Dandelion Energy is a tech-forward company offering geothermal heating and cooling in the renewable energy space. With the help of a host of software products, including the field operations platform SiteCapture, Dandelion Energy has been able to streamline processes and become a competitive leader in its field. Product manager Megan Anderson reports that SiteCapture is successfully used to benefit both clients and the company.
When installing geothermal heating and cooling in residential units, Dandelion Energy requires a streamlined process using several platforms and applications. The company automates as much as it can, relying on surveys, virtual consultations, and virtual site surveys to gather information for potential projects.
To maximize productivity, Dandelion Energy uses a variety of tech tools in its day-to-day operations. For example, the company relies on Preset, an open-source data exploration and visualization platform; Big Query, a PaaS serving as their data warehouse; and Fivetran, which extracts data from the CRM platform HubSpot to Big Query.
Dandelion Energy relies on the synthesis of information and interaction between the above applications and platforms to be successful. Most of their data is tracked and managed in HubSpot. Because SiteCapture integrates seamlessly with HubSpot, Dandelion Energy has witnessed a boost in its sales, project management, and service pipelines.
SiteCapture is pivotal in the sales pipeline during virtual consultations and design. After a final quote is created, leading to a final design and a customer agreement, someone is sent out to the property to survey for the first time. Dandelion Energy uses SiteCapture after the sales agreement, and the information gathered in the sales stage then goes into data collection. Zapier sends two forms to the homeowner, and the HubSpot workflow kicks off from there.
The operations pipeline then starts—with SiteCapture again playing an important role on the project management side as a key field operations tool and as a way to source information. Before a surveyor ever even steps foot on a property for any project, SiteCapture aggregates much of the essential information needed.
A pre-construction survey is completed via SiteCapture, and the scope of work and information handoff form are created by the designer. The information handoff form is instructional for all crews and is accessible by phone. Dandelion Energy crews store and organize photos in the SiteCapture app when onsite work is being done. When completing essential commissioning forms for each installation, crews can easily populate the information in the application.
The next step is a three-part phase installation for geothermal energy solutions. It involves drilling, trenching, and heat pump installation. Each of these stages has a different crew, and each crew is filling out different forms pertaining to the install. There is no automation in this phase. Because each of these steps is managed independently by a different crew and operations manager, they rely on queues and tasks created through applications to communicate, schedule, and stay in sync. Specifically, the crews and operations managers rely heavily on SiteCapture to obtain access to pertinent information for each residential project, to update HubSpot, and to track projects.
Crews access SiteCapture while onsite, create a template, and then manually populate the information. After installation is complete, intake and service forms are created and filled out via SiteCapture if additional support is needed. If there are any unresolved issues, the client is then assigned to a service technician by a support technician and managed through SiteCapture.
Dandelion Energy’s mission to expand geothermal energy solutions is guided by its virtual, technology-driven processes. The company’s utilization of various cutting-edge platforms and applications such as SiteCapture is necessary for its success and continued growth. SiteCapture highlights its versatility and relevance by proving itself an integral part of the renewable energy market.
