PancakeJack
ISA CMUA
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2014
- Messages
- 5
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Hey all - Thanks in advance to any of you that read this and offer your thoughts. I've read through a lot of the forums/threads and this seems to be a very active and engaging platform, so i'm hoping to come away with some helpful info. My question relates to customer information management software, and what you guys out there are using to take leads, generate work orders, schedule work, track work progress, job cost, process invoices, etc. etc. Currently, we are using a product called "Compuscapes" that was new off-the-shelf in 1988. It is a DOS-based program that has zero mouse interface, very limited ability to export data to Excel, zero "mobile" capability, and is very clumsy to navigate. Thirty years ago, using function keys to bring up menus that were then activated by typing 1 - 9 was revolutionary. Now, it's an exercise in nostalgia for most, but that is our every day, over here.
We are a family-owned and operated tree and landscaping business in a very competitive environment (who isn't these days), that has been operating in the same location for over 90 years. Over the years, we have diversified our lines of business to include residential, commercial and municipal tree care, utility line clearance, residential and commercial landscape installation, landscape maintenance and IPM. We have the trucks, equipment and personnel to do it all, employing around 60 people, at the height of the season, with around 25 full-time employees. Our sales staff is comprised of the 2 company owners, myself, and another full-time salesman. The origin of our issues, in my opinion, is that there is no uniform sales method because the system doesn't offer any decent option. Any one of us is capable of selling tree, landscape or IPM work, but since our system is basically obsolete and we cannot access it out in the field, we don't use it to generate proposals or bids; we have all created our own proposals to send to customers. This presents issues with our office staff because, ultimately, the customer information and the job information needs to be entered into the system, and we all do it differently.
I am seeking a viable software solution - an efficient and affordable program that offers mobile capability (sales/management staff all use iPhones and iPads), and is effective at establishing both tree AND landscaping proposals for customers, tracking labor, materials and expenses per job, for both 1hr and multi-day projects, generating job costing reports to show final margins on completed work, generating and sending invoices for completed work, either reminders or automated follow-ups for outstanding invoices past a certain point (i've seen both...customers with unpaid invoices get an automatic reminder email after X days with whatever message you create).
We have looked into ArborGold (way too expensive and doesn't have fantastic reviews, from what i've seen), ArborSoftWorx (seems to be a uniquely customizable software solution, but without more background knowledge of how systems should operate, i don't know if this would work for us), FieldAware (seems to have great capability, and looks like an excellent product...but geared more towards a plumbing contractor or something like that, where a "tech" has the ability to add parts/labor on-the-fly to adjust pricing, and "techs" can be re-routed throughout the day with lots of involvement back in the office. We prefer not to allow our crew foremen the ability to discuss pricing with customers, and this system did not look like it would be effective unless everyone is connected - sales force and crews), RazorSync (seemed to only be 100% effective when crew uses mobile device to track progress throughout the day, clocks in and out, etc and we don't feel that we are ready to hand iPhones and iPads to all of our crews...seems best suited for landscape maintenance-only companies, but with an iphone/ipad with each crew), lastly Routzy, Jobber and ServiceCEO, that all seem to be very in-depth programs that offer lots of customization and syncing ability with other programs like Quickbooks. We got the furthest in discussions with ServiceCEO, but ultimately it was my bosses and our bookkeeper's reluctance to change that halted the process.
With winter approaching, i have once again been tasked with coming up with a viable solution to bring this company into this millennia, and i would like to hear from other tree (and landscape) contractors...what do YOU use? How has that program helped your business, in terms of improving sales, reducing overhead costs, improving scheduling/organization/customer satisfaction, etc.? Are you able to incorporate this solution into all lines of your business?
Thanks again for taking the time to read all this, and i appreciate any feedback i can get!
We are a family-owned and operated tree and landscaping business in a very competitive environment (who isn't these days), that has been operating in the same location for over 90 years. Over the years, we have diversified our lines of business to include residential, commercial and municipal tree care, utility line clearance, residential and commercial landscape installation, landscape maintenance and IPM. We have the trucks, equipment and personnel to do it all, employing around 60 people, at the height of the season, with around 25 full-time employees. Our sales staff is comprised of the 2 company owners, myself, and another full-time salesman. The origin of our issues, in my opinion, is that there is no uniform sales method because the system doesn't offer any decent option. Any one of us is capable of selling tree, landscape or IPM work, but since our system is basically obsolete and we cannot access it out in the field, we don't use it to generate proposals or bids; we have all created our own proposals to send to customers. This presents issues with our office staff because, ultimately, the customer information and the job information needs to be entered into the system, and we all do it differently.
I am seeking a viable software solution - an efficient and affordable program that offers mobile capability (sales/management staff all use iPhones and iPads), and is effective at establishing both tree AND landscaping proposals for customers, tracking labor, materials and expenses per job, for both 1hr and multi-day projects, generating job costing reports to show final margins on completed work, generating and sending invoices for completed work, either reminders or automated follow-ups for outstanding invoices past a certain point (i've seen both...customers with unpaid invoices get an automatic reminder email after X days with whatever message you create).
We have looked into ArborGold (way too expensive and doesn't have fantastic reviews, from what i've seen), ArborSoftWorx (seems to be a uniquely customizable software solution, but without more background knowledge of how systems should operate, i don't know if this would work for us), FieldAware (seems to have great capability, and looks like an excellent product...but geared more towards a plumbing contractor or something like that, where a "tech" has the ability to add parts/labor on-the-fly to adjust pricing, and "techs" can be re-routed throughout the day with lots of involvement back in the office. We prefer not to allow our crew foremen the ability to discuss pricing with customers, and this system did not look like it would be effective unless everyone is connected - sales force and crews), RazorSync (seemed to only be 100% effective when crew uses mobile device to track progress throughout the day, clocks in and out, etc and we don't feel that we are ready to hand iPhones and iPads to all of our crews...seems best suited for landscape maintenance-only companies, but with an iphone/ipad with each crew), lastly Routzy, Jobber and ServiceCEO, that all seem to be very in-depth programs that offer lots of customization and syncing ability with other programs like Quickbooks. We got the furthest in discussions with ServiceCEO, but ultimately it was my bosses and our bookkeeper's reluctance to change that halted the process.
With winter approaching, i have once again been tasked with coming up with a viable solution to bring this company into this millennia, and i would like to hear from other tree (and landscape) contractors...what do YOU use? How has that program helped your business, in terms of improving sales, reducing overhead costs, improving scheduling/organization/customer satisfaction, etc.? Are you able to incorporate this solution into all lines of your business?
Thanks again for taking the time to read all this, and i appreciate any feedback i can get!
