Knack for Construction and Field Service

Hey there, and welcome to our comprehensive video tutorial on leveraging Knack for transforming operations in construction and field services. If you’re looking to modernize your business operations, improve efficiency, and drive growth, this tutorial is really tailored for you.

We’ll dive into why Knack’s blend of customization, mobile access, and external portals makes it the ultimate solution for your business needs. From managing complex projects to enhancing customer engagement, Knack offers the tools and flexibility essential for today’s dynamic business environment.

Getting Started with Knack

So first, what you would do is log in to your Knack account. And then from there, what you can do is go to “Start from a Sample App”—which is essentially how we work with our templates—or you can start from scratch. What you can actually do is go to our table catalog inside here and you can add a table from our catalog in order to make this manually, or you can write a table name and add it inside of the system. Making tables is extremely easy inside of Knack, and you can go through and make a bunch of different tables from scratch inside of this system in a matter of moments.

Understanding Knack’s Unique Features

After that, you can utilize Knack to set up so much more. But before we dive into the nuts and bolts of using Knack, let’s understand why the software stands out as the go-to solution for construction and field service companies. Knack’s blend of customization, mobile accessibility, and external portal capabilities precisely addresses the unique challenges the industry faces.

Imagine being able to manage your entire project—from scheduling to billing—with just a few clicks. That’s the power of Knack.

Utilizing Templates for Efficiency

It offers a robust Knack-end database with front-end flexibility, eliminating the need for multiple tools and streamlining your operations. Now, what you could do—instead of manually creating the system inside of Knack from scratch—you can actually explore an amazing way of building this out via using a template. Each template that we have addresses specific aspects of different industries, and here we actually have one for construction and field service management. From project oversight and financial management to job scheduling and customer relations, there are actually a multitude of templates to choose from.

Exploring the Template Gallery

The beauty of these templates lies in their immediacy and adaptability, serving as a foundation upon which businesses can expand and build. We’re about to dive into these templates—let’s check them out.

So first, what you can do is you could navigate to the template gallery and select the Construction Management app. You’re going to go to the top right of your Knack account. Then you can click on “Start from a Sample App” as mentioned previously. And from there, just look up this one right here. Let’s do “construction” and then click on “management.”

Creating a Construction Management App

Click on that and then press “Create App” on the bottom right. This is pretty much laying the groundwork of a comprehensive project management solution—from scheduling and budgeting to seamless communication. This template is going to provide a solid foundation for managing your construction projects efficiently. We take a look at here—it has everything from projects, vendors, materials, time tracking, job scheduling, budget tracking, invoices, communications.

Customizing Your Construction App

It has everything you need. There are a myriad of different fields that you can obviously adjust and change, and all of these tables are easily integrated with other systems. However, we really recommend that you dive into this app and see what you need to change for yourself, as there are so many different tables to work in and this is gonna save you a lot of time in the initial build-up of this Knack solution.

Also, on the account side with the user roles, you’ll see that there are ones for workers, contractors, business owners, and office staff.

User Roles and Permissions in Knack

All of these different workers are able to interact with specific fields in certain ways in order to make sure that—from a front-end and back-end standpoint—there are only specific people that can interact with certain fields. This is one of the best parts of Knack, as we really see a lot of benefits in field- and record-level permissions.

As you can see right here, specific users have their own status and role and can interact with tables specifically.

Previewing Your App Setup

Then on the pages side, we also have a myriad of different access points. As you can see, that lock symbol signifies that it is a restricted page, and only specific user roles are able to see those pages. Clicking on this, there’s a login for this page and you can go to the live app to preview the setup that we have within this application.

Choose an example of the username and password test that you can set up in order to make this showcase. So I can copy and paste the username and password example here and press “Sign In.” And then from there, you’ll see the entire setup.

We have the different pages that you saw with the lock symbols earlier, and inside of this, all of that front-end information is shown—from the projects here. And then there’s obviously like a home page, the ability to go in and check out any of these different records. Clicking on vendors as well, materials—all that different table data is essentially viewed by the user once they log in in this front-end option, which is a lot better than what you see in the back end. As per usual, portals just kind of look better in the front end that we create it with, and this template takes out all of that work and allows you to see all of it very easily.

Navigating the Front End of Your App

As you can see right here, I’m just gonna scroll through, check out the contractors—you can check out the different invoices. As you can see, there’s a spot to add for the majority of these depending on the user type you are. And then I can go to communications as well, and I have the ability to make additions, subtractions, and furthermore.

Now, the next template that we’re gonna dive into really quick is the new application that we’re gonna make from a sample app. You can see right here, go there again, and we’re gonna type “construction” another time.

