CRM software for window cleaners

[Infinity]

Ok, I think this is what everyone is having trouble comprehending (myself included). I’ll try and make this as clear as possible, the way I understand it:

Say I sign up for housecall pro, I download the pro app, upload my customer database, and list myself as being visible in the public app. Now anyone can see me in the directory. This also means current customers can choose to book me through their public app, or they can call me directly and I can set the appointment through my pro app.

So now my customer has the public app. When they go do a search in the app for a window cleaner, because for some unknown reason they can’t remember who we are, what do they see? Will they only find our company, or will they see everyone in their area? Now what happens if they search for a power washing service? They only used us for window cleaning in the past, but we offer power washing as well, and are listed as such in the public app. Because they are in our database, will they only see us? Or will they see everyone who does power washing? If they see everyone listed, but they decide to go with us (since they realized they used us for window cleaning), do we have to pay a referral fee?

Now let’s say I get a lot of our customers to download the public app to help them book with us more easily. But the pro app just isn’t working out for us as a full CRM. So we decide to switch to a different CRM, and end our pro subscription. Now all of these customers have the app, and when they try to find us for their next appointment, they suddenly see a bunch of other companies in the place where they only used to see ours. What gives? What recourse do we have? Business cards get lost, but a customer won’t lose an app. So they see we’re not there, and figure we either went out of business, or just aren’t interested in their business. So they book with another company that’s listed.

So here is where I think a lot of people are seeing a conflict of interest: there is more motivation to make the public app completely awesome, because that means capturing new leads, and a nice 10% commission on those leads. And once you have someone using the public app (and they really like it) they’re likely to use it to find other services, as well. Including more expensive services than window cleaning. One happy customer can net way more income than one happy contractor. And just like other lead generating systems, you’re not going to cry if you lose some contractors who can’t stand your pro app. There are plenty of other suckers hungry for work, willing to put up with whatever in order to win the work. In fact, if I quit the pro app, you’ve still got my customers who downloaded the public app, and can continue to capture commissions from them. You only get commission on the first service with a particular contractor, so it would actually generate more revenue from a particular customer if they bounced around to different contractors.

So where is the motivation for making the pro app as awesome and full featured as possible? $10-$20/month isn’t much. But 10% commission on services into the thousands of dollars is plenty of motivation to focus on the public end of things. I hesitate at the idea of being locked into a less than awesome pro app, because my customers have also downloaded a booking app that they really like. If I leave, that doesn’t mean that the public app suddenly vanishes from their smartphone. If I leave Jobber or customer factor or whatever, my customers see nothing, except maybe different looking invoices.

I’m obviously playing devil’s advocate here, but these are the thoughts that came into my mind after reading this thread.

[Infinity]

Here’s another thought I have regarding this subject:

I see a lot of value in making customer interactions as smooth and transparent as possible. I want our customers to have an easy time booking us. However, I don’t want some third party taking the credit for such a smooth interaction. I want our company to be remembered for how easy we were to work with, not the app they used to book us.

Turning the control of these first interactions over to a third party app may actually commoditize the companies who use it. All of the credit of an easy business transaction goes to the app they used, making the companies listed appear all the same. Let’s face it, the majority of real differentiation in the service business market relies on the reliability and ease of doing business. the actual quality of the work ranks low, as everyone expects us to do a good job. This has been discussed ad infinitum on this forum and others. If you take control of that part of the interaction, so that working with any of the companies in your network becomes just as easy, differentiation becomes much more difficult. In addition, you’re filtering out companies from the results who have failed to provide stellar service, furthering the marginilizing of the companies listed.

The vision I see of people using the public app, is that instead of saying, “Wow, I had the best experience with Infinity Cleaning, they did an awesome job and were so easy to work with, you should call them!” They will be saying, “Wow, I had the best experience using this HouseCall app to book a window cleaner, they did a great job, and the app made the whole process so easy! You should check it out!”.

This is different from other lead generating sites like homeadvisor and thumbtack, in the sense that those services are only involved in the initial contact. HouseCall is involved in every interaction along the way, including alerting the customer when we are actually on the way to their home.

