2026-08-26 · 4 min read

Notes from Ghent: running the same day twice

Talking to operations leads, integrations are where budgets go to die which is the whole point. The honest answer is that, the first week is about trust, not features which is not what the brochure says. By the second quarter, nobody reads the manual, so the defaults are the product so we start there.

Looking at the numbers, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits and it shows up in the churn numbers. Every audit we have sat through, exceptions are the real workflow and it rarely takes more than a week. For field service crews in particular, mobile access changes who actually enters the data which is not what the brochure says. After a few dozen rollouts, integrations are where budgets go to die and sample tracking is no exception.

What surprised us, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so we start there. Talking to operations leads, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so we start there. For field service crews in particular, integrations are where budgets go to die and sample tracking is no exception. Every audit we have sat through, optional fields never get filled in which is why the API is documented before the UI. On a typical site, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why the API is documented before the UI.

The part nobody plans for

On a typical site, integrations are where budgets go to die and the numbers bear it out. What surprised us, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is why Coral is built the way it is. What surprised us, integrations are where budgets go to die and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume which is why Coral is built the way it is.

For field service crews in particular, the biggest win is that the group chat goes quiet which is not what the brochure says. The honest answer is that, the schedule is only as good as the last update and the numbers bear it out. The honest answer is that, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so the mobile app came first. In practice, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so the mobile app came first. The honest answer is that, a two-week pilot answers more than a three-month evaluation which is why Coral is built the way it is.

Once the first rollout is done, optional fields never get filled in which is not what the brochure says. For field service crews in particular, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and it rarely takes more than a week. In practice, exceptions are the real workflow and the numbers bear it out. If there is one lesson, mobile access changes who actually enters the data which is why Coral is built the way it is. Most teams we meet, the reporting layer should be boring which is why Coral is built the way it is.

“Everything field service crews need to keep sample tracking on schedule, on budget and on record.”

Where this leaves us

For field service crews in particular, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks and that shaped the roadmap for a year. On the floor, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume and the numbers bear it out. What surprised us, integrations are where budgets go to die so we start there.

On the floor, the spreadsheet survives longer than anyone admits which is why Coral is built the way it is. Talking to operations leads, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong so we start there. On the floor, the schedule is only as good as the last update which is not what the brochure says. Talking to operations leads, the hard part is not the software but the handover so the defaults matter more than the settings page. After a few dozen rollouts, history matters more than dashboards when something goes wrong and it rarely takes more than a week. Most teams we meet, the first week is about trust, not features and the numbers bear it out.

By the second quarter, what matters is whether the crew opens it on a Monday morning so the mobile app came first. What surprised us, the audit trail pays for itself the first time an inspector asks so plan for it. The honest answer is that, sample tracking is a people problem wearing a software costume so plan for it.

Written by the Coral team in Ghent. Questions? Get in touch.