'Am I covered for this?'
A customer calls about a breakdown and says they're on your plan. The office opens the spreadsheet. Their name is there. Their direct debit failed three months ago, which nobody noticed. The plan they bought includes parts up to a limit, or maybe that was the older plan. The engineer is already on his way.
Now you're either doing the repair on trust or having an awkward conversation at the door.
At renewal time, the owner tries to work out whether the plans are making money, and finds the spreadsheet cannot answer that question at all.
Why plan admin drifts
Plans start small: a handful of loyal customers paying monthly for a service and priority breakdowns. The spreadsheet works. Then there are more members, different plan versions, payment failures, cancellations, and a list that nobody fully trusts. The payment provider knows who has paid; the spreadsheet knows what they bought; the job software knows what you did. None of them talk.
| Plan detail | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Member and property | Spreadsheet |
| Plan version and terms | Spreadsheet, sometimes |
| Payment status | Payment provider |
| Service due | Diary |
| Callouts used | Job software |
Plan versions add to the confusion. Early members may be on a cheaper plan with fewer benefits, newer members on a different one, and a few on special terms the owner agreed personally. Unless those differences are recorded properly, the office cannot answer entitlement questions with confidence.
What the mess costs
Work done for members who stopped paying. Services missed for members who did. Arguments about what a plan includes. Office time reconciling three systems. And plans are meant to be steady, predictable income; if they're chaotic, they lose that value. What your plans include and how they're regulated or described is for you and your adviser.
It also affects engineers. An engineer who does not know whether a customer is on a plan may either do work the plan does not cover without charging, or charge a member for work that is included. Both lead to awkward conversations.
Cancellations are another blind spot. When a member cancels, the office may not hear about it until the next direct debit fails, and in the meantime the member is still on the service list.
The plan register we build
- Member records: each member, property, appliance and plan version held in one place, imported from your spreadsheet.
- Payment link: payment status is read from your direct debit or card provider, such as GoCardless or Stripe, and failures are flagged the same day.
- Failed payment follow-up: members with a failed payment get a message in your wording, and the office sees the list.
- Entitlement view: when a member calls, the office sees their plan, payment status and what they have used this year.
- Service booking: the annual service is offered to each member ahead of its due date.
- Job link: callouts and services are recorded against the plan in your job software, so usage is visible.
Members can also be given a simple page to update their contact details, check their next service date and see what their plan includes, which cuts down the calls to the office.
A plan scheme you can rely on
The office answers 'am I covered' with confidence. Failed payments are dealt with early. Services happen on time. And the owner can see how many members, on which plans, are paid up, which is what makes plans worth running.
It also makes growing the plan scheme realistic. With members, payments and usage in one place, you can see whether plans are profitable and decide whether to offer them more widely.
Is your plan admin like this?
- Plan members are tracked in a spreadsheet.
- Failed payments are noticed late.
- You aren't sure which version of a plan a customer has.
- Annual services for members are missed.
- Engineers attend callouts without knowing plan status.