Truthfully, I’m glad I’m in such a small market, where it’s unlikely that my competition will adopt this technology, and the public app is unlikely to gain much traction in general. This means I can continue to differentiate on the basis of our customer interactions, and not turn that control over to housecall. It also means that we can continue to stand out in this regard, since other companies won’t be using the exact same software to provide the exact same type of experience.

[michaelmole]

@Alex Lacey

Ok, I think this is what everyone is having trouble comprehending (myself included). I’ll try and make this as clear as possible, the way I understand it:

Say I sign up for housecall pro, I download the pro app, upload my customer database, and list myself as being visible in the public app. Now anyone can see me in the directory. This also means current customers can choose to book me through their public app, or they can call me directly and I can set the appointment through my pro app.

So now my customer has the public app. When they go do a search in the app for a window cleaner, because for some unknown reason they can’t remember who we are, what do they see? Will they only find our company, or will they see everyone in their area? Now what happens if they search for a power washing service? They only used us for window cleaning in the past, but we offer power washing as well, and are listed as such in the public app. Because they are in our database, will they only see us? Or will they see everyone who does power washing? If they see everyone listed, but they decide to go with us (since they realized they used us for window cleaning), do we have to pay a referral fee?

Now let’s say I get a lot of our customers to download the public app to help them book with us more easily. But the pro app just isn’t working out for us as a full CRM. So we decide to switch to a different CRM, and end our pro subscription. Now all of these customers have the app, and when they try to find us for their next appointment, they suddenly see a bunch of other companies in the place where they only used to see ours. What gives? What recourse do we have? Business cards get lost, but a customer won’t lose an app. So they see we’re not there, and figure we either went out of business, or just aren’t interested in their business. So they book with another company that’s listed.

So here is where I think a lot of people are seeing a conflict of interest: there is more motivation to make the public app completely awesome, because that means capturing new leads, and a nice 10% commission on those leads. And once you have someone using the public app (and they really like it) they’re likely to use it to find other services, as well. Including more expensive services than window cleaning. One happy customer can net way more income than one happy contractor. And just like other lead generating systems, you’re not going to cry if you lose some contractors who can’t stand your pro app. There are plenty of other suckers hungry for work, willing to put up with whatever in order to win the work. In fact, if I quit the pro app, you’ve still got my customers who downloaded the public app, and can continue to capture commissions from them. You only get commission on the first service with a particular contractor, so it would actually generate more revenue from a particular customer if they bounced around to different contractors.

So where is the motivation for making the pro app as awesome and full featured as possible? $10-$20/month isn’t much. But 10% commission on services into the thousands of dollars is plenty of motivation to focus on the public end of things. I hesitate at the idea of being locked into a less than awesome pro app, because my customers have also downloaded a booking app that they really like. If I leave, that doesn’t mean that the public app suddenly vanishes from their smartphone. If I leave Jobber or customer factor or whatever, my customers see nothing, except maybe different looking invoices.

I’m obviously playing devil’s advocate here, but these are the thoughts that came into my mind after reading this thread.

This post isn’t “devil’s advocate.” This is literally the summation of everything JfromtheD and I have been talking about. The technical term, I believe, is “conflict of interest.”

That’s why I say I can’t imagine how good that CRM would have to be for me to be willing to get in bed with them.

[c_wininger]

@Alex Lacey

Here’s another thought I have regarding this subject:

I see a lot of value in making customer interactions as smooth and transparent as possible. I want our customers to have an easy time booking us. However, I don’t want some third party taking the credit for such a smooth interaction. I want our company to be remembered for how easy we were to work with, not the app they used to book us.

Turning the control of these first interactions over to a third party app may actually commoditize the companies who use it. All of the credit of an easy business transaction goes to the app they used, making the companies listed appear all the same. Let’s face it, the majority of real differentiation in the service business market relies on the reliability and ease of doing business. the actual quality of the work ranks low, as everyone expects us to do a good job. This has been discussed ad infinitum on this forum and others. If you take control of that part of the interaction, so that working with any of the companies in your network becomes just as easy, differentiation becomes much more difficult. In addition, you’re filtering out companies from the results who have failed to provide stellar service, furthering the marginilizing of the companies listed.

