Movies often rely on the aphoristic cliche; “information is power.” In business terms it’s probably more apt to say that information is confidence. Taken a step further we can also say that it is the clarity of that information that brings confidence. A good thing, then, that this is the underlying topic of this blog: customised PDFs that you can control.

Netsuite, as an ERP, and Shepherd as the go-to native EAM solution for NetSuite users, both deal in vast quantities of information. All that data can illuminate or confuse depending on how it is used, and presented. For that reason, one of Shepherd’s most favoured functionalities (and one where customers seeked the most personalisation) is its PDF customisation option.

Turning data into meaning

In the business setting, staff will need to decide what information they share, with whom, and how in order to make sure that the correct message gets across. After all, how something is understood is as important as what you wanted to say. And the ability to choose what is shown in PDF format, and how it is presented gives companies a lot of communication flexibility. Especially, when you realise that the information pool that can be drawn from is everything that a customer has in Shepherd, and NetSuite combined.

Let’s look at some examples before moving on to how it all works.

Customer transparency

The bigger ticket items often form the impression of what a job will cost. But any task will have smaller details that we are less aware of that still need to be covered for the work to be effective and valuable to us. An easy way to see these small items will put customers’ minds at ease when bills come in, and preempt any potential uncertainty about where the costs have gone.

One of the simplest examples might be sharing, with a customer, an overview of where their service costs are going. It might be a report following a recent visit or a breakdown of what has been done over the last quarter or longer. It may highlight the sheer amount of work their bills have covered, or it might help show them the additional costs they’ve avoided by sticking to strict preventative maintenance plans. 

Whatever the goal of the communication, the Shepherd user can select what information the system will collect and how it will look once generated. It can be a one-off or it can be a standard attachment to any invoice sent out. The result? The customer is less likely to have questions from a “what is my money buying” perspective, and is more likely to have greater trust through greater transparency. 

Willingly offered information is great at maintaining and improving customer trust. Clear PDF reports can be produced to offer full transparency about the what, where, and when of the services you provide. With those, a customer can have full confidence in the work, and that confidence is one of the cornerstones of a long, and productive cooperation for both parties.

Compliance and record-keeping

Another use is perhaps more relevant to high-regulation industries, or those with strict agreements with asset manufacturers, for example. PDFs might be designed to provide a compliance paper trail confirming that processes or activity history meet the required standards. An audit where a review of clear activity reports or calibration tests is readily available without the need for a forensic review of all archives will make the auditor’s or external consultant’s job far easier. And where the situation is easily defined, the chances for missed records and incomplete, damaging conclusions reduces.

Whether a state authority or a customer exercising contractual rights, a solid paper trail protects you and reassures the reviewer as far as what is being done, and if procedures are being followed. Shepherd’s PDF customisations let’s you decide exactly what information is pulled into your PDF documents, so that the information you need reviewers to see is there, clear as day. 

Stronger internal communications

Here’s another scenario: the technicians in the shop, or in the field, and the executives in head office arguably work towards the same outcome: greater revenue, greater profit, greater success. But the ways in which each tries to achieve those results will be very different. Their perspectives and priorities will also be different. The net result is that the language and parameters they use to gauge success will likely not be the same. Once more, well-design communications will make it easier for someone from one camp to see the issues concerning or guiding someone from the other.

It may be that the servicing department needs investment in areas whose importance come from a technical standpoint. A structure PDF that highlights how those technical considerations translate to high costs down the line if unaddressed or high revenues if dealt with.

The board of directors may face a challenge due to market conditions that they simply can’t prevent, only mitigate, and that means changes to funding or processes in other departments. A clear breakdown of the factors, why they matter, and what happens if they are ignored can help get buy-in from people who would, otherwise, instinctively withhold their support.

Customisation with or without Shepherd’s help

The added bonus is that, while Shepherd can and will set-up such PDF customisations to customer specs, if the customer has someone who knows their way around low-level development code, they can also set things up to their liking. Shepherd has no issue with this and is often thrilled to hear about customer approaches to using the Shepherd solution. 

Whether the nature of reporting content and formats has been decided long before, or if the topic is totally new at the time of implementation, the scope is there to develop automated PDFs. These will help clarify, prioritise and record the information you or the customer value most, be it to communicate with customers, external authorities, or your own teams internally. To learn more, there’s only one sensible choice: book a demo.

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