Creating a Construction Estimate App

And we’re gonna do the Construction Estimate app. Now this one is going to essentially give you the ability to streamline your construction project budgeting with this comprehensive app designed to accurately calculate both direct costs and work wages and indirect expenses like equipment depreciation and office salaries. So clicking this—same process—will get you to make the next template in a moment.

Then clicking through here, there is a little less number of tables.

Understanding Cost Calculations

However, it doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful. It’s custom-built with a myriad of different formulas, as you can see from that symbol, for the resources, projects, and line items in order to calculate the different costs. It incorporates real-time data on costs and materials and empowers businesses to create competitive and precise bids. The accuracy and efficiency here is really important to note.

User Experience in the Estimate App

And when we go to the live app, you’ll have a similar experience on the front end and you’ll notice there are a couple different views that you can choose from, whether you’re a client, project manager, or vendor. So let’s pretend we’re a project manager here and we would log in.

All of our templates usually come with these test usernames and passwords in order for you to get a look at what the interactive experience is like for that app. So let’s do that.

Viewing Project and Vendor Details

And you’ll see we have a project, vendor, and resources view. So Larry Jonas inside of here can see that the total cost for the new hospital is 2.3 million dollars. That’s a lot of cheese. And then there are the projects.

Then there’s the vendor view on top of the projects as well. It showcases how many resources—and you can view the details by clicking inside of them. And then there’s also the resources themselves, showcasing the cost of those individually. And there are sub-tabs there for like material, labor, and equipment.

Introducing the Field Service Manager Template

Now the last template that we’re gonna showcase is the Field Service Manager template. So once again, just go into the sample app and we’re going to click on the Field Service Manager one right here. And this is going to be essentially for supervisors so they can access this app to stay updated with things that are happening in the project. Keeping track of their tasks and jobs to be complete is really important in construction and field service management.

Managing Tasks and Jobs Effectively

So having this central hub for almost the project management side of things is really important. So you’ll see that there is a table for jobs, tasks, and different customers. All those three things can coincide pretty well together, especially with things like keeping track of the date and time, explaining the tasks, and having a status for whether they have been completed. And then obviously the different customers that those tasks are going to be related to. And from a user role standpoint, we’re obviously gonna have one for supervisors and one for employees.

Benefits of Using Templates

Inside of the live app, there is going to be an employee and a supervisor dashboard—from one side or the other. It’s just gonna showcase the different job names and what employees are kind of being assigned to those tasks.

Now you might be asking: what are some of the different reasons that we necessarily have these templates? What are the use cases that make these templates so great?

Consolidating Bidding Data

First of all, there is the use case of consolidating estimates and bidding data. Imagine having all your estimates, bids, wins, and losses in one place—easily accessible and analyzable. Knack enables just that, providing a unified platform for tracking and analyzing your bidding activities, helping you refine your strategies over time.

We’re about to walk through how to consolidate your bidding data within Knack, giving you the insights you need to enhance your bidding success rate.

Creating Bidding Tables

So firstly, what you would do is you would go to the data section and you can essentially create a new table called Estimates and Bidding. And then from there, you can add different fields like quantity, a short description of the estimates and bidding—things like a number property for the unit material and the unit sub. The total material can be put in there as well in a dollar sign format.

Then you can mark down some of the other aspects of the estimates and bidding, like total labor, total in general, unit material, unit sub—and then you can make a form on a vendor’s page that associates to it.

Tracking Equipment with Knack

So for example, what we can do is we can make a new view that is a form for one of the pages where we essentially take all of those different fields we put in from the estimates and bidding and add the form with those fields in it. And then from there, someone in the front end who interacts with this would be able to essentially put down the different aspects of the estimates and bidding every time they would bid on it. And it would consolidate all the information and send it to us in the back end.

As you can see right here, once we press preview and we log in again, this field is easily fill-outable via you putting all these different numbers in, if you’re someone on the front end interacting with it.

And then once the submission is inputted, it would show up in the Knack-end tables.

Then another great option is to track equipment inside of Knack. So you can actually make a table for equipment tracking inside of Knack. And what this can help you with is not just managing your resources more effectively, but efficiently managing keeping your projects on time and on budget by tracking different aspects of what go into it with the equipment—like the name, the type, the PPR, location, and availability status.

Creating Equipment Tracking Views

That is complete. You can add another view similar to what we did previously for a form that essentially showcases the information. Now once that’s done, we can actually make a view of that data to put in the front end as well—and that’s up to your choice.

So in this case, if we were to go into that page, we can see the name, type, PPR, location, and availability status if we click into one of those equipment tracking entities.