The vision I see of people using the public app, is that instead of saying, “Wow, I had the best experience with Infinity Cleaning, they did an awesome job and were so easy to work with, you should call them!” They will be saying, “Wow, I had the best experience using this HouseCall app to book a window cleaner, they did a great job, and the app made the whole process so easy! You should check it out!”.

This is different from other lead generating sites like homeadvisor and thumbtack, in the sense that those services are only involved in the initial contact. HouseCall is involved in every interaction along the way, including alerting the customer when we are actually on the way to their home.

Truthfully, I’m glad I’m in such a small market, where it’s unlikely that my competition will adopt this technology, and the public app is unlikely to gain much traction in general. This means I can continue to differentiate on the basis of our customer interactions, and not turn that control over to housecall. It also means that we can continue to stand out in this regard, since other companies won’t be using the exact same software to provide the exact same type of experience.

^^ i see you working here, Alex and those are some valid concerns. My counter to those concerns would be this: If you are losing current customers (as in, customers you have serviced at least once, wether prior to a service like housecall or one you captured via a service like housecall) to an app, then the problem lies with you. Not the app. Is your follow-up lame? Was the experience you delivered forgettable? Do you not reach out to the client regularly and prevent them from forgetting you? Did you do a poor job of educating them on the other services you offer? Because if you get beat by a booking app, you are missing something. (of course, i’m not speaking of you specifically Alex, just using “you” as a generality)

for the record, i’m continuing to comment on this because i think it’s an interesting debate, and i’m kind of bored. not necessarily defending housecall specifically.

[JfromtheD]

Double post

[JfromtheD]

Dude. I was going by what you were saying, previously.
Whether or not “I get it” I don’t know.
Im perfectly willing to admit that maybe I don’t.

But tell me where I’m spreading misinformation, when you compare my paraphrasing with your words.

@rolandal

HouseCall, is a booking app, [COLOR=#FF0000]that [U]homeowners can use to request professionals services[/U][/COLOR]. This comes as a feature which you can enable or disable (although most companies using [URL=“http://www.tryhousecall.com/pro”]HouseCall Pro tend to value being ahead of the rest of the market/competition).

It’s very similar to a Responsibid installation, but not for the web. HouseCall is purely mobile, and now that people have an app for almost anything, they can book you straight from an app. [COLOR=#FF0000]Your existing customers will only see you in your category (ex. windows & exterior)[/COLOR].

@JfromtheD

Yeah, non current customers will see all of us us pigeons looking for bread crumbs.
[COLOR=#ff0000]But currents will only see us[/COLOR]… at least as long as we pay for the service.

I don’t know where they grew you, but in my business I have to address ANY AND ALL concerns my customers have.
Whether they are simple/stupid/ignorant/whatever in my eyes or not.

You? You decide to insult me, and call me a troller?
How much more obvious does it have to be what my concern is, and that I’m “hinting” for it to be addressed?!?

I literally said “my concern is” - not once, but TWICE!

@JfromtheD

Which is exactly where my concern is.

My concern: once we enter our cust info, they become “property of” houscall services, blah blah…

The best part is, THIS is all pre-sale.
What happens after the sale?

Do I get to look forward to “you’re a dumbass” when I can’t figure out something technical?!?
Or “hey deadbeat” if my credit card expires and I forget to edit payment info?!?

[Infinity]

@c_wininger

^^ i see you working here, Alex and those are some valid concerns. My counter to those concerns would be this: If you are losing current customers (as in, customers you have serviced at least once, wether prior to a service like housecall or one you captured via a service like housecall) to an app, then the problem lies with you. Not the app. Is your follow-up lame? Was the experience you delivered forgettable? Do you not reach out to the client regularly and prevent them from forgetting you? Did you do a poor job of educating them on the other services you offer? Because if you get beat by a booking app, you are missing something. (of course, i’m not speaking of you specifically Alex, just using “you” as a generality)

for the record, i’m continuing to comment on this because i think it’s an interesting debate, and i’m kind of bored. not necessarily defending housecall specifically.

