To set up shifts in Ranger SST, from the RangerSST slideout, open Configuration, then Pricing Setup and click on the “Shifts/commission”.

Shifts/Commissions

Shifts

Inputting the “shift” structure of the business is important in DispatchDirectTM because it provides an option for you to charge customers differently, and/or pay drivers differently based on when a call is dispatched. (Note: this time-based differentiation is available, but optional.)

  For example, you may choose to charge customers more for services delivered outside of normal business hours, or not
  You may also want to charge a premium for work that is required over the weekend, or not
  Similarly, many companies have a “shift differential” for driver commissions - e.g., drivers earn higher commissions when working a second or third shift or when working weekends. Other companies make no such differentiation.

Any shift-related differences in rates (including weekday vs. weekend) for both customer charges and driver commissions are specified in “Pricing Templates”. However, the available structural options for differentiating these rates are based on the set-up in “Shift Definition”

Because of the added pricing flexibility that is created, the operational “shifts” of the business should be specified before setting up Pricing Templates (and a call cannot be dispatched without a pricing template).

From the Main menu, the shift structure is defined in “Pricing setup - Shifts/commission”. You can define up to three shifts, and for maximum flexibility to differentiate pricing in the future, it's best to set up at least 2 shifts (even if only using 1 now as each pricing template must be changed if you only select a 1 shift operation). The Pricing Templates will provide an opportunity to set different rates for each pre-defined shift and to mark-up weekend work by a percentage. The time stamp when a job is assigned to a driver is used for selecting the appropriate time (shift and weekday/weekend).

Commissions

DispatchDirectTM assumes that the primary basis for setting commissions is based on the work that is being accomplished by the driver (e.g., vs. personality). You can think of this as the “base” commission rate, and it is defined in each Pricing Template. The “base rate” could be the same for all services. However, there is flexibility to set the “base rate” differently in each Pricing Template. You could, for example, decide to pay lower commissions for Service Calls than tows, and/or pay higher commissions for towing luxury cars (that require special care) than for most other vehicles.

While making the work accomplished the foundation for commissions (“base rate”), many companies increase commission rates for drivers based on other considerations such as experience and/or capabilities. For example, these increases can provide “incentives” for drivers to remain with the company and improve performance. DispatchDirectTM provides three dimensions for adding this kind of “incentive rate” to the “base rate” (as defined in the Pricing Templates). The dimensions are Tenure, Skill Level, and User-Defined. All are optional. Each “incentive rate” has four potential levels - describing increasing levels of driver “achievement”. It is not necessary to use all four levels. Each level is user-defined, as is the amount of the increase to the “base” commission. In Drivers - Driver List, each driver is assigned the appropriate level of “achievement” on each of the selected “incentive rates” (Tenure, Skill Level, and User-Defined) that again, add to the “base” commissions.

An example: assume the “base” rate in the Pricing Template is set at 15%, the driver has achieved Level 2 as described in “Skill level/Certification”, and the commission increase for Level 2 is defined as an additional 2%. In this case, the driver's commission will be 15% + 2% = 17%. If the driver were to complete a job carrying a higher “base rate”, say 18%, the commission would be 18% + 2% = 20%.

As illustrated in the above example - the approach for setting “base rates” and “incentive rates” should be designed at the same time to be in “sync” with each other and to achieve the desired mix/balance. As an extreme example, a company could decide to set “base” rates for all offerings in the Pricing Templates at 0%, and in Shifts/Commissions set the “User-Defined Levels” as Level 1 = Good =10%, Level 2 = Better =15%, and Level 3 = Best = 20%. Each driver (in Drivers - Driver List) could be graded as Level 1,2, or 3 and would get the corresponding commission of 10%, 15%, or 20% for each and every job that they complete.