can’t complain about the experience with them.
- Dedication to expanding their services.
- Focus on a specific set of small business industries.
- Well designed app that is easy to use
- Robust set of features that are all helpful and meaningfully added. No fluff here!
Cons
- No social media integration or email marketing solutions
- Web portal not responsive on mobile devices
- GPS tracking doesn’t seem to be all that useful for small companies
- Price might be a little high given the features
Overall Rating:
It’s time to give FieldPulse its final ratings. Overall, this software is a solid choice for small businesses looking to get better organization into their routines.
Here’s how that all breaks down:
- Ease-of-use – 4 out of 5. If the mobile web page would be responsive, this would be a 5 out of 5.
- Value for money – 4.5 out of 5. The monthly fee is average for the field and simplifying your scheduling and backend is easily worth a small monthly cost.
- Customer support – 5 out of 5. It’s hard to say something is a “5 out of 5,” but all things considered this is one of the best customer support experiences we’ve ever had. Keep up the good work, FieldPulse staff!
- Features – 4.5 out of 5. Into every review a little rain must fall. FieldPulse has fewer features than its competitors and while that might not be the worst thing in the world, it is a shortcoming. Hopefully, coming updates will add more features.