Haha, I saw this one coming…

All valid points, but the issue I see is that HouseCall is positioning itself to take over more and more of the “differentiators” you mentioned. Follow-up? Check. “Touching base”? I’m sure that’s coming in one form or another. Educating on other services? That’s something that can be done in person, but I’m sure there will be a nice, tidy way that HouseCall will manage to do that for me, as well, and at the same time pitching them some other offer from an unrelated company. I believe that they’re building this up to the point where any “additional” communication with the customer in regards to follow up, etc. will seem redundant and even annoying.

So that leaves us with the service itself. When the app only displays companies with a 4+ star rating, there’s little room for real differentiating in this area, as well.

Essentially what I think they’re trying to accomplish is a form of “standardization” of the home services market. Use anyone listed in their network, and you can expect the same great transparency, communication, follow up, and hopefully service (only 4+ ratings listed). From a consumer’s perspective, I LOVE the idea of having a consistent means of hiring contractors, not having to worry so much about which company to go with. Then all I really have to worry about is cost vs. the actual service: i.e., this company will do all my windows, sills, and screens for $xx, and this other company will do all of that plus tracks for $xxx. But from a business owner’s perspective, I’m not sure I want to be just another cog in their machine (no matter how well oiled it may be for the customer).

On a slightly different train of thought, this is in reply to what was asked by [MENTION=3164]Brian_C[/MENTION] in the other thread on HouseCall (and the subsequent replies he received):

So apparently the pro app isn’t mining your data directly (that’s good). But they are leveraging your use of the app in order to lure your customers into their ecosystem. It’s sort of a half-truth to say that “we don’t use your customer data for marketing purposes”, when they include a download link in every text message you send to your customers. Of course a lot of people will check it out, and as soon as they’ve input their data into the public app, you better believe HouseCall will be marketing to them.

The whole HouseCall concept is brilliant, really, and I wish I had come up with it. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced I should become a part of their machine. They’ll have to do an awful lot of back-scratching before I begin to reciprocate by helping them build up their empire. It had better be the awesomest CRM on the planet…

And here’s a thought, [MENTION=38534]rolandal[/MENTION]: have you considered selling market exclusivity for a premium (and/or for early adopters)? Similar to windowcleaning.com? That might be enough motivation for me to help you build your empire, since mass adoption won’t encroach on my turf, lol.

[Jobber]

This thread is incredibly interesting. Just went through the last 8 pages to catch up with what has been talked about. Alex, Caleb and Michael you guys all have really good points.

This topic is something that we have been talking about around the office for a few months now and I find it fascinating and something I love reading and thinking about.

-Landen

[JaredAI]

@Jobber

This thread is incredibly interesting. Just went through the last 8 pages to catch up with what has been talked about. Alex, Caleb and Michael you guys all have really good points.

This topic is something that we have been talking about around the office for a few months now and I find it fascinating and something I love reading and thinking about.

-Landen

Congrats, you’ve read more than I have.

I’m thinking about using index cards…

Sent from my Panasonic VCR. Please set the clock before responding.

[JfromtheD]

I’ll take the blame- The whole thing went downhill sometime around page 6.

• when I admitted that I watch Excel videos for leisure.

[JaredAI]

@JfromtheD

I’ll take the blame- The whole thing went downhill sometime around page 6.

• when I admitted that I watch Excel videos for leisure.

Yeah, I figured either your or MichaelMole. You’ve guys got big spoons… for stirring stuff up.

But it’s always fun and educational to see what floats to the top.

[rolandal]

@Alex Lacey

Ok, I think this is what everyone is having trouble comprehending (myself included). I’ll try and make this as clear as possible, the way I understand it:

Say I sign up for housecall pro, I download the pro app, upload my customer database, and list myself as being visible in the public app. Now anyone can see me in the directory. This also means current customers can choose to book me through their public app, or they can call me directly and I can set the appointment through my pro app.

