Also check out Kickserv - Service Business Software. The customer portal is pretty cool. When you send a customer an estimate or invoice it sends them a link to their portal where they can view all their invoices, estimates, and other job scheduling info, which is good for repeat commercial customers
Ive been using TCF for almost 5 years and have definitely outgrown it, but switching to another program would be tough because of the data loss. All that would really switch over to the new system is the customers contact info, not job and pricing history, or recurring jobs.
I will probably go with either kickserv or jobber when I do make the switch
Weāre moving from Camelot (on our computers) to ServiceMinder.net (cloud based). It has a great CMS, can send email blasts, email invouces, pay invoices from the email with a credit card, offer scheduling right from your website, it automatically optimizes the schedule according to the map, automatically calculates drive time and a lot more. Itās $100 per month. Of course, the initial setup of services etc takes time but we paid the company an extra $500 to migrate over all our data (contacts, invoices, work orders etc.)
Oh yeah, almost forgot, you can create proposals in the program and convert them to jobs with the click of a button. Plus you can send the proposal for approval and the client can electronically sign the agreement much like DocuSign (without the extra cost).
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Service autopilot looks super capable, but reminds me of one of those old school software companies because there is no trial period of any kind. The videos are helpful, but for me to actually see if it is going to work I just need to get in there and use it. The only way to actually use the software would be to sign up and pay their āsetup feeā.
ServiceMinder.net gave me a 30 trial to check it out. After a month playing around with it, I paid the $100 subscription and only then invested the $500 to speed up the integration (I could have done it myself but the time it takesā¦I could clean windows for the day and pay for a computer guys 3-5 days of work needed to just āget 'er doneā.
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Yea I believe they declined to offer a discount, but did offer to wave the sigh up fee for members. [MENTION=26203]Jessica[/MENTION] should have an update from them soon.
You canāt beat the price and customer support of Steve at TCF. Iāve suggested multiple simple updates and features that he added in less than 48 hours.
Other thoughts:
There seems to be a mobile app coming soon.
It does seem clunky in that many features are added in layers, one on top of the other.
Iāve never had a need for customers to look up past invoices or see their profile.
Some platforms allow the customers to create reviews that automatically update to other profiles like bing and citysearch. I wish I knew how that was done.
For me the price and support are perfect. I just wish there was more compatibility with qb mac software. And I really need to take advantage of the batch emailing/scheduling features.
With no access to any of it while out in the field. There isnāt even a calendar in the mobile app. How can you schedule out in the field with no easy way to check your schedule nor schedule. And, no real time google calendar sync is a total deal breaker.
Upvise crm. Weāve tried tcf and jobber. Upvise has the best mobile app. No limit to reoccurring jobs like jobber. Only $60 a year. Works offline perfectly. Great layout. No auto emails though. just reminder tasks. Jobber and tcf arent as easy to me. For accounting we use spreadsheets and paychex payroll through wcra. For time sheets we use google drive. Guys enter time on mobile app.
I use an ipad while in the field - so its like im sitting at my desktop.
What I love about the team at Jobber is the fact they have weekly google hangouts, listen to what the ppl want and actually update your requests on a monthly basis. I want to say it will be 5x more powerful than it already is in the next few years.
In regards to the real time sync with google calendar I agree - but I asked them about that and its not on their end its how google handles the transfer.
Off googles website: ā[COLOR=#444444][FONT=Helvetica Neue]Note: It may take up to 8 hours for changes in ICS feeds to reflect in your Google Calendar.ā[/FONT][/COLOR]
There are several CRMs that have a realtime sync with google. but not using ical feed. a few to name are worketc nimble, pipeline 360ā¦
i used to care about a sync with google calendar until i got upvise and the calendar syncs with all my guys mobile upvise app in the field seamlessly. Their desktop calendar is great. googleās calendar is not customizable and you canāt connect the event to the contact in your crm so easily. Get away from Google calendar if you want to stop double entry of contacts.
This being said i do agree that Jobber is poised to become the best. Not there yet for me though. Horrible app.
You can add to that - you cant add service costs to the day sheets which has been an issue for over 10 months and nothing has been done about it, despite many Jobber users asking for it.
Not everyone has internet access and they work from paper work (like me)ā¦ but you can have a price online but not on your printed sheetā¦ makes no sence.
when you have a lot of recurring jobs, day after day thats another deal breaker - itās such a simple fix.
I have been trying service auto pilot for about a week. There is definitely a learning curve on it. Its kind of a complex program i feel.
With that said it looks to do everything you would every want out of a crm. Customers can even pay there bill through the invoice you send them via email. I never knew about this. Everything is pretty automated once you learn it.
Just pretty time consuming and hard to learn so far.
I honestly say service auto pilot has crazy potential. But I dont think i have the smarts to implement it. Its not the most user friendly program.
I signed up with Jobber today and its just so easy and does everything i need and want really.
Let me know what you guys end up going with. Jobber is the jam. but im a three man team most of the time.