Exploring Useful Templates

Moving on, let’s see how you can jumpstart your trial by exploring some highly useful templates.

Let’s take a closer look at each one to see how they can benefit your business operations right away.

First up is the Construction Management template. This app is designed to streamline the management of a construction company, covering both operational and administrative needs. With this template, you’ll find tools tailored for financial management, resource allocation, personnel management, procurement, and overseeing the entire business operations. It’s a comprehensive solution aimed at making construction management more efficient and organized.

Next, we have the Equipment Tracker template. This template is invaluable for organizations that need to keep track of equipment—whether it’s equipment being lent out or assigned to specific projects or employees. It simplifies the process of monitoring where each piece of equipment is, its status, and who is responsible for it—ensuring that everything is accounted for and reducing the chances of loss or damage.

Mobile Workforce No Code Template

Moving on, let’s talk about the Mobile Workforce No Code template. This template is a game-changer for teams that operate primarily outside of the office. It offers a simple yet effective task management app that allows your employees to track and update jobs and tasks on the go. This ensures that your team remains productive and coordinated no matter where they are.

Lastly, we delve into the Construction Estimate App template. This template is a must-have for construction businesses looking to streamline their bid management process. It serves as an all-in-one tool where you can store vital project info such as change orders, time tracking, job sites, subcontractors, and more. It’s designed to help you forecast potential costs accurately and manage your projects more effectively.

To get started with any of these templates, simply check out the links provided in the description below.

Real World Success Story: Finley’s Tree and Lawn Care

Each template is crafted to meet specific needs and challenges, so take advantage of them to enhance your business operations. Now, I wanna talk about a real-world example and success story that exemplifies the transformative power of Knack—Finley’s Tree and Lawn Care.

On our website, you can actually take more of a deep look into this. However, this part of the video unfolds the story of how Finley’s, under the guidance of Brandon Reitmeier, embarked on a digital transformation journey by adopting Knack.

Digital Transformation Journey

Finley’s not only overcame operational bottlenecks, but also unlocked new levels of efficiency, customer satisfaction, and business growth.

So firstly, Brandon identified the need for a digital overhaul to address the growing operational complexities of their business. The next thing Brandon did after that realization was evaluate various database platforms—and ultimately, he chose Knack for its versatility and user-friendly interface.

After selecting Knack, Brandon began the process of digitizing and automating Finley’s operational workflows, starting with project scheduling and customer communication.

Enhancing Operational Efficiency

To streamline operations further, automation was introduced in areas like confirmation emails and project photo uploads—significantly enhancing the efficiency there.

Through Brandon’s leadership, Finley’s Tree and Lawn Care successfully transitioned from outdated paper-based processes to a dynamic digital operation. The adoption of Knack not only streamlined workflows, but also fostered growth, customer engagement, and operational visibility.

This case study demonstrates the substantial impact digital transformation can have on a business—proving that with the right tools and vision, any company can achieve remarkable efficiency and growth.

Improving Customer Engagement

Following the implementation of Knack, Finley’s experienced a notable improvement in customer engagement thanks to targeted communication and the digitization of customer-facing processes like billing and scheduling.

Brandon leveraged Knack to create a more engaging customer communication strategy—including the development of quarterly newsletters.

The transformation extended to accounts receivable, where Knack provided real-time insights into billing, significantly reducing manual tracking efforts.

Lastly, by digitizing job scheduling and integrating over ten years of customer data into Knack, Finley gained invaluable insight for strategic decision-making and further business development.

Transforming into a Data-Driven Enterprise

Finley’s utilization of Knack transformed it from a traditional operation into a modern, data-driven enterprise.

The platform’s impact on customer engagement, operational efficiency, and strategic decision-making illustrates the profound benefits of embracing digital tools.

For businesses looking to future-proof their operations, Finley’s story with Knack offers both inspiration and a blueprint for success.

Conclusion and Call to Action

As we wrap up this video tutorial, it’s clear that Knack stands out as an indispensable tool for construction and field service companies aiming to streamline their operations.

Knack not only simplifies project management, but also paves the way for significant improvements in efficiency, customer satisfaction, and business growth.

Success stories we’ve explored—especially the journey of Finley’s Tree and Lawn Care—highlight the practical benefits and strategic value of embracing Knack for your business.

If you found this tutorial insightful and you’re ready to take your business ops to the next level with Knack, don’t forget to subscribe, like, and comment below with your thoughts or experiences. We’re here to support your journey toward digital transformation and operational excellence.

Encouragement to Start with Knack

So what are you waiting for? Let’s dive into Knack today and start transforming your business operations for a brighter, more efficient tomorrow.