So now my customer has the public app. When they go do a search in the app for a window cleaner, because for some unknown reason they can’t remember who we are, what do they see? Will they only find our company, or will they see everyone in their area? Now what happens if they search for a power washing service? They only used us for window cleaning in the past, but we offer power washing as well, and are listed as such in the public app. Because they are in our database, will they only see us? Or will they see everyone who does power washing? If they see everyone listed, but they decide to go with us (since they realized they used us for window cleaning), do we have to pay a referral fee?

Now let’s say I get a lot of our customers to download the public app to help them book with us more easily. But the pro app just isn’t working out for us as a full CRM. So we decide to switch to a different CRM, and end our pro subscription. Now all of these customers have the app, and when they try to find us for their next appointment, they suddenly see a bunch of other companies in the place where they only used to see ours. What gives? What recourse do we have? Business cards get lost, but a customer won’t lose an app. So they see we’re not there, and figure we either went out of business, or just aren’t interested in their business. So they book with another company that’s listed.

So here is where I think a lot of people are seeing a conflict of interest: there is more motivation to make the public app completely awesome, because that means capturing new leads, and a nice 10% commission on those leads. And once you have someone using the public app (and they really like it) they’re likely to use it to find other services, as well. Including more expensive services than window cleaning. One happy customer can net way more income than one happy contractor. And just like other lead generating systems, you’re not going to cry if you lose some contractors who can’t stand your pro app. There are plenty of other suckers hungry for work, willing to put up with whatever in order to win the work. In fact, if I quit the pro app, you’ve still got my customers who downloaded the public app, and can continue to capture commissions from them. You only get commission on the first service with a particular contractor, so it would actually generate more revenue from a particular customer if they bounced around to different contractors.

So where is the motivation for making the pro app as awesome and full featured as possible? $10-$20/month isn’t much. But 10% commission on services into the thousands of dollars is plenty of motivation to focus on the public end of things. I hesitate at the idea of being locked into a less than awesome pro app, because my customers have also downloaded a booking app that they really like. If I leave, that doesn’t mean that the public app suddenly vanishes from their smartphone. If I leave Jobber or customer factor or whatever, my customers see nothing, except maybe different looking invoices.

I’m obviously playing devil’s advocate here, but these are the thoughts that came into my mind after reading this thread.

If you’re looking to use HouseCall Pro as simply a CRM/scheduling/dispatching/invoicing/CCprocessing app, you can turn off being available in the booking app.

You won’t get any new business nor will you be able to be booked by existing customers through the booking app.

If you do turn it on, both new or existing customers can book you.

Now,

How do you think people hear about the booking app?

From companies using HouseCall Pro to run their business.

What do you think happens if “where is the motivation for making the pro app as awesome and full featured as possible?”?

We have no companies using HouseCall Pro to run their business.

Do you not see the relationship?

[rolandal]

@Alex Lacey

Let’s face it, the majority of real differentiation in the service business market relies on the reliability and ease of doing business. the actual quality of the work ranks low

I feel sorry for your customers? We’ve found the opposite to be true - the quality and level of customer service ranks the highest.

@Alex Lacey

In addition, you’re filtering out companies from the results who have failed to provide stellar service, furthering the marginilizing of the companies listed.

Let me provide an analogy of what you’re saying here:

You’d like to compete in the special olympics even though you’re an olympic athlete. Why would you not want to be among the best? Why are you afraid of being marginalized?

@Alex Lacey

Truthfully, I’m glad I’m in such a small market, where it’s unlikely that my competition will adopt this technology, and the public app is unlikely to gain much traction in general. This means I can continue to differentiate on the basis of our customer interactions, and not turn that control over to housecall. It also means that we can continue to stand out in this regard, since other companies won’t be using the exact same software to provide the exact same type of experience.

This is what I do agree with. By using HouseCall Pro we want to arm local SMBs with the same digital power & seamless interaction capabilities that startups like HJ, HB, TT are currently providing consumers.

[rolandal]

@michaelmole

That’s why I say I can’t imagine how good that CRM would have to be for me to be willing to get in bed with them.

Like I said before, you can use HouseCall Pro to do the Booking, Scheduling, Invoicing, CC Payment Processing (1.99%), Dispatching, and CRM for your Window Cleaning business. Simply turn off the ability to be requested through the booking app.

Happy to do a 1:1 web demo to show you how.

Simply call me on my cell at: 858-365-0850

or book straight into my calendar here: Calendly - HouseCall Pro

[rolandal]

@JfromtheD

I literally said “my concern is” - not once, but TWICE!

Like I said before, you can import or export your database at any time.

If you choose to use HouseCall Pro, and then you choose not to renew, then you simply delete your account and along with it your customer database.

@JfromtheD

Do I get to look forward to “you’re a dumbass” when I can’t figure out something technical?!?

Yes, you get to look forward to me asking you to call me so I can explain over a 1:1 Demo where we can screen share and walk you through step-by-step. To book time on my calendar simply goto: Calendly - HouseCall Pro or call me at 858-365-0850.

[rolandal]

@Alex Lacey

HouseCall will be marketing to them.

Why are you worried about us marketing different verticals or even the same vertical if you are their default provider in your vertical (ex. They see only you)? You have a monopoly by default. It can only relate in more and repeat business for you, of which we take a grand total of 0%.

[/QUOTE]

@Alex Lacey

They’ll have to do an awful lot of back-scratching before I begin to reciprocate by helping them build up their empire. It had better be the awesomest CRM on the planet…

We’re providing an awesome Invoicing, Scheduling, Dispatching, CC Processing (1.99%), CRM, Booking app (optional) for DIRT CHEAP… that’s all the back-scratching we’ll be doing.

@Alex Lacey

And here’s a thought, [MENTION=38534]rolandal[/MENTION]: have you considered selling market exclusivity for a premium (and/or for early adopters)? Similar to windowcleaning.com? That might be enough motivation for me to help you build your empire, since mass adoption won’t encroach on my turf, lol.

No, we will never give market exclusivity for any amount/premium.

You only become the default provider in your categories for your existing customers.

[Monarch_Window_Clean]

[MENTION=38534]rolandal[/MENTION] [MENTION=4]Alex[/MENTION]

The tech that did my 1 on 1 said that Only MY customers will see MY Business in the categories that I service.
Only non database customers will see multiple service providers if they are searching

That what I got out of it. Sounds good to me!

Also, you can “show up” in as many categories as you choose to offer

Do I understand that correctly [MENTION=38534]rolandal[/MENTION] ?

[rolandal]

@mettlermaintenance

[MENTION=38534]rolandal[/MENTION] [MENTION=4]Alex[/MENTION]

The tech that did my 1 on 1 said that Only MY customers will see MY Business in the categories that I service.
Only non database customers will see multiple service providers if they are searching

That what I got out of it. Sounds good to me!

Also, you can “show up” in as many categories as you choose to offer

Do I understand that correctly [MENTION=38534]rolandal[/MENTION] ?

Yup thats exactly right.

You can decide what verticals to participate in (ex. Windows & Exterior, Handyman, Plumbing etc). Can be one or more.

[michaelmole]

@rolandal

I feel sorry for your customers? We’ve found the opposite to be true - the quality and level of customer service ranks the highest.

You have no clue what you are talking about. He said in terms of priority, quality of service is a lower priority because there is a base level of quality assumed. IE “of course you will leave me with clean windows. You’re a window cleaner. That’s not a selling point.”

@rolandal

Let me provide an analogy of what you’re saying here:

You’d like to compete in the special olympics even though you’re an olympic athlete. Why would you not want to be among the best? Why are you afraid of being marginalized?

Again, you are clueless. He said you are commoditizing the industry. He is not afraid of marginalization. He is afraid of commoditization.

[michaelmole]

@rolandal

Why are you worried about us marketing different verticals or even the same vertical if you are their default provider in your vertical (ex. They see only you)? You have a monopoly by default. It can only relate in more and repeat business for you, of which we take a grand total of 0%.

Only as long as we keep paying you every month.